Example Chart — D12 Father Death: Scorpio Lagna, 9H Cancer as Father's Lagna(Saturn=7L+8L in It=Maraka+Alcoholism); Vimshottari Saturn AD 2nd Half 2012=Kills; Chaturasi Sama(10L in 10H Condition)=Also Saturn AD; Annual Tajaka 2012=6L+8L+Maraka Signs Stronger Than 2013; Prashna=Sun(9H Lord as Lagna) in 6H Enemy+Saturn Aspect; Multi-Method Convergence=High Confidence. "Saturn Won't Kill"=WRONG. Terminal: Think of God

Second Example — Will the Father Survive? (1970)

• Male, born 2 February 1970, 7:36 PM IST (5h30m east of GMT), in India. Living in the US since about 2002–2003.
• The question, put on 12 March 2012: his father's health has been critical for two to three months, since about the end of 2011. Will the father go this year? The student who brought the chart thought not.
• The father: a clerk in the Indian railways. He drank heavily. Later in the discussion the student adds that he was a theatre artist for over 30 years.

The matter is seen in D-12. At 7:36 PM the D-12 lagna is Sagittarius, but 13 seconds earlier it becomes Scorpio (10.5 minutes later it changes again). So the choice is Scorpio or Sagittarius.

The teacher casts a praśna first, sets it aside, and uses it at the end to confirm (Part 12).

D-12 Rectification — The 9th House as the Father's Lagna

Throughout, the 9th house of D-12 is taken as the father's lagna. With Scorpio rising the father's lagna is Cancer; with Sagittarius rising it is Leo. Every house count below is from the father's lagna.

D-12 Vimśottarī now: Mars–Jupiter, and the father is ill. Does that fit?

Scorpio rising — father's lagna Cancer

• Mars is the yogakāraka for Cancer, so his daśā may have been good overall. But he is in the 2nd house, a māraka sthāna, with his friend the Sun, and the Sun as 2nd lord in the 2nd is a clear māraka. Associated with a māraka, Mars gives trouble. He also aspects the 6th lord Jupiter (graha dṛṣṭi, the 8th aspect from Leo to Pisces).
• Jupiter, the antardaśā lord, has to be the prominent one. He is the 9th lord in the 9th, but he is also the 6th lord. He can give illness.
• Career: Ketu is in the 10th house. A routine career, a clerk.
• Theatre: Venus aspects the 10th house. He is not the 10th lord, only an aspect, so the artistic career may have run while Venus was prominent (a Venus daśā, say) and then stopped.
• Drink: Saturn, the 8th lord, is in the lagna.

"Alcoholism or smoking, these habits are given by Saturn."

His influence on the lagna matters for these weaknesses, and here the lagna lord is badly placed as well.

Sagittarius rising — father's lagna Leo

• The Sun in his own lagna with yogakāraka Mars: someone very healthy and very dharmic. "Alcoholism doesn't make sense."
• The 10th lord Venus in mūlatrikoṇa in the 3rd house: someone who changes jobs a lot but is very successful. Not a railway clerk.

Conclusion: Scorpio. The time goes back to 7:35:30 PM.

A student asks how the time can be changed when a praśna is being looked at. The teacher: all of this was the natal chart. A praśna is never rectified. "Whatever time we cast it for, that's it. It's written in stone."

On the site: the lagna runs slightly ahead of the teacher's, so at 7:35:30 PM the D-12 still shows Sagittarius rising; it turns to Scorpio only about 40 seconds earlier. Read the page's D-12 from Cancer, its 8th house, to follow the class. Sun and Mars in Leo, Saturn in Cancer, Ketu in Aries and Rahu in Libra match. The site shows Jupiter in Aquarius (class: Pisces) and Venus in Virgo (class: Libra).

The Natal Daśās — Two Systems, One Killer

Vimśottarī of D-12: Mars–Saturn next

• Mars himself can be a māraka, being in the 2nd house.
• Saturn comes after Jupiter. He is the 7th and 8th lord in the father's lagna. "He's clearly a māraka."
• He aspects his own sign, the 7th house (Capricorn). He owns both the 7th and the 8th, but the 7th is the one he also aspects, so he leans even more towards the 7th house.
• Mars–Saturn starts about August 2012.

"So if our rectification is correct, there is a danger, mortal danger, soon. Basically after this period starts, which is second half of this year."

"Saturn won't kill"

"People generally say that Saturn won't kill his host. Why? I know people who were killed by Saturn. Nobody has a rule that 'I won't kill'. Anybody can kill."

And here he is not only the 8th lord. He is the 7th lord too, aspecting the 7th.

Chaturaśīti Sama daśā of D-12

The teacher is "saying something very drastic — death", so he wants a second daśā.

• In the rectified D-12 the 10th lord is in the 10th house: the Sun in Leo, the 10th from Scorpio. So Chaturaśīti Sama daśā applies.
• Running: Sun daśā. Sun–Venus now, then Sun–Saturn.
• The Sun is the 2nd lord in the 2nd from the father's lagna: a clear māraka, a stronger one than Mars. "Actually, Sun is the strongest māraka."
• Venus is the 4th lord in the 4th. Though he is with an 8th lord, he is at most a partial māraka. "Not really that bad."
• Saturn, as before, is the māraka. Sun–Saturn runs from May 2012 to January 2014.

So Vimśottarī gives Mars–Saturn from August and Chaturaśīti Sama gives Sun–Saturn from May.

"Second half of this year and next year are very critical. These two daśās are showing death, and a very clear māraka is running in another daśā. There is a little chance that you can escape."

A student's objection

If so, should Sun–Mars not have been dangerous too?

• Mars is a mild māraka. He is the yogakāraka, and a māraka only because he sits with a friend in a māraka house. "He doesn't have such a strong agenda to kill."
• Saturn is the one with the agenda: the 7th lord aspecting the 7th.

Is the second half of 2012 more likely than 2013? The natal daśās alone cannot say. For that, go to the annual chart.

The Annual Chart — 2012 Against 2013

Annual (Tājaka) chart for 2012: 3 February 2012, 16:25:10. Rāśi lagna Gemini. The D-12 of this chart is read with its Vimśottarī, again taking its 9th house, Sagittarius, as the father's lagna.

• The 8th lord in the 9th house: anxiety and worry about the father.
• From Sagittarius: the 12th lord is in the lagna.
• The lagna lord Jupiter is exalted, but in the 8th house.
• The 6th lord Venus, exalted, and the 8th lord Moon are together in the 4th house.

Who are the mārakas?

• Saturn, 2nd and 3rd lord, aspecting the 2nd house and placed in an evil sign: a māraka.
• Mercury is the 7th lord but exalted in his own sign. He may or may not be one.
• Rahu, a malefic in the 7th house: a māraka.
• Moon, the 8th lord with the exalted 6th lord, can also kill.

The periods

• Moon: 15 June – 16 July 2012.
• Rahu and Saturn: towards the end of the year.

The 2013 chart

"Before we pronounce anything, quickly check next year's chart." There the father's lagna is Aquarius. The 8th lord Mercury is in the 2nd and the 7th lord Sun is in the 7th. But the lagna lord, though debilitated, is in the 3rd house; in 2012 he was in the 8th.

"Comparing both the charts, my feeling is that previous chart is stronger."

Call: most likely the second half of 2012 itself, in the annual chart's Rahu daśā or Saturn daśā.

On the site: the annual chart casts with Gemini rising and D-12 lagna Aries, as in class, with Jupiter in Cancer and Venus and Moon in Pisces. The site puts Ketu in Scorpio and Rahu in Taurus (class: Ketu in Sagittarius, Rahu in the 7th from it), Saturn in Sagittarius (class: an evil house, aspecting the 2nd) and Mercury in Cancer (class: Virgo).

The Praśna

Cast in class in Massachusetts on 12 March 2012 at 7:31:56 PM, 4 hours west of GMT. Lagna 8°07' Virgo.

Rāśi chart

• The lagna lord Mercury is in the 7th house.
• The 9th house (father), Taurus, contains Ketu.
• With the 9th as lagna: its lord Venus is in the 12th with its 8th lord Jupiter, an enemy. Its 7th lord (Ketu) is in it.
• "Things don't look good for father, just based on the rāśi chart."

D-12 of the praśna

The teacher uses the standard divisions here (D-12, D-10 and so on), not the navāṁśa-for-past, drekkāṇa-for-future method of the previous class. The question put to it: the natal chart says the father will not survive the year. Does the praśna allow that?

The 9th house of the praśna D-12 is Leo. From Leo:

• The lagna lord Sun is in the 6th house, in an inimical sign, Saturn's, and aspected by Saturn. The lagna has no strength.
• Yogakāraka Mars aspects the lagna, but so does the māraka Saturn. "Overall, lagna is beaten down." A very strong lagna could have saved him.
• The 2nd house holds two functional malefics: the 12th lord and the 3rd lord Venus, debilitated. "3rd lord in 2nd, just like 8th lord in 7th, is a combination for death." Functional malefics in the 2nd kill.
• Mars is in the 7th, but he is the yogakāraka and not a killer.
• The 2nd lord Mercury is with the 7th lord Rahu and in his mūlatrikoṇa sign. The 2nd house is very strong and so is its lord.
• The 8th lord Jupiter is in the 3rd house.

"There are several combinations of death. It's not really contradicting whatever we saw in the natal chart."

Conclusion: he may not survive; he may not see the native's next birthday.

Śūla daśā — begun, not finished

A student recalls that death used to be judged from the ārūḍha lagna and Śūla daśā. The teacher starts it in the rāśi chart, taking Śūla daśā from the 9th house for the father: Aquarius is running. The recording does not carry a conclusion from it.

On the site: the praśna rāśi chart reproduces exactly (lagna 8° Virgo). In its D-12 the lagna lord Sun in Capricorn, Saturn in Scorpio aspecting both Capricorn and Leo (graha dṛṣṭi, 3rd and 10th), Mars in Aquarius, debilitated Venus in Virgo and Jupiter in Libra all match. The site shows the Moon in Scorpio, not with Venus in the 2nd, and Mercury in Leo, not in his mūlatrikoṇa.

When Not Much Time Is Left

The teacher closes with what to tell the family.

"If you know that that is staring at you, maybe another year, 2 years, 3 years, but not much time, then suggesting a remedy based on the 9th lord or something is not really useful. You don't try to save because there's not really much chance to save."

• Whatever has happened in this life has happened. The goal now is a good life next.
• Pick a Devatā the mind is drawn to: Kali, Durga, Ganesha, whoever it is. "Doesn't really matter who you pick."
• Spend much of the time thinking about that Devatā.

"So hopefully when you actually die, you won't get weird thoughts, but you will think about the God. So when you have some notice, you can prepare yourself."