Did Bhrigu Make a Mistake?

Bhrigu is referred to in the Bhagavad Gita in Chapter 10, Stanza 25: “Among great Rishis, I am Bhrigu.”

Thousands of years ago he made many predictions about Swami Kriyananda’s life that have proved to be true. However, he implied that Swami Kriyananda would live to be 83 years old. Swami Kriyananda lived instead to be 86 years old. Did Bhrigu make a mistake?

Well there are bad astrologers in every time and in every clime. What of it? How could Bhrigu then accurately predict so many correct things about Swami? Did he use astrology?

Let’s start with a story from the book Conversations with Yogananda: The Master told this little-known story of the meeting between Swami Shankaracharya and Babaji, whom Shankaracharya eventually accepted as his guru.
“Babaji was living in a home in Benares, when Shankaracharya visited that city. Shankara was at that time a famous astrologer. Babaji’s manservant went therefore to see him. He received from Shankara the shocking news that, that very night, it was his destiny to die! In fear and trembling, on his return, he approached Babaji with the news.
“‘Go back,’ said Babaji, ‘and say to him that you will not die tonight.’
“The servant carried this reply back to Swami Shankara, who affirmed, ‘This karma is so fixed that, should you survive it, I shall go to your master and ask him to accept me as his disciple.’
“That night, a terrible thunderstorm lashed the city. Lightning struck everywhere. It felled trees all around the house where Babaji lived. The great master stretched himself out over the servant’s body, to protect him. When morning came, the servant was still alive. He then went and presented himself to Shankara. The Swami was amazed. Realizing that he had encountered a power much greater than his own, he went to Babaji and took initiation into Kriya Yoga.”

So, perfected consciousness stands above astrology. It was Babaji’s power that came and changed the man’s karma. Was Bhrigu’s consciousness perfected? If so it couldn’t make mistakes. Here are two theories on how Bhrigu got Swami Kriyananda’s Mahasamadhi date wrong.

One. It is said that in Treta Yuga, Bhrigu had his students make these readings as a sort of homework. Students certainly make mistakes. There are levels to the super conscious mind which can peer through time. A student learning how to access these super conscious states could certainly make mistakes.

Two. If this reading was done 5000 years ago, for it to arrive at the current time, even half correct is remarkable. Have you ever played the game telephone? That is only letting minutes pass by. Just imagine every 300 years or so as the ink starts fading, someone comes and copies it onto another palm leaf, or sheet of paper. Of course there are going to be mistakes.

Here’s another fun story about the difference between perfected consciousness and astrology:
A young man once went to an astrologer, and the astrologer told him that he would die on a certain date. Being that it was many years in the future, he safely stored away the written down prediction, and went on with his life. Many years later he was in a severe car accident, and almost died. After recovering, the prediction from the astrologer returned to his mind. He retrieved the written down prediction, and the date that he had the car accident was exactly the time the astrologer has said he would die. In order to understand what had happened he went to a second astrologer. He told this second astrologer that he had a friend and he was curious how long this friend would live. He gave the second astrologer his birth information, but did not let this astrologer know it was actually his birth information. He returned to the astrologer a few days later, and the astrologer told him, I’m sorry to inform you but your friend died, a few weeks ago, on such and such date. The man then told him the truth that this was actually his birth date, and asked the astrologer, “How can I still be alive?”
The astrologer replied “Do you have a Guru?”
The man said,“Yes, Anandamayi Ma.”
The astrologer said, “Where Ma begins, astrology ends.”
If Ma was going to come in and change his fate later, someone with the spiritual stature of Bhrigu, who could peer through time perfectly, would see that Anandamayi Ma was going to come and change it. He wouldn’t make a mistake.

There is a third theory that Paramhansa Yogananda who was a perfected being, came in and changed Swami Kriyananda’s fate. But as in the story above, that theory is invalid to me because if someone is one with God, he don’t make mistakes in his awareness. He is either omniscient, or not. There is no middle ground. I believe one of the first two theories are more probable as to why Bhrigu seemed to make a mistake.

Image of Swami Kriyananda and Ananda Mayi Ma

The most important part of all of this is that this potential for a perfected consciousness exists. And it is the potential of every human being. I recently heard some words of Anandamayi Ma from one of her direct disciples. She told him; “Whenever someone prays to me, now or in a future lifetime, I hear him and help him.”

ParamhansaYogananda told Swami Kriyananda “I know every thought you think.” I now understand that meant, throughout all time! It is really comforting to think that if we pray to our Guru, whether in past lifetimes, this lifetime, or future lifetimes, He will hear us, and help us achieve the perfect state of consciousness that Bhrigu and many others have also achieved.