ASHTAKAVARGA - PART 5

INTRODUCTION;

In our previous article we had discussed how Ashtakavarga compensates for shortcomings in a
chart that occur due to general principles of astrology. In this article, we will go on to discuss
how each planet influences the Ashtakavarga Chart.

How do planets influence us? They control lives of human beings through vibrations.
Astrology, in brief, is the science of vibrations and it is this vibrational energy which produces all
the effects that we perceive, both good and bad.

SUN - AN ENERGY CENTRE

Everything that we need to do requires energy. Hence we often say, I cant do anything now.
I am feeling very tired. I want to sleep. When we sleep, our body revitalizes itself and when we
get up we feel as though we are fresh.


In a car showroom, you can see all varieties of cars. Some of them have utility value, some of
them are so costly that they are termed luxury Cars, some are sturdy, some are useful only for
city use but one feature which is common to all cars is that without fuel (which may be Petrol
or Diesel), no car will run. One can find lot of posh houses today having all kinds of modern
electronic devices but the fact remains that when there is power cut, no device will function.

We know in this world, the sun is main source of energy. Plants utilize this energy for their
growth. Even in our human body, certain important chemical changes are brought about
through sunlight. For example human body when exposed to sunlight produces Vitamin D.
When we speak of the nine planets, we know that Sun is also a planet in astrology. When we
speak of the nine planets in Astronomy we exclude Sun, Moon, Rahu and Ketu and include in
their place Earth, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. When we talk of Astrology, we treat Sun as
planet. Still we need to appreciate one key difference between Sun and the remaining eight
planets - Sun generates energy of its own. We can call the Sun as one gigantic nuclear power
plant operating through the scientific process called nuclear fusion. All planets as well as Moon,
merely reflect the light of the Sun and hence appear to be luminous. Despite the best efforts of
scientists, the world over, nuclear energy through fusion has not become a viable proposition in
a large scale. So it is a wonder that God was able to set up such a large nuclear power plant
(propelled by nuclear fusion) without any scientists working on that or engineers to do the
construction of the factory. The Sun is not only the epicenter of power but also a living God
whom we worshiping daily as the soul of the Trinity, Brahma , Vishnu and Siva (Virinchi
narayana Sankaratmane). The sacred Gayathri Manthra is also an invocation to the Sun and
occupies a very important place in the spiritual pursuit of Mankind. With these introductory
remarks about the Sun, let us now turn our attention to the Suns Ashtakavarga Chart.










Predictions through Suns Ashtakavarga


There are two important concepts we need to grasp here.

1. Though, Ashtakavarga is primarily a tool to assess transits, it can still be used to judge the
strength of planets in natal chart. So the first concept we need to understand here is that,
predictions based sun based on natal chart need to be based on how many bindus it has
obtained in suns Bhinnashtakavarga.

2. The second concept we need to know is that not only Sun in its transit will deliver results
based on Suns Bhinnashtakavarga but also other planets in their transit will influence the
matters over which sun has domination, based on the number of bindus in the suns
Ashtakavarga chart.

Now we will have a detailed look at the first concept mentioned above.

1. Sun in the 10
th
house is supposed to be very strong especially when in Aries. In addition to
being in own house or exaltation if it is associated with 5 or more bindus, Rajayoga is caused.

2. One becomes the owner of vast estates if all the following conditions are satisfied.

a) Jupiter is in a Kendra from Sun as well as lagna.

b) Jupiter is in own house in the middle of a bhava and has 3 or more bindus in the
Suns Ashtakavarga chart.

3. When sun is in an upachaya house meaning 3,6 or 11 with 3 bindus or more , then those
bhavas prosper.

4. When Sun is in its own house or in exaltation in Lagna,with 5 or more bindus the person
becomes a king endowed with long life.

5. Diplomats, Ambassadors and ministers are people who enjoy royal favour. Lifestyle of such
people can best be described as enviable. They also enjoy very good social status. One will
attain this status if sun occupies the 5
th
house with above average bindus.

6. There are many people who go to astrologers to verify whether they will enjoy power and
status. If sun as lagna lord is well placed with more than 5 bindus, one will enjoy good status
and will be placed in life having access to power and regal paraphernalia.







The above concept we discussed, just a while earlier is that sun gives different results based on
its transit over houses with varying bindus. The results are tabulated as follows:

1. bindu Diseases, sorrows
2 bindus Misunderstanding, worries
3 bindus Aimless travels, mental affliction
4 bindus Parity of loss and gain
5 bindus Meeting pious people, Learning new things or subjects.
6 bindus Good health, fortune
7 bindus Honours & riches are got.
8 bindus Highest honour, Universal respect.

After going through the above table, one question may be raised. Is this table applicable to
Gochara movement of Sun or to the natal placement of Sun in a persons horoscope? As
discussed Ashtakavarga applies only to the Gochara movement of Sun. However I wish to
emphasize that the rules stated above can be effectively employed to assess the influence of
suns placement in radical horoscopes also.

I wish to give one commonplace example to explain this point. Schoolchildren while playing
street cricket use tennis balls. So at times a tennis ball performs the role of a cricket ball.
Likewise the rules of Ashtakavarga can be imported into general rules of Astrology for improving
our comprehension of natal charts.

In this write up. for the first time in this series of articles on Ashtakavarga, we will have a look at
a few horoscopes to understand the theory part in a practical way.

Before we venture into this,a few points in relation to theory and practice need to be understood
clearly. In fact one reader has sent an e mail to us, stating that he wishes to have practical
chart analysis done after every theoretical point is discussed. Now I wish to state that if the
theory part is well understood, applying it in practice would be easy. But to understand theory
from reading charts would be an exercise in futility. The story goes that a man keen on finding
out what causes inebriation went to investigate a group of alcoholics. Each of them was tasting
a different drink (whisky, Vodka, gin etc), which of course is usually consumed along with soda.
The man arrived at the conclusion that since the common ingredient in all these drinks is Soda,
the inebriation is attributable to Soda.(whereas in reality soda never causes inebriation)Though
this analogy might found a bit crude, the important lesson that it teaches is that it is always
possible to take the wrong logic out of analysis of the chart. Hence my earnest request is that
theory should be learnt as theory only. Reading of horoscopes is not a substitute for
learning the theory behind astrology.The theory tell us the cause. The chart tells us the
result. So theory and practice have a cause-effect equation . With these words, we will discuss
three horoscopes, now being taken up for analysis.

The first chart we take up for analysis is the chart of the great philosopher and theosophist, J
Krishnamurti (May 12,1895 - Feb 17,1986). He was raised under the tutelage of two great
leaders of Theosophical Society, namely Annie Besant and C.W.Leadbeater.

In his chart both the Sun and Saturn are exalted with six bindus each. The signs which they
occupy, viz., Aries and Libra, obtain 36 bindus each in the Sarvashtakavarga chart. It is
important to note that for Capricorn lagna, Sun does not become a malefic by owning the 8
th

house as it is said that Ashtamadipathya dosha does not apply to the Sun and the Moon.

In Chart 2, which belongs to eminent vocalist of yesteryears, M.S. Subbalakshmi, who was the
first musician to be honoured with the Bharat Ratna award, Sun joins an exalted planet in both
Rasi as well as Navamsa and is also placed with 4 bindus. Though Sun is in 12, it is actually
placed in 11
th
bhava. So in placement, conjunction as well as in Ashtakavarga, the Sun is well
placed to give excellent results.

Chart 3 belongs to a retired Government Official who worked as a Chief Commissioner of
Income Tax. In his horoscope, Sun occupies a Kendra as lagna lord with 4 bindus and in
Scorpio, which has 27 bindus in sarvashtakavarga chart.

Summing up this discussion, we find that in all the three horoscopes, the following features are
present.

1. Sun is well placed

2. It obtains good number of bindus in the Bhinnashtakavarga chart or/and obtaining
good number of bindus in the sarvashtakavarga chart.

3. They are blessed with high reputation or/and Government honour or patronage.

Due to limitations of space, we need to conclude our discussion about the Sun with a request to
our student readers to analyse more charts with the principles discussed so far to gain clarity
in perception. In our next article we will take up the Ashtakavarga of Moon for our analysis.