Planetary Avasthas — Age, Alertness & Mood States + Sayanadi 10-State System (Most Important)

Avasthas — Planetary States (Overview)

A student asked what "eyes and hands" (netra-pāṇi) means among the activity avasthas. PVNR had not taught avasthas before, so he went through all of them.

Avastha means state. Parashara gives three basic kinds, then the Śayanādi avasthas:

• Of the three basic kinds, PVNR rates mood above age and alertness.
• Above all three: "Later he defined Śayanādi avasthas and he said those are the most important. So you should give most importance to Śayanādi avasthas."

Where avasthas are used

• When a daśā is divided into parts (in Narayana daśā, Vimshottari or any other), one part gives the results of the planet's state.
• In that part combine all three basic avasthas, the Śayanādi avastha, and the rest of the state information — exalted, debilitated, own sign, mūlatrikoṇa.
• A planet that is old and in Dīna or Duḥkhita avastha gives those results in that part. The whole daśā need not be terrible. "It is one weakness which will give its results in due time. It is one of the factors."

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Age-Based Avasthas (Balaadi Avasthas)

Divide the sign into five equal parts of 6°.

Even signs: reversed. Count from the end — the last 6° are Bāla, the first 6° are Mṛta.

• By the formula, a planet in Yuva avastha is strongest to give results; Mṛta and Bāla are among the bad avasthas.
• But do not read it mechanically:

"You cannot say that just because a planet is old, it can't give its results. There are some old people who are in their 70s and 80s, but they are so productive. And there are some people who may be just 10 or 15 years old, but they may have achieved so much."

• Vivekananda was a giant in spirituality by his 30s. Adi Shankara had mastered the Brahma Sutras, the Upanishads and Vedanta before the age of 20.

The nature of the planet matters

PVNR: "This is actually not given anywhere, I am just thinking aloud."

• Mercury is the learner. The learner in you is strongest when you are young. For Mercury, Bāla and Kumāra avasthas are probably not bad; he may be more active there than in Yuva or Vṛddha.
• Saturn is like an old man — patience, hard work, discipline. A ten-year-old has none of that. Saturn may be unhappy in Bāla avastha. Other planets cannot cope with old age; Saturn can. For Saturn, Vṛddha avastha may be better than even Yuva.
• Read the descriptions of the planets in the scriptures and judge which avastha suits which planet.

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Alertness-Based Avasthas (Trividha Avastha)

These are the avasthā traya of the Upanishads — the three states in which a person on the normal plane of consciousness exists. (Turīya, the fourth, is beyond them.)

• PVNR asked which is the most auspicious. Answer: Jāgrat.
• From the Vedantic side one could say deep sleep or yoga-nidrā is nearer the truth. But here we judge planets by how they act on this dual world — "the fake reality of this world". At that level sleep is the weakest state and Jāgrat the most powerful.
• "This is from one particular point of view. You have to keep that in mind."

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Mood-Based Avasthas

"If you ask me, more than the age and more than the alertness, the mood is more important."

Those PVNR read out from the screen:

• Śānta — peaceful
• Mudita — delighted
• Dīna — helpless, sad
• Vikala — crippled
• Kopita — angry
• Duḥkhita — very unhappy, depressed, distressed
• Khala — mischievous. "It may be a troublemaker, it may create some trouble."

The mood tells you in what spirit the planet gives its results.

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Sayanadi Avasthas — The Activity States (Most Important)

These are based on what the planet is doing — not its mood, alertness or age. "All the words used by Parashara are symbols of some activity. You have to understand what it could mean."

PVNR said from memory that there are ten, then opened his book and went through the list below.

"Prakāśana — this is akin to somebody who is just glowing. Things just happen so easily around you. You do not really have to do much. In Gamana and Āgamana the planet's energy is wasted in some kind of changes, whereas in Prakāśana the planet's whole energy is glowing on you."

"Nṛtya means dance, lipsā means desire. The planet wants to dance. 'I want to make him a big scholar, I want to do it.' Making you a good scholar, or the owner of a house, or getting you married, is like a dance to the planet."

"Nidrā: you say, please, I want a wife, please get me married. The planet says, I am sleeping, let me have a nice sleep."

Not every planet sleeps the same way

A student asked whether the same avastha works the same for every planet.

• Jupiter asleep is still Jupiter; some wisdom is there. A tāmasic planet like Saturn or Mars asleep goes into deep sleep.
• One person wakes at a small sound; another sleeps through an earthquake, like Kumbhakarna.

Śayana of a benefic and of a malefic

• Śayana is not sleep. It means things are being done to your satisfaction, so you lie back.
• Malefic in Śayana: be concerned.

"If a villain, instead of fuming with anger, is lying down on a bed, you should be concerned. What did he do? Maybe the villain sent ten goons to kill the hero, and he is lying on a bed in a very relaxed way."

• Benefic in Śayana: like Vishnu reclining on Ādiśeṣa — when you see him relaxed, you should feel relaxed.

Sabhā for Sun and for Saturn

• Sun, Jupiter, Mercury belong in an assembly — the learned one, the wise rishi, the scholar. In Sabhā avastha they are at ease.
• Saturn is a natural servant. Put him on a podium and he does not belong there. "Maybe he belongs a little below the podium, helping arrange everything on the podium."
• So Sabhā is not as auspicious for Saturn as for Sun, Jupiter or Mercury.

"Any part of astrology, you cannot divorce it from your common sense. Maharshi assumed that you would take this as the basic building block, and then with your common sense build the house of astrology from this building block."

When the avastha gives its result — the four parts of a daśā

Use the Śayanādi avastha especially in the quarter of the period in which the planet gives the result of its own state.

Natural benefics (good people care about their surroundings first, themselves last):

1. First quarter — the house occupied
2. Second quarter — the yogas (who the planet is with)
3. Third quarter — the houses owned
4. Fourth quarter — its own avastha

Natural malefics — the reverse. Avastha comes first.

"Am I happy or sad? That is the most important thing. If he is sad, as soon as his daśā comes he will give you bad results. If he is excited, as soon as the daśā comes he will give you good results. Think of natural malefics as very self-occupied people. And think of Jupiter, Venus, all these as very nice benign people."

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Avastha Rules in Brief

1. Śayanādi avasthas are the most important. Among the three basic kinds, mood counts more than age or alertness.
2. Very auspicious: Prakāśana, Sabhā, Nṛtya-lipsā, Kautuka.
3. Not favourable: Gamana, Āgamana (energy lost in change), Nidrā (the planet does not listen). Netrapāṇi is active but not very auspicious. Bhojana is good but not fully auspicious.
4. A malefic in Śayana is a warning; a benefic in Śayana is comfort.
5. Weigh every avastha by the nature of the planet — Mercury in Bāla/Kumāra, Saturn in Vṛddha, Saturn in Sabhā.
6. Natural benefics give house occupied → yogas → houses owned → avastha, a quarter each. Natural malefics give them in reverse, avastha first.