Amsha Rulers — How Planets Work in Divisional Charts

Review: The Influences on a House

The order of work

1. Select the divisional chart. Education — D-24. Career — D-10. Parents — D-12.
2. Go to the house. Mother — 4H. Father — 9H. Learning — 4H. Occult learning — 8H.
3. See who influences that house.

"If I have a desire to work on a particular project at my company, it doesn't mean I will work. I may or may not be able to work. But Argala is somebody who has a particular role to play — he must play."

"That guy has a decisive role to play. Without him, the chip will not tape out."

• A planet with Graha Drishti gives its result or not depending on its relationship with the house lord and the Karaka.
• Argala does not act for the whole life. It gives its results in particular periods.
• Rasi Drishti is permanent.

The Karaka

The house lord is the boss. The Karaka is the project manager of one particular matter — Moon is the manager of the project called "mother".

• Whether a planet gives its result for a house depends on two relationships: the planet with the Karaka, and the planet's dispositor (the lord of the sign it sits in) with the Karaka. If both are good, the planet gives its result fully.
• Example: Moon is in Jupiter's sign and the Karaka of the matter is Saturn. Saturn is on good terms with neither Moon nor Jupiter, so he does not let Moon give full results there.

"If I want to work on a particular project but the project manager hates me, I will not be able to work on that project. He will not let me come in. Even if I come in, he will not give me important tasks."

Karakas named in this class (the full list was a handout of an earlier class):

Student question — what if a house has no Argala?

A student asked what happens when no planet is in the Argala places (2nd, 4th, 11th) from a house.

• Then there is no Argala on that house. The house and its "project" are still there.
• Occupants, Graha Drishti and Rasi Drishti still give results.
• But nothing drastic or decisive goes on in that house.
• For some houses, having no Argala from a planet is not good — the house does not flourish. Examples come in a later class.
• Even a house with no occupant, no Drishti and no Argala gives some results simply as that house.

Amsa Rulers — Presiding Deities of Varga Divisions

What They Are

When Parashara defined a divisional chart he gave two things for every division of a Rasi:

1. the sign the division maps to — this makes the varga chart;
2. a deity who rules that division.

So a planet in a varga has a house it occupies and also a god who controls it there.

"When you look at a particular planet in a particular chart, you not only have a house that is occupied by that planet, but you also have a god who controls that planet, who is the ruling deity of that planet in that particular chart."

• D-24 has 24 gods, D-10 has 10. In general D-N has roughly N — not exactly, because in some vargas the gods repeat.
• These are not the fixed governing deities of the planets taught in the first class. Those never change. The amsa ruler changes as the planet moves through a sign, from one division to the next.
• This is a slightly advanced principle. It need not be mastered now.

How To Use Them

There are hundreds of gods across all the vargas, and no list of results for each. The method is to know what the god stands for and apply it.

"If you know the Puranas well, if you know what each god stands for, you can directly apply that knowledge. So to be a good astrologer, you have to know Puranas, you have to know the basic stories at least."

"If you don't know who a particular god is, you cannot correlate. You will basically be shooting in the dark."

The deity does not give the matter. House, sign and planet give the matter. The deity gives the kind of activity and the manner in which the planet does it.

Where To Find Them

• Brihat Parashara Hora Shastram — the chapter on divisional charts lists the deities of every varga.
• Jagannatha Hora software: tab Basics → sub-tab Amsa Rulers → pick the varga from the menu.

D-24 Example — Pandit Sanjay Rath (continued from Lesson 7)

Birth data read out in class: August 7, 1963 · 9:15:40 PM IST · 83°58′E, 21°27′N

D-24 (Siddhamsa): Gemini lagna. The lagna itself is in the amsa of Skanda (Subrahmanya, Ganesha's younger brother).

Recap of Lesson 7:

• Jupiter is in the 10H in Pisces, his own sign — the sign of the Maharshis and of moksha. This is the chart of knowledge and the 10H is karma, so his karma relating to knowledge is strong and Jupiterian: Vedic, traditional, sattvic knowledge.
• Had it been Venus in Libra instead, the knowledge would be Venusian — luxuries, cars, sensual pleasures.
• A Graha Malika Yoga starts from Jupiter and ends with Mercury and Venus in lagna.
• Mercury and Venus form a Raja Yoga in lagna and have Argala on Jupiter (4th from him). That knowledge is used in his karma.

Jupiter in Vishwakarma Amsa

Vishwakarma is the Deva Shilpi, the architect of the gods. Maya is the Rakshasa Shilpi.

• Do not read it as "he will be a sculptor". The field is fixed by Pisces and Jupiter: Vedic knowledge.
• Vishwakarma says what he does within that field: he builds something.
• For gods, not for demons — it is Vishwakarma, not Maya.

"He will build something relating to Vedic knowledge. Right now he is building Sri Jagannath Centre, the institute that is engaged in Vedic learning, research and bringing this knowledge up."

The 6th House — Overcoming Obstacles in Learning

Mars owns the 6H (Scorpio) and the 11H (Aries). Take the 6H: the house of overcoming obstacles.

• Sun and Moon are in the 6H. Moon of Krishna Paksha is a malefic, Moon of Shukla Paksha a benefic. He was born in Krishna Paksha, so Moon is a malefic. Sun is a krura graha.
• Moon is the 2nd lord (Cancer), Sun the 3rd lord (Leo).
• Mars, the 6th lord, is in the 12H (Taurus) and aspects the 6H by his 7th-house Graha Drishti.
• The 6H is tied to three malefics.

In the field of learning he gets many obstacles, and he overcomes them with vigour and energy.

Sun is the 3rd lord. The lord of determination sits in the house of overcoming obstacles: he overcomes them with great determination.

Malefics in the 3rd and 6th

A student asked: if they are all malefics, will there not be opposition?

• Malefics are negative for other houses. For the 3H and 6H they are good.
• The 3H is the house of parakrama — boldness. The 6H is the house of overcoming obstacles.
• "Malefic" makes one think "bad". The Sanskrit is krura graha against saumya graha. Saumya is sweet and soft. Krura is cruel — and full of energy.

"You need that cruelty and energy to build that boldness to overcome your obstacles, to destroy the enemies. Without cruelty, you can't destroy enemies."

• Sun, Mars, Rahu, Ketu and Saturn in the 3H or 6H are good materially.
• A benefic in the 6H is good for being contented. It is not good for overcoming obstacles and achieving something.

Sign Is the Circumstance, Planet Is the Effort

A student asked whether more malefics in the 6H means more obstacles or more capacity to overcome them. Both.

• Malefics in the 6H: the person overcomes obstacles — and has many to overcome.
• Benefics in a benefic 6H — say Cancer lagna with Mercury and Jupiter in Sagittarius: the person probably has no struggle to go through at all. That too is auspicious.
• A malefic sign with a benefic in it: there are obstacles, and overcoming them is slow. The person is contented and does not want to fight.
• Here the 6H is Scorpio, a malefic sign because Mars owns it.

"Look at planets to see the effort, because effort comes from your consciousness. And look at the house to see what is the circumstance."

Vipareeta Raja Yoga

The Dusthanas are the 6th, 8th and 12th. When the lord of a Dusthana goes into a Dusthana, it is Vipareeta Raja Yoga. Here the 6th lord Mars is in the 12H.

• Some struggle, some problem in the beginning.
• The problem is overcome, and then a great Raja Yoga.
• The results are better than a normal Raja Yoga, but they come with a lot of effort.

So he has much struggle and many obstacles relating to knowledge, and then overcomes them.

Does Strength Matter?

A student asked whether a planet's influence depends on its strength. Yes. A planet may want to give a result and not be able to — it depends on how strong and how skilled it is; it may do the project well or mess it up. But there are many kinds of strength, each for a different purpose. That is for about three classes later. For now, treat every planet as strong.

Mars in Parashurama Amsa

We know he overcomes obstacles. In what manner — sweetly or harshly? See the god who controls the 6th lord.

Parashurama is a rajasic avatar of Vishnu. His planet is Venus.

• The common picture — an angry man thirsty for blood, slaying Kshatriyas — is a wrong concept. He is not a demon.
• Parashurama is the rapture, the lasting happiness, born when the long-burning fire of sadhana matures.
• That rapture cuts off the negative qualities within us — jealousy, ego. Those are the Kshatriyas he slays.

Applied to the 6th lord:

• The overcoming of obstacles is done with that happiness. It is not pure sattvic happiness; it is rajasic, energetic.
• He does it with a sense of purpose, and derives a rapture from overcoming.
• Because this is an aggressive deity and not some other god, he is very strong and very determined in overcoming obstacles.

BPHS and Software Reference

• Brihat Parashara Hora Shastram (BPHS) — the one book PVNR says every student should have; even his own book is optional. Prefer an edition with the Sanskrit shlokas beside the English.
• Two good translations: Pandit G.C. Sharma and Pandit R. Santhanam. PVNR uses Santhanam's. Two volumes, around $50.
• Sources named in class: astroamerica.com (Hindu astrology section), natarajbooks.com (a student said it is usually cheaper), and the Sri Jagannath Centre bookstore (srijagannath.org).
• The chapter on divisional charts gives the full list of deities for every varga. PVNR gave no handout of it in this class.
• Jagannatha Hora: Basics → Amsa Rulers, then choose the varga.