BPHS Ch.16 Verses 18–23 — Child Timing by Year: Venus (32–33), Jupiter (30/36), the 40th Year, and Child Loss Predictions

Verses 18–23 — The Year of a Child's Birth or Loss

Parasara now gives combinations that name a year of life. PVNR's standing comment on all of them is in Part 3: the general reading of strength and weakness works; the stated year often does not.

Verse 18: Jupiter in the 5th, 5th Lord with Venus → Child in the 32nd or 33rd Year

• Jupiter in the 5th house.

• The 5th lord is with Venus.

• Result: a child is born in the 32nd or 33rd year.

• Two natural benefics act on the 5th house and the karaka is there, so the combination is positive. A student pointed out that the stated result is only a time. PVNR agreed: this is a timing combination, but one can add that the native is lucky in respect of children.

• PVNR believes 32 and 33 are the natural years of Venus in the naisargika dasa scheme. Parasara is saying the child comes in a Venus period.

• Generalise it: it need not be the 32nd or 33rd year. Look for a time when Venus's influence is strong — Venus dasa or antardasa.

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Verse 19: 5th Lord in a Kendra with Jupiter → Child in the 30th or 36th Year

• The 5th lord is in a quadrant, together with the karaka of children, Jupiter.
• Result: childbirth in the 30th or the 36th year.
• The 36th is Jupiter's natural year. PVNR did not remember whose natural year the 30th is.

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Verse 20: Jupiter in the 9th, Venus in the 5th or with the Lagna Lord → Child in the 40th Year

• Jupiter in the 9th house — this part is fixed.
• Venus in the 9th from Jupiter, that is, in the 5th house, or Venus with the lagna lord.
• Result: a child in the 40th year.

PVNR finds the verse too specific and says not to take it literally; such a native may get a child earlier. His reading of why it is late:

• Jupiter in the 9th gives fortune, and one result is luck in children. A child at 20 or 25 is nothing remarkable. A childless man who gets a child around 40 is called lucky.

"For fortune to come, there has to be a problem, and then you see a manifestation of the fortune."

• Venus is rajasic and can delay childbirth: he wants you to enjoy life rather than take on the responsibility.

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Verse 21: Rahu in the 5th, 5th Lord with Malefics, Jupiter Debilitated → Death of a Child in the 32nd Year

• Rahu in the 5th house.

• The 5th lord with (functional) malefics.

• Jupiter debilitated in Capricorn.

• Result: putra-mrityu in the 32nd year.

• Rahu in the 5th can show a shock about children. With the 5th lord and the karaka both afflicted, neither can rescue the house from Rahu.

• Take the year with a pinch of salt. It need not be death in every case, but the combination is not good for children.

• Be careful in the dasa or antardasa of Rahu and of the functional malefics afflicting the 5th lord, most of all when dasa and antardasa belong to these planets together.

• A student asked whether it could be a stillbirth. Possible, but the verse is not limited to that: the child may be born earlier and lost in the 32nd year.

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Verse 22: A Malefic in the 5th from Jupiter and in the 5th from Lagna → Loss of a Child

• A functional malefic in the 5th from Jupiter, and also in the 5th from lagna.
• Result: suta-kshaya, loss of a child. PVNR reads the years as the 24th, 33rd or 36th.

"How he came up with these numbers is a mystery. My guess is it may have to do with some dasa calculations or some natural years."

• He adds "assuming that this was actually from Parasara" — he does not rule out an interpolation.

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Verse 23: Mandi and "Tama" in Lagna → Grief from Children in the 56th Year

• The verse says lagne mandi-tama-yukte.
• Santhanam translates: Mandi in lagna while the lagna lord is in fall. He ignores the word tama.
• PVNR: Parasara would not use the word for nothing. Tama usually means Rahu. It could also mean a tamasic planet — Saturn, Mars or Rahu.
  • Reading 1: Mandi and Rahu in lagna.
  • Reading 2: Mandi with any one of Saturn, Mars or Rahu in lagna. This is the more general one; test it on charts.
  • Mandi is a must in both. Mandi alone in lagna is not enough. His guess in the end is that tama means only Rahu.
• Result: sorrow on account of children in the 56th year.

Mandi and Gulika (recalled from the previous class): PVNR takes them as one and the same. The longitude is the lagna rising at the beginning of Saturn's portion of the day or night, not the middle.

The remaining verses of the chapter are left for the next class.

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How Far to Trust the Year Verses

Which year is meant?

A student asked whether "the 32nd year" is a solar, lunar or Jovian year, since several calendars were in use in that era. PVNR's answer:

"General combinations about the strength and weakness of the 5th house work, but these combinations about a child being born in a particular year or dying in a particular year, they don't necessarily work."

• To get the time in the ballpark, dasas, transits and Tithi Pravesa are the best bet, not these combinations.
• Some of the verses may rest on progressions (results given for the 12th, 24th, 36th year and so on). Those use the solar calendar. If you want to use the year verses, count solar years.

Which child?

• The verses do not speak of the first, second or third child. They mean one child, or more.
• For the fortune of a particular child, use the Saptamsa: find the lagna for that child in D-7 and judge its 5th, 7th and 9th lords and so on. PVNR calls this the most valuable technique.

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