Pandit Raghunath Ji Kukyiloo: Scholar, Saint, and an Erudite Astrologer.

18in x 24in,
Acrylic on canvas

Aiming for perfection and achieving mastery is a divine gift very few people are blessed with. Such people spend their whole lives in pursuit of whatever they take up as their mission in life! Kashmir has a hoary history of producing savants and sages who led simple, uncomplicated,’grehasth’ lives, devoting themselves to their sadhana and, over a period, would work for ‘lok kalyan’ – helping ordinary people and trying to put their feet on the path of ‘dharma’! Many, many of such evolved souls lived ‘unsung and unknown’ though some like Rishi Peer became so famous that they are remembered even centuries after they passed on! The evolved soul we shall be discussing today was a savant, a learned philosopher who attained fame as an astrologer was a person who lived an extra ordinary life but in the garb of an ordinary person – Pt Raghunath Kukyiloo Ji!
Born in a scholarly family in the Bana Mohalla locality of Srinagar in the year 1911, Pt. Raghunath was spiritually inclined from childhood. According to Shri R.C. Kaul "Pamposh", an old disciple, Pandit Kukyiloo belonged to the Shakta stream of Sanatan, being a devotee of Goddess Tripurasundari. Whenever he was in Srinagar, he would invariably perform an early morning Parikrama (circumambulation) of the Sharika Mata shrine on the Hari Parbat. His understanding of the Vedantic and Shaiva philosophies was equally comprehensive even while he delved deep into the intricacies of the Shakta philosophy of Kashmir; his interpretation of the terse and tough complexities of philosophical thought would always be simple and, innovative! From a young age, he became adept in the science and art of astrology, earning a name for himself in the pre-independence Kashmir! He, however, retained the spirit of a ‘learner’, bereft of ego. In an episode narrated by Pt Raghunath Ji to the author, he was once challenged by a visitor from Varanasi to find out his physical defect from his horoscope! Accepting the challenge, Raghunath Ji worked hard for 24 hours and, next day revealed the answer to his guest! The guest was so impressed with his erudition that he offered a ‘prize’ of Rs 500/- to Ragunath Ji – a big amount those days! The guest then showed Ragunath Ji his horoscope, prepared by a scholar in Varanasi in which he had mentioned a particular planetary combination that can cause a specific physical defect. In the words of Raghunath Ji,” On seeing the ‘shloka’, I was shocked – at the level of my own ignorance about a science I thought I had mastered,”! As a penance, he stopped offering astrological consultation to people for six months! He however found that through the science of astrology, he was able to help people and mitigate their worries. Over the years, he became a living legend in Kashmir because of his accurate astrological predictions. His disciples and admirers within the KP community looked up to him for guidance in spiritual as well as non-spiritual matters. He was regarded as a great yogi, an erudite scholar and a master of astrology who was gifted with the extraordinary power of sixth sense. His doors were always open for people in need of astrological or spiritual guidance!
"Baigaash’, as he was known to people close to him became renowned for his performance of the annual ‘Pancha Ratra’ puja on Maha Shivaratri. He had close association with the great Shaivacharya of Kashmir, Swami Lakshman Joo. Swamiji, knowing the spiritual elevation of Pt Raghunath Ji, made it a point to obtain his blessings on every birthday, reflecting his esteem for the learned scholar! 
Like all KPs, Pandit ji too went through the hardships of forced Exodus from Kashmir in 1990. He lived in Ashok Nagar, Jammu, off the Canal Road in Jammu and continued to offer help to people till his last breath. He gave up his mortal coil on December 23, 1997. As mentioned in "Maalini", the quarterly journal of the ‘Ishwar Ashram Trust’ Ishber Kashmir, Raghunath Ji felt a divine radiance of Kundalini awakening and went into a trance from which he never awoke! The news of his sad demise was received with great shock by the exiled Kashmiri Pandit community.
My painting is a humble tribute to this saint, scholar, and astrologer.