Om Namaù Çiväya
Rath’s lectures – Upäsanämça
By Visti Larsen – Guide and Guru: Sanjay Rath This article is in continuation of the series of articles on upasanamsa. Refer: http://srigaruda.com/articles.htm. These discussions are based on the teachings of Pt. Sanjay Rath on three separate occasions; i. during March 2004 in Puri – India; ii. during the SJC-Boston conference 2004; iii. during Atri-SJC classes in February 2005.
Contents VIMSÄMÇA BHÄVA 2 1.1
Self – first house 2
1.2 Mukti Märga, dhyana, Samadhi and transformation– the twelfth and eighth house 2 1.3
Dhäraëa and Bhagavan Darshan – the tenth house 3
1.4
Guru and Upadeça – ninth and third house 3
1.5
Mantra and bhakti yoga – fifth house 3
1.6
Mantra märaka – sixth and eleventh houses 4
1.7 Spiritual family/community – second, fourth and seventh houses. 4 1.8
2
Teachings from the tradition (añöakavarga) 5
CASE STUDIES 7
Charts Chart 1: Example of Swami Vivekananda – prastara añöakavarga of Saturn 5 Chart 2: Ramakrishna Paramahamsa 7 Chart 3: Srila Prabhupada 8 Chart 4: Acharya Rajneesh (OSHO) 9 Chart 5: Aurobindo Ghosh 10 Chart 6: Sri Achyuta Dasa 11
Om Namaù Çiväya
Vimsämça bhäva When trying to understand a divisional chart, the various bhäva are said to take on specific characteristics. These will be explained hereunder. As the purpose of spiritual practices is to be liberated from ones bondage in this world and move towards mokña, the order of the bhäva will be explained in reverse order.
1.1
Self – first house
The lagna indicates the self which has been born. The seers are unanimous in this regard, and so also the lagna in the vimsamsa will indicate the self. Since the vimsamsa deals with spirituality, the native in matters of spirituality is seen from this divisional chart. This is the first and foremost consideration. If the lagna or its lord is weak in the vimsamsa, then the native may not be instigated or be interested in spirituality at all. The natives attitude and approach towards spirituality must all be understood from here. To ensure the natives success in their upasana or spiritual practices, the lagna should be made strong. The houses in trines to the first house, promote the spiritual awareness of the native. More planets promote more awareness, whilst less decreases the same. This is usually observed through the native’s sensitivity towards dreams, omens, where as a result the native may get certain premonitions.
1.2 Mukti Märga, dhyana, Samadhi and transformation– the twelfth and eighth house The twelfth house shows the natives meditation and ability to attain Samadhi. Planets here show the native’s engagement in dhyana and their ability to attain Samadhi. The karaka Ketu will through his association with the twelfth house, give enormous potential in this matter. The bhäva in trines to this viz. the eighth and the fourth houses will support this path, where the eighth house specifically ensures the natives ability to transform themselves and burn their néja doça1. This also shows death and can indicate the act of taking sanyasa or renunciation. The placement of the eighth lord will show whether the mantras/prayers are able to cause the transformation in this life itself, or whether the effects will be felt in the next lives.
1
Karma caused by ones own wrong intentions.
Om Namaù Çiväya
1.3
Dhäraëa and Bhagavan Darshan – the tenth house
The ability to see God comes from the tenth house. Strong yogas with the tenth house or lord will give the native the vision of God. This house also shows ones ability to focus or concentrate on the image of the devatä. This act is called dhäraëa. Just as the tenth house shows seeing, and the same bhäva in the vimsamsa indicates the sight of God, the other houses of hearing, smelling, etc shows senses which may develop into supernatural potentials. For instance, the highest Gurus of the Veda are the four Saëkaräcarya, whom are strictly forbidden to be touched as to maintain their purity. The gurus are seen from the ninth house, and this is also where the sense of touch arises from.
1.4
Guru and Upadeça – ninth and third house
The dikñä guru and the spiritual-penance one does as a result of the gurus instruction is seen from the ninth house. A Graha here promotes ones association with the Guru, and promotes the pursuit of jïäna Märga. The grahas in the ninth house also indicate ones outlook on spirituality, e.g. Mercury in the ninth can give a very modern outlook, whilst Saturn gives a very traditional and orthodox view. The opposite house, viz. the third house, indicates the Upadeça or advice given by the guru. It paves the way for new instructions and sadhana, besides the receiving of new mantra. The third house also shows the nitya karma, and upasana through writing.
1.5
Mantra and bhakti yoga – fifth house
The fifth house shows the personal mantra of the native. The nature of the graha(s) will indicate the devatä the native worships. If the fifth lord is influenced by the ninth house/lord, the bhakti will be towards the devatä assigned by the guru. The act which will increase the bhakti or power of the mantra is seen from the nature of the fifth lord, e.g. if Mercury is the fifth lord then speaking to the devatä will increase bhakti, whilst Saturn indicates pain or self-torture that must be experienced by the native. Similarly Sun can indicate donation of wealth (of any kind) can increase spirituality. The houses which end the mantra, and show irregularities in the worship are the sixth and eleventh houses. These houses are evil for mantra, as they are the märaka houses to the mantra. Planets in or lording the sixth/eleventh houses will show when the mantra stops or is disrupted for the native. Here the sixth house indicates the shadripu which is inhibiting the native from doing the mantra properly, whilst the eleventh indicates the läbha or gain which the native is seeking from the spiritual practices. This decreases spirituality and obstructs the mantra from working.
Om Namaù Çiväya
1.6
Mantra märaka – sixth and eleventh houses
The sixth/eleventh house/lords will show the matter which instigates these problems. To ensure the destruction of ñadripu, the placement of a sätvika Graha in lagna can burn the sin and sustain the mantra. The stronger the ability to burn sin, the greater the teacher. The placement of the eleventh lord will show which matters the native seeks to earn some money from or derive some gain from. E.g. if eleventh lord is in the ninth house, the native may believe that gurus and temples are matters from which they can derive some gain. Same situation applies to planets placed in the eleventh house. The native should discern their planetary associations with the eleventh house, and try to overcome this ‘wrong understanding’ of spirituality.
1.7
Spiritual family/community – second, fourth and seventh houses.
The spiritual family or community is seen from the second house. This is also the seat of the family deity and will indicate which deity the native belongs to. Worship of this deity will bring harmony to the family and make the spiritual circle/family stronger spiritually. In contrast to the second house, the seventh house shows the growth of the community in matters of spirituality. It shows the act of practicing kértana2 which has the purpose of attracting more people into spirituality. Hence, the seventh house will show the practice of celebrations and singing/dancing to invite the devatä and its followers. The place where the act of kértana occurs is the fourth house where the temple of the devatä sits. Here the temple or spiritual seat/péöha which the native belongs to is found. The Graha(s) placed here indicate birth close to a holy place, whilst the lord will indicate the temple which the native belongs to.
2
Monier Williams: n. mentioning , repeating , saying , telling. Refers to the act of making others aware of ones purpose.
Om Namaù Çiväya
1.8
Teachings from the tradition (añöakavarga)
The most recent conference presented a few principles on añöakavarga which Pt. Sanjay Rath had learnt from his Uncle and Guru Sri Käçinätha Rath. Here follows the use of the añöakavarga of Saturn in the vimsamsa varga. Shadripu or sin causes the obstruction of upasana. The natural significator of sins is the Graha Saturn. The planets contributing to Saturn would indicate the various ripu that the native may face, which will obstruct their upasana or worship. Method of calculating: 1.
Draw the vimsamsa chart, and from these placements draw the astakavarga of Saturn.
2.
Analyze the sign of Saturn in the vimsamsa, and see which planets are contributing to this sign. The nature of the planets will show the nature of the ripu or weakness. Saturn will not contribute to this place.
Chart 1: Example of Swami Vivekananda – prastara añöakavarga of Saturn
This image is Saturns añöakavarga contribution for the vimsamsa chart of Swami Vivekananda. First time onlookers will notice the unusual amount of grahas and lagna repeating in the various bhäva. Here it should be mentioned that the bhäva structure is irrelevant, and the focus is on the dark-grey area, which indicates the position of Saturn in the natal vimsamsa. Here we see the contribution of Moon, Mars and Jupiter. They will indicate his main weaknesses or shad ripu in spiritual matters.
Om Namaù Çiväya The Moon indicates that he may lack compassion towards others at times, and this lack of compassion can inhibit his spiritual progress. The placement of Jupiter indicates an inability to convince the people of his native land, which instigated Swamiji to go abroad to get the proper attention. Lastly Mars placed here will show a weakness in matters of celibacy. Swamiji admitted that he started having sexual urges, and in a pursuit to control these urges, he sat on a piece of burning coal. The native should seek to control these weaknesses or at least understand their presence. A list of weaknesses associated with the planets is given below: #
Graha
Weakness
1
Sun –
wealth/finances
2
Moon -
compassion
3
Mars -
celibacy
4
Mercury -
greed
5
Jupiter -
lack of conviction of ones own community
6
Venus -
ones relationships, ones spouse
7
Saturn
will not contribute to his own sign
8
Lagna -
desire for name, fame, etc.
Om Namaù Çiväya
2
Case studies
The charts analyzed have been rectified based on the life events displayed by the native’s. Any comments or corrections can be send to:
[email protected] Chart 2: Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
In vimsamsa, the lagna is of the philosophical sign - Aquarius, giving a very high level of philosophy to the native. Both lagna lords are in the twelfth house with Ketu showing a person who will be on the path of mokña and renunciation. This also shows a person who is very apt at attaining the higher states of Samadhi, which is well known from his life events. Two very significant events are known to have occurred during the daçäantara of Saturn-Venus and during Rähu-Moon. Here the mahadasas are both associated with the twelfth house and lagnesh where the antara daçäs are both placed in the lagna, thereby activating the upasana and spiritual experiences. Fifth lord is in the ninth house, showing that he will go to the guru or a temple to worship. Mercury is the fifth lord; hence an uncle's demise caused this event to happen. Ninth lord is in turn in Lagna, so he will be very respectful towards Gurus and elders, and treat them like God. He will do the worship in a temple of the Mother, as ninth lord is joined the Moon. Moon is in Aquarius making it is a form of Kalika. Sixth lord is in Lagna and would normally be very bad for mantra, but sixth lord is the satvic Moon and placed in Lagna hence the shadripus which cause the mantra to stop are instead getting destroyed. He will try hard to overcome his sins due to this.
Om Namaù Çiväya Eleventh lord is in the fourth house, hence some attachment to property or home will be there which he will seek to attain through his spiritual practices. He sought to establish an ashram, which eventually was fully established by his disciple Swami Vivekananda. The PAV of Saturn has Sun and Venus' contribution indicating Money (sun) and wife (Venus) which were the two areas that he was particularly strict about; as he knew they would obstruct his sadhana. Chart 3: Srila Prabhupada
In vimsamsa the lagna is again Aquarius. Lagna lord is in the fifth house with the Moon indicating the bhakti Märga, and that towards Sri Krishna as this is Mercury’s sign. Sixth lord is in the fifth house and is Moon, and hence there will be breaks in his practice during the daçä of Saturn (joined Moon). Eleventh lord Jupiter is luckily placed in the twelfth house and debilitated; hence he gave up all his desires when taking Sanyasa. Vimçottari daçä (started from Moon): Maha Dasas: Mars: 1894-05-01 (12:25:37) - 1901-05-02 (7:21:19) Rah: 1901-05-02 (7:21:19) - 1919-05-02 (22:11:50) Jup: 1919-05-02 (22:11:50) - 1935-05-03 (0:34:58) Sat: 1935-05-03 (0:34:58) - 1954-05-02 (21:36:05) Merc: 1954-05-02 (21:36:05) - 1971-05-03 (5:54:17)
Om Namaù Çiväya Ket: 1971-05-03 (5:54:17) - 1978-05-03 (1:18:03) Ven: 1978-05-03 (1:18:03) - 1998-05-03 (4:03:29) Sun: 1998-05-03 (4:03:29) - 2004-05-02 (17:03:47) Moon: 2004-05-02 (17:03:47) - 2014-05-03 (6:38:59) Fifth lord Mercury is in the second house in mutual aspect with Venus who is in the eighth house causing Sanyasa Yoga. Both are debilitated indicating the ability to give up anything easily, without attachment. As Venus is ninth lord, he gave up everything for his Guru. So during Mercury-Venus daçä he renounced life. During the end of Mercury he also traveled abroad to the US to establish temples. In Saturn’s añöakavarga Sun and Jupiter are contributing to the placement of Saturn, hence money and people of own community will give him problems. This is the reason he went abroad to initially establish ISKCON. Chart 4: Acharya Rajneesh (OSHO)
In vimsamsa the lagna lord is in the tenth in parivartana with tenth lord, hence his Märga in spirituality is purely pointed towards the attainment of a vision of God and large-scale administrating a large organization. Eleventh lord is in the ninth which will give a desire towards earning through the temple/religion. Mercury is the lord and can indicate that students or friends will instigate this desire. Gajakesari in the fourth house gives an immense focus on vidyä, books, upanishads, etc and Jupiter being fifth and eighth lord, shows that this was his real worship or bhakti.
Om Namaù Çiväya Four main weaknesses are indicated in Saturn’s prastara añöakavarga. These are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and Sun. Chart 5: Aurobindo Ghosh
In vimsamsa, lagna lord and fifth lord are in a strong parivartana, as Lagna lord in the fifth house gives the path of bhakti yoga. tenth lord is also in Lagna and is Mars, showing that the spiritual path will really change, after receiving the darshan of Sri Krishna, due to Mars-Moon Parivartana. Seventh lord is in the fifth as well, hence the establishment of the Ashram or public place for Sri Krishna will happen through his bhakti. Ninth lord has gone to the twelfth house of meditation and dhyana, showing that his Guru came through this form. Mercury is in the ninth house, hence giving him a new and modern perspective to spirituality. Vimçottari daçä (started from Moon): Mahä daçäs: Ket: 1869-09-07 (5:22:04) - 1876-09-07 (0:28:28) Ven: 1876-09-07 (0:28:28) - 1896-09-07 (3:22:46) Sun: 1896-09-07 (3:22:46) - 1902-09-08 (16:10:08) Moon: 1902-09-08 (16:10:08) - 1912-09-08 (5:51:19) Mars: 1912-09-08 (5:51:19) - 1919-09-09 (0:45:55) Rah: 1919-09-09 (0:45:55) - 1937-09-08 (15:30:46)
Om Namaù Çiväya Jup: 1937-09-08 (15:30:46) - 1953-09-08 (17:54:37) Sat: 1953-09-08 (17:54:37) - 1972-09-08 (14:50:49) Merc: 1972-09-08 (14:50:49) - 1989-09-08 (23:19:42) During the end of Moon daçä, he got the vision of Sri Krishna - in Mars daçä he went to Pondicherry and established the Ashram. This is a perfect example of Parivartana working. Chart 6: Sri Achyuta Dasa
In vimsamsa Gajakesari Yoga is formed on the lagna, giving a lot of focus on the self and the nature of the self. The lagna lord is in a perfect tapasvé Yoga in the twelfth house with Saturn and Ketu; hence his Märga was one of perfect mukti Marga, and he will have many powerful Samadhi experiences. As per the writings of Sri Achyuta dasa he used to worship Nirankara-Näräyaëa. Ninth lord is in the fifth house, so the Guru will come to give him the mantra. Mercury is in parivartana Yoga with the twelfth house combination with Rähu, and hence during Rähu mahä daçä the Guru will arrive. Jupiter is the third lord and strong, hence during Rahu-Guru he received the dikña from Sri Chaitanya Mahäprabhu and his life changed. Sixth lord is in the Lagna and is Jupiter - joined the Moon, hence a perfect sadhaka who will burn his sins is born. OM
TAT
SAT
