Brahma Dasa

Brahma Dasa © Sarajit Poddar

Introduction

Brahma dasa has been pronounced Maharishi Jaimini in immortal classic Jaimini Sutras. The dasa determines the period of death of a native by considering two important concepts in Jyotisha shastras, Brahma, the creator and Maheswara, the destroyer. According to Maharishis, the longevity of a native is from Brahma to Maheswara as per Brahma Dasa. This article endeavors to throw light on this dasa, which is not widely used, in spite of its accuracy. When this dasas is used along with other tools of longevity calculation, death can be accurately timed for a native. I have given many case studies which elucidate the computation of Brahma, Maheswara and the dasa. Brahma and Maheswara are two key concepts in Ayur Jyotisha. We know that in Hindu Pantheon, the Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara Create, Sustain and Annihilate respectively. Thus the concept of Brahma as creator and Maheswara as the liberator are used in some key Ayur Dasas such as Brahma, Sthira, Shoola dasa etc. Though their importance is high, many do not venture into finding them as they turn out to be little complicated. I tried to make this little easier to understand and compute. With hard work and patience, this can be learnt and applied in Ayur Jyotisha. Before venturing into computing Brahma, Maheswara and the Dasa Period we need to know how to find the stronger sign between two given signs and the stronger of the co-lords of Scorpio and Aquarius. They are as follows: Determining stronger sign 1. The sign aspected by more planets becomes stronger. 2. The sign placed with exalted or the sign lord becomes stronger. 3. The sign aspected by the sign lord, Jupiter or Mercury becomes stronger. 4. The sign whose lord is placed in sign with different oddity becomes stronger. For example if the sign under consideration is even, and the lord is placed in Odd then it is stronger than if the lord has been placed in the even sign. 5. The sign whose lord has more longitude is stronger. Determining stronger planet Scorpio and Aquarius are lorded by two planets each. Scorpio’s lords are Mars & Ketu, while Aquarius’s lords are Saturn & Rahu. There are times when we need to find the stronger of the lords to determine who shall lord mentioned signs. This is done in following way:

If the lords are placed in the same sign then there is no trouble in computing the dasa period. However, if they are placed in two different signs, their strength need to be ascertained, using the following rules. 1.

If one of the lords is placed in the sign and the other is placed elsewhere, the dasa is estimated from the lord placed in the other sign.

2.

If both lords are placed elsewhere, the stronger of the two signs1, where they are placed, shall give the dasa period.

3.

If the signs occupied by the lords are of equal strength, the lord contributing a larger dasa period should be considered.

Brahma

Saturn is the deity of Brahma and is the karaka for the Dusthana. Thus the calculation of the Brahma involves finding out the stronger among the three dusthana lords namely, 6th, 8th, 12th lord based on their placement in odd and visible signs. The predominance of Odd and Visible signs indicates towards the masculine energy and the power to create. If however, the condition of Odd and visible signs are not fulfilled, the Visibility condition is dropped and if even the odd-sign condition fails, the condition gets modified to odd-house placement. One among these six planets (Sun to Venus) will represent Brahma the creator, in the horoscope. Saturn being the Ayus Karaka and having Brahma as his deity cannot represent Brahma. The nodes do not have a physical body and cannot contribute one, besides they are actually demoniacal and have become immortal due to their ‘drinking of the amrita’ clandestinely at the time of the churning of the primordial ocean. (Pt. Sanjay Rath) The 8th lordship is always seen in regular order for determination of Brahma, Rudra or Maheswara and not as per the Vriddha’s principle of 8th house reckoning. The Vriddha’s principle is used for determination of 8th house in the three pairs for computing longevity.

Steps to identify Brahma Rider: If the lord of the eighth house from the Atmakaraka is placed in the eighth house itself, it disqualifies to be the Maheswara, and instead becomes the Brahma overriding all conditions for Brahma determination.

1 The rules for determining the stronger of the signs are already discussed in previous section. Page 1 of 12

Brahma Dasa © Sarajit Poddar

Determine the stronger between the lagna and seventh house as per sources of strength and call this dominant satya peetha. Identify the lords of the 6th, 8th & 12th houses from the dominant satya peetha. Remember to consider the co-lordship of Aquarius (Rahu) and Scorpio (Ketu) if these signs are involved. Check whether any of these lords are 1. Placed in an odd sign and placed in the visible half of the zodiac from the dominant satya peetha. The visible half of the zodiac constitutes the signs from the 7th to 12th house (the signs which are above the horizon). 2.

3.

4.

5.

If more than one planet becomes Brahma, check the stronger of them to qualify for Brahma. However, if none of the 6th, 8th or 12th lord from the dominant satya peetha, are placed in the odd & visible sign, then move to the weaker satya peetha and check the conditions for the 6th, 8th and 12th lord wherefrom. If none satisfy the odd & visible sign placement, drop the "visible sign" condition. Now check again from the Dominant Satya Peetha, if the lords of 6th/8th/12th placed in odd signs. If this fails, move to the weaker Satya Peetha and check the placement of 6th/8th/12th lord in Odd sign. If all the lords (6th/8th/12th), from both satya peetha are placed in even signs, then the placement of 6th/8th/12th lord in Odd "Houses" need to be checked from the Dominant Satya Peetha and if this condition is not met, the same is checked from weaker satya peetha. If two or more planets contend for the position of Brahma, then the strongest should be declared as Brahma.

Maheswara

There are Ekadasa (11) rudras in a horoscope, each being the lord of 8th from each of the signs excluding the one which is conjoined with Jupiter. Among them, the lord of the 8th house from the sign occupied by Atmakaraka has the highest status among the Rudras and is called Mahesvara. However, if the Nodes are present with Atmakaraka (or the 8th from it), the counting is done in reverse direction, which means, we need to count 6 signs instead of 8 signs. The Bhagavat Gita also indicates this difference when Sri Krishna says,”amongst the rudras I am sankara (or Mahesvara)”. The philosophical difference is that each of the other ten rudras simply destroys the body whereas Mahesvara liberates the soul (atma) by delivering it from the cycle of rebirth to the highest spiritual plane. (Pt. Sanjay Rath) Riders 1. If the 8th lord from Atmakaraka is exalted or in own sign, the lord of the 8th/12th from it, whichever is stronger, becomes Mahesvara. This is based on the principle that the 8th lord in exaltation or in own sign loses its sting to kill and delegates the power to another i.e. the lord of the 8th/12th from the sign where it is placed. 2.

If Rahu or Ketu becomes Mahesvara then the sixth planet counted in the weekday order becomes the Mahesvara. a. Rahu is replaced by Mercury b. Ketu is replaced by Jupiter

Note: A planet who is qualified to become Brahma is disqualified to become Maheswara. This can happen if the 8th lord from Atmakaraka is in own house in 8th. For such case, the 8th lord becomes Brahma, overriding all conditions of Brahma determination. However for Maheswara, we need to look at the 8th/12th lord from the Brahma.

Exception for Saturn, Rahu & Ketu Should any of the three planets Saturn, Rahu or Ketu qualifies for the position of Brahma, then the sixth planet from it, in the order of the reckoning of the weekdays, becomes Brahma. If Saturn qualifies as Brahma, then replace Saturn with Mars. If Rahu qualifies as Brahma, then replace Rahu with Mercury. If Ketu qualifies as Brahma, then replace Ketu with Jupiter. Page 2 of 12

Brahma Dasa © Sarajit Poddar

Brahma Dasa

Maharishi Jaimini says that the longevity is from Brahma to Maheswara. This means that the dasa begins from sign occupying Brahma planet (or the 7th from it, when Brahma sign is even) and the death happens during the dasa of Maheswara. Since, the signs in the trines of a sign are known as saha-dharmi (having the same nature); they can also be considered for the death inflicting dasa. In exceptional cases, few other signs can also inflict death, which is explained in subsequent section.

Period of Dasa 1. The period of Brahma dasa is reckoned from the dasa sign to the sign occupied by the lord of sixth from it. If the lord is exalted then add 1 to the period, while if debilitated, then subtract 1. If the 6th lord is placed in the dasa sign, the period is zero. For Gemini and Cancer dasas, the stronger of the co-lords need to be found2.

Starting sign & Progression Brahma dasa commences from the sign occupied by the Brahma and proceed zodiacally if the starting sign is an odd sign. If the sign housing Brahma happens to be an even sign, the dasa progresses anti-zodiacally from the seventh sign from Brahma. For illustration, in the following horoscope of Mahatma Gandhi, Brahma Jupiter is placed in Aries and odd sign; the dasa commences from Aries and proceed in the zodiacal direction. Thus the dasa progression would be Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer etc.

2.

The counting is based on the dasa sign being odd or even.

3.

If the dasa sign is odd, then the counting is zodiacal and if even, it is reverse.

4.

In the next cycle of the dasa, the period is arrived by subtracting the period in the 1st cycle from 12.

For illustration, for Aries dasa, the 6th lord is Mercury (reckoned in zodiacal direction); hence the dasa period is known by counting the sign of Mercury from Aries in zodiacal direction. Similarly for Taurus, 6th lord is Jupiter (reckoned in anti-zodiacal direction); hence the dasa period is known by counting the sign of Jupiter from Taurus in anti-zodiacal direction Illustration

In the horoscope of Rajiv Gandhi, Brahma Mars is placed in Virgo an even sign. Hence the dasa commences from Pisces, 7th from Brahma and progresses in an anti-zodiacal manner. Thus the dasa progression would be Pisces Aquarius Capricorn Sagittarius etc.

In the following horoscope Brahma is Venus and Maheswara is Sun. Brahma Dasa starts from Brahma, Venus who is placed in Aries and moves in a zodiacal direction. Death can happen in Maheswara sign Taurus or signs trines to it, Virgo or Capricorn. Death happened in Taurus dasa. Dasa Sign Aries

Period

Reason

0

Taurus

3

Gemini

9

6th lord from Aries is Mercury. Mercury is placed in Aries, hence dasa period is zero. 6th lord is Jupiter, who is placed in 5th sign from Taurus and debilitated. Thus the period would be 5-1-1. Extra 1 is subtracted for debilitation. 6th sign is Scorpio. Among the lords, Mars & Ketu; Mars with more planets is stronger in

2 For Gemini dasa, 6th house is Scorpio. The 6th lord would be stronger of the lords, Mars and Ketu. Similarly for Cancer dasa, Aquarius becomes the 6th house and the stronger of the lords Saturn & Rahu needs to be considered. Page 3 of 12

Brahma Dasa © Sarajit Poddar

Cancer

4

Leo

7

Pisces. Pisces is 10 signs away from Gemini, hence period becomes 10-1 = 9. 6th sign is Aquarius and both the lords are placed in the 5th sign from Gemini. Thus the period is 5-1 = 4. 6th Sign is Capricorn. 6th lord Saturn is placed in 8th sign from Leo. Thus the period is 8-1 = 7.

Death Inflicting Dasa- Antardasa: Following sutras of Maharishi Jaimini gives the dasa and antardasa in which the death can occur. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Longevity extends from Brahma to Maheswara. (2.1.55) During the Brahma dasa of the sign having Mahesvara the antardasa will be of a sign in trines to the sign occupied by the eighth lord from Maheswara. (2.1.56) The strongest of the lords of the 3rd, 6th, 8th & 12th houses from atmakaraka becomes the maraka. (2.1.57) Generally, the 6th lord is death inflictor. (2.1.58) The dasa of the sign occupied or aspected (or in trines) for the death inflictor furnishes the last period of life. (2.1.59) The antardasa could be of the signs in the 6th, 7th, 8th or 12th from the death inflictor dasa sign. (2.1.60)

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Brahma Dasa © Sarajit Poddar

Case Studies

Case II: Queen Victoria

Case I: Harish Johari

Death: 22 January 1901

Death: August 20, 1999

Brahma In this horoscope, the Seventh (Aquarius) is stronger as it conjoins one planet and the lagna has none. 6th lord from Aquarius is Moon, 8th lord is Mercury and 12th lord is Saturn. Since, all the planets are placed in the invisible half, we need to consider the 6th/8th/12th lords from the Lagna. From the Lagna, the lords are 6th is Saturn, 8th is Jupiter and 12th is Moon. Jupiter disqualifies to become the Brahma as it is placed in the invisible half, reckoned from the Lagna. Moon and Saturn are placed in the visible half and also in odd signs. However, Moon conjoins many planets and hence becomes the Brahma. Since the 8th from the Atmakaraka Sun is Scorpio and its lord Mars is not placed in the Scorpio, hence is disqualified to become the Brahma.

Brahma: Moon Maheswara The Atmakaraka is Sun placed in Aries. Eighth from the Atmakaraka is lorded by Mars and Ketu. Since Mars is placed with more planets, it is stronger than Ketu. However, it cannot become the Maheswara, since it is placed in own sign, so Ketu becomes the Maheswara. However, Ketu delegates this responsibility to Jupiter Maheswara: Jupiter Brahma Dasa: Brahma dasa commences from Aries, the Brahma sign and moves in a zodiacal manner, since it is an even sign. Death can happen in Virgo, housing Maheswara Jupiter or trines to it, i.e., Capricorn or Taurus. Death happened in Capricorn dasa. Dasa Sign Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn

Period 0 7 10 6 6 5 11 7 4 10

Years 1934 – 1934 1934 – 1941 1941 – 1951 1951 – 1957 1957 – 1963 1963 – 1968 1968 – 1979 1979 – 1986 1986 – 1990 1990 – 2000

Determination of Brahma: Lagna Taurus is stronger than the seventh. Lords competing for Brahma are 6th – Venus, 8th – Jupiter and 12th – Mars. All of them are placed in the visible half where only Venus is placed in the odd sign, hence becomes Brahma. Brahma: Venus Determination of Maheswara: Since Atmakaraka Mars is placed with Rahu, Maheswara would be the 6th lord from Atmakaraka. 6th house from Atmakaraka is Leo and its lord Sun becomes Maheswara. Maheswara: Sun Brahma Dasa: Brahma Dasa starts from Brahma, Venus who is placed in Aries and moves in a zodiacal direction. Death can happen in Maheswara sign Taurus or signs trines to it, Virgo or Capricorn. Death happened in Taurus dasa. Dasa Sign Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus

Period 0 3 9 4 7 6 4 7 4 8 4 11 12 10

Years 1819-1819 1819-1822 1822-1831 1831-1835 1835-1842 1842-1848 1848-1850 1850-1857 1857-1861 1861-1869 1869-1872 1872-1883 1883-1895 1895-1904

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Brahma Dasa © Sarajit Poddar

Case III: Indira Gandhi

Case IV: Rajiv Gandhi

Determination of Brahma: The Lagna is stronger being placed with the Atmakaraka. 6th lord is Jupiter, 8th lord is Saturn & Rahu and 12th lord is Mercury. Rahu is the only planet in an odd sign, however in the invisible half. Before pronouncing Rahu as Brahma, we need to check if from 7th house, anyone satisfies both the condition of placement in an odd sign as well as visible half. From 7th house, 6th lord is Mercury, 8th lord is Sun and 12th lord is Jupiter. Here also none of them are placed in the odd signs. Since none qualifies for Brahma as seen from 7th house, Rahu becomes Brahma. However since Rahu delegates this responsibility to Mercury; Mercury becomes Brahma.

Determination of Brahma: Lagna is stronger compared to 7th, since it is placed with more planets. Counting from Lagna, 6th lord is Saturn, 8th lord is Jupiter and 12th lord is Moon. Saturn stands out alone satisfying the condition of placement in an odd sign and in the visible half.

Death: 31th October, 1984

Brahma: Mercury Determination of Maheswara: Saturn is the Atmakaraka, placed in Cancer; the 8th house from the Atmakaraka is Aquarius. Among the co-lords, Rahu & Saturn, Rahu with more planets shall become Maheswara. However, since Rahu delegates this responsibility to Mercury; he becomes Maheswara too. Maheswara: Mercury Brahma Dasa: Brahma is placed in the Scorpio. However, since it is placed in an even sign, the dasa starts from 7th from it, i.e., Taurus and moves in an anti-zodiacal manner. Maheswara Mercury is placed in Scorpio and death can happen in either Scorpio or the signs trine to it, i.e., Pisces or Cancer. Death happened in Cancer dasa. Dasa Sign Taurus Aries Pisces Aquarius Capricorn Sagittarius Scorpio Libra Virgo Leo Cancer

Period 0 7 3 11 2 11 11 7 1 11 6

Years 1917-1917 1917-1924 1924-1927 1927-1938 1938-1940 1940-1951 1951-1962 1962-1969 1969-1970 1970-1981 1981-1987

Death: 21st May, 1991

However, whenever Saturn becomes Brahma, it delegates its power to Mars. Thus Mars becomes the Brahma in the horoscope. Brahma: Mars Determination of Maheswara: Atmakaraka is Mercury and 8th from Mercury lorded by Jupiter who is neither placed in own sign or exaltation, hence becomes the Maheswara. Maheswara: Jupiter Brahma Dasa: Brahma Mars is placed in an even sign Virgo; hence Brahma dasa commences from 7th from it, i.e., Pisces and moves in an antizodiacal manner. Death can happen either in Leo, housing Maheswara or in trines to it, the fiery signs, namely Sagittarius or Aries. Death happened in Leo dasa, housing Maheswara. Dasa Sign Pisces Aquarius Capricorn Sagittarius Scorpio Libra Virgo Leo Cancer Gemini Taurus Aries

Period 7 6 5 8 3 10 0 10 2 3 9 4

Years 1944- 1951 1951-1957 1957-1962 1962-1970 1970-1973 1973-1983 1983-1983 1983-1993 1993-1995 1995-1998 1998-2007 2007-2011

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Brahma Dasa © Sarajit Poddar

Case V: Mahatma Gandhi

Case VI: JF Kennedy

Determination of Brahma: Lagna is stronger as it is placed with more planets. Counting from Lagna, 6th lord is Jupiter, 8th lord is Venus and 12th lord is Mercury. All the three planets are placed in odd signs; however only Lagna is placed in the visible half (7th – 12th houses) and hence becomes Brahma.

Determination of Brahma: In this case, neither Lagna, nor the 7th house has any planets and they are aspected by the nodes only. So we need to check the placement of the lord of the signs. Lagna lord Mercury is placed in a odd sign, while 7th lord Jupiter is placed in an even sign. Since both and the 7th houses fall in even sign, Lagna is stronger, since its lord is placed in a sign with different oddity.

Death: 30th January, 1948

Brahma: Jupiter Determination of Maheswara: Atmakaraka is Jupiter and 8th from it is Scorpio. Hence Mars or Ketu can become Maheswara. Mars with more planets wins over Ketu to become Maheswara. Maheswara: Mars Brahma Dasa: The dasa starts from Aries, housing the Brahma, Jupiter and move in a zodiacal manner. Death can happen in the Maheswara sign, Libra or the signs which are trines to it, namely Aquarius or Gemini. Death happened in Gemini dasa. Dasa Sign Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer

Period 6 1 4 0 3 11 6 1 10 4 5 5 6 11 8 12

Years 1869- 1875 1875- 1876 1876- 1880 1880- 1880 1880- 1883 1883- 1894 1894- 1900 1900- 1901 1901- 1911 1911- 1915 1915- 1920 1920- 1925 1925- 1931 1931- 1942 1942- 1950 1950- 1962

Death: 22nd November 1963

From the lagna, the 6th lord is Saturn / Rahu, 8th lord is Mars and 12th lord is Sun. Only Mars qualify to become the Brahma, since it is the only planet placed in the visible half and odd sign. Brahma: Mars Determination of Maheswara: Atmakaraka is Mercury and the 8th lord from it lorded by Mars, however since Mars became the Brahma, it cannot become Maheswara. Hence we need to count 8th / 12th lord from Mars to determine Maheswara. 8th lord from Mars is Mars itself, whereas 12th lord is Jupiter. Thus Jupiter becomes the Maheswara. Maheswara: Jupiter Brahma Dasa: The dasa starts from Brahma sign Aries and continues in zodiacal direction. Death can happen in Maheswara sign Taurus or other Earthy signs, which are Virgo or Capricorn. Death happened in Capricorn. Dasa Sign Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius

Period 0 0 10 0 11 5 7 7 7 8 6

Years 1917- 1917 1917- 1917 1917- 1927 1927- 1927 1927- 1938 1938- 1943 1943- 1948 1948- 1955 1955- 1962 1962- 1970 1970- 1976

Page 7 of 12

Brahma Dasa © Sarajit Poddar Case VII: Mother Teresa Death: 5 September 1997

Case VIII: Vivekananda Death: July 4, 1902

Determination of Brahma: Among the Lagna and the 7th house, none of them are occupied, and both of them are aspected by their lord, hence we have consider their strength from their lords. Since both the lords are placed in a sign with same oddity, even this cannot differentiate between their strength. Thus we need to fall back on the planet with higher longitude where Jupiter wins over Mercury and so does Sagittarius over Gemini.

Determination of Brahma: Lagna with more planets is stronger than the 7th house, hence Brahma reckoning needs to be done from Lagna. From Lagna, 6th lord is Venus, 8th lord is Moon and 12th lord is Mars or Ketu. Out of them only Mars is placed in an odd sign, hence is capable of becoming Brahma. Even if others are placed in visible half, none of them are in odd signs, hence are disqualified from becoming Brahma. However, before deciding on Mars, we need to check if any dusthana lord from the 7th fulfils both the conditions. From 7th, 6th lords are Mars & Ketu, 8th lord is Saturn and 12th lord is Venus. From here, only Mars is placed in odd as well as visible half and hence becomes Brahma.

The Brahma computation needs to be reckoned from Sagittarius, the stronger sign. From here, 6th lord is Venus, 8th lord is Moon and 12th lord is Mars. Moon and Mars are placed in odd sign, but Mars becomes the Brahma, since it is placed in the visible half. Brahma: Mars Determination of Maheswara: Atmakaraka is Rahu; hence we have to count 6 signs from it to arrive at Maheswara. 6th lord from Rahu is Venus. Since Venus is not placed in own house or exaltation, it becomes Maheswara. Maheswara: Venus Brahma Dasa: Dasa begins from Leo, housing Brahma and death can happen in the dasa of Cancer housing Venus or the signs trines to it namely, Scorpio or Pisces. Death happened in Scorpio dasa. Dasa Sign Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio

Period 8 1 11 3 7 5 2 8 6 8 2 2 4 11 1 9

Years 1910-1918 1918-1919 1919-1930 1930-1933 1933-1940 1940-1945 1945-1947 1947-1955 1955-1961 1961-1969 1969-1971 1971-1973 1973-1977 1977-1989 1989-1992 1992-2001

Brahma: Mars Determination of Maheswara: Atmakaraka is Sun and 8th house from it is lorded by Moon. Since Moon is not placed in either own sign or exaltation, it becomes Maheswara. Maheswara: Moon Brahma Dasa: Dasa commences from Aries housing Brahma Mars and continues till Virgo Moon or its trines, Capricorn or Taurus. Death happened in Virgo dasa, which houses Maheswara Moon. Dasa Sign Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo

Period 9 7 11 10 1 5

Years 1863-1872 1872-1879 1879-1890 1890-1900 1900-1901 1901-1906

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Brahma Dasa © Sarajit Poddar Case IX: Subhash Chandra Bose Death: August 18, 1945

Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra

11 6 9 8 12

1955-1966 1966-1972 1972-1981 1981-1989 1989-2001

Case X: Rabindranath Tagore Death: August 7, 1941

Determination of Brahma: None of Lagna and the 7th house has any planets; hence we need to check the lords of the signs to find out the stronger among them. Among the lords Mars and Venus, Mars is aspected by Mercury, while Venus is neither aspected by Mercury, Jupiter or the dispositor. Thus Lagna is stronger than the 7th house. From the lagna, 6th lord is Mercury, 8th lord is Mars and 12th lord is Jupiter. Among the said planets only Jupiter is placed in an odd sign; however, since it is not placed in the visible half, before pronouncing Jupiter as the Brahma, we need to check if from the 7th house, any planet satisfies both the conditions. From the 7th house, 6th lord is Jupiter, 8th lord is Venus and 12th lord is Mercury. Even though Venus is also placed in an odd sign, only Jupiter satisfies both the conditions, placement in an odd sign and also in the visible half. Hence Jupiter becomes Brahma. Brahma: Jupiter Determination of Maheswara: Atmakaraka is Venus and 8th lord from there is Mercury. Since Mercury is not placed in own sign or exaltation, hence becomes Maheswara. Maheswara: Mercury Brahma Dasa: Brahma dasa commences from Leo, where Brahma, Jupiter is placed and since it an odd sign, it moved in a zodiacal direction. Death can happen in Maheswara sign Capricorn or trines to, which are Taurus or Virgo. Death happened in Taurus dasa. However there are speculations that he did not die in the plane crash and was living. Even if that is true, he could have lived till 1952. Many even think that he lived longer. If that is true, he would have lived till Virgo dasa, which ran between 1981 till 1989. Dasa Sign Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus

Period 3 4 10 10 2 0 7 1 9 9

Years 1897-1900 1900-1904 1904-1914 1914-1924 1924-1926 1926-1926 1926-1933 1933-1934 1934-1943 1943-1952

Determination of Brahma: Lagna with one planet is stronger than the 7th, with no planets. From Lagna, 6th lord is Sun, 8th lord is Venus and 12th lord is Saturn & Rahu. All the planets are placed in odd sign, but only Rahu is placed in the visible half, hence becomes Brahma. However, since Rahu delegates this responsibility to Mercury, Mercury becomes Brahma. Brahma: Mercury Determination of Maheswara: Atmakaraka is Jupiter and 8th from it is lorded by Rahu and Saturn. Since Rahu already contested for the position of Brahma, it cannot be Maheswara. Hence Saturn becomes Maheswara. Maheswara: Saturn Brahma Dasa: Brahma dasa commences from Aries housing Brahma Mercury. Death is likely in the dasas of Leo, Sagittarius or Aries. Death happened in Aries Dasa, which is trine to Maheswara sign Leo. Dasa Sign Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus

Period 0 11 0 11 0 3 10 7 5 10 1 11 12 1

Years 1861-1861 1861-1872 1872-1872 1872-1883 1883-1883 1883-1886 1886-1896 1896-1903 1903-1908 1908-1918 1918-1919 1919-1930 1930-1942 1932-1933

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Brahma Dasa © Sarajit Poddar Case XI: Bertrand Russell Death: 2nd February, 1970

Case XII: Aurobindo Ghose Death: December 5, 1945

Determination of Brahma:

Determination of Brahma: Lagna with two planets is stronger than the 7th. The contenders for Brahma are Jupiter, the 6th lord; Saturn & Rahu, the 8th lords and Mercury, the 12th lord. Among all only Saturn is placed in an odd sign, but in the visible half. Before considering Saturn to be Brahma, let’s check out if from the 7th house, any other planet satisfies both the condition of placement in an odd sign as well as in the visible half. From the 7th house, 6th lord is Mercury, 8th lord is Sun and 12th lord is Jupiter. While reckoned from 7th, Sun is placed in a odd sign as well as the visible half and hence becomes the Brahma.

7th house having two planets is stronger than Lagna, with no planets. From the 7th house, the 6th lord is Mercury, the 8th lord is Mars & Ketu and the 12th lord is Jupiter. Of all Mercury is the only planet placed in a odd sign, however placed in the invisible half. So let’s see from Lagna, who becomes the Brahma. The 6th lord from Lagna is Jupiter, 8th lord is Venus and 12th lord is Mercury. Venus and Mercury, both placed in visible half and odd sign and hence are capable to become Brahma. Since, Venus has more longitude compared to Mercury, he becomes Brahma. However, for the purpose of Brahma dasa, it does not matter, since the dasa shall begin from Aries in both cases.

Brahma: Venus Determination of Maheswara: 8th lord from Atmakaraka Saturn is Moon and since it is not placed in either exaltation or own house, becomes Maheswara. Maheswara: Moon Brahma Dasa: Brahma Venus is placed in Aries; hence Dasa starts from there and moves in a zodiacal direction. Since Maheswara sign is Virgo, death is likely to happen in Virgo, Capricorn or Taurus dasa; however death happens in Cancer Dasa. Even though there is apparent inconsistency with closer examination we find that the strongest of 3rd, 6th, 8th and 12th lords namely Saturn, Rahu, Venus, Moon and Mars, Ketu is Rahu (being placed with more planets and having more longitude than Mars). Hence the dasa sign aspected by Rahu can bring about the death. We can see in this case is that Rahu aspects Cancer, hence death happens in that sign. Thus, here sutra 2.1.57 of Maharishi Jaimini is applicable.

Dasa Sign Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer

Period 0 11 11 2 4 4 10 7 4 8 7 11 12 1 1 10

Years 1872-1872 1872-1883 1883-1894 1894-1896 1896-1900 1900-1904 1904-1914 1914-1921 1921-1925 1925-1933 1933-1940 1940-1951 1951-1963 1963-1964 1964-1965 1965-1975

Brahma: Sun Determination of Maheswara: 8th lord from Atmakaraka Mercury is Jupiter, who is exalted in Cancer and hence cannot become Maheswara. To find the Maheswara, we need find the stronger lord of 8h and 12th sign counted from Jupiter, 8th lord is Saturn & Rahu, whereas 12th lord is Mercury. Since Mercury is the Atmakaraka, it cannot become Maheswara; hence we are left with Saturn and Rahu. Among the two, Saturn is placed with a planet, whereas Rahu is along, making Saturn the stronger one. Hence Maheswara is Saturn. Maheswara: Saturn Brahma Dasa: Brahma dasa commences from Leo, housing Brahma Sun and moves in a zodiacal direction. Maheswara Saturn is placed in Sagittarius; hence death can happen in Sagittarius, Aries or Leo. Death happened in Leo Dasa. Dasa Sign Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo

Period 4 1 10 3 8 5 10 7 4 11 0 7 8

Years 1872-1876 1876-1877 1877-1887 1887-1890 1890-1898 1898-1903 1903-1913 1913-1920 1920-1924 1924-1935 1935-1935 1935-1942 1942-1950

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Brahma Dasa © Sarajit Poddar Case XIII: Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Death: August 16, 1886

Case XIV: Srila Prabhupada Death: November 14, 1977

Determination of Brahma: Lagna with more planets is stronger than 7th. 6th lord from Lagna is Moon, 8th lord is Mercury and 12th lord is Saturn. Only Saturn is placed in a odd sign as well as in the visible half and hence becomes Brahma. However since Saturn delegates its power to Mars, Mars becomes Brahma.

Determination of Brahma: Since both Lagna and the 7th are vacant, we need to take the aspects on these houses into consideration. 7th house Gemini is aspected by Mercury, wins over Lagna. 6th lord from Gemini is Mars & Ketu, 8th lord is Saturn and 12th lord is Venus. Even though only Ketu is placed in an odd sign, none are placed in the visible half. Hence, we need to consider the dusthana lords from Lagna to arrive at Brahma. From Lagna, 6th lord is Venus, 8th lord Moon and 12th lords are Mars and Ketu. Venus and Ketu are placed in odd signs as well as visible half. Since Ketu is placed with more planets, it is stronger than Venus and hence becomes Brahma. However, since Ketu delegates its responsibility to Jupiter, ultimately it becomes the Brahma.

Brahma: Mars Determination of Maheswara: Since Atmakaraka is Rahu, we need to count 6 signs from Rahu to arrive at Maheswara. 6th lord Venus is exalted hence cannot become Maheswara. We need to count 8th and 12th from Venus again to arrive at Maheswara. 8th lord is Venus itself whereas 12th lord is Saturn or Rahu. Since Rahu is the Atmakaraka, it cannot become Maheswara, hence Saturn becomes Maheswara. Maheswara: Saturn. Brahma Dasa: Since Brahma Mars is placed in an even sign, the dasa commences from 7th of Brahma and moves in an anti-zodiacal direction. The death inflicting signs are Libra, housing Saturn and its trines, namely Aquarius and Gemini. However he died in Capricorn dasa, which does not belong to the signs which we arrived at. Even though this looks inconsistent to whatever we have been witnessing so far, this becomes clearer when we see that Aquarius does not have any period in the dasa and hence is unable to kill. That’s why it happens in the following dasa of Capricorn. Dasa Sign Cancer Gemini Taurus Aries Pisces Aquarius Capricorn Sagittarius Scorpio Libra Virgo Leo

Period 10 8 11 10 1 0 11 4 9 8 9 3

Years 1836-1846 1846-1854 1854-1865 1865-1875 1875-1876 1876-1876 1876-1887 1887-1890 1891-1900 1900-1908 1908-1917 1917-1920

Brahma: Jupiter Determination of Maheswara: Since Atmakaraka is Rahu, we need to count 6 signs to arrive at Maheswara. 6th lord from Rahu is Moon, who can become Maheswara. However, Moon is placed in exaltation, hence disqualified. To arrive at the next possibility, we need to find the lords of 8th and 12th from Moon. 8th lord is Jupiter, while 12th lord is Mars. Since Jupiter is Brahma, it cannot become Maheswara, hence Mars becomes Maheswara. Maheswara: Mars Brahma Dasa: Brahma dasa begins from Leo, the Brahma sign and commences in a zodiacal direction. Maheswara Mars is placed in Taurus and death can happen in Taurus, Virgo or Capricorn. He died in Virgo dasa. Dasa Sign Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo

Period 3 4 11 3 8 5 4 5 6 9 2 10 9 8

Years 1896-1899 1899-1903 1903-1914 1914-1917 1917-1925 1925-1930 1930-1934 1934-1939 1939-1945 1945-1954 1954-1954 1954-1964 1964-1973 1973-1981 Page 11 of 12

Brahma Dasa © Sarajit Poddar

References:

1. Rath, Sanjay. Upadesha Sutra of Maharishi Jaimini. Sagar Publication; 1997.

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