Vimsopaka Bala
Often in vedic astrology people confuse strength and auspiciousness. A graha in its state of exaltation, for example, is strong. But, is it strong for good results or bad results. The answer lies in the Vimsopaka bala.
The basic idea comes from the fact that we are happiest when we are in our natural surroundings with close friends and family. Grahas, likewise, are happiest in their own house. They are happy in their friend’s house. Finally, they are least happy in their enemy’s house. When a graha is happy it produces auspicious results. When the graha is unhappy it produces inauspicious results.
An important point is that exaltation in vargas do not factor into this metric. So, if you have Mars in Capricorn in all the vargas, it would score lower in Vimsopaka bala because Mars considers Saturn neutral. This allows Mars to take on only two values – 15, if Saturn is a temporal friend, or 7 if Saturn is a temporal enemy.
Factors used in the calculation
Vimsopaka bala uses a weighted function involving two factors, vargas and panchadha sambhanda. The result is a score out of 20 indicating the auspiciousness of the graha.
First factor – Vargas
There are four possible scores, for each graha, based on the number of vargas considered. The logic is to look at the support the graha gets in the key vargas in his/her life. In the vedic period, the life of a person was defined by the ability of the person (D1), wealth (D2), support from siblings (D3), support from the spouse (D9), support from parents (D12), and past evils (D30). These constitute shad varga. The next important factor was children, which covers Sapta varga. The next three were career, conveyances, and overall happiness, which covers Dasa varga.
- Shad varga (6 vargas) – D1, D2, D3, D9, D12, D30
- Sapta varga (7 vargas) – adds D7
- Dasa varga (10 vargas) – adds D10, D16, D60
- Shodasa varga (16 vargas) – adds D4, D20, D24, D27, D40, D45
Second factor – Panchadha Sambhanda
The second factor is the state of happiness of the graha in each of the vargas. The graha gets the following points in each varga. Remember, the panchadha sambhanda is determined using only the D1 chart. The example, given later, will make this point clear.
- Own house – 20 points
- Great friend’s house – 18 points
- Friend’s house – 15 points
- Neutral graha’s house – 10 points
- Enemy’s house – 7 points
- Great enemy’s house – 5 points
Weightage
The weights assigned indicate the importance of each varga in the group of vargas selected. Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (BPHS) gives the following weightage for each of four Vimsopaka bala calculations.
| Varga | Shad | Sapta | Dasa | Shodasa |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rasi (D1) | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3.5 |
| Hora (D2) | 2 | 2 | 1.5 | 1 |
| Drekkana (D3) | 4 | 3 | 1.5 | 1 |
| Navamsa (D9) | 5 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 3 |
| Dwadasamsa (D12) | 2 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 |
| Trimsamsa (D30) | 1 | 2 | 1.5 | 1 |
| Saptamsa (D7) | 1 | 1.5 | 0.5 | |
| Dasamsa (D10) | 1.5 | 0.5 | ||
| Kalamsa (D16) | 1.5 | 2 | ||
| Shastiamsa (D60) | 5 | 4 | ||
| Vimsamsa (D20) | 0.5 | |||
| Chaturvimsamsa (D24) | 0.5 | |||
| Bhamsa (D27) | 0.5 | |||
| Turyamsa (D4) | 0.5 | |||
| Khavedamsa (D40) | 0.5 | |||
| Akshavedamsa (D45) | 0.5 | |||
| Total | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
If you look at the weights for Shad varga, self (D1) contributes 6/20 or 30% towards the score. The next important factor is the spouse – 5/20 or 25%. Siblings get the next highest weight… In my opinion, you can create your own varga group, based on the factors that are important in your life, and assign appropriate weights. You can then create your own Vimsopala score. For today’s society, I would consider D10 (career) and D24 (education) important contributors to one’s happiness and weight them higher.
Result of the calculation
The result is broken down below based on the actual score. The lowest possible score is 5 and the highest is 20. Therefore, 16 and above is very good, and less than 10 is bad. The rest are average. The range is 5-15. BPHS gives 8 grades for this range. The vimsopaka points are my values to cover the possible range.
| Grade | Vimsopaka points | Beneficial effects |
| Atipoorna | 18 to 20 | Exceptional |
| Poorna | 16 to 18 | Very Good |
| Atimadhya | 14 to 16 | Above average |
| Madhya | 12 to 14 | Average |
| Swalpa | 10 to 12 | Minimal |
| Atiswalpa | 8 to 10 | Non-existant |
| Heena | 6 to 8 | Destructive |
| Atiheena | 5 to 6 | Very destructive |
An important point is that exaltation in vargas do not factor into this metric. So, if you have Mars in Capricorn in all the vargas, it would score lower in Vimsopaka bala because Mars considers Saturn neutral. This allows Mars to take on only two values – 15, if Saturn is a temporal friend, or 7 if Saturn is a temporal enemy.
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