Example Chart (1978) — Three-Parts Rule: Leo Dasha (1998–2006) & Virgo Dasha (2006–2015)

The Chart and the Question

• The student wants the native's education read. He knows the background and lets the class guess first; the mother has asked what can be done.
• For education there are two tools: the rāśi Narayana daśā, or the D-24 Narayana daśā if the D-24 lagna is known accurately. The chart is not rectified, so the class starts with the rāśi chart.
• The rāśi Narayana daśā gives broad readings. The matching divisional chart gives precise ones.

"Here we will get a broad idea of what's going on, whether things are going well or not so well."

• The calculation of a divisional Narayana daśā barely moves when the birth time moves a little. Its interpretation does, because which daśā gives what depends on the lagna of that divisional chart.
• The daśā running: Leo, January 1998 – January 2006. (The software first showed a daśā change in March 2005 under a wrong setting; corrected in class.)

Pṛṣṭhodaya, Śīrṣodaya, Ubhayodaya

• Pṛṣṭhodaya: Aries, Taurus, Cancer, Sagittarius, Capricorn — signs 1, 2, 4, 9, 10.
• Ubhayodaya: Pisces.
• All the rest are Śīrṣodaya.
• This must become reflex. The whole three-parts rule hangs on it.

Which signs aspect a sign (thumb rule)

• A dual sign is aspected by the other three dual signs.
• For any other sign: take the sign adjacent to it and count the quadrants from that. For Leo: Cancer is adjacent; its quadrants are Libra, Capricorn, Aries. These three aspect Leo.

Leo Daśā (1998–2006) by the Three-Parts Rule

Slot Assignments

• Leo is Śīrṣodaya. The sign always gets first preference, and a Śīrṣodaya sign gives at the start → first 1/3 (1998 Jan – 2000 Sep).
• Lord Sun is in Sagittarius, a Pṛṣṭhodaya sign. He gives as late as he can → last 1/3 (2003 May – 2006 Jan).
• Occupants and aspectors take what is left → middle 1/3 (2000 Sep – 2003 May). Saturn occupies Leo. Libra, Capricorn and Aries, the signs with rāśi dṛṣṭi on Leo, are empty. So Saturn has the whole middle third to himself.
• Only rāśi dṛṣṭi is counted here. Graha dṛṣṭi is the planet's desire and may give its result at some other time; that is trickier and is left out.

"Right now we are focusing on all the influences that are stationary throughout life, and we are seeing when each influence will peak out. Even though every influence is there all the time, there is a certain time when it peaks out."

The Four Quarters of a Planet's Share

Whenever a planet controls a stretch of a daśā — as lord, occupant or aspector — divide that stretch in four.

• Malefic: 1) avastha (state) → 2) yogas → 3) houses owned → 4) house occupied.
• Benefic: the reverse.

"If you ask Jupiter, the top of his task list will be: wherever I am present, things should be nice. If you ask Saturn, his task list is: I want to feel good wherever I am."

Middle 1/3 — Saturn's Four Quarters (2000 Sep – 2003 May)

Saturn in the 5th is the planet of delay, laziness and inaction sitting in the house of ability. Bad for education.

Q1 — Avastha (2000 Sep – 2001 May)

• Saturn is close to his exaltation point, so he has ucca bala. But he is in the house of his worst enemy.
• He would be content in anybody's house except his father's. With Rahu he is happy, with Ketu he is happy. In the Sun's house he is waiting for the moment he can leave.
• A student asks about the reverse case. Sun in Saturn's sign is less bad: the father is uncomfortable in the son's house and gets no cooperation from his dispositor, but he puts up with it. Saturn in Sun's sign does not.
• Saturn is retrograde too. He is in a very bad mood and he is spoiling the 5th by sitting in it. No good results for 5th-house matters — abilities and using them.

Q2 — Yogas (2001 May – 2002 Jan)

• A student proposes a graha mālikā from Jupiter in the 3rd to Rahu in the 6th. PVNR rejects it for this period. Saturn is in the middle of the chain, not at its beginning or end, so it would not work through him. And it is not an auspicious mālikā: it starts with the 9th lord in his maraṇa kāraka sthāna (Jupiter in the 3rd) and ends with Rahu in the 6th.
• On nodes in a graha mālikā: a node may be in one of the signs, but it must not be the only planet there. Ignore the nodes and the chain of occupied signs must still be continuous. Here Rahu is alone in Virgo, so the chain is only three signs.
• The yoga Saturn does have is Chandra–Śani: Moon is in Saturn's sign and the two aspect each other (mutual 7th, graha dṛṣṭi). Saturn's hold on the mind shows giving up.
• With other combinations, and in navāṁśa too, this can give sannyāsa. Here it is not sannyāsa but something like it: giving up, not working hard, being disinterested.

Q3 — Houses owned (2002 Jan – 2002 Sep)

• Saturn owns the 10th and 11th and sits in the 5th. The 10th lord in the 5th can give some achievement.
• He is also the bādhaka lord, so it is not smooth.
• This is the only stretch of the three years with a chance of success.

Q4 — House occupied (2002 Sep – 2003 May)

• Saturn finally gives the result of being in the 5th, and he destroys it. Jupiter there gives ability; Saturn gives the image of somebody who does not know anything. Terrible again.

Verdict: the middle third is bad. PVNR guesses the first third (Leo itself, the 5th house from lagna) "may not have been that bad". The feedback later shows otherwise — see Part 6.

Retrograde Planets (a digression)

• A retrograde planet carries strong desire and strong leftover karma from a past life. Whatever it shows does not come easily. It comes with hard work — and the person is willing to work hard at it.
• PVNR's own example: his Jupiter is retrograde in the 2nd.
• In this chart Jupiter, Mars and Saturn are retrograde, in the 3rd, 4th and 5th.
• Mars is debilitated and retrograde. That is nīca bhaṅga rāja yoga, a blessing for the lagna lord. The one exception: if the planet is exalted in navāṁśa, the retrogression is not good. Mars is not exalted in navāṁśa here.

Last 1/3 — Sun's Four Quarters (2003 May – 2006 Jan)

Sun is the lord of the daśā sign and the 5th lord. He is a natural malefic (pāpa graha), so the order is avastha → yogas → houses owned → house occupied. The class is held in March 2005, in the third quarter.

Q1 — Avastha (2003 May – 2004 Jan)

• Sun is in a friend's sign and Jupiter, the owner, aspects him from Gemini (graha dṛṣṭi and rāśi dṛṣṭi). Good sthāna bala.
• He is nearer his debilitation point than his exaltation point: no ucca bala. Comfortable, not excited.
• Basic avasthas (read off the software, see Part 11): Mṛta, dreaming, sad. Not strong.
• Śayanādi avastha: Nṛtyalipsā, desirous of dancing. A good state. Whatever Sun promises in this chart, he wants to give.
• Overall he is okay, not strong. This quarter is "actually quite fine".

Q2 — Yogas (2004 Jan – 2004 Sep)

• Sun 27°, Venus 25°, Mercury 4°.
• 5th lord Sun with 7th lord Venus is a rāja yoga, but a very uncomfortable one. Venus–Mercury, Venus–Saturn, Sun–Mars, Sun–Jupiter are comfortable pairs. Sun and Venus are enemies, and Sun this close combusts Venus (PVNR says "like 1.5 degrees apart"; the longitudes are 27°37′ and 25°06′).
• 5th lord with 6th lord is also a yoga — Śaṅkha yoga, he believes: ability used to overcome obstacles. But Sun and Mercury are far apart, so it does not give in full.
• Result: the 5th may benefit, the 7th is pulled down. Trouble over relationships and girlfriends. 5th lord of emotion with Venus can mean falling in love, but Venus is being weakened.
• Advice for such a period: take it easy. Falling in love or looking for a match now ends in heartbreak or upsets.
• The influence is always there. It peaks in 2004.

Q3 — Houses owned (2004 Sep – 2005 May 11) — running at the time of class

• Sun gives as the 5th lord. A 5th lord's agenda is to promote the 5th. Abilities sharpen.
• In the previous third Saturn blunted the abilities. Now Sun sharpens them: new abilities, qualifications, a resume, recognition.
• If the family is choosing between paths in education or career, this is a very auspicious time to decide.

Q4 — House occupied (2005 May 11 – 2006 Jan 11)

• Sun gives the result of being in the 9th from lagna (and the 6th from ārūḍha lagna).
• Sun in the 9th: following dharma, following the wishes of father and mother. There may have been friction over what the parents said; after May he is more likely to listen.
• Good for getting his dharma and his thinking straight, and not being stubborn.

"If Sun is in the 9th house, you will follow the wishes of your parents."

Upapada — Which Planets Bring Marriage

Asked in the middle of the Venus discussion: if Venus is combust, when is a good time?

• UL is in Gemini with Jupiter in it. UL is strong. That is the saving factor.
• Jupiter is the 7th lord from UL, lord of a very strong 7th from Upapada, so his agenda there is to break the marriage, not keep it. But he is Jupiter; he will be more rational.
• Mercury and Jupiter are in parivartana (Mercury in Sagittarius, Jupiter in Gemini). Jupiter acts as if he were Mercury: the Upapada lord placed in Upapada.
• So Jupiter and Mercury are the planets that bring the marriage. Look for their daśās.
• Venus will not bring marriage. He brings a relationship that does not succeed, or one that gives a lot of heartburn.

Virgo Daśā (2006 Jan – 2015 Jan)

Slot Assignments

• Virgo is Śīrṣodaya → the sign gives in the first 1/3 (2006 Jan – 2009 Jan).
• Lord Mercury is in Sagittarius, Pṛṣṭhodaya → last 1/3 (2012 Jan – 2015 Jan).
• Occupants and aspectors → middle 1/3 (2009 Jan – 2012 Jan). Six planets: Rahu in Virgo; Sun, Venus and Mercury from Sagittarius; Ketu from Pisces; Jupiter from Gemini (all rāśi dṛṣṭi, dual signs).

First Principle: the Daśā Sign as Progressed Lagna

PVNR uses the old principles along with the three-parts rule. The Narayana daśā here started from lagna itself (Aries), so it is a progression of the 1st house: during Virgo daśā, Virgo is the lagna. (Had it started from the 7th, the 7th from the daśā sign would be taken.)

Rule: From the daśā sign, a natural benefic is well placed in a quadrant or trine. A natural malefic is well placed only in the 3rd, 6th or 11th; every other house is inauspicious for him.

• Moon's nature here is his natural one, by pakṣa. Functional lordship is a different question.
• The 4th–10th axis shines: comforts, mother, education, a house, a car; karma and profession.
• From Virgo, Mercury is lagna and 10th lord, Venus is 2nd and 9th lord, Jupiter is 4th and 7th lord. They form several rāja yogas across that axis. "Only Sun is spoiling it."
• Problems: marriage and relationships, children, work, enemies, gains.
• Overall an auspicious daśā. Without further analysis one can already say the middle three years will be the highlight: four of the six planets giving then are the ones forming the yogas.

Ketu in the 7th from the Daśā Sign

• Through the whole daśā there is some friction over relationships and marriage. It dominates when Ketu gives his results, in the middle third.
• A planet in the 7th has an agenda from who he is and from the house he owns. Ketu is the mokṣa kāraka (and 3rd lord from Virgo). In the house of marriage he pushes that agenda through marriage: "Why do you want to get married? Just get mokṣa." He delays marriage or gives problems in it.
• He is not the only one in charge. The 7th lord and Venus decide whether he succeeds.
• Ketu as 7th lord in the 7th (Taurus lagna, Ketu in Scorpio) is not so bad.
• Ketu is not against marriage as such. He says: get married, get children, then take sannyāsa. A marriage done as a duty, for children and the growth of the family, arranged by parents or by oneself, he does not oppose. Falling in love and sensual pleasure, he tries to brake.
• In general Ketu in the 7th is not auspicious for marriage.
• Here the 7th lord Jupiter is in a quadrant from Virgo, with argalā on the 7th (he is in the 4th from Pisces) and rāśi dṛṣṭi on it. Not so bad.

"I am not saying that during this mahādaśā he will not get married. But there will be some friction relating to relationships during Ketu's period."

Daśā Praveśa Chakra — the Entry Chart of Virgo Daśā

The chart of the moment the daśā begins (January 11, 2006) is read like any chart. A student asks whether the hora lord matters here; PVNR is not aware that it does.

• Cancer lagna with Saturn in it.

Rule — Saturn in Cancer in the 1st or 10th: Saturn in Cancer, when Cancer is the 1st or the 10th house, gives very good position. "It's kind of like a Siṁhāsana yoga." Indira Gandhi has it, Bush has it. PVNR knows no special name for it; it is a combination given in the classics.

His guess at the reason, which he says he is not sure of: Saturn is the working class, the labour of a country. Moon is the mind of a society — all the people, all the talk. A leader's mass following needs both, and this is Saturn in Moon's sign in a house of power.

• Budha–Āditya yoga in the 6th.
• Lagna lord Moon exalted in the 11th: a lot of gain.
• 10th lord Mars in the 10th in Aries: Ruchaka, a Mahāpuruṣa yoga. Mars is the yogakāraka for Cancer lagna. The 10th is very strong.
• So Cancer stands out, and after it Taurus and Aries. Taurus antardaśā (2006 Oct – 2007 Jul) gives gains. Aries antardaśā after it is excellent for career; he will be 29–30, the right age.

First 1/3 — Virgo's Own Results (2006 Jan – 2009 Jan): the Inanimate Portion

A student asks whether the aspects on the sign belong with the aspecting planets. No:

"This one-third, we are looking at all inanimate portions of the analysis. The next two-thirds are the animate portions."

• Inanimate: the sign, the house it is, the ārūḍha padas in it, the signs and houses aspecting it, the ārūḍha padas aspecting it. All give in the sign's third. They give always; they peak here.
• Animate: the planets and the lord, in their own thirds.

Virgo as a house

• 6th from lagna: obstacles and overcoming them; some enemies.
• 3rd from ārūḍha lagna (Cancer): a period that calls for initiative.

Rule — the sign in the 3rd or 6th from AL:

• A benefic sign there (Sagittarius, Pisces; Libra and Cancer are benefic signs too): during its daśā the person is seen as a sādhu, somebody who does not fight for things. Not good for material success.
• A malefic sign there: a lot of initiative and fighting spirit.
• A sign's nature follows the nature of its owner, not the lagna. Gemini and Virgo are neutral.

• Virgo is neutral: the middle ground. He will show initiative, with some slowness.

Houses aspecting Virgo: the 3rd (Gemini), the 9th (Sagittarius) and the 12th (Pisces).

• 9th and 12th together: displacement — a move to a far-away state. Some giving away, small losses.
• 3rd: initiative; a lot of short travel.

Ārūḍha padas

• A4 and A9 are in Virgo. A student raises it; the padas are part of the sign.
• A9: long-distance travel is one reading. The other: lucky breaks.
• A4: a house or a vehicle.
• UL (Gemini) aspects Virgo: he may get married.
• A10 aspects Virgo: he can get a job.

9th house and A9: The 9th house is fortune itself. It is intangible, embedded in the person; it cannot be seen. A9 is the tangible thing from which you deduce he is fortunate: he had a 3 GPA and got a good job; he did not do that well and got the promotion. A lucky break you can put your finger on.

4th house and A4: The 4th is sukha. A4 is the tangible manifestation of comfort. "I may be happy, but what am I happy about?"

Summary, 2006 Jan – 2009 Jan: he can get married, get a job, get a car, get a house, have lucky breaks, change place — and have some enemies.

Can the sign's own third be subdivided? A student suggests an order (natural nature first, own house first). PVNR does not know of one:

"I don't know of any principles that work consistently. I teach something if I experiment and find it working, or my teachers taught me and I experimented a little bit and found it working."

There must be a principle. The Narayana daśā principles he got from Sanjay Rath are from a tradition, and some have hints in the classics. Manuscripts are being collected and translated.

Middle 1/3 — the Six Planets (2009 Jan – 2012 Jan): the Animate Portion

Order: by advancement in the sign, the most advanced first; Rahu and Ketu are counted in reverse. The chara kārakas follow the same longitudes, so they give the order at a glance: AK before AmK, and so on. (Jupiter and Mercury are in the same degree; Jupiter is taken first.)

Sun → Venus → Rahu → Ketu → Jupiter → Mercury. There is no way to choose between Rahu and Ketu; Rahu is taken first. 36 months ÷ 6 = 6 months each.

• Rahu in the 6th from lagna gives material success and health problems. He gives the difficulties and the ability to overcome them. But he destroys health; he does not protect it.
• The year before Rahu's six months is very good for career: good breaks.

Tithi Praveśa as the Confirming Tool (2010)

When the Narayana daśā shows something for a particular stretch — poor health in the first half of 2010 — go to the Tithi Praveśa chart of that year and see whether it is corroborated.

"You can never say 100% based on one parameter. But if the Tithi Praveśa also shows a particular year as a strong candidate, and Narayana daśā also shows it, and Vimśottari daśā also shows it, then you can confidently say he will get married during this year. Otherwise, you can't be very confident."

• From one parameter alone, perhaps a 50% chance.
• If the other technique does not show it, it may be something minor.
• The same check applies to a marriage seen in the Narayana daśā.

The 2010 Annual Chart

• The year starts on December 19, 2009.
• Ruler of the year (hora lord): Mercury. The houses he owns show the main events of the year: the 3rd and 6th.
• Mercury is with Gulika, Mandi, Rahu and Sun. Sun is far from him. Rahu is close (PVNR reads 27° and 24°, "within 3 degrees").
• Rahu is the bādhakeśa. Rahu afflicting Mercury is less bad than Sun, Mars or Jupiter doing it.
• Still: the ruler of the year owns the 6th and sits with Rahu, Gulika and Mandi. "Not a very pretty year as far as health is concerned." The Narayana daśā reading is confirmed.

What to Tell Him

• In the year before, watch food and exercise. Take up no new habits that could turn bad.
• Knowing it is coming and taking precautions, the magnitude should be smaller.

"That's what astrology can do for you. You can try to minimize the impact of a negative thing."

What Actually Happened

After the rāśi reading the student gives the background.

• A very bright student: valedictorian at school, did very well in his first two years of college.
• He dropped out at the end of 1998 / beginning of 1999 and went into seclusion. He meditates, talks to nobody, does nothing regular. This is what worries his mother.
• He enrolled in a course or two at times and did not finish. He is enrolled in one now, without full commitment.
• It began as a spiritual turn. He is now more confused than when it began.
• The mother is confident of the birth time.

How the reading stands against it:

• Saturn in the 5th also shows meditation. The Chandra–Śani yoga gives results akin to renunciation: giving up, no interest in material things. It can also give depression and total confusion, or both together. Saturn's third triggered it fully.
• The dropout itself fell in the first third of Leo, which PVNR had guessed was not so bad. "That is interesting."
• The current third (Sun, 5th lord in the 9th) should bring improvement. The student reports only a relative improvement, not enough for the parents.
• The rāśi chart cannot say why he ignores his studies so completely. For that, D-24 (Part 8).