Category Archives: Vedic Astrology

Leo Archetype

Archetype is a very typical example of a person or thing. In this blog we explore the Leo archetype. The association with a person helps us remember the salient points of the sign.

Leo represents regality, much like its symbol, the Lion; the king of the jungle. Leo is a male and active sign. It is a Fire sign, and is a fixed sign. All these together show a person with lots of energy, self-obsession, and a desire for royal life. The archetype for Leo is Donald Trump. Below is the chart of Trump.

Leo archetype

Donald Trump’s ascendant is Leo. The ascendant determines one’s personality. He epitomizes a lot of Leo’s qualities. Donald lives a royal life and his focus is always on himself. He is very conscious of what others think about him and lives to keep up appearances. He actively works to build up his image and improve his brand.

Difference from Aries

The main difference between Leo and Aries is that Leo is a fixed sign while Aries is a moveable sign. The fixed nature helps anchor the energy and channel it in a constructive way. This is the difference between the energy of an explorer vs the energy of a King.

Other examples 1

Ascendant in Leo – King Henry VIII, Louis XVI, and Jawaharlal Nehru also have their ascendant in Leo. Henry VIII and Louis XVI could easily be Leo Archetypes as well. Donald Trump is just a more recent and current example.

Sun in Leo – Sun is at home in Leo. Sun also signifies royalty adding synergy between the graha and the sign. Louis XVI and Napoleon have Sun in Leo.

Moon in Leo – the presence of Moon in Leo gives individuals a mind that feels like a King. Paramahamsa Yogananda has his ascendant and his Moon in Leo. He is one of the most famous Hindu monks in America. His book the “Autobiography of a Yogi” introduced meditation and yoga to the west. Dolly Parton also has her ascendant and Moon in Leo.

Mars in Leo – Mars is comfortable in a Fire sign and is friends with the Sun. Charles Manson’s chart shows the effect of Mars in Leo. It shows violence and leadership. Indira Gandhi also has Mars in Leo. India went through “emergency rule” during her reign as Prime Minister. She was also assassinated by her security guards.

Venus in Leo – Roger Federer, the most stylish tennis star, has his ascendant and Venus in Leo. Artist Edgar Degas has Venus in Leo. Julia Roberts, Pam Anderson, and Martha Stewart have Venus in Leo as well.

Other examples 2

Mercury in Leo – Ernest Hemmingway has his ascendant and Mercury in Leo. David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett Packard (HP) has his Sun and Mercury in Leo.

Jupiter in Leo – Tom Hanks has his ascendant and Jupiter in Leo. He is a philanthropist and likes to dabble in philosophy. Bill Gates, another philanthropist, also has Jupiter in Leo.

Saturn in Leo – Saturn and Sun are not friends. Therefore, Leo is not a good position for Saturn. Prince Charles has Saturn in Leo.

Ketu in Leo – Ketu signifies spirituality. Uma Thurman has Ketu and her ascendant in Leo. She spent her childhood with the Dalai Lama. Another example is Swami Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON. He channeled his Ketu into fame.

Rahu in Leo – Rahu deals with unexpected rise and fall. Charles Dickens has Rahu and his ascendant in Leo. He rose from humble beginnings to the greatest author in the English language. Barack Obama and Amitabh Bachchan also have Rahu in Leo. Both are more successful than they ever imagined.

Donald Trump represents Leo archetype perfectly. The other examples show how Leo can influence the grahas in its sign.

Aries Archetype

Archetype is a very typical example of a person or thing. In this blog we explore the Aries archetype. The association with a person helps us remember the salient points of the sign.

Aries represents energy and lots of it; like its symbol – a Ram Aries is a male and active sign. It is a Fire sign, and is a moveable sign. All these together show a penchant for action and adventure. The archetype for Aries is Adolf Hitler. Below is the chart of Hitler.

Aries archetype

Adolf Hitler

Aries is prominent in Hilter’s chart. His ascendant is in Aries. He has four grahas in Aries and runs the mahadasha of three of them. The sign flavors the behavior of the grahas in the sign.

Mars, the commander-in-cheif, is at home in the sign of energy. Mars epitomizes all the qualities of Aries and hence Aries is the moolatrikona house of Mars. The qualities greatly help a King. Therefore, Aries is the sign of exaltation for the Sun (the King). Hitler wanted to rule the world and used his military might to conquer the world.

Hitler has Venus in Aries. Not many know that Hitler studied fine arts and applied twice to the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna to pursue his art interest. He was rejected both times. We can only wonder what the world would be if Hitler had become an artist instead! The Aries influence on Venus, however, made Hitler want to covet art and he did so by looting and hoarding art from all the countries he conquered.

Mercury rules communications. Hitler was a brilliant orator. His oratorical skills, true to Aries, were full of energy and were used to rile up his supporters.

Energy can be good or bad. On the positive front, the same energy can make someone a pioneer and an inventor. Positive energy can also make one excel in sports and the armed forces. The main reason for the negativity in Hitler’s chart is a weak ascendant lord. Venus, his ascendant lord, is in an enemy sign and is influenced by two very strong malefics, in the Sun and Mars. Mars’ influence is the greatest because Aries is also Mars’ house. Venus is also in a planetary war with Mars and is further aspected by Saturn.

Other examples

The attributes of the sign influence the results of the graha in the sign. We can look at examples of charts with each of the nine grahas in Aries.

Sun in Aries – Apart from Hitler, Queen Elizabeth II and Catherine the Great also have Sun in Aries.

Moon in Aries – Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron have Moon in Aries. Joe Biden wears his emotions on his sleeves.

Mars in Aries – Apart from Hitler, John F Kennedy, Steve Jobs, Vivekananda, and Catherine the Great have Mars in Aries. You can see great energy in all their lives.

Venus in Aries – Apart from Hitler, great artists like Renoir, Michelangelo, Salvador Dali, and Frank Lloyd Wright have Venus in Aries. They showed their energy in their artworks.

Jupiter in Aries – Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King have Jupiter in Aries. They both used energy to fight for dharma, the main quality of Jupiter.

Mercury in Aries – Apart from Hilter, John F Kennedy, Malcom X, and William Randolf Hearst have Mercury in Aries. In each of them, energy can be seen in their communication and media prowess.

Saturn in Aries – Saturn does not fare well in Aries. Saturn’s qualities are diametrically opposite to that of Aries’. Therefore, Aries is the sign of Saturn’s debilitation.

Rahu in Aries – Marconi, Karl Marx, Niel Armstrong, Paramahamsa Yogananda, and Sigmund Freud have Rahu in Aries. They each found success in fields that were new for their times.

Ketu in Aries – John Paul II’s chart has Ketu in Aries. He channeled his energy towards spiritual goals.

Adolf Hitler represents the Aries archetype perfectly. The other examples show how Aries can influence the grahas in its sign.

Emmanuel Macron Vedic Chart

Emmanuel Macron

Emmanuel Macron, the current French President, was born on December 21st 1977, at 10:40 am, in Amiens, France. Below is Emmanuel Macron Vedic chart.

Emmanuel Macron Vedic Chart

Emmanuel Macron’s vedic chart is very interesting. At first glace we see a weak lagna. The ascendant lord, Saturn, is in the 8th house and Mars, in its sign of debilitation, aspects the ascendant. Further, there are no aspects from benefics on the ascendant or the ascendant lord. This forms a strong Ava yoga. So, how was he so successful?

Multiple Retrograde Grahas

Retrograde is the apparent movement of the graha in the opposite direction. Sun and Moon can never be retrograde and Rahu and Ketu are always retrograde. That leaves the five true planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Each of these true planets can be retrograde, however, it is very rare to have many of them retrograde at the same time. In Macron’s chart four of the five are retrograde. Venus is the only one that is not retrograde.

Retrograde gives raw strength to the graha because the graha is closest to the Earth when it is retrograde. In vedic astrology the term “vakri” is used. This means “crooked” or “unusual”. This indicates unusual effects from the retrograde grahas. For example, we look at the 2nd and 7th house for family and marriage. In Macron’s chart, Saturn is lord of the 2nd house and Mars is in the 7th house. Both are retrograde, indicating unusual nature with respect to family and marriage. Macron fell in love with his high school teacher when he was a teenager. She was 24 years his senior. He married her despite objections from his family and contrary to societal norms. The couple don’t have any children. This is very illustrative of a weak lagna and strong retrograde influences.

Vipareeta Raja Yoga

Vipareeta raja yoga forms when the lord of the bad houses (6,8,12) are in another bad house (6,8,12). The yoga gives status, fame, and financial gains. Macron’s chart is a poster child for this yoga. He has all three Vipareeta yogas. The lord of the 6th house, Mercury, is in the 12th house. The lord of the 8th house, Sun, is also in the 12th house. Finally, the lord of the 12th house, Jupiter, is in the 6th house. Therefore, the lord of all the dustana houses are in another dustana house. This shows that Marcon can achieve success through unconventional means.

Parivartana Yoga

Macron’s chart also has two Parivartana yogas. The first forms between Moon and Mars. This is an exchange of 4th and 7th lords, which forms a maha parivartana yoga. Per Phaladeepika, the yoga gives a high position and luxuries. Marcon ran Moon and Mars mahadashas from 1992 to 2009. The second is between Jupiter and Mercury. This is an exchange of the 6th and 12th lords, which forms both a parivartana and a vipareeta raja yoga. This is one of the main causes of Macron’s sudden rise to power, fueled by Rahu in its maha dasha.

Professional Success

At the time of this article, Macron’s political career is pretty short. His political career starts in 2012. He becomes the Minister of Economy and Industry in 2014 and decides to run for office in 2016. He becomes the President in May 2017. This is super-fast rise to the highest office in the land. Sudden success is very often tied to Rahu and yes, Macron is running his Rahu mahadasha from 2009 to 2027.

Rahu and Ketu play the roles of their rasi lord, nakshatra lord, and other grahas conjunt or aspecting them. In Macron’s chart, there is no conjunction or aspect for Rahu or Ketu. Rahu’s rasi lord is Mercury and the nakshatra lord is Ketu. Ketu, in turns, rasi lord is Jupiter, and nakshatra lord is Mercury. Therefore, Rahu and Ketu effectively play the role of Mercury and Jupiter. These planets form virapeeta raja yoga and parivartana yoga. Both are retrograde as well. This illustrates the quick rise to a very powerful position during the Rahu dasha.

He gets the Presidency in his Rahu/Saturn period, which makes sense because Saturn is his lagna lord. The subperiods of the lagna lord are always important periods in ones life.

His D10 chart also shows the importance career has in his life. Saturn is exalted in the ascendant in his D10 chart and the lord of the ascendant, Venus, aspects the D10 lagna.

Future?

Macron is running Rahu/Ketu until Feb of 2021. After that he runs Rahu/Venus for three years. February of 2021 could mark the end of Coronavirus in France and a new start. Venus is Macron’s 10th lord and is in his 11th house of gains. This bodes well for Macro’s future. His Rahu and Jupiter periods will be good. That takes him into 2043. Saturn’s mahadasha could be challenging because of its overall weakness, but that is many years away.

2021 is the year for Pisces (Meena) and Leo (Simha)

2021 is the year for Pisces (Meena) and Leo (Simha)! 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. 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.

Mathematical model to combine Dashas and Transits

To create a mathematical model, we can give the following weights to each of these factors. The model indicates that transits’ influence can be 30 – 40%.

  • 30% – Maha Dasa Graha
  • 20% – Antar Dasa Graha
  • 10% – Pratyantar Dasa Graha
  • Saturn transit – 10%
  • Jupiter transit – 10%
  • Rahu/Ketu transit – 10%
  • Transit of other Grahas or Transit of the Maha Dasa Graha – 10%

In 2018, people with Kumbha rasi benefited the most from the transits getting the full 30% benefit from Saturn, Jupiter, and Rahu/Ketu transits. People with Libra and Cancer rasis benefited the most in 2019. In 2020, people with Leo rasi benefitted the most with a 20% score. 2021 is mixed or average for most signs. Pisces benefits with a score of 20% for 6 months and Leo benefits with a score of 25% for 6 months. If their maha dasa lord and antar dasa lord where also strong, they would have a spectacular 6 months in 2021. 2021 is the year for Pisces (Meena) and Leo (Simha)!

In 2021 Saturn, Rahu, and Ketu do not change signs the whole year. Saturn is in Capricorn, Rahu is in Taurus, and Ketu is in Scorpio. Jupiter is the only graha that changes signs in 2021. It moves into Capricorn in November of 2020. Jupiter then transits to Aquarius in April of 2021 and back into Capricorn in September of 2021. Finally, Jupiter moves back into Aquarius in November of 2021.

Therefore, we can analyze 2021 in two major chunks

  1. November 2020 to April 2021 and September 2021 to November 2021 (First and End) – Pisces benefits the most in this period
  2. April 2021 to September 2021 and November 2021 to December 2021 (Middle and End) – Leo benefits the most in this period

Good houses for graha transits

GrahaGood HousesNeutral HousesBad Houses
Jupiter2,5,7,9,111,4,103,6,8,12
Saturn3,6,115,7,9,101,2,4,8,12
Rahu/Ketu3,6,10,111,4,72,5,8,9,12

2021 Evaluation by sign (first and end)

RasiJupiter TransitSaturn TransitRahu TransitKetu TransitOverall Score
AriesNeutralNeutralBadBad-10%
TaurusGoodNeutralNeutralNeutral+10%
GeminiBadBadBadGood-20%
CancerGoodNeutralGoodBad+10%
LeoBadGoodGoodNeutral+5%
VirgoGoodNeutralBadGood+10%
LibraNeutralBadBadBad-20%
ScorpioBadGoodNeutralNeutral0%
SagittariusGoodBadGoodBad0%
CapricornNeutralBadBadGood-10%
AquariusBadBadNeutralGood-15%
PiscesGoodGoodGoodBad+20%

2021 Evaluation by sign (middle and end)

RasiJupiter TransitSaturn TransitRahu TransitKetu TransitOverall Score
AriesGoodNeutralBadBad0%
TaurusNeutralNeutralNeutralNeutral0%
GeminiGoodBadBadGood0%
CancerBadNeutralGoodBad-10%
LeoGoodGoodGoodNeutral+25%
VirgoBadNeutralBadGood-10%
LibraGoodBadBadBad-10%
ScorpioNeutralGoodNeutralNeutral10%
SagittariusBadBadGoodBad-20%
CapricornGoodBadBadGood0%
AquariusNeutralBadNeutralGood-5%
PiscesBadGoodGoodBad0%

Overall score: +10% for Jupiter and Saturn if they are “Good”. -10% for Jupiter and Saturn if they are “Bad”. +5% for Rahu and Ketu if they are “Good”. -5% for Rahu and Ketu if they are “Bad”. 0% for “Neutral”.

2021 is mixed or average for most signs. Pisces (Meena) benefits during the beginning of the year and Leo (Simha) benefits in the middle of the year.

Importance of the Ascendant

Harrison Ford and Stephen Bladd

July 13th 1942 is the birth date of two entertainers; Harrison Ford and Stephen Jo Bladd. Harrison Ford was born at 11:41 am in Chicago while Stephen Jo Bladd was born at 3:15 am in Boston. Stephen played drums for “The J. Geils Band”, a popular band in the 1970s and 1980s. While famous in his own right, Stephen’s fame does not compare to that of Harrison Ford’s. The two have very similar charts. All grahas except Moon are in the same signs in their D1, D9, and D10 charts. Moon is in the same sign in the D1 chart, but is in a different sign in D9 and D10 charts. The ascendant, however, is different in all three (D1, D9, D10) charts. These charts can be used to illustrate the importance of the ascendant.

The Charts

Harrison Ford
Stephen Jo Bladd

The similarities in the charts are obvious. Analysis from the Chandra lagna and Surya lagna is the same. As mentioned, the main difference is in the position of the ascendant in the D1, D9, and D10 charts.

Focal Point in the Charts

The natural focal point in both charts is the sign Gemini. Gemini has Sun, Moon, Mercury, and Jupiter in both charts. Mercury is very strong. It is in its own house and forms Budha Aditya yoga with Sun. There is good separation between Sun and Mercury to avoid combustion. Stephen runs Mercury from 1971 to 1988. Harrison runs Mercury from 1965 to 1982. This is the period that both men achieved fame. Therefore we can examine the Mercury mahadasha in greater detail.

Mercury Mahadasha for Stephen

In Stephen’s chart, Gemini is the 2nd house from the ascendant. The grahas conjunct are the lords of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, and 11th houses. The gives Stephen many dhana and dharmakarmadhipati yogas. The combination activates creative energy from the 3rd and 5th houses, gains and successes from the 11th house, and wealth and family from the 2nd house. The combination misses two key factors though. The first house and its lord (Venus) are not involved. Likewise, the 10th house and its lord (Saturn) are not involved. This leaves Stephen with success but not extraordinary fame. Mercury is in the 4th house in D9 and the 11th house in D10.

Mercury Mahadasha for Harrison

In Harrison’s chart, Gemini is the 10th house from the ascendant and Mercury is the lord of the ascendant. Mercury forms one of the pancha mahapurusha yogas, Bhadra yoga. Sun has digbala adding strength to Mercury. This makes Mercury extra strong. The grahas conjunct are the lords of the 1st, 4th, 7th, 10th, 11th, and 12th houses. All the kendra house lords are involved. This makes for an action-oriented person. Mercury is the 10th house in D9 and the 1st house in D10. Clearly, the 1st and 10th houses are more prominent in the Mercury mahadasha for Harrison Ford. The extra strength and activation of the 1st and 10th houses, makes the difference between the two Mercury mahadashas.

These charts provide further proof of the importance of the ascendant in a chart.

Trimurthi or Hariharabrahma Yogas

Trimurthi or Hariharabrahma yogas

Trimurthi or Hariharabrahma yogas are a set of three yogas. The first is Hari yoga, the second is Hara yoga, and the third is Brahma yoga. Hari, Hara, and Brahma represent the three main gods in Hinduism – Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma – the Trimurthi. Therefore these yogas are Trimurthi or Hariharabrahma yogas.

The general format of these yogas involves starting with the lord of a house and having benefics in three specific houses from that lord. All three houses should be oocupied by benefics. The yogas are stronger if there is no malefic influence. The benefics are Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury. Moon can be a benefic if it is a waxing Moon. A person with any of these yogas is happy, learned, wealthy, and is blessed with good children.

Hari Yoga

Hari yoga forms when benefics occupy the 2nd, 12th, and 8th houses from the lord of the 2nd house. Benefics in 2nd and 12th from the 2nd lord provides shuba kartari yoga of the 2nd lord of wealth. A malefic in the 8th house from the 2nd lord causes a 6-8 combination between the 2nd lord and the malefic in the 8th house. Therefore, it is desirable to have a benefic in the 8th house from the 2nd lord.

Hara Yoga

Hara yoga forms when benefics occupy the 4th, 9th, and 8th houses from the lord of the 7th house.

Brahma yoga

Brahma yoga forms when benefics occupy the 4th, 10th, and 11th houses from the ascendant lord.

These are rare yogas. That is why they are not found in many texts. Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra mentions them in Chapter 36. The reference point of these yogas is the 1st, 2nd, and 7th lords. These represent the self, wealth, and spouse – three key houses in a chart.

Parvata and Kahala Yogas

In vedic astrology the lord of the ascendant is very important. For yogas to give their full effect, the lord of the ascendant must be strong. Sometimes, when you look at the charts of famous people, the lord of the ascendant is not strong. You wonder how the yogas provided their effects. The answer very often lies in Parvata and Kahala yogas.

I am using the definition given in Phala Deepika. There are other definitions given in other books including Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra. However, the definition in Phala Deepika directly ties to the strength of the ascendant’s lord.

Parvata Yoga

Parvata yoga forms when the dispositor (lord) of the lord of the ascendant is in its own sign or in its sign of exaltation and in Kendra or Trikona position from the ascendant. The lord of the ascendant gets second-order support because its lord is strong.

Person with this yoga is wealthy and happy. He or she performs acts that last a long time, like building temples, hospitals…

Kahala Yoga

Kahala yoga forms when the dispositor of the dispositor of the lord of the ascendant is in its own sign or in its sign of exaltation and in Kendra or Trikona position from the ascendant. The lord of the ascendant gets third-order support because its lord’s lord is strong.

Person with this yoga is noble, kind, prosperous, and popular in public.

Effectively, Parvata and Kahala yogas provide second-order and third-order support to the ascendant lord.

Parvata yoga example – Warren Buffet

Warren Buffet

In Warren Buffet’s chart, the ascendant’s lord is Jupiter. Jupiter does not have primary strength. However, Jupiter’s lord – Mercury, is very strong. Mercury is in kendra and is in its own sign. This forms Parvata yoga. Mercury also forms Bhadra mahapurusha yoga.

Kahala Yoga example – Walt Disney

Walt Disney

In Walt Disney’s chart, the lord of the ascendant is Mercury. Mercury does not have any primary strength. Next we look at Mercury’s lord. Mercury’s lord is Mars. Mars also does not have any primary strength. Next we look at Mars’ lord. Mars’ lord is Jupiter. Jupiter is in its own sign and in kendra position. This forms Kahala yoga. Jupiter also forms Hamsa mahapurusha yoga.

Therefore, these examples show how Parvata and Kahala yogas add strength to the lord of the ascendant.

Adhi Yoga

Adhi yoga forms when the three benefics, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury occupy the 6th, 7th, and 8th houses from the ascendant or the Moon. Some books indicate the grahas should occupy all three houses while others are fine if the grahas are in any of the three houses.

Therefore, you could have one of the following combinations

  1. Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury together in the 6th, 7th or 8th house
  2. Two of the grahas in one house (6,7 or 8) and the other in another house (6,7, or 8)
  3. Each graha individually in the three houses

The third combination is the rarest and the second combination is the most common.

Results of the Yoga

Person with this yoga is a leader, is prosperous, is famous, is wealthy, and is long-lived. All very good qualities to have. The strength of the result depends on the strength of the participating planets. Please refer to “how to analyze yogas in vedic astrology“.

Lagnadhi Yoga

This yoga from the ascendant is Lagnadhi yoga. Sigmund Freud has the rarest example of this yoga. He was obviously, a leader, famous, wealthy, and lived a long life.

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud has Jupiter in the 6th house, Venus in the 7th house, and Mercury in the 8th house from his ascendant. Jupiter is in its own house, Venus is with an exalted Sun, and Mercury is with an exalted Moon. The luminaries provide strength to Venus and Mercury, thereby making all three benefics very strong.

Chandradhi Yoga

The yoga from the Moon is Chandradhi yoga. Bill Gates has the rarest form of this yoga from his Moon. It is amazing how many times you can use Bill Gates’ chart to illustrate yogas.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates has Jupiter in the 6th house, Mercury in the 7th house, and Venus in the 8th house from his Moon. Mercury and Venus are in their own houses respectively.

The principle of Adhi yoga is the funneling of benefic influence from the 6th, 7th, 8th houses to the ascendant. Benefics in the 6th and 8th house form shubakartari yoga for the 7th house. This fortifies the strength of the benefic in the 7th house, which in turn directly aspects the ascendant or the Moon as the case may be.

Vimsopaka Bala Example

Napolean

We will manually calculate Vimsopaka bala with Napolean’s vedic chart as an example.

Napolean birth details – August 15th 1769 at 11:30 am in Ajaccio, France. Below is the shad vargas for Napolean’s chart.

Vimsopaka bala example

I chose Napolean’s chart because it gives a different result if you exclude exaltation and moolatrikona. Sun is in Aries in D9 and D30. Jupiter is exalted in Cancer in D2 and D12.

Step 1: Determine the Panchadha Sambhanda from D1

The panchadha sambhanda should only be evaluated from the D1 chart. Do not look at this in the varga charts. We will do the analysis for Sun and Jupiter. The “Natural” row indicates the natural friendship between grahas. Sun is friends with Moon, Mars, and Jupiter. Sun is neutral to Mercury. Finally, Sun is enemies with Venus and Saturn. The “Temporal” row indicates the placement of the grahas from Sun or Jupiter. Grahas in houses 2, 3, 4, and 12, 11, 10 are friends. Grahas in houses 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 are enemies.

SunMoMaMeJuVeSa
Natural FriendshipFFNFEE
Temporal FriendshipEEFFFF
Total SunNNFGFNN
F: Friend, E: Enemy, N: Neutral, GF: Great Friend, GE: Great Enemy
JupiterSuMoMaMeVeSa
Natural FriendshipFFFEEN
Temporal FriendshipFFFFEF
Total JupiterGFGFGFNGEF
F: Friend, E: Enemy, N: Neutral, GF: Great Friend, GE: Great Enemy

Step 2 : Determine placement in vargas and associated grade

A graha in its own sign receives 20 points. A graha in its great friend, friend, neutral, enemy, and great enemy’s sign receives 18, 15, 10, 7, and 5 respectively. Please refer to the calculation method blog to understand the 20 points for Sun in D30.

Shad VargaSu SignSu GradeJu SignJu Grade
D1LeoOwn 20/20LiGE 5/20
D2LeoOwn 20/20CaGF 18/20
D3LeoOwn 20/20GeN 10/20
D9ArN 10/20TaGE 5/20
D12LeoOwn 20/20CaGF 18/20
D30Ar20/20GeN 10/20

Step 3: Applying the weights

The final step is to scale the values with the varga weights and add them. The weights for shad varga are 6, 2, 4, 5, 2, 1 for D1, D2, D3, D9, D12, and D30 respectively.

For Sun: 6*1 + 2*1 + 4*1 + 5*0.5 + 2*1 + 1*1 = 17.5

For Jupiter: 6*0.25 + 2*0.9 + 4*0.5 + 5*0.25 + 2*0.9 + 1*0.5 = 8.85

Shad VargaWeightSu GradeJu Grade
D1610.25
D2210.9
D3410.5
D950.50.25
D12210.9
D30110.5
Total17.58.85

Therefore, Sun gives auspicious results for Napolean and Jupiter gives no beneficial results.

This shows Vimsopaka bala calculation through an example.

Vimsopaka Bala Calculation

vimsopaka bala calculation

This is a continuation of the Vimsopaka bala blog. Vedic astrology softwares give different values for Vimsopaka bala. Why are there differences in Vimsopaka bala calculation?

Reasons for different values

Here are some of the main reasons there are differences in Vimsopaka bala calculations.

  1. Some include exaltation and debilitation into the calculation. The BPHS calculation excludes exaltation and debilitation.
  2. Some consider Moolatrikona signs. The calculation gives 20 points to a graha when it is in its own house. For every graha other than Moon, the Moolatrikona sign is also its own sign. In the case of Moon, the moolatrikona is Taurus, but its own sign is Cancer. The BPHS calculation does not give 20 points when Moon is in Taurus.
  3. The BPHS system assigns 20, 18, 15, 10, 7, and 5 points for the six states. Some softwares use different values.
  4. Hora (D2) calculation is not clearly specified. In Hora all grahas are in either Cancer or Leo. Moon in Cancer and Sun in Leo get 20 points each. The calculation for every other case is ambiguous. BPHS specifies that Sun, Mars, and Sun are strong in Leo. Moon, Venus, Saturn are strong in Cancer. Mercury is strong in both Leo and Cancer. The first one-third of the Hora gives full results, the next one-third gives medium results and the last one-third gives no results.
  5. Trimsamsa (D30) cannot have Moon in Cancer and Sun in Leo. Therefore, they cannot get 20 points in the D30 chart. To rectify this, BPHS asks us to liken Sun to Mars and Moon to Venus. Therefore, if Sun is in Aries or Scorpio, should it get 20 points? Likewise, if Moon is in Taurus or Libra should it get 20 points?

Approach taken in this blog

  1. Exaltation, debilitation, and moolatrikona are not considered.
  2. The 20, 18, 15, 10, 7, 5 weights are used
  3. D2 calculation
    • Sun in Leo and Moon in Cancer get 20 points
    • Rest are evaluated like other varga charts.
  4. D30 calculation
    • Moon in Taurus or Sun in Aries gets 20 points.
    • Rest are evaluated like other varga charts.

Vimsopaka bala calculation looks straightforward at a high level. However, there are minute details that make the calculation subjective. Therefore, you end up with each software giving a different value.

In analysis, there is another confusion. Which varga group do you use? There is no consensus on this. I would use shad varga or dasa varga.

Vimsopaka Bala Example