Integrating Multiple Predictive Tools - A Case Study

This was an article published in the JANUARY 2013 issue of the 'Modern Astrology'. I thank Mrs. Gayatridevi Vasudev, the editor, for allowing me to share the article in social media. I hope you will enjoy reading this........

Integrating Multiple Predictive Tools - A Case Study

Dr. K. Guru Rajesh

Multi-pronged Approach

Vedic astrology provides an inexhaustible range of tools that aid in the prediction of future events. Mastering even some of them will provide a great insight into the horoscope. The obvious question that strikes one is how the different tools can indicate the same event. What if they indicate contradictory results? How does one blend the mutually contradicting inferences? This write-up is an attempt to explain the utility of multiple tools of Vedic astrology such as divisional charts, Ashtakavarga, transits, Vimshottari Dasa, Rasi-Tulya-Vatsara Dasa, Yogini Dasas and Prasna against a case study. The discerning readers will be able to note that the different tools all indicate the same inference when applied carefully.

On the night of 30th July 2010 at 9-30 pm, I got a phone call from a friend asking me about the condition of his wife who had been admitted to a hospital earlier in the evening of the same day. She was in her 7^th month of pregnancy. She had suddenly developed high blood pressure and seizures necessitating her admission into a hospital. The doctors had said the baby had to be delivered immediately to save the mother and had started giving her medication for induced labor.

Afflicted Fifth House

My friend himself has a good working knowledge of astrology being a traditional priest. We would often discuss about various topics of astrology and also interesting horoscopes. I had gone through his horoscope (Chart 1) several times and I was apprehensive regarding his 5^th house. This was the first time his wife was pregnant after a year of their marriage.

Chart 1: Friend: Born November 22, 1979 at 1h. 03m. (1ST) at 16 N 05, 78 E 52.

Sagittarius is the 5^th house whose lord Jupiter, also the Karaka for children, is in the Ascendant with Yogakaraka Mars and Rahu, both natural malefics. The 5^th house is occupied by the 12^th lord Moon who is in Rasi Sandhi in the dreaded Moola Nakshatra. In Navamsa, the 5^th house is Capricorn joined by its lord Saturn and Ketu and aspected by Mercury and Rahu from Cancer and Mars from Gemini. The Karaka Jupiter, though Vargottama is in the 12^th from the Navamsa Ascendant. Thus both the Rasi and Navamsa charts show considerable affliction to the 5^th house, its lord and the Karaka which may signal trouble for the progeny.

In the Saptamsa, Sagittarius is the Ascendant occupied by the 8^th lord Moon who occupies the same sign as in Rasi and is aspected by the Sun, Saturn and Mars, all malefics, from Kendras. Further the Ascendant lord Jupiter has gone to the 12^th house and is joined by the 6^th lord Venus. The 5^th lord, Mars who rules the first child is in the 10^th in Virgo which is the 6^th from the 5^th aspected by Saturn. Mars himself is the 8^th lord from the 5^th house. This is ominous and amplifies the indications of the Rasi and Navamsa charts.

Prasna Pointers

Chart 2: Prasna: July 30, 2010 at 21 h. 30m. (1ST) at 22 N 32, 88 E 22.

Chart 2 is for the time of the query. Pisces rising has the Ascendant lord Jupiter and 5^th lord Moon in it. The Ascendant and its occupants are aspected by Saturn and Mars from the 7^th. The Ascendant and the 5^th lords are in Ithasala Yoga in the Ascendant indicating the birth of a child very soon. However the 5^th lord Moon is also in Ithasala with Saturn and Mars, two first rate malefics. Mars is further in Poorna Ithasala with Saturn being in the same degree as Saturn. How does one balance these powerful negative influences with the positive influences acting on the Ascendant? Considering the typical Ithasala between the Ascendant and the 5^th lord in the Ascendant itself, I told my friend that birth of a baby could be expected within a few hours.

What would be the sex of the child? The Ascendant, the Ascendant lord and the 5^th lord are placed in an even sign Pisces. Further, the 5^th lord in natal Saptamsa, Mars, is in an even sign Virgo. Taking these into consideration I predicted that it would be a baby girl.

As expected, my friend's wife delivered an under-weight female baby after a few hours at 02h.15m. Her condition improved gradually but the child's was precarious. The child was kept in an incubator and was put under intensive medical care. Now the next question which started agitating the minds of all concerned was what would be the fate of the baby?

Saturn-Mars Impact

Chart 3: Baby: Born July 31, 2010 at 2h.15m. (1ST) at 15 N 44, 77 E 29.

The Ascendant in Chart 3 which is of the new-born is Taurus unoccupied and unaspected by any planet while the Ascendant lord Venus is in the 4^th in Leo along with Mercury, a friendly planet. Thus the 4^th, a Kendra, is occupied by the benefic Ascendant lord Venus and the 2^nd and 5^th lord benefic Mercury. The Moon, the planet important for infantile longevity, is in a benefic sign Pisces in the 11^th along with its lord benefic Jupiter. However, Saturn and Mars aspect Pisces from the 5^th house. Prima facie there appears to be no Balarishta Yoga as defined in classical texts for the baby as the Moon joins a benefic and the Ascendant lord Venus joins benefic Mercury in a Kendra. Nevertheless, after careful observation I found that Saturn and Mars are in the same degree in Virgo (7^th degree) exactly opposed to the degree-wise position of the Moon in Pisces (7^th degree in Pisces). This close affliction to the Moon from the two first-rate malefics hints at some sinister effect on the baby.

Ashtakavarga of Chart 1

To double check my inferences I checked the Vimshottari and Yogini Dasas of my friend (Chart 1). In Vimshottari, he was running Mercury Bhukti in Sun Dasa. Both are in the 4^th house, the 12^th from the 5^th, and aspected by both Saturn and Mars. The Sun is the Ascendant lord and Mercury is the 2^nd lord. Further Mercury is in Visakha ruled by the 5^th lord Jupiter. In Saptamsa, the Sun aspects the Ascendant. Thus both the Dasa and Bhukti lords indicate the birth of a child and also its loss. Yogni Dasa is known to be the most appropriate Dasa in timing unfortunate incidents in life. He was running Dhanya in Bhramari (Jupiter in Mars). Both Jupiter and Mars are in the Ascendant afflicted by Rahu. Jupiter is the 5^th lord and Mars is the 5^th lord from the Moon. This also corroborates with the earlier observation.

Then I considered the Rasi-Tulya-Vatsara Dasa to further confirm the event. He was running his 31^st year ruled by the 7^th house whose lord Saturn is in the 2^nd house of Kutumba indicating an addition to the family. However, Saturn occupies the Nakshatra of the Sun who is in the 4^th house, the 12^th from the 5^th indicating the loss of a child.

Thereafter I took his Ashtakavarga charts and found that the 5^th house is the weakest in the Sarvashtakavarga with only 20 benefic points, well below the mandatory average of 25. Next, I considered the transit of planets in the light of Ashtakavarga. I searched for 0 bindu signs in the Bhinnashtakavarga charts which were being transited by the major-planets Jupiter and Saturn and found that Jupiter, who is also the 5^th lord from the Ascendant, was transiting Pisces in the 8^th house from the Ascendant where there is no bindu in the Bhinnashtakavarga of Saturn and there is only 1 bindu in the Bhinnashtaka of the Ascendant.

Ashtakavarga of Chart 3

Yogini Dasa Clue

Next I considered the Dasas and Ashtakavarga of the baby. She was born in Mercury Bhukti Saturn Dasa in Vimshottari. Saturn joins the Maraka 7^th lord Mars and occupies the 7^th from the Moon while Mercury is a Maraka being the lord of the 2^nd house. In the Yogini Dasas, she was running Ulka in Bhadrika ruled by Saturn and Mercury respectively. Again both Saturn and Mercury have come into the picture and both are Marakas as explained earlier. When we look at the chart from the Rasi-Tulya-Vatsara Dasa angle, the first year is ruled by the Ascendant whose lord Venus is in the 4^th with the 2^nd and 5^th lord Mercury. Venus is the 8^th lord from the Moon sign occupying the 6^th therefrom hinting at the impending tragedy. As far as the transits are concerned, they are the same as for the birth chart. When checked with the Ashtakavarga charts the most significant feature that struck me glaringly was the transit of Saturn in Virgo which has 0 bindus in his own Bhinnashtakavarga.

It is clear from my friend's chart that his 5^th house has severe afflictions which is confirmed by the concerned divisional chart - the Saptamsa, and also by the Sarvashtakavarga. Regarding the fructification of these afflictions the Vimshottari, Yogini, Rasi- Tulya- Vatsara Dasas and the Ashtakavarga all converge to indicate both the birth of a female child and its loss. The horoscope of the child and the Prasna charts are almost similar as far as planetary positions are considered. In the baby's horoscope (Chart 2), (i) the association of the Moon with Jupiter and (ii) the occupation of benefics Venus and Mercury, Venus being the Ascendant lord, in a Kendra are the two Yogas indicating good longevity for the baby or at least no death within the span of Balarishta. However the very close degree-wise affliction of the Moon from Mars and Saturn indicates the activation of a peculiar malefic influence which could dominate over other good Yogas indicating impending death. The baby died 31 hours after birth.

Chart 4: Death of the Baby: August 2, 2010 at 9h.05m. at 77 E 29, 15 N 44.

Chart 4 shows the planetary positions and the Ascendant at the time of the death of the baby. The Moon has moved into the next sign Aries coming out of the benign protection of Jupiter. Venus has just moved into Virgo forming an Ithashala with Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. Mars has moved ahead of Saturn forming an Esharapha Yoga. It is interesting to note that Venus is the 8^th lord of the Prasna chart while Jupiter is the Ascendant lord. They have exchanged their roles in the birth chart of the baby. Thus an Ithasala formed between them being of the Ascendant and 8th lords may have precipitated the death of the baby.

Summing up, the following conclusions may be drawn:

(i) Rasi, Navamsa and the concerned divisional chart should be studied to judge any event.

(ii) If any planet transits through a sign having 0 bindus in any Bhinnashtakavarga that period may indicate a very unpleasant incident like death, ill-health etc. The area of life affected will be related to the Karakattwas of the transiting planet and that of the concerned Bhinnashtakavarga lord. In my friend's case, Jupiter was transiting the sign Pisces which has 0 bindus in the Bhinnashtakavarga of Saturn. Jupiter is the 5^th lord and natural Karaka for children while Saturn is the Karaka for longevity. In the case of the baby Saturn was transiting Virgo which has 0 bindus in its own Bhinnashtakavarga. Saturn is the Karaka for longevity.

(iii) The position of planets should be observed degree-wise. The very close affliction to the Moon from Mars and Saturn in the birth chart of the baby, in my humble opinion, is the main indicator of her immediate death.

(iv) If any planet is afflicted severely in its own house it should be considered that both the house and also the lord are afflicted thereby aggravating the affliction. Here, the own house placement as a source of strength cannot help. The position of Jupiter in the Prasna and the birth chart of the baby is a case in point.

(v) In the Prasna chart, Ithasala between malefics, mainly Saturn and Mars, afflicting the Moon, Ascendant and the Ascendant lord indicates that the subject matter of the Prasna is doomed ultimately.

(vi) Yogini Dasa, Rasi-Tulya-Vatsara Dasa etc. can be conveniently combined to confirm the inference drawn from the Vimshottari Dasa.

Every case we study offers us a lot of insights into the art of prediction and refines our way of utilization of the various tools of astrology.