CRUX OF VEDIC ASTROLOGY·TIMING OF EVENTS By SANJAY RATH SAGAR PUBLICATIONS 72, Janpath, Ved Mansion, New Delhi -110001 Tel: 3320648 PREFACE VEDIC ASTROLOGY I take this opportunity to thank the erudite reader and fellow astrologers for receiving my first Qook; namely, Maharishi Jaimini's Upadesa Sutras. While every effort was made to explain every stanza with umpteen examples, it was not possible to do complete justice and fully explain the ramifications of the vari­ ous stanzas in a horoscope. This need to provide a ho­ listic approach to Vedic Astrology by combining the best predictive tools has been fulfilled in this book. The first three chapters explain the various tools and paradigms available in Vedic Astrology as well as their usages. I agree that this list is quite exhaustive and the tools felt to be of general acceptance and easy to use have been added. There are certain tools that are taught traditionally in. families having the Jyotish tradition. I have given some very valuable methods of timing events which, it is hoped would be of considerable use to all astrolo­ gers. For example, Jataka Parijatha gives considerable importance to the fifth house in timing death of the na­ tive. Unless taught, it would be quite impossible for the average astrologer to know how this is to be ap­ plied. One method would be to add the Vimsottari dasa years of the planets influencing the fifth house, expunge multiples of 30. The remainder added to date of Sankranti (Solar ingress of the month of death) would give the date of demise. Another method is to take the strongest planet influencing the fifth house and the death will occur in the lunar day (Tithi) ruled by it ·l The fine timing of such events as death will be of considerable use both in birth charts as well as the swearing-in charts of governments. A step by step ex­ planation has been offered which would be of consid­ erable use for the beginners as well as the most advanced astrologers. NARAYANA DASA Any Udu dasa system, be it the best Vimsottari or the Astottari dasa, is essentially a method of timing the state of the mind as it is calculated from the Moon. It is possible that at times, the native would be having many good things happening and yet, the mind would be disturbed. Thus in the interaction of the native with his environment, two independent factors come into play. One is the input from the environment in the form of messages and influences and the other is the way the individual perceives, processes and reacts to the mes­ sages. Vimsottari dasa gives the working of the mind at a particular point of time and shows the inherent abil­ ity or otherwise to interpret and the way the native would receive these messages. However, a good astrolo­ ger should also have a predictive tool to determine the messages that would come from the environment This is the key to jyotish and is known as the Narayana dasa. Although I have explained the Narayana dasa in my translation of Maharishi Jaimini's Vpadesa Sutras, there have been some responses that a more exhaus­ tive explanation is necessary. This book has shown the actual use of the Narayana dasa in many instances and if after this, the request persists, I would be most glad to oblige. IS JAIMINI DIFFERENT FROM PARASARA? Some sections of the astrological community have tried to show that Maharishi Jaimini is different from the traditional Parasari Jyotish and having been trying to either hide their ignorance behind this argument or having been cashing in this difference by showing that their Jaimini system is superior or by ascribing exclu­ sive membership to this Jaimini club! We should take a cue from the most illustrious Dr. B. V. Raman who has always maintained that Vedic astrology requires a ho- . listic approach and has authored many books includ­ ing works on Jaimini, Parasara, Prasna, Tajaka .. etc. Jaimini has purposely refrained from starting a new school of Vedic Astrology and has named his clas­ sic as the Upasesa (Advisory) Sutra (Stanza). Time and again, he has referred to the standard texts as Siddha!s. It is obvious that Maharishi Jaimini has purposely underplayed his classic work to avoid any misconcep­ tions that could arise in the future, and yet these have cropped up. It is my earnest request to the astrological community to kindly refrain from showing the minor difference of views as difference of systems and to de­ velop a holistic approach to Vedic Astrology. MISCONCEPTIONS A number of misconceptions have been found to exist even among some of the leading lights of today. While it is a well-known fact that the fourth house re­ fers to formal education, some astrologers have been teaching that the fifth house deals with this! The fact is that the fourth house deals with education. The second and eleventh from this house have primary Argala (in­ tervention) on it. Hence, the fifth house, being the sec- ond from the fourth house will intervene in its affairs and rules the knowledge obtained by the native due to this education. The eleventh from the fourth house is the second house ruling speech and shows the speech training, languages and other skills acquired due to the education. Problems arise when the modern day astrologer tries to propagate his own theories instead of trying to understand the wisdom of the seers. This book is an attempt to understand and apply the wisdom of the Maharishi's and it is possible that inspite of the best effort, at places the explanation may be found to be in­ adequate. I shall be most grateful for the response of the learned readers and for their constructive criticism. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Vedic Astrology is indebted to the Sagar family for extending their unflinching support to these publica­ tions. I am most grateful to Sri Saurabh Sagar for ex­ tending all support for this publication. May Sri Jagannath Mahaprabhu shower his choicest blessings on him. I am grateful to my wife and children for their love llnd emotional support May Lord Shiva crown them with perfect knowledge. A special thanks to Ashok Kaushik and Dirtanath Dasa for their help and encour­ agement. Sanjay Rath B-59, Sekhar Apartments Mayur Vihar, Phase-I New Delhi-UO 091 CONTENTS Page No. Preface v Introduction 1 Concepts and Predictive Principles 16 Longevity Estimation 40 The Ascendant 54 The Second House 79 The Third House '~ 108 The Fourth House 127 The Fifth House 166 The Sixth House 204 The Seventh House 251 The Eighth House 319 The Ninth House 368. The Tenth House 416 The Eleventh House 514 The Twelfth House 545 \£ !l~ Ofq: THE CRUX OF VEDIC ASTROLOGY­ TIMING OF EVENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION The vedic dasa system is the most potent predic­ tive tool for an astrologer. Astrology, as is being practised today in India, largely relies on the Vimsottari dasa that uses a 120 year cycle incorporating fixed periods for the nine grahas including the seven plan­ ets from the Sun to Saturn and the nodes Rahu & Ketu. The popularity of this dasa system stems from its easy calculations, fixed unambiguous periods and the recommendation of Parasara *1. However, Kalyan Verma*2 mentions results on the basis of Moola dasa and in a similar fashion different authors have given importance to different systems. The firihat Parasara f~: Hora Shastra lists a host of dasa systems including the Kalachakra dasa which is now gaining some popu­ larity among Indian astrologers. Again, in the use of the Vimsottari dasas, what is oft~n overlooked is the riders. This results in incorrect predictions and the remedial measures are quite off the mark. For ex­ ample, the Tara dasa is a part and parcel ofVimsottari dasa that is often overlooked to the detriment of *1. Brihat Parasana Hora Shastra *2. Saravali 2 The Crux of Vedic Astrology-Timing of Events Vedic Astrology. Thus, it is necessary to first under­ stand the principles involved and then to pick up the dasas that are most universally applicable so that practising astrologers could develop a certain amount of expertise in them. 2. CLASSIFICATION: The first classification is on the basis of progression where those dasa systems using the Sun signs are called Rasi dasas and those using the lunar mansions (constellations) are called graha dasas. The progression could also be on the basis of the panchatatwas or of other divisions of the zodiac. The second classification is on the basis of the method of reckoning. This could be from the ascen­ dant, atmakarak, moon constellation, starting letter of name, sun's longitude in a sign etc. The third classifi­ cation is on the basis of usage into Phalita dasa (fruitful/ event prognostication) and Ayur dasa (longivity/ health). 3. UDU DASA : Among the constellation based planetary periods, the Vimsottari dasa (120 year) and Astottari dasa (108 year) stand out as being of universal application. The sum of the periods of the luminaries equals the period of the tutor (Guru) of the dasa system. Thus Jupiter is the Guru of Vimsottari dasa (Sun 6+Moon 10 = Jupiter 16) while Venus is the Guru of the Astotlari dasa (Sun 6+Moon 15 = Venus 21). The other constellation based dasas suffer from a number of limitations and since they lack universality of application, they may be overlooked by the practising astrologers. [Details of the dasas can be had from Brihat Parasara Hora Shastra or any other standard text]. However, in actual practise it will be seen that the Vimsoltari dasa with Jupiter as the Guru is the best constellation Introduction 3 based Phalita dasa while the Astottari dasa with Ve­ nus (Sanjeevani-mantra) as the Guru is the best con­ stpllation based Ayur dasa.