by R Lakshmanan The 10th Bhava is certainly the most
important since it represents the energy and effort and perseverance put forth by him and his consequent status or “Padavi” denoting success in life. It is par excellence, the most important house as representing honour or maana and fame or keerti. But, yet one must not forget the all important birth sign or Lagna representing Keerthi and moorti and the 9th Bhava representing bhagya or the poorva-punya of a person. In fact a suitable association (i.e. combination or aspect) of the lords of 1 and 9 and the lords of 9 and 10 alone will and can give high success in life. The stay in 10 of the lords of Lagna and the 9th is, in my experience and opinion, as powerful a factor for success and the strength of the lord of d10 or the karaka concerned. It is in regard to such matters, the weighing of forces in opposite directions, of action and reaction, becomes a very difficult task for anyone but the “gifted” expert. I shall illustrate the difficulty with reference to a horoscope.:- Aries: Ascendant; Gemini: Venus, Mercury and Rahu; Cancer: the Sun, Mars and Jupiter; Sagittarius: Ketu; Capricorn: the Moon and Pisces: Saturn. Prima facie, it is a very poor horoscope since Mars lord of Lagna is in Neecha, in 4, Sani lord of 10 is ill-placed in 12; 12 being as baneful a position for Sani as 11 is excellent and superb for him. Though authorities are unanimous in deeming lord of Lagna, although a natural malefic, in a kendra as good it must be said that generally Mars in 4 is as harmful as Mars in 10 is excellent. And his being in debility make him still worse, notwithstanding prevalent and plausible contentions – which however are untenable – that for Mars there is no neecha-dosha (since his debility occurs in the house Moon). Similarly, Saturn in 12 especially as lord of 10 is enough to damn the horoscope outright. And the early conditions of life of the person were certainly poor and even miserable. But the person, though born in a poor family, is well educated, highly talented and is in a learned profession and abound for success. Why ? The lord of the sign where Mars is debilitated (a) is in 10 from Lagna, (b) aspects the neecha-graha and (c) the oocha in Cancer, viz., Jupiter is not only in Chandra-kendra but with the neecha-graha himself. Hence there is good Neechabhanga Rajayoga for the lord of Lagna with the result that the person born in poverty rises to wealth and power later on especially (and this is important) as he aspects the 10th house. Similarly, the fact that Sani lord of 10 or Raja-bhava is very ill-placed in 12 is hopelessly bad for profession and status in life; even though Moon (Full Moon – as being within Krishna Paksha Panchami and opposite the Sun almost) is in 10 as lord of 4, and 10 is aspected by the lords of 1, 5 and 9. As a result, despite education, talents, memory and brilliant parts, the native, thanks to the initial Neecha sthiti of Mars, the rule or Lagna, and the rather bad position of Saturn lord of 10 (the most important house) must suffer, and, in fact did suffer much in the first part of life nay till 30 or 32 till which up to the first half of Jupiter’s period transpired. But later on there is status, dignity and income. Why ? Simply because Saturn lord of 10 though very ill placed is well aspected by Jupiter lord of 9 (and 12). It requires no elaborate statement that Jupiter’s aspect is always good even though his own period may be bad either due to his owning a bad house or to his being in a bad house 6, 8 or 12. His aspect is always a definite benefic influence to be reckoned with. Of course, if he is lord of good houses well placed in kendra from Lagna and Chandra, and in his own house or in his exaltation house, his benefic power is enhanced appreciably. If the lord of any house is in 6, 8 or 12 of if the lord of 6, 8 or 12 is in any house that is annihilated. But if there is benefic aspect (i.e. on the ill-placed 10th lord, or the bad lord in 10, say) the effect will be quite otherwise. People who wholly condemn a horoscope like this commit the egregious error or forgetting the latter part of the above sloka as critics of Kipling do when they refer to his “East and West”. True, being in a good place like 3,10 or 11 is so important (especially for a natural malefic) just as being in a position in life is indispensable if a person’s talents have to shine or his qualities are to be noted. From my experience, I would even go to the length, of asserting that being in 6, 8 or 12 is even worse for a planet than Neecha , though the texts speak of the two defects on the same footing, for, whereas, Neecha seems to be easily conteracted by some sort of bhanga under the prescribed rules although Full Neecha bhanga Rajyoga proper is not so easily achieved; location in 6, 8 or 12 is not so easily redeemed or saved unless it be, there is a benefic aspect on it so puissant and compelling. That can be said only of Jupiter or Venus when being lord of good house, in exaltation or Swakshetra. Otherwise, the evil of the planet especially, a malefic in 6,8 or 12 cannot at all be counteracted. he effect of a planet in 6, 8 or 12 is so baneful that it cannot be counteracted except by the aspect of good and strong Venus or Jupiter. So, if in a Kumbha Lagna horoscope Mas lord of 10 is in 8, Venus in 2 in exaltation is required to counteract the dosha (evil) and confer a slight Yoga also. For the lords of Kendras and Trikonas, though individually weak, confer Yoga by virtue of their mere combination or association. Similarly in the present instance of Mesha Lagna, Sani in 12, it is itself a very baneful feature, constituting a bad “argala” for Lagna and a dire symptom of poverty and misery. And when as lord of 10 he is in 12, it is very bad for the 10th house. and that was, no doubt, the actual bitter experience of the native. But nevertheless Jupiter aspects this Saturn, placed in his (Jupiter’s) house; and his Jupiter is lord of 9 and 12, in 4 from Lagna and 7 from Chandra in exaltation and so, not only is the dosha (evil) of Sani in 12 removed but there is also the result of the association of the lords of 9 and 10 (their mutual aspect being not merely unnecessary but even undesirable in the case of Mesha Lagna), thanks to the peculiar efficacy of the Jupiter’s aspect in particular. As such despite the bad place of Saturn, the horoscope must be deed and is fairly good. The correct reading of a really discerning astrologer ought to be and will be that the horoscope is a good one since (a) Mars lord of Lagna (which is Moolatrikona and not 8) though neecha, is in Neechabhanga Rajayoga and aspects 10; (b) Jupiter, the best planet for Mesha Lagna is a good friend of Mars lord of Lagna, is exalted and aspects 10 and lord of 10; (c) Saturn lord of 10, though in 12, is powerfully aspected by Jupiter, lord of 9. Of course, due to the debility of Mars, the bad place of Sani in 12 and de to the dictum that people who owe their success to Jupiter generally shine only in the latter part of their lives, the early part of the native’s life was poor and low. I suppose I have sufficiently illustrated the effect of Neechabhanga, and the dire evil of being in 6, 8 or 12 and the only antidote for the same from the above horoscope which provides a typical case of a person born poor, not highly connected matrimonially, and though without thumping professional practice is yet lifted and self-made, thanks to excellent Jupiter lord of 9, strong in 4 from Lagna and 7 from Moon, in exaltation aspecting (and this is by far the most important point) the 10th house and the lord of the 10th house. The readers will be pleased to note that throughout I have laid emphasis on the importance, for the success in life, of good planets and yogakarakas being connected with 10 or with the lord of 10. For whereas, if the lords of 1, 5 and 9 are in 7 or aspect 7 from Lagna, is good for a rich matrimonial alliance, it is only their stay in 10 or aspect on 10 or the lord of 10 that can elevate the native’s position, status and dignity which alone, after all, are the most valued and prized thins in the world. That the above reading is correct, is supposed and affirmed by the following case (Chart 2) shown in the late B Suryanarain Rao’s Illustrative Horoscopes attached to his esteemed Astrological Self-Instructor. Aries: Ascendant:, Sun and Mercury; Taurus: Venus; Cancer: Moon and Jupiter; Leo: Rahu; Aquarius: Mars and Ketu; and Pisces: Saturn. Of course this, the horoscope of a lawyer who rose to be Judge in Mysore (Dewan Bahadur A. Ranacharier) is slightly different from the other horoscope shown above since here lord of Lagna is not in neecha but in 11 as malefic, as malefic, lord of 2 is in 2 and not in 3, and Jupiter lord of 9 too is stronger as being with Moon and uncombined with Mars when profuse discussions regarding his lordship of 8 though he is lord of Lagna and his debility marring or not marring Jupiter’s purity may arise. But in regard to the cardinal feature there is resemblance viz. the lord of 10, Sani, though ill- placed in 13, is in Meena whose lord is strong and receives the soothing, exhilarating and energising benefic aspect of Jupiter who aspects the 10th house as well. (Courtesy: “The Astrological Magazine”, November, 1988) Free Webpages Books on Indian Vedic & KP Astrology Astrological Services par Excellence Worried about Marriage ? Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra