Jyothisha - Introduction aum namah shivaya

At the outset itself, here's the link to Jyothisha Sutram that will be discussed in a weekly posting: http://vedantatattva.org/vedanta/works/JyothishaSutram.pdf

Astrology or Jyothisha is one of the six vedaangas. Veda itself when considered as a human being, astrology is the eyes of the . It is not only a divine science but it is a very useful science whether it is with respect to the world or the spiritual path. Dangers that might happen in the future can be very easily avoided using this science of astrology.

What is the basis of astrology? Astrology is based on the various planets of our solar system including the star of Sun and the satellite of Moon (and the shadowy planets of Rahu and Ketu). In total astrology consists of 9 grahas - Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu. Each graha has a characteristics. These grahas occupy the space which consists of 360 degrees, at any point of time. Each place in the sky also has specific characteristics and the entire 360 degrees are split into twelve houses or rasis. Each rasi is owned by a particular planet (except Rahu Ketu which don't own any houses). The position of planets in particular houses gives particular results.

The prediction of astrology thus is with respect to planets and their positions - as to which house they are in. But more than all these, the unique part in our life is the time of birth. It is unique indeed and therefore Sun at the time of birth is called Lagna or Ascendant. It is with respect to this Ascendant which denotes oneself or one's character and the position of the Moon which denotes the mind that all predictions are based.

Predictions obviously require a point of reference and it is the Lagna and the Moon. Based on the Lagna and the Moon (in some cases point of reference of Sun also is used), the planets and in which houses they are, are the basis of predictions.

It is a common mistake to base our prediction on just one condition alone - we have to analyze the horoscope as a whole and see from other angles or conditions as well. Thus a person whose seventh house is afflicted will not marry - if we make this prediction then it is wrong for other factors like how strong venus is, are there good aspects of Jupiter on the seventh etc. also have to be analyzed. A weak or bad astrologer goes by just one or two conditions whereas a good astrologer looks and analyzes the horoscope as a whole and then makes predictions.

Though all the astrological works that have been written by various masters of the past are exhaustive in nature, still there can be different new perspectives provided based on one's knowledge and experience. This is what is being undertaken here through the jyothisha . Though nowhere near the classical texts, still in capsule form it gives tips on how to judge a horoscope for aspiring astrologers.

What is most imporant for an astrologer is to have a clear mind and tapo bala that reflects in words. This is only possible through dhyaana and adequate . Dhyaana helps in gaining a clear mind whereas japa helps in getting unto our tongue. Along with this, one should also strive for the goal of as only a realized master can accurately predict what will happen in the future for anybody. will set the stage for the power of intuition whereas realization will set the stage for everything that is uttered to become true.

Sutras or aphorisms are capsule forms of knowledge that is useful to remember or memorize. These are crisp in nature but shouldn't be so concise as to not contain important information. Therefore it goes without saying that writing sutras isn't that easy. Though Sutras is the most popular sutras in astrology, here this work deals with just bits and pieces on astrology. We can in a way say that this work is the author's perspective on the science of astrology.

Classification of Sutras ------This work is composed of 41 sutras that are split into eight chapters each dealing with a particular topic and varying in the number of sutras. Splitting into various chapters helps to understand the main topic of discussion in the particular chapter.

How to interpret the sutras? These sutras have to be interpreted keeping in mind the previous for some may be continuation of the discussion as found in the previous sutra. Therefore taking each and every sutra as an independent one will not lead to the right understanding. Moreover explanation of the sutras are also essential in order to understand them. Mere text or the translation will not be of that much help. Therefore we will see an analysis of the sutras with explanation and examples wherever applicable.

The eight chapters in this work and their content in brief are as below:

1. Gulikaadhyaayah -- This chapter is on Gulika or Maandi, the son of Saturn. Though this planet of Maandi isn't used in the north but only in the south, still it is very important in analysis of horoscopes and clear predictions can be made based on this planet.

2. Panchamagrihaadhyaayah - This chapter is on the fifth house. For spirituality (and success in worldly life to the peak) the fifth and ninth house (or konas) are important. Therefore this chapter deals with the fifth house.

3. Konaadhyaayah - This chapter is on the konas (and effects). For spirituality konas are important than kendras.

4. Jnaanaadhyaayah - This chapter deals with knowledge; as to how to predict knowledge or whether a person has knowledge or not from his horoscope.

5. Prajnaadhyaayah - This chapter is about intuition - though comprising of just two sutras it is important in that emphasis is given to the power of intuition than the various texts on astrology.

6. Mandaadhyaayah - this chapter is on manda or saturn and explains in brief the effects of saturn (that are prominent in a horoscope).

7. Mokshaadhyaayah - the ultimate goal of life is moksha. Therefore analysis of moksha is important in a horoscope and this chapter deals with prediction of moksha (or astrological combinations for moksha).

8. Mumukshu adhyaayah - only a person desiring moksha will get moksha. Such a person is termed a mumukshu and this chapter deals with mumukshus (how to predict from a horoscope whether one is a mumukshu or not).

9. Upasamhaaraadhyaayah - this chapter is the concluding chapter comprising of just two important sutras.

It should be remembered that whatever mentioned here may not be exactly found in the traditional texts of astrology and not all aspects of a particular topic are also not covered. This is just a brief perspective of the author's understanding and experience on astrology. One should never take resort to just one or many texts but should take resort to the power of intuition and experience (through which we will be able to learn quite a lot about astrology).

We will start with the analysis of sutras in the next posting. Till then may we all strive to do enough so that we gain the power of intuition and thereby are able to make accurate predictions that helps ourselves and others in progressing towards the goal of moksha and rejoicing in bliss here and now itself. aum namah shivaya

Jyothisha Sutram - 1 aum namah shivaya

------Here's the work that we are discussing in a weekly posting: http://vedantatattva.org/vedanta/works/JyothishaSutram.pdf ------

Previously we saw a brief introduction into the jyothisha sutram written by Kumara and that it consists of eight chapters in total. The eight chapters are as below:

1. Gulikaadhyaayaya - chapter on Gulika 2. Panchagrihaadhyaaya - chapter on the fifth house 3. Konaadhyaaya - chapter on the konas (five and nine) 4. Jnaanaadhyaaya - chapter on knowledge 5. Prajnaadhyaaya - chapter on intuition 6. Mandaadhyaaya - chapter on Saturn 7. Mokshaadhyaaya - chapter on moksha 8. Mumukshu adhyaaya - chapter on mumukshu 9. Upasamhaaraadhyaaya - concluding chapter

Since the work is in sutra form therefore it is terse or very short and therefore will require explanations in order to understand it properly. Unlike other works which themselves will explain things through slokas or prose, sutras use just the bare minimum of words. Therefore also we find that the total number of sutras in a chapter also is less only.

Chapter 1 Gulikaadhyaaya - Chapter on Gulika

Though some people differentiate between Gulika and Maandi, here Maandi is indicated (and it is meant that both are the same).

When we try to analyze a horoscope we generally look up the nava grahas or nine planets which are the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu. All except Rahu and Ketu are planets - Rahu and Ketu are called shadowy planets for they aren't planets per se but get their strength from other planets (analysis of Rahu and Ketu isn't exactly there in this work and therefore we will not delve into it). These nine planets along with Lagna or Ascendant make up the total number of planets or entities that are used in a horoscope for analysis and predictions.

Lagna or Ascendant is the position of the Sun at the exact time of birth. For example for a person born on April 14th, the Sun will be in the first degree of Aries (approximate as slight deviation of degrees will be there). At the time of Sun Rise on the paticular day, Lagna will be at the first degree of Aries (wherever Sun is). But with each 4 minutes after Sun Rise, one degree is added to the Sun's position to get Lagna. Let's say that sun rise is 6:30 am. Therefore if birth is at 6:30 am then Lagna will be first degree of Aries. But if birth is at 6:34 am then Lagna will be the second degree of Aries. So on we have to add up degrees and calculate the Lagna at the the exact time of birth.

Why or how this 4 minutes for a degree? Sun in a day is assumed (as the Lagna) to cover an entire 360 degrees in a day. Therefore the next day Sun has a displacement of just one degree. Starting Sun Rise of 6:30 am on April 14th, Sun moves 360 degrees and the next day Sun Rise Sun is at 2 degree of Aries (moving just one degree). 360 degrees therefore is cover in 24 hours or 24*60=1440 minutes. 1440/360=4 minutes - this means that it takes 4 minutes to cover every one degree.

The above is just a brief of the calculation of Lagna for a particular horoscope. If we know the date and time of birth of a person then we could approximately calculate in our mind itself the position of Lagna, without even needing a software. Today there is too much focus on softwares. Though this helps in making astrologer's life easy, a person wanting to become a true astrologer should always know ways to plot a horoscope without using a software (using panchanga is a little tougher but easier way than making calculations of each and planet also ourselves). Another aspect other than Lagna that we should know to calculate manually is the Balance of Dasha at the time of birth. Every star starts with a particular planet and based on how much moon has traversed the star, there will be decrease in the dasha period for the planet. For example Rohini star has the starting planet of Moon for Dasha. If moon has traversed half of Rohini then the balance of dasha will be just 5 years. If moon has traversed 3/4th of rohini star, then the balance of dasha at the time of birt will be just 2.5 years (as 7.5 has already been traversed or covered).

Though Balance of Dasha isn't that tough to calculate, today technological advancements has brought in laziness with old ancient ways of doing things. Instead of going and learning from a Guru, we just listen to mp3s and learn - both are totally different; being in the presence of a Guru is totally different from hearing from mp3s. So an aspiring astrologer should know to calculate Lagna, Balance of Dasha, current period, sub-period etc. running as well without using a software. After knowing how to do it, we can use softwares for quick reference (rather than wasting our time and the time of the person coming for consultation) but until we are sure of the way to calculate, we should practice the ancient way of manual calculations.

Generally only ten entities including Lagna are used for prediction but it is in the south and in particular in Kerala that the planet of Maandi or Gulika is used. This planet is very powerful in a negative way. And therefore a quick analysis of the position of maandi will make an astrologer not give wrong predictions. For example we may find in a horoscope that education or job is very good still the person doesn' have good education or job. We will not be able to understand and conclude aptly but if we look at the Maandi and if it is situated in 4th or 10th we will find that education and job will be affected. Other factors also will play a role in accurate predictions but maandi's role will to cause confusions, conflicts or distractions for the individual with respect to education or job (or for that matter any other house). Therefore it is essential to analyze and use this planet of maandi for proper prediction.

Who is Maandi? Saturn is the Son of Sun and Maandi is the Son of Saturn. Saturn itself is generally a malefic causing huge problems for majority of people. So what to talk about the problems caused by maandi? It is beyond imagination and only when we analyze horoscopes and look at the position of maandi, will we be truly able to understand the importance of this planet in astrology.

The effects of maandi that are glaring are taken up in this first chapter by the author. We will see these sutras in the next posting.

May we all through learning of astrology strive to help ourselves and others so that having a smooth life we will be able to attain the goal of moksha and ever rejoice in bliss here and now itself. aum namah shivaya

Jyothisha Sutram - 2 aum namah shivaya

------Here's the work that we are discussing in a weekly posting: http://vedantatattva.org/vedanta/works/JyothishaSutram.pdf

Here's the previous postings collated: http://vedantatattva.org/vedantagroup/JyothishaPrakaasham/Postings/JyothishaSutram_Postings.pdf ------

Chapter 1 - gulikaadhyaaya

Previously we saw a brief into what is maandi as the first chapter of this work is on Gulika (gulikaadhyaaya). This chapter has five sutras in total that discuss the effects of maandi very briefly. As we all know sutras are concise in nature and therefore they should be brief rather than going into detailed explanation. But when we learn or understand or teach these sutras we have to expand them (analyze them in depth).

Before getting into the sutras we need to know in brief what each house points to in a horoscope (house from Lagna or Ascendant). Though there are many characteristics or qualities that can be found from one house, still we can pin point just one or two main characteristics of a house.

First house - character, health, the person in whole Second house - words, wealth, family Third house - courage, brothers Fourth house - education, mother, happiness Fifth house - children, mind Sixth house - enemies, diseases Seventh house - partner, death Eighth house - longevity, obstacles Ninth house - , guru, father, luck Tenth house - occupation Eleventh house - profit, desire fulfillment Twelfth house - loss, liberation

The planet of Maandi as we saw previously is the son of Saturn who is the son of Sun. Sun is a natural malefic (except for spirituality). Saturn therefore is bigger malefic and Maandi is the biggest of all malefics. Malefics are those which cause only harm to us in one or the other way. Therefore it can be said that maandi causes harm to everybody depending on where it is situated (proper analysis has to be made before making predictions on a horoscope). Analysis of maandi will sometimes change our predictions of the horoscope itself.

Let's now enter into the sutras.

------Sutra 1 Guliko lagne bhogaprado.alpaayusca

Gulika in Lagna leads to enjoyment (sensual pleasures) and a short life as well. ------

The first house denotes character of a person and life in general. Maandi in the first house therefore causes majorly harm but such people will not face too much problems in life. Short-life in itself is a curse though it appears as a blessing with respect to sensual pleasures. When we have just a short life span, we will be able to enjoy everything to the full (provided we don't know we have short life, else we will be worried about the same). So we find that Maandi in the first house gives a proper blend of both life span and worldly pleasures. Needless to say both go hand in hand. If one has a long life then there will be both pleasures and sufferings. But since maandi in one ensures that life is short (general life of a person is cursed or affected as a result of maandi) and therefore sensual pleasures or enjoyments will be more.

People will maandi as analysis have shown will not live more than 50 years though the exact life span has to be judged based on other aspects like longevity in the horoscope, dasas running for the person etc. In order for death to happen, the maraka planet (that which causes death - generally planets in 2nd and 7 or lords of 2nd and 7) has to be running as either the main or the sub dasha. Only during such times, death can happen for a person. Depending on this factor and many other factors the person's life span will vary from as short as 20 to as long as 50 (in some cases even little more than that).

How can we identify such people? Very easy - if there is somebody who is in a family or environment with so many problems or sufferings and yet himself or herself is able to get all pleasures of the world (without any pain or effort) then we can definitely say that maandi is in the first house.

Is there any way to nullify or reduce the effect of maandi in the first house? Marriage is an alliance in which two horoscopes are matched together. Even as negative and negative cancel each other, similarly when a person with maandi in lagna marries another person with maandi in lagna, then they will both live a long life. My father's sister who is in Mumbai has maandi in lagna and so has her husband. Therefore they are even now living beyond the age of 60.

In order to reduce the effect of maandi one has to take resort to total spirituality by seeking a spiritual master like AMMA or do propitiations as explained in Naadi. Today's astrologers aren't realized that they can provide solutions directly to a short life-span therefore we have to take resort to spiritual masters or Agastya Naadi (which is words of great saints like agastya and others).

What about maandi with moon? Does it lead to short-life? Not exactly. But Maandi with the moon leads to the mind being very volatile or fluctuating. Such people will not be able to judge things properly or make decisions quickly and appropriately. Therefore such people should take resort to learning the shaastras, meditating etc. in order to strengthen the mind so as to avoid bad influences of maandi on their mind (this is as the moon represents the mind).

What about maandi in the eighth which is house of longevity? Maandi in the eighth also leads to short-life though it doesn't lead to sensual pleasures as we find when maandi is in the lagna. This is analyzed in the 4th sutra which will be explained and analyzed later.

Why maandi which is a bad planet leads to sensual pleasures when in the lagna? Maandi is like the devil. The devil though harms us eventually, gives us pleasures in order to lure us. In the same way maandi in lagna lures the person through sensual pleasures but eventually takes away life.

Does sanyaasa change the life span of an individual with short-life? This doesn't just apply for people with maandi in lagna but to anybody with short-life -- short-life is extended as a result of sanyaasa. We find this in the life of Adi Sankara who took sanyaasa at the age of 8 in order to extend his life span by another 8 years. Sanyaasa is taking an entirely new life and therefore this nullifies the effect of short-life in the past life of the person.

One of the living example of this is my sister Darshika Chaitanya. Her lagna is thula or libra and star is rohini. Maandi is in the eighth with moon. Maandi in the eighth also leads to a short-life but it is ensured that she has a long life (currently in the 30s) as she has taken the path of sanyaasa.

Another living example of a person with a very short life span as a result of maandi in lagna is my cousin Harikrishnan whose mother is the head of physiology dept (believe this the right dept) of AIMS, Dr. Saraswati. He has maandi in lagna and therefore used to have many accidents in the early 90s. After analyzing the horoscope, my father said that coming to AMMA is the only way out. Till then his parents used to mock at my father for following AMMA who is a fisherwoman (we being ). The cousin was taken to AMMA and AMMA did his (and my) (thread bearing ceremony). After that he hasn't had accidents at all and currently is married to a girl; and happily living in Trivandrum.

If we analyze the horoscopes of people in AMMA's ashrams or other ashrams or those who come to masters like AMMA, we will definitely be able to find more people with maandi in lagna but living a long life as a result of the grace of Ishwara coming to them through masters like AMMA.

May we all strive to surrender unto masters like AMMA so that irrespective of how long our life span is we are able to achieve the fulfillment of life through realization of our very nature of non-dual reality of ; thereby may we be able to ever rejoice in bliss here and now itself. aum namah shivaya

Jyothisha Sutram - 3 aum namah shivaya

------Here's the work that we are discussing in a weekly posting: http://vedantatattva.org/vedanta/works/JyothishaSutram.pdf

Here's the previous postings collated: http://vedantatattva.org/vedantagroup/JyothishaPrakaasham/Postings/JyothishaSutram_Postings.pdf ------

Very sorry that haven't been able to post on this series for long. We will restart this series and hope to have one posting per week on the same.

This series is on a set of sutras written on astrology about the author's perspective (as a result of study of scriptures, intuition and experience while checking horoscopes -- as well as learning from other known astrologers or astrology-practitioners).

Previously we saw the first sutra of the first chapter of gulikaadhyaaya - in this chapter Gulika or Maandi is the subject of discussion and the first sutra said that maandi in the first house leads to enjoyment of pleasures and a short life. This means that those have maandi in lagna though will have a short life span still they will have all enjoyments of pleasures (though their family might be suffering still they will have all enjoyments).

Let's continue with the sutras.

------Sutra 2 dviteeye kalatre vaa haanikaarakah

Gulika in second or the house of partner will lead to losses (problems). ------

As we have seen before, Gulika in all houses causes harm alone (except the sixth house). Depending on what house Gulika is, the bad results or effects will fall for the house or whatever is shown (or indicated) through the house. Second house stands for words, wealth and family. Seventh house stands for partner. Therefore we can say that two and seven go hand in hand for married life where seven stands for the partner and two stands for one's own family (which includes the partner). Any bad effect on second and/or seven will lead to a bad married life and therefore such people are better not married (rather than getting their lives and lives of people around them in trouble).

Gulika in the second or the seven will lead to losses or problems.

So what all problems can be expected if Gulika is in seven? Even as gulika in lagna will lead to short life for oneself, gulika in seven will lead to short life for one's partner. Moreover there will be constant fights with partner as well. Since seven also stands for name and fame, therefore such people will have bad name and fame (whatever good they do, they will find themselves only getting bad name).

Gulika in the second, as mentioned, will lead to problems in family life. Family life with parents, brothers, partner, relatives etc. will be very bad. Such people are those who though have a family aren't much related or attached to the family - though there might be attachment from the individual to their family, family members will not give much value for them or shower them with love and affection (which almost everybody expects from one's family or near & dear ones). Eventually we may find that such people are renounced by their family.

The best advise that an astrologer can give to a person who has maandi in second or seven is to not marry; if the person definitely wants to marry then he or she should do some parihaara (without which the effect of maandi or gulika will be there and will be as a curse in family life).

------Sutra 3 arau shatrusamhaarakah

Gulika in the house of enemy will become the destroyer of the enemy (or enemies). ------

Negative-negative becomes positive. In the same way Gulika in the house of enemy will become destroyer of enemies. This means that such a person will be victorious over his enemies (not that enemies will not be there). The house of enemy is the sixth house. Therefore we can say that gulika in the sixth house is one of the best houses for it.

But then it was mentioned that gulika causes harm to the house in which it resides, so what harm is there in enemies getting destroyed? Enemies or even obstacles are essential in any path because they are what keeps us alert and working hard in order to progress in the path. If there are no competitions in the form of enemy, then we will take ourselves for granted. Moreover all our problems or weaknesses will never come out - it is enemies who bring out our weaknesses and therefore we will be able to correct ourselves. But since for people with gulika in six, enemies will not be effective therefore they will often find themselves not able to correct their weaknesses.

Gulika alone is not the criteria for one becoming victorious or failure over enemies. Other factors also have to be considered. Therefore it might happen that when a person with gulika in six finds himself facing another person who has strong word power or grace of Ishwara, he will find himself failing to be victorious.

My father has Mithuna Lagna with Jupiter in the second house and moon in scorpio. Jupiter is exalted and in the second house which is a very powerful position. Jupiter also is exalted in the ninth from moon. Though moon is debilitated still as a result of jupiter being exalted in the ninth and aspecting moon, there can be control over the mind as a result of grace of Ishwara. Therefore such people who have strong word power as well as ninth house as well being strong (house of dharma) cannot be defeated in words or fights with respect to dharma.

One of my father's brother has gulika in the sixth house. When he was young itself there were signs of victory over enemies (or any obstacles). For example he used to take the money his mother used to give to buy groceries and put it for gambling (local gambling on the street). Though most of the people used to lose in gambling, he would win it always and therefore would save money for himself. But such a person when face to face with my father cannot win over in verbal or other fights. Therefore though he tries to raise his voice in front of father, he would be a failure alone. Though being a religious person he was initially against AMMA but as a result of father, he was forced to meet AMMA. He would thereby also consult father for astrology related matters.

A good astrologer is one who doesn't make judgements based on just one condition but he analyzes other factors and then alone makes predictions - it is worth mentioning this again and again so that we will not jump into conclusions on seeing a particular criteria.

We will continue with the analysis of sutras in the next posting.

May we all strive to understand the effect of gulika so that we will be able to get rid of sorrows of others (where they are imminent or clearly shown in the horoscope) and thereby we ourselves also will be able to progress in the spiritual path and ever rejoice in bliss here and now itself. aum namah shivaya