Dear Sir, if you select your partner via a match maker, then definitely the marriage is made in heaven, since it is in the heavens that the two charts are matched. You can see which person the heavens favour, and which they do not. Regarding free will, you still have the choice to say yes or no. If you regard ‘made in heaven’ as indicating no free will, you are still wrong, as heaven knows in advance what choice you will make, free will is only an illusion.
There is a similar question regarding ‘induced’ births in the west – I do not know if this is common in India, but many years ago hospitals began to arrange births to suit themselves, rather than wait for the baby to decide when to be born. I feel this is very wrong, and there is a question among western astrologers whether the birth chart of an induced birth can be valid. However, I incline to the belief that heaven decrees all, including that the surgeon will induce the birth. Therefore, all is as it was meant to be.

Dear Nikhil Ji and geraldinefirequeen Ji,

I am completely agree with you and want to add something… जब हम किसी दम्पत्ति के जीवन की कोई घटना देखना चाहते हैं तब ये दोनों की ही कुण्डली में स्पष्टतः देखी जा सकती है । अगर किसी एक की कुण्डली में तलाक का योग है तो निश्चित ही यह योग पति या पत्नी की कुण्डली में भी नज़र आयेगा । इसका मतलब ये है कि ये दोनों ही एक दूसरे के लिए बने थे और इनका साथ होना पहले से ही निश्चित रहा था फिर चाहे इनकी शादी कुण्डली मिलाकर की गई हो या बिना मिलाए ही की गई हो इस बात से कोई फर्क नहीं पड़ता है और यहाँ सिद्ध हो जाता है कि शादी प्रारब्ध का वो हिस्सा है जिसे बदला नहीं जा सकता, इस तरह से यहाँ free will जैसी कोई बात नहीं है ।

om gurave namah

Dear S.N Singh,

Namaste! I completely agree with you. However I would want to put a Jyotish angle to this. The free-will quotient is controlled completely by the Upachaya’s. The 7th house is not a Upachaya. Hence there is no free will when it comes to marriage. However matching (the right way of matching) will help in the long run.

Best Regards

Katti Narahari
SJC – Bangalore