The Art of Synthesis in Jyotish

(Excerpt from the upcoming book on Lagna Bhava)

Author: Varahamihira (aka Sarajit Poddar)
What makes Jyotish incredibly difficult is the fact that one event in life is
influenced by myriads of factors. For instance, each position of various grahas
have some say on the nature of wealth in the natives life. So, in order to decide
the quantum of wealth, we cant just see one bhava or graha and reach
conclusion. Again, is wealth constant throughout the persons life? Nothing is
constant in life baring the fact that we are born in such and such mother and
father and in a particular birth circumstances. Each of the Bhava results change
with time, the health, wealth, valour, happiness, comforts etc. So, while it is
necessary to understand the overall theme pertaining to some aspect of life, the
next thing is to check how things change in the persons life with the passage of
time, however, within the boundary conditions set by the disposition of the
grahas in the natal chart.
Lets analyse the Lagna Bhava for the standard nativity and see whats in
store from the Lagna perspective.

1. To start the analysis, we need to be clear what we are looking at. We are
looking at the Lagna Bhava and all the significations it governs.
According to Maharishi, Lagna Bhava governs body (deha),
appearance (rpa), knowledge, wisdom (jna), complexion
(vara) , strength and weakness (balbalam), happiness (sukha),
sadness (dukha) and nature (svabhva). Adding to this, the author
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of Prasna Marga mentions Excellence, superior goodness of beauty,

skill, cleverness, self confidence (sauthavam), the state of being,
existence, perseverance, standing, staying at a place (sthiti), selfdependence, sound state, health, ease, comfort, contentment, satisfaction
(svasthya), welfare, wellbeing, yasha, fame (shreya), victory, success
and achievement (jayo).
2. This means that the mentioned factors can be influenced by Grahas
occupying or aspecting the Lagna. There is no graha occupying the
lagna, but Lagna is aspected by Shani by Purna Drsti. Now we have to
think critically regarding Shanis aspect. (1) Shani can aspect the lagna
by purna-drsti from 3 different places, from the 4th house, from the 7th
house and from the 11th house. What will be the difference caused by
Shani drsti from the different Bhavas. (2) Shani is occupying Mithuna
here, but what if Shani had occupied Mesha, Tula or any other Rasi?
(3) Shani is the lord of 2nd and 3rd house here. What if Shani was the
the lord say Lagna, 8th, 10th, 4th or any other Bhava?
3. Before moving any further, lets judge the auspiciousness of Shani. Shani
is a natural krura graha and has the ability to cause great damage in a
horoscope. But we need to know whether it is in a good or bad state. If
it is a good state, it will bless and only if it is a bad state, it will curse.
Thus the 1st step is to know whether Shanis drsti is carrying blessings
or curses. According to Brhat Jataka 20.11: Planets in exaltation,
moolatrikona, svakshetra, mitra, shatru, neecha, and moodha has the
ability to give auspicious results in 4 pada, 3 pada, 2 pada, 1 pada, 1/2
pada and 0 results respectively.
4. Shani is occupying Mithuna Rasi. What kind of sign it is for Shani? To
know, we have to count from Shanis mulatrionka Kumbha. Mithuna is
the 5th sign from Shanis mulatrikona, hence, Shani is very fond of this
sign. Shani is highly favourable to this sign, hence will promote the
significations of the Rasi and Bhava. Now, how is the sign lord Budha
towards Shani? From Budhas mulatrikona Kanya, Shani owns 5th and
6th Rasi, hence Budha is neutral towards Shani. So Shani is expected to
give some favourable results. Right? We need not be happy as the
Graha is Shani, the Karaka of Sorrow, who gives that in ample even
when occupying its Mitra-kshetra. According to Saravali, when Shani
occupies its Mitra kshetra, the results are it forces the native to depend
on other for food and inclined to do unethical deeds. Regarding Shani,
it blesses only when it occupies its Sva-Uccha-Mula Rasi. In Uccha it
blesses with royal assignment, leadership over villages and towns, gain
of forest-born grains and company of mean ladies; in mula rasi, Shani
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blesses one with birth in a good family, be wealthy and valorous; and
in Sva Rasi, Shani blesses one with honour and happiness.
5. Lets have a detailed look into quality of Shani when occupying the
Mithuna Bhava. According to Saravali, this position makes one contract
debts, imprisonments, toil, be conceited, cunning, wicked, bereft of
virtues, always in hide-out and has strong libido. But its not all negative.
On the positive side, the native is fond of travelling and sports, and is
consecrated by hymns, prayers etc. These are base qualities of Shani
when it occupies Mithuna, however, it undergoes modification when
aspected by other Grahas.
6. When Shani occupies Budhas Rasi and is aspected by Jupiter, then it
undergoes huge transformation. One becomes trustworthy in the kings
circle, possesses many good qualities, liked by the nobles, and earn
wealth through his virtues.
7. So, it is not enough to see the base qualities of Graha due to its
occupation of a Rasi, we also need to note the conjunctions and aspects.
According to Parashara1, when Shani is aspected by a Shubha graha, it
offers freedom from diseases.
8. Having established that Shani is going to bless the native with good
health, influence, good qualities and virtues, lets see what it is going to
give to the various houses it is aspecting.
9. Shanis aspect on the Lagna is in Dhanu Rasi which has a specific
impact. Its aspect on the Lagna in other signs say Tula, Mesha, Makara,
Kumbha, Simha etc. will have different results as Shani is differently
disposed towards different signs. Shanis aspect on its Svoccha-MulaMitra will always be auspicious and on Neecha-Shatru sign will be
inauspicious. Howe about Dhanu? Shanis influence is closely
intertwined with that of Guru, because Guru occupies Shanis Rasi and
Shani is aspecting Gurus Rasi, being aspected by Guru. This will cause
Shani to give auspicious results. Shani in a Kendra is considered
inauspicious, like any other papa-grahas in a Kendra, but Shanis
blemishes are removed by Gurus aspect. In this horoscope, we will
consider Shani as auspicious Shani, who is intended to bless the native.
10.Since Shani is under influence of Guru, Shani cant be negative to the
sign owned by Guru. Hence, Shanis drsti on the Lagna will bring
auspiciousness. However, the question is, can Shani shed its natural

Pt. Harihara Majumdar edition of BPHS

propensities, it being the karaka of Dukha (miseries)? No, any

transformation due to conjunctions or aspects, cant completely remove
the natural instincts of the graha. There will always be some traces that
will remain.
11.Now lets see, what are base qualities of the results when Shani aspects
the Lagna. According to Saravali, when Shani aspects the Lagna, the
person is troubled by heavy loads, travels, diseases, become irritated
fast, fond of company of old women, sorrowful, remain dirty and be
foolish. However, the base qualities are modified when Shani is
auspicious by it being placed in svoccha2. Such Shani blesses the native
with kingdom (leadership qualities). In other places Shani gives misery
in childhood, dirty disposition, indolence.
12.Shani did give mixed results in this case. The native is not bothered
about the dressing sense and can be very inaptly or shabbily dressed for
various occasions. But this changed after marriage, as, because Shani is
occupying marriage can bring transformation to the Shani. The native
suffered very heavily in childhood due to Asthma (Shani=Vayu,
Mithuna=Vayu Rasi, Mithuna=Chest region), thanks to the promise of
Shani. But miraculously started recovering after his 16th year (16=
rising age of Guru).
13.Now, thanks to the blessings of Shani, the native has a matured
thinking, philosophical bent of mind, inquisitive attitude, willingness to
work very hard, not daunted by physical ailments, and willingness to
help the needy. The same Shani will only make the native a leader, no
doubt. Because when Shani lifts someone, who can dare to oppose him?
14.Lets move ahead with the other matters governed by the Lagna. Guru
being the Lagnesha occupies Kumbha Rasi, 3rd House and its dispositor
occupies a Kendra. What is the significance of Lagnesha Guru
occupying Kumbha Rasi and aspected by Surya, Mangal, Budha? Also,
whose aspect will be the strongest. For that, we need to see the degree
of Guru in Kumbha Rasi, and also the degrees of the aspecting Grahas
Surya, Mangal and Budha.
15.Guru occupies the 21st degree, Surya 9th degree, Budha 17th degree
and Kuja 25th degree. Evidently Mangal is very close to Gurus degree
followed by Budha and Surya.

Svoccha is sva (own sign), uccha (exaltation)

16.When Guru occupies Shanis Kshetra and aspected by Kuja, the person
is valorous, attains a position of army chief with the king, splendorous,
well-dressed, famous, honoured. This is extremely important; around
this the world life of the native will revolve, as this is none other than
the Lagnesha. Guru being the Lagnesha occupies the sign of Valour,
hence it endorses the above traits of aspect of Kuja on Guru occupying
Shani Kshetra.
17.On the other hand, when Guru occupies Shani-kshetra and aspected
by Budha, the person has a strong libido; he is important among his
folk, endowed with conveyances, wealth, many friends and is famous.
The aspect of Surya will bless the native with learning, kinghood,
wealth from birth, many comforts and luxuries, and high courage.
18.Whats mentioned above are the key personality traits in various
proportions depending on the strength of aspect. The native however
had to suffer in childhood due to health and finances, that is promised
by Shanis aspect. Remember Guru is not free from Shanis clutch as it is
occupying Shanis sign. Hence suffering in childhood was guaranteed.
Health wise, the native recovered from childhood Asthma, but he is
constantly suffering from some or other health troubles. That is
promised by Lagnesha in Shani kshetra, Shani aspecting the Lagna,
Chandra neecha in a Dusthana conjoined with another neecha papagraha. But the blessings to overcome them came from Gurus drsti on
Shani, Kuja Drsti on Guru and Chandra and Chandra Vargottama.
19.Now what is the impact of Lagnesha Guru occupying the 3rd house.
There are two components to it, (1) Guru occupying 3rd house and (3)
Lagnesha Guru occupying 3rd house. Lets analyse them one by one.
20.When Guru occupies the Sahaja Bhava, it can be placed in different
signs for different Lagnas. We need to understand (1) The base results
of Guru in Sahaja Bhava (2) Modification caused by Guru in Kumbha
(3) Modification caused by Kuja-Budha-Surya aspecting it. Gurus
position in Sahaja is not a auspicious position as the Bhava is governed
by Kuja, in natural zodiac owned by Budha, is the Natural Uccha
Kshetra of Rahu and Neecha Kshetra of Ketu. According to
Phaladeepika, with this position, the native becomes sinful, wicked,
miserly, suffer humiliation, however one of the brothers attain a position
of honour and is renowned. Now, will the results be the same in all the
signs or they will be transformed in different signs? According to Brhat
Jataka, Gurus position in Kumbha is akin to its exaltation, hence the
Guru is Shubha in Kumbha. Saravali mentions that Guru in exaltation
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blesses the native with wealth, scholarship, honour and talent. The same
can be expected.
21.However, we cant ignore the words of Kalyanavarma who says, Guru
in Kumbha give inauspicious results i.e., it makes the native a talebearer, irritable, interested in evil jobs, fond of company of base men,
malicious, miserly, suffer from diseases, lose wealth on account his own
words, devoid of intelligence, virtues and violate elders beds. However
the person is chief among his race men. So, there is a potential of all
these results happening. If Guru was not aspected by the 3 grahas
mentioned above, I would have taken the base results of Gurus
occupation in Kumbha. However, since Guru has undergone
transformation under the aspect of the 3 grahas, I will take the
transformed results which gives leadership qualities, virtues and honour.
22.How about Lagnesha occupying the 3rd house? According to
Maharishi Parashara, this position of Lagnesha grants qualities such as
equal to a lion in valour (simha-tulya-parakrami), endowed with every
kinds of wealth (sarva-sampada-yuta), honourable (maani), two wives
(dvi-bharya), intelligent (matimaan), comfortable (sukhi). The results
are never the same for different Lagnas as the Lagnesha will vary, and
the Rasi position of the Lagnesha will also vary. For instance, for Simha
Lagna when Surya occupies Neecha in the 3rd house, what results can
it give? Can it give happiness, comforts and wealth? No. Even in
courage, the native will attack under the belt, hence not real gallant and
valorous person. If Guru was not under the influence of the grahas
aspecting from the 9th house, I would have said more negative results of
than positive. However, since we have established that Guru is a
Shubha Guru, all the positive results due to Lagneshas placement in the
3rd house will manifest.
In the next part, we will see how the various results are manifested differently in
the course of different Dasas and Transits.