Can karma, astrology and our health be connected? Dr Rahul Kamat, an allopathic doctor and medical astrologer, believes that from the moment of birth, a karmic unfoldment begins, and that its tendencies are reflected in the body. In this episode of Buzz by the Bay with Anushka Jagtiani, he discusses medical astrology, longevity, and the traditional astrological framework used to understand health and disease. Dr Kamat explains planetary combinations, the role of Jupiter in Vedic astrology, and how certain combinations are traditionally linked to particular health conditions.
Excerpts from the interview:
You did your MBBS and worked at Nair Hospital in Mumbai. Then you studied Vedic astrology, and now you're a medical astrologer. How did you come to this path?
From early childhood, I had an abiding interest in spirituality. Not the religious kind, or idol worship. I was drawn more towards meditative practices, and I was deeply influenced by Lord Ganapati. My mother says that as a toddler, she would often find me sitting near the shrine.
Were you very spiritual by the time you went to medical school?
I entered medical school at 17, and by then I was already meditating on my own. On one side, I was enjoying life like any regular teenager in the material world. On the other, there was this quiet flow that had begun in the background.
In medical school, I became more interested in Vipassana. During Vipassana, body sensations can become very intense. On the fourth day of one retreat, I had a severe headache. We were told to simply witness what was happening in the body. At one point, I realised my relationship with the pain had ended. Something shifted. The headache stopped affecting me. That's when the connection between mind and body became very real for me.
At some levels, modern science is good at explaining what has already happened. But what will happen is very difficult for it to decipher.
Is medical astrology, also known as Vaidyakīya Jyotiṣa, an actual branch of Vedic astrology?
Yes. We have the pañcamahābhūtas, the five elements: fire, water, earth, air and ether. The body is made up of these same elements, and they can be studied within the framework of the rāśis, the zodiac signs.
Each rāśi has an elemental nature. There are fixed, movable and dual signs. There are fiery signs, earthy signs, and so on. These combinations exist in every chart, and medical astrology is derived from studying them.
How do you integrate medical astrology with modern allopathic practice?
Modern allopathic treatment is well developed and standardised. If someone has appendicitis, he has to be operated on. All of that is understood. But once a treatment is carried out, no doctor can predict recovery with 100% certainty. Sometimes there are unforeseen complications say after surgery. What modern medicine hasn't really figured out is support from nature. We need that support to heal better. The question we must ask ourselves is: do we want to be treated, or do we want to be healed?
You are saying modern medicine needs more support from nature, that it needs to be more holistic?
Why is it that some people who have been operated on successfully don't heal easily? Because you have to heal not only the physical body, but also the energetic body and the emotional body. These different koshas, or sheaths, also need healing. Modern medicine can benefit by this holistic approach.
How do you apply medical astrology to support better healing?
One could schedule surgery on a day that is opportune for that particular person. One can also study planetary cycles in relation to medication. For example, if a person isn't responding to a medicine right now, after studying the kundali you can suggest a period when the medication is likely to be more effective. But that's a very superficial explanation. Medical astrology can go much deeper.
What about the role of past karma in disease? Can medical astrology identify the root cause?
All that you are, have been, or will be is present in your consciousness right now; just that you are not fully cognisant of it. It is embedded at the moment of birth by way of your natal chart. Medical astrology can show the tendencies you carry in your body, mind and psyche from birth. From the moment you are born, a karmic unfoldment is already underway. There is no escaping it. There's a saying: it is easier to ride the horse in the direction it is going. So if you know you have a tendency towards a certain ailment, you don't struggle against it. You work with it.
Can an adverse combination of planets also cause health complications?
Yes, it can. Then you have to placate those planets and understand the lesson each one is teaching.
Jupiter, for example, is by itself very positive. But an afflicted Jupiter can be associated with diabetes. A Jupiter–Rahu combination can be linked to cancerous conditions in the body. So what is Jupiter telling us? It is saying: you have done some negative karma in the past, and I am here to alert you. But I will be a tough teacher.
Can you share an example of someone who overcame a problem with the help of medical astrology?
Medical astrology can help reduce the chances of post-operative complications.
A friend of mine, a woman of around 50, developed a lump in her breast two years ago. It was malignant, though it hadn't spread much at the time. She was advised surgery and came to consult me. I told her to go ahead with the operation, and I gave her a muhurta for it: a specific date, nakṣatra and time. I also asked her to do certain prayers beforehand. She recovered very quickly, with minimal blood loss: the surgery was successful.
