Continuing our discussion from the previous post about the Navagraha family, let us, now, look at the nature of the grahas. Grahas are natural benefics or natural malefics. Natural benefic grahas bring out growth and natural malefic grahas restrict growth.

In keeping with the vedic tradition, the Ministers (teachers) are benefic. In fact, Jupiter and Venus, the Deva guru and the Asura guru, are the only grahas that are always benefic. Rahu and Ketu, the head and body of an Asura, are always malefic. Saturn and Mars are also always malefic.

The Sun is cruel, because of its heat, but not truly malefic.

The Moon and Mercury are sometimes benefic and sometimes malefic.

When is Moon malefic?

The Moon is malefic if it is within 72 degrees on either side of the Sun. Otherwise, the Moon is benefic. So, the Moon is 40% of the time malefic and 60% of the time benefic.

When is Mercury malefic?

Mercury, is an impressionable Prince. If Mercury is alone he is benefic, indicating that the natural nature of Mercury is benefic. If Mercury is conjunct the Sun or only the Sun aspects it, he is still benefic. The influence of the father on the Prince is benefic. If only malefics (Rahu, Ketu, Saturn, or Mars) aspect Mercury, he turns malefic. The malefic influence of the bad grahas influence the young Prince, who becomes malefic. An influence of Jupiter, however, can reverse the negative influence. Under the guidance of a good teacher, the Prince remains benefic; even if he has bad friends.

Interestingly, the nature of the navagrahas, as a whole, is more malefic. Let us assume Mercury is half the time benefic and half the time malefic. Then, the total for the benefic grahas is 3.1 (Jupiter + Venus + 0.6 Moon + 0.5 Mercury) and the total of the malefic grahas is 4.9 (Rahu + Ketu + Saturn + Mars + 0.4 Moon + 0.5 Mercury). Sun is also considered malefic in most vedic astrology texts, further skewing the malefic total to 5.9/9 or 65%.

It is important to understand the nature of the grahas and the role they play in the navagraha family to infer the results of many things in vedic astrology, like strengths, combinations, aspects…

We will exclude Rahu and Ketu in the navagraha family because they are not real entities. Analysis of Rahu and Ketu is complex and they, normally, take the nature and role of one or more of the seven real grahas.

Family roles

Let us start with the role the seven grahas play in the navagraha family. Sun is the King, Moon is the Queen, Jupiter is the Minister (adviser), Mars is the Commander in Chief, Mercury is the Prince, and Saturn is the Servant. We left out Venus. Venus is also a Minister. While Jupiter advises the good team, the Devas, Venus advises the bad team, the Asuras. In some sense, if the kingdom is good, Jupiter is more important as an adviser and if the kingdom is bad, Venus is more important as an adviser.

The King (Sun) is powerful and authoritative. The Queen (Moon) is compassionate and caring. Jupiter, the Minister, is wise and advises the King on the path of Dharma. Venus, the other minister, is a Machiavellian; smart but in a cunning way. Mars is strong, determined, and fiery. The Prince (Mercury) is a rebel and is easily influenced. Finally, Saturn is industrious and hardworking.

Saturn is the son of the Sun, but is not given the status of a Prince. Saturn can be considered an illegitimate son of Sun. Sun and Saturn do not like each other.

Family groups

The seven grahas can be grouped into two teams – Team A consists of Sun, Moon, Jupiter, and Mars and Team B consists of Saturn, Venus, and Mercury. Team A is essentially the governing body of the kingdom. It has the King, Queen, Minister, and Commander in Chief and is considered the good team. Team B has the rebellious Prince and the Servant advised by the Machiavellian Minister.

Friends and Enemies

The table below shows the friends and enemies of each graha. The ones not mentioned are neutral. So, Sun likes Moon, Mars, and Jupiter. Sun dislikes Venus and Saturn. Sun is neutral to Mercury.

Graha	Friends	Enemies
Sun	Moon Mars Jupiter	Venus Saturn
Moon	Sun Mercury
Mars	Sun Moon Jupiter	Mercury
Jupiter	Sun Moon Mars	Mercury Venus
Mercury	Sun Venus	Moon
Venus	Mercury Saturn	Sun Moon
Saturn	Mercury Venus	Sun Moon Mars

The table is hard to memorize and so, we will try to use what we have learnt about the family to see if this table makes sense.

Let us start with the friendship column. This follows the team dynamics for the most part. Sun, Mars, and Jupiter like the others in Team A. Venus and Saturn like the others in Team B. The exceptions are Moon and Mercury.

Moon

Moon is compassionate and so likes one graha in each team. From Team A, Moon picks the Sun (Queen picking the King). From Team B, Moon picks her son, the Prince (Mercury). So, the Moon picks her husband and son.

Mercury

Mercury is a rebel and also picks one graha from each team. He dislikes his mother, the Moon and cannot stand the advises and drills from Jupiter and Mars. So, Mercury picks Sun from Team A. The Machiavellian, Venus is always trying to influence the Prince and so is always friendly to the Prince. Mercury picks Venus from Team B.

The enemy column also follows the team dynamic, but not all grahas in the other team are enemies to a given graha.

Sun

Sun, the King, does not like the scheming Venus and dislikes his illegitimate son, Saturn. He is neutral to the Prince, Mercury. Moon is compassionate, and so does not dislike anyone.

Mars

Mars does not like the rebellious Prince, Mercury. He is neutral to the industrious Saturn and the scheming Venus, both qualities that are needed for a Commander in Chief.

Jupiter

Jupiter, also has problems with the Prince, Mercury. He also dislikes his peer, Venus, who is constantly trying to undermine him. Jupiter is neutral to the hardworking and law abiding Saturn.

Mercury does not like his mother, the Moon. Mercury is neutral to the authoritative figures in his life; Sun, Jupiter, and Mars.

Venus

Venus always wants the position of Jupiter and dislikes the King (Sun) and Queen (Moon) for not giving him the position. He is neutral to the benevolent Jupiter.

Saturn

Saturn, being an illegitimate son, dislikes most of the members of Team A (Sun, Moon, and Mars). He, however, is also law abiding and is neutral towards Jupiter.

Is it desirable to be born in one lagna over another? This is a tough question and, yes, there are successful and unsuccessful individuals in all lagnas. However, does having a particular lagna increase or decrease the probability of success?

To analyze this question we will look at a few dimensions and evaluate each lagna to see if there is an inherent bias.

1. Kala Purusha – The natural zodiac or “kala purusha” starts with Aries and ends in Pisces. Kendra (1,4,7,10) and Trikona (5,9) houses are always considered good and dusthana (3,6,8,12) houses are considered bad. For this exercise we will consider houses 2 and 11 neutral. So, we can say lagnas that are good in “kala purusha” are good for the individual and lagnas that are bad in “kala purusha” are difficult for the individual. This dimension puts Gemini, Virgo, Scorpio, and Pisces at a disadvantage. Taurus and Aquarius are neutral. The rest benefit from this dimension.
2. Natural nature of lagnesh – In evaluating the lagna, the lord of the lagna (lagnesh) is very important. In this dimension we consider it a benefit if the lagnesh is a natural benefic and a disadvantage if the lagnesh is a natural malefic. We take Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, and Moon as natural benefics. So, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Virgo, Libra, Sagittarius, and Pisces benefit from this dimension. Aries, Leo, Scorpio, Capricorn, and Aquarius are at a disadvantage.
3. Functional nature of lagnesh – The lagnesh is a functional benefic if it only owns good houses (1,4,5,7,9,10) – meaning, it does not own a bad houses (3,6,8,12). Gemini (1,4), Virgo (1,10), Sagittarius (1,4), and Pisces (1,10) benefit from this because the lagnesh for these rasis only own kendra houses. Cancer and Leo, also, benefit because the lagnesh does not own a bad house. Capricorn is neutral because its lagnesh, Saturn, owns the first and second houses. The other rasis, Aries (1,8), Taurus (1,6), Libra (1,8), Scorpio (1,6), and Aquarius (1,12) are at a disadvantage.
4. Yoga karaka – A yoga karaka is a graha that owns a kendra (1,4,7,10) and a trikona (5,9) house. This is a clear example of biases in lagnas. Not all lagnas have a yoga karaka. The yoga karaka, all other factors being equal, can help the individual achieve success. For Taurus and Libra lagna, Saturn is the yoga karaka owning 9,10 and 4,5 houses respectively. So, Saturn is beneficial to these lagnas. Mars is the yoga karaka for Cancer (5,10) and Leo (4,9). Venus is the yoga karaka for Capricorn (5,10) and Aquarius (4,9). The rest of the lagnas Aries, Gemini, Virgo, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Pisces do not have a yoga karaka.
5. Dasa length of lagnesh – the timing of events and the fructification of results are determined by the cycle of the grahas in Vimshottari dasa system. Venus has a twenty year cycle. While, Sun has a six year cycle. So, if the lagnesh is strongly placed we get benefit for twenty years in the case of Taurus and Libra, but only six years in the case of Leo. This also seems to suggest a bias towards some lagnas. The longer dasa cycles are those of Jupiter (16 years), Mercury (17 years), Saturn (19 years), and Venus (20 years). The shorter dasa cycles are those of Sun (6 years) and Mars (7 years). Moon, at 10 years, is in between. This dimension benefits Taurus, Gemini, Virgo, Libra, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. This dimension puts Aries, Leo, and Scorpio at a disadvantage and Cancer is neutral.

Putting the above dimensions in a table we get

Rasi/lagna	Kala Purusha	Natural Benefic	Functional Benefic	Yoga Karaka	Dasa Length	Total
Aries						-3
Taurus						2
Gemini						1
Cancer						4
Leo						1
Virgo						1
Libra						3
Scorpio						-5
Sagittarius						3
Capricorn						2
Aquarius						0
Pisces						1

Total is calculated by giving one point to “green”, minus one to “red”, and zero to “grey”.

Clearly, Cancer lagna benefits the most. Cancer also has the added advantage that its lagnesh, the Moon, has no enemies. Typically, a planet sitting in an enemy’s house weakens in strength. In the case of Cancerians, the Moon is never weakened because of this factor. Individuals born in Cancer lagna can consider themselves lucky!

Scorpio is the most disadvantaged. Scorpio is, also, the only rasi where two graha’s (Moon and Rahu) are debilitated. Scorpio is a tough lagna, but it is also the lagna with the most mystical powers and which is best suited for 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.

2018 is the best year for Aquarius or Kumbha Moon sign.

Dasha vs Transits

Vedic astrology uses dasas and transits to determine good and bad periods in a person’s life. In the dasa system we look at grahas at three levels – maha dasa, antar dasa, and pratyantar dasa. Among these, the graha running the maha dasa is the most important. The dasa analysis is done from the individual’s lagna or ascendant. In transits we mainly look at the transits of Saturn, Rahu/Ketu, and Jupiter. Transit analysis is done from the Moon sign.

To create a mathematical model, we can give the following weights to each of these grahas

• 30% – maha dasa graha
• 20% – antar dasa graha
• 10% – pratyantar dasa graha
• Saturn transit – 10%
• Jupiter transit – 10%
• Rahu/Ketu transit – 10%
• Transits of the other grahas or transit of the maha dasa graha – 10%

So, transits can account for 30 – 40% of the influence on a person.

Transits in 2017 to 2018

2017 is an eventful year for graha transits. Jupiter, Saturn, and Rahu/Ketu are the slow moving grahas. All three have transits in 2017. From 26 October 2017 to 11 September 2018, these grahas are in the following rasis.

Graha	Transit To Rasi	Transit Start Date	Transit End Date	Positive Houses
Rahu	Cancer/Kataka	18 AUG 2017	07 MAR 2019	3,6,10,11
Jupiter	Libra/Tula	12 SEP 2017	11 SEP 2018	2,5,7,9,11
Saturn	Scorpio/Vrischika	26 OCT 2017	24 JAN 2020	3,6,11

Aquarius/Khumba, is the only moon rasi for which Rahu, Jupiter, and Saturn transit is good.  Therefore, those born with their moon in Aquarius/Khumba can expect a very successful 2018.

It is very rare for all three transits to benefit one moon sign. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity for my friends with Khumba rasi. So, hope you take full advantage of 2018 being the best year for Aquarius or Kumbha Moon signs.