How to analyze yogas in vedic astrology?

Every vedic chart will have many yogas. However, most lives are average at best. How do you account for this contradiction? How to you analyze yogas?

Let us take the Budha-Aditya yoga, for example. It forms when Sun and Mercury are conjunct in a rasi. A person with Budha-Aditya yoga will be very intelligent. Given a Sun’s rasi, Mercury can only be in three rasis – the rasi before the Sun, the rasi the Sun is in, or the rasi after the Sun. So, Mercury can only be in 3 rasis for any given position of the Sun. So, the probability of having a Budha-Aditya yoga in a vedic chart is 1/3. If everyone with Budha-Aditya yoga were to be intelligent, one-third of the world population would be intelligent!

Clearly not all Budha-Aditya yogas are equal. So, how to do analyze the strength of the yoga?

There are factors that strengthen a yoga and factors that weaken a yoga.

Factors strengthening a yoga

1. Grahas involved in the yoga are strong – Grahas in the sign of exaltation, in their moolatrikona or own house, have dig bala… If two grahas are involved in the yoga and both are strong, this is better than just one of the grahas being strong.
2. Yoga forms in a positive house. The first house is the best because it is a kendra and a trikona, followed by the other kendras (4,7,10) and trikonas (5,9), followed by the 2nd and 11th house, followed by 3rd house.
3. Grahas are aspected by benefic planets. Aspect from Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Waxing Moon in that order strengthen the yoga.
4. The house the yoga forms in is surrounded by benefic grahas – subha-kartari yoga of the yoga house.
5. The yoga repeats from the three lagnas – when seen from the Ascendent, from the Sun, and from the Moon.
6. Grahas participate in other positive yogas.
7. The chart has a full moon – full moon enhances all the yogas in a chart.

Factors weakening a yoga

1. Grahas involved are weak – grahas are debilitated, combust, or in a planetary war.
2. Yoga is formed in a negative house. The trik houses (6,8,12) are negative houses.
3. Grahas are aspected by malefic planets. Aspects from Saturn, Mars, Rahu/Ketu, Sun in that order weaken the yoga.
4. The house the yoga is formed in is surrounded by malefic grahas – papa-kartari yoga of the yoga house.
5. Grahas participate in other negative yogas.
6. The chart has a new moon – new moon diminishes all the yogas in a chart.

No one will have all the strengthening factors and none of the weakening factors. Typically, you have a mix of strengths and weaknesses in a vedic chart. The more strengths the yoga has the more powerful the yoga.

Also, the more the significance of the house the yoga is formed in, is tied to the result of the yoga, the better it is for the yoga. In the case of Budha-Aditya yoga, because its result is intelligence, having it tied to the first or fifth house causes more synergy.

Finally, there is the concept of timing. A yoga will be most powerful when the person runs the dasa-bhukti of the grahas involved in the yoga. In the case of Budha-Aditya yoga, the yoga will show its full potential during Sun-Mercury or Mercury-Sun dasa-bhukti.

Here are the charts of Nikola Tesla, Charles Darwin, Louis Pasteur, Sir Issac Newton, and Albert Einstein. All-time great scientists who have Budha-Aditya yoga.

For example: Nikola Tesla

Positives: Mercury is in its own house; yoga is formed in the 4th house; Venus is conjunct with Mercury and Sun; Mercury forms Bhadra yoga (pancha-mahapurusha yoga); yoga from the Moon is in the 10th house.

Negatives: Saturn is conjunct with Sun and Mercury.

Overall very positive Budha-Aditya yoga driven by Mercury.

For example: Charles Darwin

Positives: Yoga is formed in 4th house; flanked by Jupiter, Venus, and Moon (Shuba-kartari yoga); from Moon in 2nd house.

Negatives: None

For example: Louis Pasteur

Positives: Conjunct with Venus; from Moon Dharma-Karmadhipati yoga (lord of 4th and 5th house); fullish Moon; connected with the 1st house because of conjoint Venus.

Negatives: None

For example: Sir Issac Newton

Positives: Full Moon; Moon aspecting Me/Su; from Moon in 7th house

Negatives: Aspected by Saturn

For example: Albert Einstein

Positives: Sun has dig bala; yoga in 10th house; from Moon yoga in 5th house; conjunct with exalted Venus; Neecha-bhanga raja yoga by Venus canceling debilitated Mercury; connected with the first house because of Mercury.

Negatives: Mercury is in its sign of debilitation; conjunct Saturn.

Clearly, you can see there are differences in the strength of Budha-Aditya yoga in these famous scientists” charts. Nikola Tesla’s Budha-Aditya yoga appears to be the strongest.