Atmakaraka, Karakamsha & Mahapurusha Yoga

Pandit Sanjay Rath's Teaching Begins

PVNR introduces him: whether he speaks on something simple or something advanced, the beginner and the advanced student both learn from it.

Sanjay Rath says a study circle in America was a dream. Everything in America is commercial, and God cannot be bought or sold. A day must come when you see there is something in this world that has no monetary equation. That is why it had to be an informal study circle.

His standing advice:

"Always ask why. You must torture your master with these questions, why. You must know why, you must know when, and you must know how."

His starting point: the most important thing in Jyotish is to know that we are spiritual beings having a material existence.

At the end of the class he tells the students:

"I am very happy to see that you are very, very advanced. For a class of two months, truly brilliant."

Soul as Light: The Foundation of Atmakaraka

The Core Metaphor

• Physics teaches that sunlight has 7 colours
• These are the 7 grahas, Sun to Saturn
• At the level of the atma everything is light. The rishis describe the soul as a spark of light
• That light is not pure white. If it were pure white you would be God
• Each soul's light has a different colour, from the karma that surrounds it
• Find the colour of the spark and you know how far the spiritual development of that being has gone

The 8th — Rahu (Complete Darkness)

• Seven colours, and one more state where there is no light at all: Rahu, complete darkness
• Put a red light beside a white light of the same intensity and the room is red. In the same way, when the atma and the Paramatma sit side by side, you cannot see God because you see only yourself. You bask in your own light and enjoy your own existence. That is ahamkara
• As the individual atma's light comes down, ahamkara comes down
• A stage comes when its own light is finished. The person refuses to count himself as important; only God is important
• Only then can the light of God be seen. That state of the atma is like Rahu

Rahu as Atmakaraka — Two Extremes

• Rahu as AK produces people who can be the highest of saints
• At the other extreme, when he is in complete darkness himself and refuses to see the light of God, he is the biggest criminal

"Rahu as an Atmakaraka can produce a person who can be either a saint among saints or the biggest of criminals. These are the two extremes."

Atmakaraka: Definition and Calculation

Which Planet Becomes Atmakaraka?

Write down the planets from the Sun to Rahu (8 planets) and look at their degrees, ignoring the signs. The planet with the highest degree is the Atmakaraka.

Rahu's Special Rule

• Rahu is always retrograde, so his degree is counted from the end of the sign: effective degree = 30° − Rahu's degree
• Example on the screen: Rahu at 17°57′ → 30° − 17°57′ = 12°03′. Not high. In that chart the Sun, at 28°, is the Atmakaraka

Why Highest Degree?

Sanjay Rath puts the question to the class. The students offer "more evolved", "more matured", "wiser". He accepts none of them fully ("there are many old men who are not wise") and asks for an answer in terms of light.

• Think of a room with 8 light bulbs, each with its own intensity. All eight lights are there, but one is the brightest. That one is the Atmakaraka
• There are twelve Adityas, and each sign belongs to one of them. A planet that enters a sign starts fresh with that Aditya, and the longer it stays the more light it takes from him
• The regulator starts at zero at sankranti and rises to the most light at 30°

"Sankranti is zero light and it goes on and on until it reaches 30 degrees, which is the highest amount of light. And then suddenly the light goes off, the bulb fuses, and again you have a new bulb. Every rashi it happens."

• Too strong a light is not good either: the more light of my own I have, the more ego, and the less I see the light of others

Sankranti = Cruelty of the Planet

"Whenever any planet changes sign, it is the cruelty of the planet. That means the light is becoming zero."

• The same idea is used in Prashna: the degree of the Sun gives the tithi

Atmakaraka Traits Stamp on the Person

"When a planet becomes the Atmakaraka, the traits of that planet will be stamped on your nature. Because that is the light which you can see. That is the light which is guiding your mind, your intellect."

The flaws of that planet come on the person. Know the pros and the cons, because the cons are what matter in spiritual life.

AK by Planet: Traits and Flaws

Only the Sun, the Moon and Rahu are worked through in this class. Saturn gets his catch word and no more.

Sun AK — the random chart

The first chart on the screen is a random one: Sun at 28° is the AK, in Scorpio, in the 7th house.

• A lot of ego. "I am important"
• Kingly. To be kingly you need subjects to trample on
• Single, selfish, alone; arrogant
• Cruel at times. Here the AK is in Scorpio, the most cruel sign of the zodiac. He will be cruel and he will also be shown cruelty, because that is the experience the atma must have

Moon AK — Nehru's Case

• Fluctuating nature, waxing and waning. Compassion and charm on the good side
• The curse on the Moon: he ran away with Jupiter's wife. With Moon as AK the soul carries that burden. An opportunity will come where the person is tested with somebody else's spouse

"God will ask: do not covet thy neighbour's wife. Do you covet or not?"

• The flaw everybody ignores: the Moon's light is not his own. He cannot stand alone. He needs a Sun whose light he can reflect, and is happy only when he finds one

"Nehru was Mr. Nobody until he found Gandhi. The Moon is always seeking the Sun."

• The other planets do not depend on another like this. Each has its own source of strength. Jupiter's strength is his purity; if he is not pure, it is lost
• AK in lagna in Nehru's chart: a very strong placement. Lagna has to do with fame, and Moon or Jupiter in lagna guarantees fame. Here it is fame well beyond his death
• Moon is a natural benefic and will not let the soul suffer much. But without suffering the soul cannot grow. Karma not suffered in this life is suffered in another. Those who can take their suffering either become hard and successful, or become great saints, having learnt there is no point in causing more suffering
• When Moon is AK, the mana has complete control over the atma. He cites Varahamihira: at the moment of conception the atma is trapped by the mana. The atma is called the king, but in the practical world the mana is the king

A student's question — Jupiter and purity

• Vishnu is worshipped on Thursday. Before any prayer the name of Vishnu is said three times
• What you get from taking the name is purity. If you do not get purity from it, there is no reason to take it

Rahu AK

• The moment you see Rahu as AK, say it blindly: this person has had a lot of shocks in life
• Whether he turns spiritual or criminal is not decided by the size of the shock. Small shocks can create big turbulence
• Look at the planets in trine to the AK in the navamsa (Part 6)

What Sun AK does when he punishes

(Said during the Vivekananda reading, Part 10.)

• Shocks from government, father, authority
• Poverty. The Sun is the source of everything. When he decides to teach a lesson he tightens the purse strings, and the suffering is financial
• The AK also punishes through the houses he rules

Karakamsha

Karakamsha = the navamsa sign occupied by the Atmakaraka.

Nehru's Karakamsha

• In Nehru's navamsa the Moon (AK) is in Sagittarius and Venus is with him
• Moon–Venus is a yoga for tremendous wealth: every luxury the world can offer
• This is a test on the Atmakaraka. What will the atma do with money? The atma is put under the burden of that wealth, and it becomes an obstacle to spiritual growth
• Venus is kavya, poetry, and creativity. The atma will love poetry. When such a person starts on poetry, the flaws of the Moon show up

"Had he shown his horoscope to me, I would have told him: stay far away from poetry. No poetry, no singing songs in front of ladies."

• The Venus who joins the AK is also the planet of his Mahapurusha Yoga (Part 7)
• Sagittarius indicates a fall from a height. Not always a physical fall; where the Karakamsha is involved it can be a spiritual fall

Trines to Karakamsha

• The planets in trine to the Karakamsha show what the atma must do, what it has come to do, and what the trigger is. The spiritual trigger is always in a trine to the Karakamsha
• Malefics in trine to the Karakamsha make a person very spiritual, because the atma then has the capacity to absorb that much shock, sorrow and anger
• Jaimini: two malefics in trines to the Karakamsha make a Mantrika, one who says mantras. Three make a Yantrika, one who also knows the diagrams
• Trace the planet found in the trine back to the Rashi chart to see what the trigger was
• The planets that aspect the Atmakaraka show the shocks

Mahapurusha Yoga

Definition

Purusha is God, Narayana. A Mahapurusha is a human being who can be closer to God because of certain attributes.

Mahapurusha Yoga is caused when one of the five planets from Mars to Saturn (Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn) is in a quadrant from the lagna. Sanjay Rath tells the class to drop wrong notions about the yoga first.

Why Kendras, and Why Suffering

• Planets in kendras show your ability, what you can do. Many planets in kendras show a strong person
• They are strong because they can take suffering
• So the first thing about a Mahapurusha Yoga is a lot of suffering
• The person is tested in the area of the Mahapurusha planet. Only if he passes is he a Mahapurusha

"If the world has to call you a Mahapurusha, you will be tested in the area of the Mahapurusha planet and you must pass the test. If you fail the test, you are not a Mahapurusha."

The Five Tattvas

Each of the five planets controls one of the Pancha Tattvas. A Mahapurusha Yoga means that tattva is extremely strong in the person.

• In Nehru's chart the Mahapurusha planet is Venus (not Mercury, who is with him). Venus rules Jala Tattva, water
• With the liquid element that strong, the person is always tested in Venus-related areas
• That Venus is with the Atmakaraka in the Karakamsha, in Sagittarius. The test was there, and there he fell

Sri Ram's Chart — Purushottama

• Lagna: Cancer
• 1st house: Jupiter exalted, with the Moon
• 4th house: Saturn exalted
• 7th house: Mars exalted
• 10th house: Sun exalted

"Just see how many planets are in kendras, how many are exalted. Here is what we call a Purushottama, because he has planets exalted in kendras, in all the kendras."

To be Purushottama the same condition holds as for one Mahapurusha Yoga: you have to suffer. There is no escape.

• The published class notes record the yoga in this form: planets exalted in kendras

AK + Arudha Lagna: Saint or Criminal

The Atmakaraka gives the shock. What the person becomes after the shock is read from the Arudha Lagna (AL), because it is in this world of maya that the karma shows itself.

"Atmakaraka has to be studied with Arudha Lagna. When you get the shock from the Atmakaraka, what are you becoming?"

3rd from AL — the hand

• The 3rd house is the hand. What will you pick up: a gun or a rosary?
• Jupiter in the 3rd from AL: his weapon is the mala. The whole world goes to the battlefield with weapons; Jupiter goes with his rosary and does everything in the name of God

6th from AL — the belly

• The 6th house is the belly. A man does everything for his stomach. If the belly burns all the time he can kill for it
• Benefics in the 6th from AL show an attitude of renunciation. Malefics show what you will take away
• Read the two houses together: benefics in the 3rd and the 6th from AL show renunciation and a saintly nature
• Venus there: he renounces spouse and sexuality. Such a person should be encouraged to take sannyasa
• Mercury there: he renounces work and money

The Two Things True Renunciation Requires

"True renunciation occurs when you renounce two houses: the 7th house and the 10th house. Unless you renounce these, your renunciation is not perfect. To be a perfect sadhu, Venus and Mercury have to be renounced."

• Venus = spouse, sexuality (7th house)
• Mercury = karaka of the 10th, the karma bhava: work, the whole karmic life in the mundane world, financial dealings. He is not wealth; he controls the flow of money and distributes it

Making the Path Easier — the Deity

• The astrologer's job with such a chart is to make the transition easier. Otherwise it comes through shock treatment
• Krishna teaches in the Gita that the mind goes toward the deity it worships and takes on that deity's nature. The mind is kept on the path through mantra
• Take the sign holding the planets in the 6th from AL, and the lord of that sign. The deity is taken from the sign lord, not from the planets placed there
• This is not the Ishta Devata. That concerns final moksha. This is the mundane life path, read from the Arudha Lagna, which is maya

The Framework

1. Identify the AK → the flaw and the shock
2. Karakamsha and the planets in its trines → what the soul has come to do, and the trigger
3. Trace the trigger planet to the Rashi chart
4. 3rd from AL → what is in the hand
5. 6th from AL → what is renounced
6. Lord of the sign in the 6th from AL → the deity, and who causes the renunciation

Summary Table: AK Analysis Framework