vedic

Why Rahu/Ketu have no aspects

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Planets/ Graha can influence certain degrees of the zodiac from where they are placed. These are called aspects or vision/drushti. You need to know the aspects because they can completely change the results these planets can give in your life. Obviously a planet will give full results in the sign/house that he is placed in. And depending on the strength of the planet in your chart, he can give results as if he is actually placed in the house he aspects.

Why Rahu/Ketu have no aspects

As per Vedic astrology, these are very limited aspects which a planet can have,

  1. Every planet (except Rahu/Ketu) aspects the sign/house placed exactly opposite it, 180 degrees away. e.g planets placed in the 1st house will aspect the 7th house of the chart.
  2. Then Mars has 2 additional aspects – He aspects the fourth and the eighth house from where he is placed. So his aspects are 4th, 7th and 8th house from where he is.
  3. Jupiter has 2 additional aspects, he aspects the 5th and 9th houses from where he is placed in the chart. So his aspects are 5th, 7th and 9th.
  4. Saturn has 2 additional aspects – He influences the house 3rd and 10th from where he is placed. So its 3rd, 7th and 10th for Saturn.

These aspects are very easy to remember. The planets inwards from the earth do not have additional aspects, they have just the basic 7th house aspect. The three outer planets Mars, Jupiter and Saturn have additional aspects.

Now for Rahu/Ketu, there are several differing opinions on their ability to aspect, but there are very few actual references from the texts. In my experience, they do not have any aspects. Not even the normal diametrically opposite 7th house aspect. This is because they themselves are diametrically opposite! If there is some planet with Ketu, the correct analysis would be ‘conjoint Ketu’ and not ‘7th aspected by/opposite Rahu‘. Ketu doesn’t have a head!, thus no eyes, no vision/drushti! Rahu desires everything except Ketu, he is done with the things that Ketu signifies so doesn’t see him at all! So Rahu cannot have even the 7th house/opposite aspect. They are also in perpetual retrograde motion thus they repeat the lessons they have been scripted to deliver. In addition, these are completely astral graha, they do not have any part of them in the physical environment. These 2 graha/forces sort of merge with the planets they are conjoint with or if placed alone, they give results with the owner of the sign they are in.

  • e.g. So if you have a Jupiter+Rahu in the 1st house, Jupiter will take on qualities of Rahu and when he ‘sees’ with his 5th-7th-9th aspects, it will be a composite Jupiter+Rahu ‘seeing’ there.
  • e.g. If you have a Ketu sitting alone in Taurus in the 11th house, he will give results as per Venus’s power in the chart and the results will be as per the keywords of the 11th house and Taurus.

Analysing Rahu/Ketu’s role in the horoscope is of prime importance as they tell you what is your life’s direction. One pulls, the other scatters. But what are Rahu/Ketu really? They are the influence of the Earth, our own planet on us. We are them in a very deep way!

The planets when they aspect,

  1. they influence the houses,
  2. the signs placed in the houses
  3. and also other planets if placed in those houses.

If two planets are together in one sign they influence each other if they are less than 15 degrees apart. The planet which is stronger naturally has more influence over the other. If they are more than 15degrees apart but in the same sign they will not influence each other so much but both will influence the sign and house they are placed in.

Now if you get into the western concept of astrology, you are bound to be a bit confused. Semi-sextile, sextile, square, trine, square, quincuncx opposition etc. Semi-Sextile – When two planets are 30 degrees apart. Sextile – When two planets are 60 degrees apart. Square – When two planets are 90 degrees apart. Trine – When two planets are 120 degrees apart. Quincunx – When two planets are 150 degrees away. Opposition – When two planets are 180 degrees apart. I can never remember these and very frankly these others are not true aspects/vision/drushti.

These are basically an extension of the Trikon concept (Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksh trikon), Bhavat bhavam, Argala, Badhak, etc concepts that we use in Vedic Jyotish. Never learn things by rote, always try to understand why it happens the way it does. Only then you can confidently analyse the interactions of the planets/houses with each other.

 

Why Rahu/Ketu have no aspects

Of the Sun and the Moon

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I have always wondered why we Indians focus on the Moon sign more and the western civilisation is into Sun signs.

Personally when I get a horoscope chart, my order of preference is, first check out the birth Moon sign then the ascendant sign and its lord, then a quick analysis of the 4 triangles/ trikon. Analysing the Sun would be after this, sort of clubbed with all the other planetary forces. To counsel someone, I need to know first and foremost what sort of mind this client has. If I know his mind, then I know how to talk to him. Then the ascendant stuff gives me his personality, his environment and how he fits in into his environment. The 4 trikon are a sort of a summary report of the four aspects of life (foundation, meaning, desire and exit). Then the rest of the planets a quick once-over all of them. This takes about 5 mins and then I am ready for detailed Q & A with the client.

Finally realised that this basic Sun/Moon, India/West divide is real and it drives the thought process of an entire set of people. The Moon is more inclusive, mild, receptive, introspective and cooler. Sun is more heated-up, self-referential, genius, focussed outwards and always on the move.

Of the Sun and the Moon

The Sun is self-ego, your individuality. Your personal jivatma/soul is represented by the Sun, your personal spark of the Divine. We are all Parabrahma/Ultimate ourselves. Why are we here then, apparently separated from our Reality? It is because of the Sun! The Sun’s energy represents our first initial split from the Ultimate. The Sun is derived from the Matrika named Braahmi the ruler of the topmost Sahasrara chakra. This Sun of your horoscope is the closest you are to the Ultimate but because of the light of self-ego is so bright that it is impossible to look behind it and see the Ultimate.

Sun represents the father, and yes he represents the divine spark/soul that we recieve from the Ultimate Father/Parabrahma. He is the creative potential that we have within us.

Now Saturn is called Ravinandan/ Son of the Sun, but ‘nandan’ has a lot of interesting meanings, one of which is ‘intelligence’. (Ravi also means ‘churning’, it is also a reference to the Samudra manthan story, will write more on this later). So ‘Ego’ is the father/creator of karma. You do an action with the tag, ‘I did this’ and it gets registered as karma, good/bad, in your balance book. Saturn’s energy resides at the lowest Muladhar chakra, produced by the Matrika Chaamundaa. Your entire existence, your energy structure is thus between the Sun/ego and his son, Saturn/ karma.

(Ever wonder what is inside our star, the Sun? Our scientists have lot of data about the Sun’s surface but nothing definite about its interior. The interior of the ball of energy/Sun does not exist in the dimension we live in.)

Of the Sun and the Moon

Now the Moon, the other luminary, he is the sum total of all your lives, (past, present, future, parallel), all the experiences, everyone you have been, is the Moon. He is your mind, the deepest recesses. This ‘Moon’ energy is produced by the Ajnya chakra by the Matrika named Maaheshwari. The Moon decides how you function in this life. He allocates the vital energy/pran to your gross body when awake and to the subtle body when you are asleep. He ensures that you are on the job completing your karma even when you travel astrally.

In the Vedic stories/allegories he is the husband/’pati’ of the 27 lunar mansions/nakshatra. 33 types of energies bind the jivatma/individual soul thus create our ‘body’ in time and space. Now ‘pati’ in Sanskrit is not merely ‘husband’, it means – honor of, responsible to, going with, owner of, possessor of, protector of, ruler of, male spouse of etc. ‘Pati’, is the energy which ‘enters and causes change’. Thus the Moon’s energies are responsible for all the change that occurs in our existence. The Moon takes the potential/energy offered by the Sun/individual soul and puts it to use. He is the way we look at our world, thus he creates our world, he is our perception.

The Moon represents security, emotional comfort, nutrition and the things which protect you. Try to see these the keywords now in energy. Devi ensures that the construct created by her remains protected, the body remains manifested, pran is distributed to the lower chakras, the mind remains engrossed in the objects, mind finds security in the physical universe, the the lens of perception is not open, the true reality does not intrude, the veil remains in place. And when your soul wants to Know its reality, she again teaches through life events, experiences and deep knowledge till you are ready to enter the Brahmanadi and then she guides. The mind will stop its frantic work, of maintaining the construct. Finally the Moon will stop allocating pran to the lower chakras and energise only the upper chakras of the head, this state is called samadhi.

Moon in popular imagination represents the Mother which is quite true, he represents the Devi, the Mother of Creation. Moon reflects the light of the Sun, true! He is thus the reflected light of the Internal Sun. The sixteen phases of the Moon are the 16 Kala which give rise to the vibrations/seed sounds of the Sanskrit language i.e. the seeds of creation (have written about it in an earlier post).

Jyotish is the Science of Illumination so has these energy/spiritual aspects too. The ultimate objective of Jyotish is also to make you realise Yourself. You can do this only when your karmic balance is balanced. So from this point of view, in the chart, the Moon is more important than the Sun.

Only when you understand the Moon/the Creation in your chart, will the Sun/the Creator make any sense.

 

I didn’t t think this post would get technical all over again. But I hope it was intelligible. Will continue on the self-improvement posts again, as one of my readers pointed out writing about to-do things is better as it actually helps. Esoteric stuff is ok but just once in a while! 😉 

 

The 33 koti devata

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There are 33 classes of Devatas in Sanatan Dharma, I had written a bit about them in this post on Kundalini. Jyotish is a Vedant and considers these 33 classes of Devatas as extremely important. These 33 classes are created by Narayan, as per the Narayan Upanishad as

“Narayanad brahma jayate, narayanad prajapatih prajayate, narayanad indro jayate, narayanad ashtau vasavo jayante, narayanad ekadasha rudra jayante, narayanad dvadashadityah”.

“Brahma is possible because of Narayan. Prajapati comes to existence because of Narayan. Indra takes place because of Narayan. The 8 Vasu are generated because of Narayan. The 11 Rudra (post here) are produced because of Narayan. The 12 Aditya (post here)are reborn because of Narayan.”

Narayan is commonly taken to mean Vishnu, but there is a difference, Nara means – man, mortal, connected to men, human, spiritual, pawn, water, young one, multitude of men etc. Ayan too has several meanings including – coming, approach, travel, movement, circulation, extreme end (high/low) of energy, etc. So we can very loosely consider ‘Narayan’ to mean the soul’s sojourn as a mortal, or the movement of energy from the high/low vibrational states, etc.

The 33 koti devata

Now the 8 types of Vasu. ‘Vasu’ can be understood in different ways as – eight, rays of illumination, excellent, benefic, gold, pearls, water, minerals, jewels, dwellers, property, sweet, medicinal drugs etc.

These 8 are named Apah, Dharaa, Anila, Anala, Dhruva, Soma, Pratyusha and Prabhas. They grant knowledge of the self which is linked to the manifested Universes and also of the non-manifested Paramtattva. They are the 8 petals of the Kaalachakra or the Ashtadalapadma chakra which is used for astrological analysis earlier. The Kaalchakra is considered to be the most accurate predictive tool in Jyotish. (All Jyotish texts are in Sanskrit and maybe only 20% have been translated. Again these translated versions are not correct. Knowing the language and understanding it are two completely different things. Though I know English I cannot understand the higher calculus equations written in english.) Back to the Vasu, they are also linked to the 8 directions and to so many many esoteric concepts. They represent the ways in which matter and energy is linked to form the human body.

Apah – This is the conscious energy of the Jala/water of the 5 pancha-mahabhoot. The tattva which flows and records everything.

Dharaa – This is linked to the earth, the Prithvi tattva. The mahabhoot which supports.

Anila – The Vayu tattva, the mahabhoot which flows and resonates.

Anala – The Agni tattva, the conscious energy of fire.

Dhruv – This is the pole star, called Dhruv. He represents stability, certainty, rigidity, settled, fixed, eternal, constant sound, immoveable, knot, etc. This is the topmost point of the Merudanda which extends from the planet earth into the manifested cosmos. It represents the Antariksh. The planet earth is also a conscious entity and its energy structure extends upto the Dhruv. Dhruv is linked to several astrological phenomena, most importantly the Ayanamsha, the correction factor of Vedic Jyotish.

Soma – is the Moon. Also is – immortality, anything that flows, connected to the pitr/ancestors, sky, medicinal drug, camphor, and the One who is merged with Uma. (Uma is Devi, mate, light, night, fame, quiet, medicinal drug, splendour, magnificence etc.)

Pratyusha – is the rising degree of the zodiac on the eastern horizon, the ascendant/Lagna. It represents regularity, cyclic events etc. But is also represents how things are regularly step-by-step consumed or burnt to give illumination.

Prabhas – The illumination or the magnificence of the lunar mansions. It explains the true nature of the zodiac. This represents how the brilliance of these Nakshatra is manifested in the human body and life. Prabhasaa is a name of the Devi in the Shri Sukta, She projects fire/brilliance with this attribute.

These 8 energies are the basis of your manifested existence in this Universe.

The 33 koti devata

Now Indra (post here). The stories say of Indra being the King of the Devata, let’s see what Sanskrit has to say. Indra means the Human Soul!, then also magic, chief, best, first, night, ruler of the ether, the ruler of the east direction, the energy that radiates from your head, etc. See the layers of meanings? Devbhasha Sanskritam is the language of your existence, it cannot be translated, only experienced.

If you have read stories from the vedic times there is a recurring theme, when a Rishi starts doing intense mediation/Tap, the ‘throne of Indra’ loses its stability becomes shaky/’dolayamaan’. So Indra sends an Apsara to distract the Rishi and to stop his mediation/Tap. Now Indra is the thought patterns and the net woven by your mind, the Indrajaal, to enmesh your soul in the manifested Universe. When you do intense Tap, focus on your third eye, these thought patterns start breaking thus the ‘throne of Indra’ loses its stability. The mind fights back till the very last, so Apsara are created. ‘Apsara’ means a small ‘pool’ created from the larger ‘ocean’, i.e. beautiful irresistible highly intense thought patterns created by the depths of the mind. So in Dhyan, when the aspirant challenges the bindings placed by the 33 koti devata, he is tested on every level by his own mind. You are facing your own lower energy self as your adversary. If the Rishi can withstand the beguiling Apsara, Indra himself appears before the Rishi and gives him boons, thus if you can resist it, eventually the mind itself starts supporting the Tap.

Indra is the ruler of the 33 koti devata thus also rules your chart. It is obvious, the Human Soul is the ruler of the horoscope. The Universe has manifested for Indra and he is required to protect it. And because Sanskrit is a palimpsest, this means that you have manifested your own Universe, to play this game of the horoscope, thus you are also protecting your creation. The instant your mind stops working frantically to generate this universe, you will realise your own self. (I hope you do realise everyone has their own Universe, each one has a different perception and thus everyone lives in his own personal Universe)

The 33 koti devata

Now Prajapati is the Ultimate Creator. This word can be understood in 2 ways.

  1. Prajapati is the one who generates/creates/brings forth/bears the following, mankind/ seeds/ creatures/ subjects/ family/ future/ posterity/ era etc. So he is the energy which creates the creatures and also creates the time/ space.
  2. Now the other way of understanding it. ‘Prajapati’ is the energy which enters all the manifested creations/ time/ space to transform them. The direction of transformation is decided by your will, your thoughts!

Our Rishis were the Ultimate, they have given us such staggering concepts which are so simple but so utterly mind-blowing! Prajapati is also called Yadnya. It means a fire-ritual/ homam also, but in this context it is the ‘evolution of the human soul’, the second meaning above. Yadnya means, fire, worship, offering, give-up, prayer, sacrifice etc, but its deepest meaning is the constantly moving, spirally/ dimensionally moving, eternally changing but still constant, evolution of the soul, from the lowest energy levels to the highest and beyond that, till the Paratattva. The journey is the same for all of us, to reach the highest stage of evolution, yet every soul is different, its universe is different, its experiences are different. It is the exact same but exactly different for everyone. Paradoxes!

Thus Prajapati is the ‘motion’ of your chart, through time/ space, creation and beyond!

Thus the 8 Vasu, Indra and Prajapati are that part of Jyotish which are linked to your Soul, its manifestation, your existence, the creation of your body using the energies of the panchamahabhoot and the cosmos, also the way out from this Indrajaal and to the eventual realisation of the Real Ultimate Identity.

Jyotish is the science of Illumination so please at least try to think beyond the ‘when will I get ….’ type of questions. Nothing wrong with the mundane questions, these are also important, but its like using a fusion powered precision tool for hammering nails in the wall.

Argala, Blockages in Jyotish

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There are so many ways you can use your horoscope to pull even more information. And because there are not many Jyotishis left who know and then who actually use these techniques, we are missing out on these tiny nuances of analysis. Here is the Argala of Jyotish to pique your interest.

Argala, Blockages in Jyotish

Argala means a bolt, latch, impediment or check, and as a concept is quite simple to use. It gives valuable insights which you might miss out in your regular analysis. Use the basic birth chart D-1 for Argala analysis.

A very simple example, if you have a client with problems with his mother, naturally you will check out the 4th house, birth moon and everything to do with it to come to a conclusion. But still you are not satisfied and the situation does not tally with the charts check the argala/obstructing forces on the 4th house (and the moon too). The astrological concept is this..

  1. The 2nd, 4th and 11th houses counted from a house or a planet are its principal argala/obstruction. The planets and signs here and their powers will influence the potential of the house under consideration.
  • The planets placed in the 12th can nullify the argala of 2nd house.
  • The planets placed in the 10th can oppose the argala presented by the 4th house.
  • The planets in the 3rd can nullify the argala presented by the 11th house.
  1. The 5th and 8th from a house or a planet present the minor argala/obstacle to the matters of that house.
  • The minor argala presented by the 5th house can be nullified by the sign/planet placed in the 9th house.
  • And finally the minor argla of the 8th will be nullified by the position in the 6th house.

This may have sounded very confusing but its quite simple. Let’s continue our simple example just to get you thinking about this topic. ‘Someone not getting along with his mother.’

From the 4th house the house second is the 5th house. Obviously in his interactions with his mother, if this person is only about his own good times (topics of the natural 2nd) which in his chart are represented by the planets in the 5th (also ego, self-referential behaviours, selfishness etc seen from here), the interactions with the mother represented by the 4th are going to suffer. These tensions can be less or more depending on the number/strength of the planets placed in 5th.

  • Now the obstruction represented by the 5th (second from the 4th house) will be nullified by the planets positioned in the twelfth from 4th, i.e. the 3rd house. If there are strong planets here they will make this person to be of some service to his mother in some way, eg take her to family or community functions. This person may feel like this is an imposition on him but doing this will immensely improve his relationship with his mother.

The next obstruction will be presented by the situation in the house counted fourth  from the house under analysis. So fourth from 4th is the 7th house. (topics of the 7th include spouse, partnerships etc). Naturally if the 7th is strong with several planets placed here to reinforce it, the arrival of the wife/husband will diminish the relationship with the mother drastically. Also if the person does a lot of business with a lot of partners the relationship with the mother will be obstructed.

  • So this obstruction presented by the fourth from house concerned, will be countered by the house counted tenth from the house. So tenth counted from 4th is the 1st house/ascendant sign. So if this 1st house is strong enough with strong planet placements, the obstacle presented by the 7th house on the matters of the 4th house/mother will diminish. If the person has a strong personality he will not let the spouse/partnership dominate his relationship with his mother.

The third argala on matters of the 4th/relationship with the mother is to be seen from the power of the house counted eleventh from the 4th, i.e. the 2nd house. This is also quite logical, the eleventh from house represents the larger landscape, interactions with wider groups and income/gains of that house. In this case, if the planets placed in the 2nd house are strong enough the relationship with the mother will be placed secondary to the benefits/gains/resources that he will get from her. Also he will prefer interacting with a larger group of maternal figures in his family (matters of the 2nd house) rather than his personal mother.

  • This obstacle will be nullified by the planets and power of the house counted third from 4th, i.e. the 6th house. If these planets are strong enough they will create situations where the person will be required to again be of service to his mother, especially in common interactions in the extended family and in the neighbourhood.

This was a very simplistic example of how argala works in Jyotish. This is a very useful concept and is used in birth chart analysis and also in Prashana. It is more important in Prashna and should be always used before coming to a conclusion here.

Argala, Blockages in Jyotish

Do remember that a single placement can never be used for drawing conclusions. Astrology is about learning to recognise patterns. Nothing is fixed in stone, it is never absolute. These patterns show tendencies and probablities. Absolute results cannot be predicted ever. Humans have free will and if you can recognise the pattern and the freedom of choice that you have in it, you can change the course of events, always!

Vedic Jyotish is like the bottomless ocean, you can keep learning for a lifetime and even several lifetimes, it is very enjoyable. You have so many precise tools in your hands which you use to unravel the mystery of your own self!

 

 

Vivah Sanskar as per Vedic Astrology Part 1

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In Vedic/Sanatan Dharm/Hinduism marriage is called Vivah and is a Sanskar. It means that this is compulsory for a man and a woman to undergo this Vivah-Sanskar and thus enter the Gruhast-ashram stage of life. There are 16 Sanskars in life.

  • Vivah is a ‘force which is used to bear/carry’. It is not just a ‘marriage’.
  • Sanskar is ‘accomplishment, refinement, culture, foundation, purification, formation, creation, making ready, creation of the mind/mental processes, education’ etc. Sanskar does not mean just a ‘ritual’.

Vivah Sanskar as per Vedic Astrology Part 1

There are 4 stages of the Vedic/Sanatan Dharm/Hindu life.

  1. Balya-ashram – The childhood phase where you are taken care of by your parents, family, neighbourhood and the society. During this period from the age of 6yrs you learn basic schooling and the foundations of your life’s philosophy from your teachers. After you cross 16yrs of age you start learning your business/profession from your peers and senior family members.
  2. Gruhasta-ashram – The married life where you are the active Karta/doer of the family. Vivah is the Sanskar which brings you into this phase of life. It is ideal to get married before or around 25yrs of age. Everyone has to get married and contribute to the society in different ways. Also produce children, teach them, as they are going to be a part of the society in a few years. All 4 aspects of life Dharma, Artha, Kaam and Moksh are linked to a successful gruhast phase. The only people exempt from this phase are those who take Sanyas and thus leave their Family and Society forever.
  3. Vanprastha-ashram – At around 51yrs of age is the gradual withdrawal from the society coupled with passing on the baton of Karta/doer-ship to your children. This phase starts with you ensuring your children’s Vivah Sanskar when they are around 25yrs of age.
  4. Sanyasa-ashram – At the age of about 76yrs you completely withdraw from the society and family concerns and concentrate only on your spiritual path and practice. Your children are also in their 45-50yrs of age on the verge of their Vanprasthashram age and your grandchildren are on the verge of becoming Gruhast themselves.

In Vedic/Sanatan Dharm/Hinduism, in all astrology texts from Parashar to Jaimini etc and all the the Indian systems of astrology Vedic, KP etc, refer to marriage as between a man and a woman. In a Vivah the husband and wife are called Dharmapati and Dharmapatni. These are again Sanskrit words so have several layers of meanings.

  • Dharma – knowing, justice, virtue, right, religion, establishment law, practice, merit, steadfastness, observation, property, propriety, duty, ethics, use, to-become, good works, devotion, character, morality, arrangement, support etc. This in short is the foundation of your life, from the physical environments to the spiritual principles.
  • Pati – Is the one who is – honor of, responsible to, going with, owner of, possessor of, protector of, ruler of, male spouse of – Dharma. He is always called Dharmapati.
  • Patni – Is the one who is – female spouse of, owner of, mistress of, ruler of, protector of, being with – Dharma. She is always called Dharmapatni.

Vivah is the main phase of life which supports the other three, the young, the retired and the aged. The man and woman who marry each other are required not only to look after their personal family and their children but also protect the larger interests of the society. It is a very serious commitment as the witness of this Sanskar is the Sun/Agni/Internal Sun. There is no word for divorce in Sanskrit. And if you can see auras, then it is a delight to see the two auras interacting so deeply during the Vivah ceremony, the astral selves/Jeevatmas also accept this Sanskar. The two allow it because of their Intention and Will which are reinforced by the Mantras. Women are more suitable for micro-managing and men for marco-managing. Both the woman and the man are required to contribute to the family. And families contribute to the society.

Marriage is arranged between a man and a woman depending on several factors, social to astrological. The most important one is the gotra, a person can marry only into a family whose gotra is different from his/her father’s, mother’s, maternal grandmother’s and maternal great-grandmother’s gotra. This ensures healthy progeny in every way. The astrological basis of matching charts is detailed in this post here. Maybe readers from other Non-Vedic cultures may find this strange, but we follow these rules so as to maintain a happy and healthy husband-wife relationship, healthy children and positive contribution to the family and society. Marriage is just not a personal private affair, it has social, cultural and spiritual ramifications too. (It is especially important in the spiritual sense that unmarried men/women, or widowers/widows cannot do important pujas. Only Sanyasis and persons with a living husband/wife can perform them.)

If you get a chart for analysing the marriage prospects these are the few basic houses you should analyse, have written about this in details in my previous posts on analysing marriage. But briefly.

  1. The 7th house in the birth chart for the manifested real life. Also its owner planet.
  2. The 7th house from the birth moon for the emotions, stability, comfort and security expected from the marriage.
  3. The navamsha, divisional chart 9, D-9 for the sub-conscious expectations regarding marriage and the ‘mirror’ you expect in life.
    • The 7th house and the placement of the 7th lord in this D-9.
    • The placement of the 7th house sign and lord from D-1 seen in D-9.
  4. Jupiter and Venus in the charts, both D-1 and D-9 and from the birth moon sign
  5. Other details like Manglik or multiple spouses etc which I have mentioned earlier.

Vivah Sanskar as per Vedic Astrology Part 1

Ultimately why do we marry? If we think deeply, we are all looking for our mirror, the one who has the missing pieces of our life. Now just close your eyes and ask yourself what kind of a wife/husband you want? What do you feel about your desired spouse? Be true to yourself, know that only your own Conscience is judging you. This is your private feeling. And then read this following list.

  1. Sun – You want someone glorious, regal, rich and creative, with lots of money, fame and position. You want to marry a king or a popular cine-star.
  2. Moon – you will feel that you need emotional comfort, protection and comfort and shelter. Someone who will tuck you in bed sort of maternal support.
  3. Venus – you are attracted to the surface, beauty, looks and soft sensual pleasures. A very handsome/beautiful husband/wife who will give you undivided attention.
  4. Mars – you are interested in a physically strong, bold, competitive and the rougher more physical pleasures. You might like your spouse to go with you to drinking contests, to the stadium, or a hike or for jogging daily in the park.
  5. Mercury – you want someone rich, interesting, youthful and intelligent. You would love having long chats and read interesting books with your spouse. Your spouse is your best friend.
  6. Saturn – will make you focus on the social image, the necessity of marriage, you think of marriage as a a work you have to do. Even after getting the spouse you want you will be more engaged in the social aspects of the Vivah union.
  7. Jupiter – you want someone more mature than you, older perhaps, and who will take care of you in a more paternal expansive way. Someone who will teach you and guide you, help you make sense of this world and life.
  8. Rahu – someone like the stars, unattainable from your current situation in life. It will be a constant craving for someone much higher than you in terms of social mobility and privileges . ‘Everyone wants him/her so I want too, and I will do anything to get him/her.’
  9. Ketu – you are not really into marriage so much. If your family and society are after you, you might just drift into marriage without much sense of attachment. Or you might in a flash of extreme dissociation just take Sanyas and leave the society for ever.

Now look back into your childhood, all the memories you have buried in your sub-conscious. Did you feel your mother wasn’t around? Or your dad was not available? You had no brothers/siblings to play with in your house? You had no friends to play with in the neighbourhood? Didn’t get pocket money or were poor? Wanted to learn in school but were unable to understand your teacher? Was left out of popular activities? Felt that your family’s social status was a liability? You have felt that you are nothing yourself but felt that there is something bigger at the edge of your awareness? Do these deep feelings relate in any way with how you feel about your ideal partner?

These emotional unmet needs from your childhood are often caused by very subtle or one-off events. A random unkind word or act hit you with more force that it should have. Your astral self registered it. If your conscious self had noticed it you would have taken active steps to fulfil this need. But the impact on the astral can be so deep that you feel this part of you is lost and you search for it in your spouse, your mirror! Sometimes guided mediation helps in bringing out answers from your sub-conscious in a very gentle way.

Some of life’s events and questions are just so very deep. One can just hope that with time and experience we will find the answers and solutions. We need to understand that every relationship especially that of Vivah/’marriage’ brings us face to face with our deepest emotional unmet needs. And the sooner we understand, the better we can resolve it and move towards understanding our own self, our Real Self. Else everything is between ourselves and our conscience.

This post will be in 2 parts. Link to part 2 here.

 

Vivah Sanskar as per Vedic Astrology Part 1