From Siddhartha to Gautama...

At the ripe age of 15/16 years, Varun came across the story of the enlightenment of Gautama Budha.

He read the entire description of that night when prince Siddharth sat down under the Bodhi tree and became Gautama Buddha and a wave of change came over him as well. His resolution to find that state became crystal clear and he began to meditate every night based on what he had explored so far on his own.

Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months and there was no progress but only more darkness. After six/seven months he finally made another resolve to find a Guru or give it up. A silent prayer was all that he could say.

Life took it's own course after that. Then came the day after six years of waiting.

When the Guru answered

During graduation years when Varun was about 20/21 years of age a chance meeting led him to watch a video that changed his life completely. That video was called Love Moves the World - 2006! A saintly figure with a long beard is introduced and a question is posed
"Guruji, you have visited so many countries around the world, where is your favourite place?"

The saint answers, pointing to his heart "Right here."

Varun doesn't remember what else went on in the video but recognised that six years back what he had prayed for intensely was finally answered. It finally felt like a homecoming after long years of fruitless search. It finally felt at home!

He immediately ended up learning the Sudarshan Kriya and doing the then-called Basic course offered by The Art of Living Foundation

At the end of the course, the night of 31st December 2006, when the entire world was celebrating the new year, Varun went to bed early! He had finally found peace after searching for so long and frantically. That night, he vividly dreamt of his Guru, who had just been introduced in the course he finished. He was caressing his head on his lap and said "So you have finally arrived!"

That night and many, many nights later (and till date) it opened a series of vivid dreams and conversations with his Guru. He had finally found him for what felt like many eons and today Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is his spirit guide since then.

Life with Gurudev

Today Varun has been with Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for over 18 years. He has served six years in the International Art of Living Center working alongside the digital teams to create enterprise-level IT systems for the foundation that are currently being used in 180 countries! He has completed several programs during these years: above 70 advanced meditation courses, the Sahaj Samadhi program, blessings program, DSN, Youth Plus program, Shakti Kriya, Chakra Kriya, Sri Sri Yoga program and Sanyama.

He has also completed some very advanced courses like a Teacher Training program to be able to then facilitate the teaching of Sudarshan Kriya to others. In 2013, whilst living at the Art of Living International Center he got married to Pallavi Joshi on the advice of Gurudev and since then they have walked this path hand in hand together. And not very surprisingly Pallavi happens to be from the city of lakes - Nainital. Destiny truly brought Varun back to his childhood's favourite city!

They both recently completed a Sri Sri Marma training program as well to help harmonize the body’s built-in energy network and facilitate self-healing.

Currently residing in Melbourne Australia since 2018, Varun is currently deeply focussed on the direction given to him by Gurudev - excelling in Jyotisha.

Varun, Pallavi with Gurudev in 2013 at Radha Kunj in the Art of living International Center

Stumbling into Jyotisha/Vedic astrology

Jyotisha or Vedic astrology for Varun was a happening rather than something that he pursued intently.

As a kid, he was very observant of his surroundings, highly sensitive and always questioning things. He could observe many signals in nature but he always found himself at a loss when his parents discussed the principles and rules of Jyotisha at home. His father had a book on the numerology of Cheiros that he later practised during his graduate years with high accuracy but ultimately left even that because it was a very mundane thing he felt.

Out of nowhere during his first Sanyam program at the end of 2017, something drastically shifted inside him and the principles of Jyotisha started becoming more and more clear with the least effort. He made a shocking prediction of the arrival of his Australian visa within a week's timeframe and true to that prediction the visa suddenly arrived out of nowhere!

He started learning Jyotisha officially at the start of 2018 but faced many challenges one after another until September 2020, when Gurudev advised him to learn Jyotisha directly from Shri Pandit Sanjay Rath. This was a high point in his life where he now found his Jyotisha Guru! The grace of the guru is truly unfathomable.

Varun has been studying Jyotisha under the Raj Jyotisha tradition of Odisha, which is headed by Shri Pandit Sanjay Rath who is the head guru. He is currently completing the rigorous Parashara Jyotisha Pandita program that runs for five years under the mentors of Jyotisha Guru Branka Larsen and Jyotisha Guru Zeljko Krgovic. Along with his wife Pallavi, they are together studying the Shiva Mahapurana course as well directly taught by Shri Pandit Sanjay Rath.

Tradition is everything when it comes to Varun and what he loves. He was born with an exalted Shani atmakaraka (Vishnu swaroopa = Kurma avatar) and so he loves going slow and steady into the pure traditional teachings. The Jyotisha tradition that he belongs to comes from Jagganath Puri, Odisha. Pandit Sanjay Rath who is the param guru of this tradition comes from the revered Atri gotra and is an exceptional scholar par excellence!

Please take some time out and take a look at how rich this Raj Jyotisha tradition is at Rathātreya

Closing Remarks (Jyotisha)

If you been following Varun's story you will notice that his great maternal grandfather went by the name Vasudev and his maternal grandfather went by the name Purshottam. Life isn't accidentaly if you know how to connect the dots. But to connect the dots you need knowledge and awarness, both!

Vasudev is the name of Sri Krishna's father and shows Surya (Ravi).
Purushottam is the name of Vishnu himself and Sri Krishna was called Lella Purshottam.

Sri Krishna is the avatara of Vishnu that is connected to exalted Chandra or Moon. And this same Moon or Chandra happens to be exalted in Varun's rasi chart and navamsa as well making it Vargottama (which means it sits on the head) and very strong!
No wonder these two ancestors had a very heavy impact on his life. What is more interesting is that he finally got connected to the tradition of Jagganath Puri - again Sri Krishna.

Jai Gurudev
जय गुरुदेव

Hare Rāma Kṛṣṇa
हरे राम कृष्ण