Adhi Devata worship

Sri Guru Raghavendraaya Namah

Hari Jeevottamah
Dear Jyotish Gurvis and gurujis,
Kindly enlighten me when is the propitiation of a planet preferred over
the adhi devata worship? What are the fundamental differences between
how the graha manifests the results in either of the above forms of
propitiation?
Also is the adhi devata different between the times when the graha
signifies a male form vs. a female form natally? (For example, Ketu
graha conjunct Venus in Taurus)
Thank you,
Jayashree
|| Om Gurave Namah ||
Dear Jayashree,
Let me try to explain this to you by my understanding. In Jyotish we use 9 prime
factors to understand horoscope (+ Lagna), Each of the 9 parameters are further
divided in 3 Levels. At the basic level these are graha, at the higher level they are
Adhi devata and Pratyaadhi devatas. Just as we have three prime references to
analyse chart namely, Sun, Moon and Lagna. We also have 3 Levels of each of the
9 parameters.
Graha
Devata
Physical

Adhi Devata

Pratyadi
Devata

Mental

Soul

Sun

Surya

Agni (Fire)

Shiva

Moon

Chandra

Apas (Water)

Gauri

Mars

Mangal

Prithvi (Earth) Ksetrapal

Mercury Budha

Visnu

Narayana

Jupiter

Brihaspati

Indra

Brahma

Venus

Shukra

Sachi

Indra

Saturn

Shanaischara Prajapati

Yama

Rahu

Rahu

Pitris

Durga

Ketu

Ketu

Brahma

Chitragupta

(Table used from http://www.shrifreedom.com/jyotishNavagrahaSuktam.shtml )

Depending on the type of strength you want you can do the mantras of Graha,
Adhi or Pratya adhi devata. Usually during complete pooja all the three are
invoked together. For the third level you can use Karthikeya for Mars, Sadashiva
(or Brahman) for Jupiter, Lakshmi for Venus and Ganesha for Ketu.