About Mr. K.N. Rao

Mr.K.N. Rao is a legend. He is the brightest star on the astrological horizon for the past thirty
years. He is seen as an astrologer’s astrologer. This can checked while scrolling on the internet.
He is the founder of Institute of Astrology, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, established in 1987. At
present, he is the advisor of the institute. What impelled Mr.K.N. Rao to pursue astrology is well
explained in his horoscope, where the lagna and the tenth lords get combined in the lagna with an
exalted Jupiter in the tenth house. All this was foreseen by his Jyotish Guru, Yogi
Bhaskarananda of Gujarat, whom Mr.Rao describes as the last of Rishi astrologers in the purest
classical mould.
Yogi Bhaskarananda had told Mr. Rao that he would have to visit many foreign countries to give
to Hindu astrology the honour, recognition and dignity that it did not have till then. An
American, David Frawley, who has written books on Vedic culture and Hindu philosohy and
was awarded Padma Shri by Government of India, summed up the impact of the first ever
foreign visit of Mr. Rao to U.S.A in 1993 as “Vedic astrology before Rao and after Rao”. What
different yogis have said about astrology as a Vedanga, which he must not give up, has been
quoted in his book Yogis, Destiny and the Wheel of Time.
Both his mantra Guru, Swami Parmanand Saraswati, and his Jyotish Guru, Yogi Bhaskarananda,
taught him some secrets of spiritual astrology, which are not given usually in any book of
astrology. Mr. Rao has revealed some of these secrets in his book Yogis, Desiny and the Wheel of
Time. Among Mr. Rao’s fundamental and most original researches are his two books,
“Predicting through Jaimini Chara Dasha and Predicting through Karakamsha and Mandook
Dasha.
It has been possible for him to produce such researches because he was told by his Guru that
what was in parampara (tradition) was much more than what was contained in the books of
astrology, which are translated literally and without illustrations generally. His own mother, who
was his first Jyotish Guru, knew many such traditional secrets, parts of which Mr. Rao has
revealed in his three books Ups and Downs in Careers, Astrology Destiny and the Wheel of Time
and Planets and Children.
It was the mantra Guru of Mr. Rao, Swami Parmanand Saraswati, who first asked Mr.Rao not to
give up astrology as it had to be an integral part of his sadhana. Later, a great yogi, Swami
Moorkhanandji, prophesied in 1982 that he would be the architect of a great astrological
renaissance. Whether that is fulfilled or not can be gauged from the impressive list of his
research and writings.
Time has shown to those pursuing Jaimini astrology that what could not be done perhaps in
3,000 years has been achieved by Mr.Rao in his lifetime. With an academic approach, he has
cleared doubts and filled many gaps to make Jaimini astrology the most effective predictive
system. He gave to astrology lovers what no one could give- seven Jaimini karakas, not eight,
the correct calculation of padas and many mind-boggling techniques. All this was done by
intensive research at the individual level and then collectively after sharing his findings with the
world.

Mr.Kotamraju Narayana Rao retired from the Indian Audit and Accounts Service as Director
General in November, 1990. He is the second of the four sons of the famous journalist of the pre-
independence era, K.Rama Rao, the founder editor of the National Herald, Lucknow, member of
Rajya Sabha and Advisor, first five-year plan, Government of India. Mr. K.N.Rao was initiated
into astrology by his late mother, Smt.Sarawani Devi at the age of 12, in 1943. He regards her as
the best astrologer he has known in two areas; marriage and children and prashna (horary).He
was a lecturer in English before joining the government service.
More interested in games and sports than in astrology in his youth, he won brilliant prizes in
chess competitions and two state championships in bridge. He played many games, which is why
in his astrological writings also, there are references to games very often.
During his service career, he was the planner in general, organiser, and planner of three
international courses on Audit of Receipts. His interactions with foreigners have been both on
professional and astrological levels for more than four decades, which is why he, as an
astrologer, has a large international network of friends. He went on doing all his fundamental
researches in astrology during his service career because of which he went on collecting
horoscopes systematically in thousands.
He has in his possession more than 1,00,000 horoscopes with important events of each individual
noted with him. It is perhaps the largest individual collection of horoscopes any astrologer has.
The data he holds can be made the most reliable and authentic source of astrological information,
much more reliable than Google.
The strain of doing astrology as a mission made him give up astrology many times. But in
December 1981, he was forced out of his shell to participate in a three-day seminar on astrology
in Delhi. After that ground -breaking speech, there has been a persistent demand for his
astrological articles. From then, he has been sharing with his readers his original researches for
which he won worldwide praise. Between 1993 and 1995, Mr. K.N. Rao has visited USA on five
lecture tours. He was the chief guest at the Standing Conference of the American Council of
Vedic Astrology in 1993. He was requested to be present in the third conference also in 1994 on
the opening day because of the crowds that he would draw. His name was advertised till
November, 1995 also for the Fourth Conference, though he had made it clear that he would not
be available anymore for the American conference. As a result of his academic approach, he has
now thousands of students in India and more than 500 in USA, Russia and Japan.
As a discerning academic astrologer, the contribution of Mr.K.N.Rao to astrology is
unparalleled. He has greatly redefined astrology. History will surely record in chapters on
astrology his writings in sparkling letters. A man with extraordinary missionary zeal, he
organised himself to achieve the goal of a dream institution of astrology conceived by his
revered Guru. He has achieved much more.

He is firm in his belief that a man out to achieve a noble goal is shown the path by the Almighty
and he can cross all obstacles with very little effort. With a mind always restless to dream and
implement, Mr. Rao has been found motivating teachers and researchers for a long time.
Mr. Rao is good at spotting, motivating and cultivating talent. He emphasises the need to
modernise the syllabus. He feels that only total flexibility will help in accepting modernism with
tradition. He has provided a rock-solid foundation for the institution to act and perform. He is a
perfect example of an “institution builder”for a management student. Mr. Rao founded the
Institute of Astrology, BVB, which is the largest in the world and rated the best, with more than
1,000 regular students, 36 trained teachers, and a plethora of books and articles.
Late Mr. J Veeraraghavan, I.A.A.S former Director, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and former
Secretary (Culture) to Government of India appropriately commented in one of his convocation
addresses that, “Though we have demands that keep coming for an astrology course like the one
we have in Delhi from different centres of Bhratiya Vidya Bhavan, over a 100, but none have
been as successful as the Delhi one as we have only one Mr. K.N.Rao.”
Mr. Rao is not merely seen as an astrologer. He is seen as a scholar and a value-based thinker,
who, in his astrological pursuits, fights against prejudices and the use of astrology for wrong
purposes of money making. He has dispelled many myths that were dominating astrology and
were being exploited by pseudo astrologers or ponga pandits to make money.
Mr. Rao will continue to inspire astrology lovers for centuries. We hope and pray that he
continues to be an active advisor of Institute of Astrology, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan for a long time.