I ventured this question after a long silence, during which I had tried to assimilate Sri Yukteswar's noble exposition. It is only when a traveler has reached his goal that he is justified in discarding his maps. During the journey, he takes advantage of any convenient short cut. The ancient rishis discovered many ways to curtail the period of man's exile in delusion. There are certain mechanical features in the law of karma which can be skillfully adjusted by the fingers of wisdom.
All human ills arise from some transgression of universal law.
The scriptures point out that man must satisfy the laws of nature, while not discrediting the divine omnipotence. By a number of means by prayer, by will power, by yoga meditation, by consultation with saints, by use of astrological bangles the adverse effects of past wrongs can be minimized or nullified. Just as a house can be fitted with a copper rod to absorb the shock of lightning, so the bodily temple can be benefited by various protective measures. Ages ago our yogis discovered that pure metals emit an astral light which is powerfully counteractive to negative pulls of the planets. The preventive uses of astrology have seldom been seriously studied outside of India.