ASHTAKAVARGA SYSTEM OF PREDICTION PART 27

BY DR.E.S. NEELAKANTAN

We are now in the process of discussing various aspects of Venus in Ashtakavarga. We continue the discussion in this article. When Venus is in Lagna, 4th or the 10th bhava associated with 5 bindus and aspected by a benefic, then the person will own good vehicles. If in this combination, Venus occupies the house of Mars, then there will be immense wealth and many kinds of vehicles will be owned by that person. Please note that Venus in Lagna itself is a boon. Venus governs all the things conducive to enjoyment in this world. It is also a giver of luxury items. Needless to say, Venus in quadrants (barring 7) is capable of giving rise to ownership of good vehicles. Please note that Venus in 6 is not good in a birth chart. If a person has Venus in 6 in the birth chart that person will be bereft of wealth and much aggrieved. We know that 6,8 and 12 are evil houses. Venus yields good effects in 8 and 12, whenever it gives evil effects in 6. Curiously enough Venus yields evil results in 3 and 7. We know that 3 and 7 are Ishtasthanas (good Houses) whereas 8 and 12 are Dustanas (Bad Houses). Paradoxically enough, Venus in 3 and 7 is bad whereas it is good in 8 and 12. Please note that when we are discussing about a chart, Venus will have ownership over two houses (which will be decided once we arrive at the Ascendant sign). Given the functional role of Venus, the prosperity of those two houses, will no doubt, suffer because Venus becomes the occupant of an evil house,while in 6,8 or 12. It is in these areas of contradictions, that the student needs to study a horoscope with care. The same planet may be involved in a dual role; vis--vis its natural role it could be beneficial, vis--vis its functional role, it could be harmful. So, in such cases, Venus in 8 would benefit its innate qualities viewed as a Karaka while its role as a bhava lord would prove counter-productive for that bhava. The second point, we need to discuss is how Venus in 10, could confer vehicles. The answer is simple; Venus in 10 would aspect the 4th house. When the 4th house comes under the aspect of Venus, it would confer good vehicles.Please note that the aspect of Venus per se does not have intrinsic merit and we shall discuss this in depth a little later.

Can you think of any other explanation to justify how Venus in 10 could confer good vehicles? I, for one can think of another line of argument to support this theory. Moon is the Karaka planet for the 4th house, along with Mercury. We can say that Moon (denoting Mother) and Mercury (denoting education) are the primary Karakas of 4th house. However at a secondary level, Venus (denoting comforts,vehicles and Movables) and Mars (denoting Immovable property) also play a Karaka role for the 4th house even though this point is not made explicit in ancient textbooks on Astrology.However I would be failing in my duty if do not express my gratitude to Shri S.Ganesh who has admirably discussed the issue of karakatwas relating to 4th house in GANESHA HORA SHASTRAM a lucid treatise on the twelve bhavas.What Shri Ganesh has pointed out is that while Moon and Mercury are karakas of 4th house ,planets Mars and Venus are also karakas of 4th house since Mars denotes immovable property while Venus denotes Movables(Ibid,Pages 256,257).Hence in the learned authors opinion Moon,Mars,Venus and Mercury become karakas of the Fourth House. So, when Venus denoting comforts and vehicles is placed in the 10th, then also the native will be blessed with vehicles for the simple reason that among the four quadrants, the tenth is the strongest when we look into the digbala of a planet. Next, we will take up the Ashtakavaraga aspect of this role. Not only Venus should occupy Lagna, 4 or 10 but it should also obtain 5 or more bindus in the Ashtakavaraga chart. In other words, it becomes strong enough to convert its promise into reality. There is an English adage, which says They talk like angels, but live like Men. Promises are given in plenty but seldom fulfilled. In fact even Lord Balaji is taken for a ride by devotees. The prayer is Give me Rs. X and I promise to donate 10% of X to the temple. Due to various reasons, such promises remain unfulfilled in a number of cases. My suggestion to devotees going to Tirupati or any other holy place would be, donate whatever you wish to donate then and there what you can do today do not postpone to tomorrow.When a persons wish is not fulfilled in this birth, then that person might be compelled to take births in future to fulfill the commitment. A promise to donate in future is nothing but creation of Agami Karma ( Karma of the future ). Scriptures say Wear out prarabdha Karma but avoid creating Agami Karma. Our present suffering is explained by Law of Karma. That being the case, to create fresh Karma would be to create karma which would fructify in future.When the present life of a person itself is so miserable,why should anyone undertake future commitments and perpetuate suffering? As well,why not suffer for past karmas now and try and attain Mukti in this birth itself.In this context I invite the readers attention to the Biblical verse quoted from the words of Mathew(6:34).
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof.

- King James Version (1769 Oxford 'Authorized Version')

Coming to own discussion, the promise held out by Venus is translated into reality by the presence of 5 bindus. Else, the promise will remain just a promise-nothing more, nothing less. The next point we need to appreciate is that this yoga is complete only when there is a benefic aspecting Venus. The fundamental principle is this The aspect of a benefic nullifies evil; augments good. The aspect of a malefic nullifies good; augments evil. Only those planets which have Special aspect can fulfill the role of an aspecting planet effectively. 1) Mars apart from aspecting the 7th also aspects 4 and 8; 2) Similarly Jupiter aspects 5 and 9 apart from 7; 3) Saturn aspects 3 and10 apart from 7. In other words, whenever the role of an aspecting planet is described in Astrology, it relates only to Jupiter, Mars or Saturn. The aspects of Sun, Moon, Venus and Mercury are not capable of producing the desired effect. So, Venus should be aspected by a benefic means it can only be the aspect of Jupiter. Mercury is usually very close to Venus; So it can never aspect Venus; Waxing Moon is also a benefic and it can aspect Venus, but as discussed earlier, this is not what the founding fathers of the science meant when they discussed about planetary aspects. Please note that in certain cases, a planet can simultaneously be aspected by a malefic as well as a benefic. In such cases, what is the effect? Now, I want to explain this in the light of some of the experiments we did in our school days. We used to take a convex lens and show it on a paper, in sunlight. That paper will immediately catch fire. If you bring a pair of lens over that paper, the two lenses will neutralize each other and the paper will not catch fire. If you bring a third lens, then that will magnify the effect of sunlight and the paper will catch fire.(while the remaining two lenses neutralize each other) Suppose, both Jupiter and Saturn, together aspect Venus. What is the nature of Venus? It is a natural benefic. Take the aspecting planets Jupiter and Saturn. That planet whose nature is contrary to the aspected planet will do its role first. This means Venus being a benefic will have its quality nullified by the aspect of Saturn. The aspect of Jupiter of this Saturnaspected Venus, will revive and augment the benefic nature of Venus.

Let us for the sake of argument, replace Venus by Mars. Mars will become a neutral planet, thanks to the aspect it receives from Jupiter. The aspect of Saturn will revive the intrinsic malefic nature of Mars. The next principle which we discussed is the occupation of Martian house by Venus. Mars is not an enemy of Venus and vice versa. This is not to say that Mars and Venus are friends. They are neutrals. Two planets become enemies when one of them owns the sixth house from the other. For example, Taurus is sixth from Sagittarius. Venus which owns Taurus is an enemy of Jupiter, which owns Sagittarius. Both Jupiter and Venus are benefic but since one of them owns the sixth from the other they become enemies. Please refer to the chapter on Rajayogas in Mantreswaras Phaladeepika. When Venus occupies Ashwini star in the Ascendant and is aspected by three or more planets, it will bring into the world, a king who will vanquish all his enemies (Ibid, Chapter 7 Verse 8) Ashwini star falls in the Martian sign Aries. A King is naturally blessed with lots of immovable property and vehicles. In fact, the entire area in a kingdom belongs to the king. According to some historians, in ancient times, land belonged to the crown and no individual was permitted to own it. Hence if a person were to become a king, automatically he would become the owner of vast lands besides vehicles. I would advise the reader to compare this view of Mantreswara with the Ashtakavarga principles. My view is that Mantreswaras verse is a slightly abridged version of the Ashtakavarga concept. Instead of Venus occupying a house of Mars, it is supposed to occupy Ashwini star. (Ashwini is in the Martian sign Aries) Instead of a benefic, three planets need to aspect Venus. There is no mention about bindus. The Ashtakavarga rule states that the person would get immovable property and vehicles whereas Mantreswaras rule when satisfied would elevate a person to the status of a king.

THE END