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 The
origins of the Naadi Shastra (energy-channel
treatises) are shrouded in the mists of
time. This marvellous system of prediction
has been used to give reliable guidance
for many centuries: knowledge about ourselves
(past and future), our relationships and
our destinies. Research shows that this
system has been in use for at least 4000
years, since the treatises were first
written (on palm leaf scrolls) in Sanscrit,
the predominant language of ancient India.
The original transmission was by oral
means, before the committal of the texts
to writing. The shastras are believed
to have been first composed long ago by
the Sapta Rishis (seven sages) -- Agasthya,
Kausika, Vyasa, Bohar, Bhrigu, Vasishtha
and Valmiki.
The primary centre for Naadi Shastra
is in Vaitheeswarankoil, near Chidambaram
in Tamil Nadu, a state in South India.
Here Lord Shiva is said to have assumed
the role of a vaidhya (a doctor), who
alleviated the miseries of his devotees.
Until the 1930's, Naadi remained an ancient
legacy, hardly used or even comprehended
by the majority of Hindu Astrologers.
The preservation of the Naadi palm leaves
and the translation from Sanskrit into
the Tamil language was undertaken on a
large scale during the regime of the Kings
of Tanjore (9th-13th Century AD). When
the leaves started disintegrating with
age, the Tanjore rulers appointed scholars
to rewrite them on fresh ola (palm leaves).
Some of the Naadi Granthas were also translated
into another South Indian language, Telugu.
The Maratha king Sarabhoji and the Chola
kings patronized these translations.
When the British left India they took
with them some of the ancient manuscripts
and texts delving into Alchemy, Ayurveda,
and Rasayan, while those pertaining to
occult sciences were left behind and auctioned.
The Valluvar community, who specialized
in Astrology at the time, bought these
palm leaves and made Naadi reading their
hereditary profession and means of livelihood.
Each Naadi is made up of a particular
ola or palm leaf, written in vatta ezathu,
Tamil script, with a sharp, nail-like
instrument called ezuthani. The palm leaves
are preserved by rubbing peacock oil on
auspicious occasions. These palm leaves
are still preserved in the Saravasti Mahal
library of Tanjore, in the South Indian
state of Tamil Nadu.
The predictions in the Naadis are in
a commentary form, though in Shiva Naadi
these predictions are presented as conversations
between Lord Shiva and Mata Parvathi,
expressing concern for and blessings on
their devotees.
The Granthas are a set of highly organised
manuscripts divided into sixteen chapters
or kandams. These Kandams serialize the
various aspects of materialistic and spiritual
life of an individual such as family,
marriage, profession, wealth , luck etc.
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