Astrologer Dr Acharya Vinod Kumar’s journey is inspiring. Born and raised in a small village called Prayagraj, he joined a gurukul at the age of 14 as it was offering free education. His family was dealing with financial issue. He was good in academics, his guru wanted him to study more about Bhagavad, but his interest was always in IAS Officer, but later his interest in Astrology made him chose this profession.
“My grandmother had told me that I would have a very bright future in this field. When I was 14 years old, we were not very financially stable, so I used to go to this Gurukul and asked my guru to give me some work. That’s when I started my astrology journey. Later, we went to Kolkata for a puja, and that’s when we began practicing astrology. Then one of my friends called me to Delhi, but later refused to let me stay. I was very young then, and with ₹15 in my pocket I started my career,” he begins sharing his extraordinary journey.
Apart from nurturing his flair for astrology, he also stepped into the world of Vaastu and earned much success.
“One day, a person I met on the road requested me to perform a puja for him, and that’s when I officially started my astrology career in Delhi. After the puja on the 7th day, something magical happened, and he donated land where we built a temple. In 2004, we gained media attention for the first time and in 2008, we established our office in Delhi. Now, by God’s grace, I travel all over the world to help people,” he smiles.
Kumar has learnt a lot from his journey. In fact the process is still on.
“I have learnt from all my gurus that ‘Jo baat davai se na ho sake woh baat dua se hoti hai.’ I want to tell everyone that there is only one astrology, which is ved, but people have used it in many other ways and for their own purposes. All astrologers delve into astrology by studying different branches of ved. I don’t mean to demean anyone, but what I do is vedic astrology, which I believe is true, strong and perfect. Therefore, mine are mostly vedic predictions,” he says.
The astrologer, who remains unaware of his own past and future, understands that he cannot predict the destinies of others, states Kumar.
“I am grateful for my life’s journey and always aspire to do good for people. I believe that having a pure nature leads to sincere devotion to the almighty, resulting in divine blessings. Recognising the uncertainty of what awaits in the next life, we must show reverence to our religion and perform good deeds and charity (vaibhav daan) as a means to safeguard oneself,” he says.
Talking more about his work, he adds, “In my profession, we have encountered numerous kundalis where doctors declared no chance of survival. Yet, through the knowledge passed down by my gurus and ancestors, we have witnessed miraculous turnarounds. One should believe in instilling confidence in others and encourage promoting positivity whenever possible.”
He has important things to say to those who are a part of Bollywood. “I feel the biggest thing in this world now is nothing but name and fame. It has been there since the beginning. All the celebrities in Bollywood should get their stars properly analysed because I have seen that when they achieve something small, they get very excited, and when the reverse happens, they rapidly become very negative. I have many brothers and sisters in the industry and I always tell them to remember what they had earlier and what they have now. Such awareness can channelise our thought process in the right direction and make us feel more grateful towards life,” he ends.