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Rahu Ketu

Rahu and Ketu represent the nodes of the moon and influence people by distracting them from the present moment. Rahu gives the desire to fantasize about the future while Ketu makes one cling to the past. They were originally one demon named Rahu, who disguised himself to drink the nectar of immortality but was beheaded by Vishnu. Though separated, Rahu and Ketu remain connected through their experience with Vishnu's discus and together keep the mind estranged from eternal time by focusing on the past or future instead of the present.

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Lokeswara Vijanapalli
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73 views

Rahu Ketu

Rahu and Ketu represent the nodes of the moon and influence people by distracting them from the present moment. Rahu gives the desire to fantasize about the future while Ketu makes one cling to the past. They were originally one demon named Rahu, who disguised himself to drink the nectar of immortality but was beheaded by Vishnu. Though separated, Rahu and Ketu remain connected through their experience with Vishnu's discus and together keep the mind estranged from eternal time by focusing on the past or future instead of the present.

Uploaded by

Lokeswara Vijanapalli
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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About Rahu and Ketu

Abhaya Mudra Dasi

“It is sometimes said that when one is influenced by evil stars like Saturn, Rāhu
or Ketu, he cannot make advancement in any prospective activity.” (SB 7.4.37.
Bhaktivedanta purport)

Ketu is the severed body of Rahu. When a person becomes


influenced by Ketu (the south node of the Moon) he acts as if
he doesn't have a head. His head is lost in remembering the
past and in trying to re-enact his past actions again. The
influence of Ketu demonstrates the irrelevance of time past to
our present existence. During periods of life that are
influenced by Ketu, such as Ketu mahadasha or bhuktis, the living entity clings
to illusions created in the past as if they continue to exist in the present. At times
those illusions have nothing to do with the present body, but are traces of
existence from previous lives. What is the use of forcing a fish to live out of
water?

Rahu is the exact opposite of Ketu, or the other side of the same coin. Being the
head, his main senses are intact, and through their help he is aware that he can
obtain everything he wants. Rahu gives the desire to daydream about the future,
wherein the soul can lose himself in what is going to be. By his own accord
Rahu also keeps the soul locked away from the present moment.

The eighth canto, ninth chapter of the Bhagavata Purana describes the birth of
Rahu and Ketu. Shrila Prabhupada comments in his summary of that chapter,
“But one demon, named Rāhu, dressed himself like a demigod and sat down in
the line of the demigods. He sat beside the Sun and the Moon. When the
Supreme Personality of Godhead understood how Rāhu was cheating, He
immediately cut off the demon’s head. Rāhu, however, had already tasted the
nectar, and therefore although his head was severed, he remained alive.”

The clever demon Rahu, plotted to drink the nectar of immortality to which only
the demigods were entitled. The Sun and the Moon, who are the eyes of God in
this universe, spotted Rahu sitting in the midst of the demigods. They reported
his presence to Lord Vishnu. Then Shri Vishnu in the form of a beautiful woman
named Mohini Murti sent His chakra to behead Rahu, who had just begun
drinking the nectar. Though his head was severed, the nectar remained in his
throat giving him immortality. Ketu, the separated body of Rahu died in an
instant but bears the mark of the divine weapon of Vishnu.

4
Had Mohini Murti not severed the head of Rahu, then the whole body of the
demon would have stayed alive. But that is not possible in the same way that
neither the past nor the future can be united with the present in the material
world. It is similarly impossible for the soul to become God and live
independently from Lord Shri Krshna. The connection of past, present and
future is only possible for the liberated living entity in the company of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, but not in the material world where time is
divided. Rahu and Ketu are the keys to understanding the three divisions of time
in this world as well as the eternality in the next.

What is the connection between Rahu and Ketu now when they floating opposite
one another in the space? Though separated, they remain connected by their
experience with Lord Vishu’s Sudarshan Chakra. The head and the body stay as
Moon’s invisible nodes in the sky. The Moon represents the mind, while Rahu
and Ketu are the invisible dark shadows responsible for eclipsing the
intelligence. Together they keep the mind estranged from eternal time, dwelling
always on the past or the future. The bliss of the present moment remains
elusive to the conditioned soul. The current moment, beautiful as Sudarshan
chakra, speeds by like a bolt of lighting.

It is very rare to witness this Sudarshan Chakra, whose name means “hard to
see.” Who can define the cycles of time represented by the divine weapon? How
many spikes does he have; what is his form; how is he decorated; what is his
metal or composition? These questions are impossible to answer except for souls
who know the truth. Time keeps moving like the spinning of Sudarshan and
those who recognize the present can gaze at the chakra remaining motionless.

Another meaning of Sudarshan is that which is most beautiful to see. If we could


follow Sudarshan, if we become faster and catch the present moment by
becoming faster than the division of time, we will see Lord Vishnu or Krshna.
Sudarshan Chakra always returns to Vishnu. He belongs to the Lord. In the
intimate pastimes of Shri Krshna’s Sudarshan becomes the gopi named Sudevi,
who leads us to Shri Shri Radha and Shri Krishna. 

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