Conditional Dashas for Death — Dwisaptati Sama Dasha & Ethics

Death Analysis — Limitations of Vimshottari

Her death is the only dated event the class has. Vimshottari at death: Mercury dasha, Rahu antardasha.

"Can anybody honestly give me any genuine reason why she should die in Mercury dasha, Rahu antardasha?"

The Houses of Death, per Parashara

• The 3rd and 8th are the houses of life — the 3rd of vitality, the 8th of longevity.
• The 12th from each is its loss. The 2nd is loss of vitality. The 7th is loss of longevity. The 2nd and 7th are the houses of death.
• A negative planet in the houses of life can also be a maraka — Mars in the 8th, for example.
• So: negative influences on the 3rd and 8th, or any influences on the 2nd and 7th, can inflict death.

Who Should Have Killed

• Mars is lord of both the 2nd (Scorpio) and the 7th (Aries).
• Jupiter and Moon occupy the 7th. The 2nd is empty.
• The three planets that could have given her death: Mars, Jupiter and Moon. PVNR calls Jupiter a strong candidate among them.

Mercury and Rahu Do Not Fit

• A student offers "Mercury is in the 12th". Mercury is 9th and 12th lord. Is that a killer? Not really.
• A student notes Rahu is her Atmakaraka. PVNR: correct — but that does not make him a killer.
• Rahu is in the 4th house. Nothing there either.

Roundabout Logic

"Of course you can come up with reasons."

The 22nd drekkana, the 64th navamsa, the 7th lord's nakshatra dispositor, his navamsa dispositor, his rasi dispositor. PVNR includes himself: "You may see some roundabout logic in my own book also. I am not making fun of others."

"When we write books, we always give all kinds of roundabout logic so it will look wow, excellent. But when you try to make prediction, you don't know."

How it goes:

• Mars, Moon and Jupiter can give death — one third of the planets.
• Mars is in Venus's sign, so Venus can give death.
• Mars is in Rahu's nakshatra (Swati), so Rahu can give death — "that's why it happened in Rahu's antardasha".
• Carry on like this and you cover 8 of the 9 planets. Death can then occur in any dasha and any antardasha.

"It is excellent when you are justifying something that you already know. But when you want to make a prediction about future, you are really handicapped. This is a really big problem in today's astrology."

A student recalls that a week earlier, when she was admitted after a heart attack, somebody had asked PVNR about her. He says: with Vimshottari alone, asked then whether she would survive, he honestly would not have expected the death from Mercury–Rahu.

Conditional Dashas — The Right Approach

Vimshottari does work for everybody. But there are conditional dashas, more finely tuned, that apply in particular charts.

• Shoola dasha is tuned for death, but it is an advanced dasha. Leave it for now. Use the simple conditional dashas.

"Advanced" Is the Wrong Word

With students only a few months in, some people object to names like Chaturaseeti Sama dasha, Dwisaptati Sama dasha, Dwadasottari dasha: do the basics, stick to Vimshottari.

"If you think that Vimshottari is basic, only Rasi chart is basic, and if you stick to basic, you will be forced to come up with roundabout logic and you will not learn."

• Narayana dasha or Shoola dasha take a lot of learning.
• Dwisaptati Sama dasha takes none. Whatever you do in Vimshottari, do it here. The software computes it. "Forget the title, imagine Vimshottari dasha there."
• It will work better than Vimshottari where its condition applies, and it explains known events without beating around the bush.

"All these things like arudhas, divisional charts, conditional dashas, these are not advanced things. These are basics."

Used correctly they give genuine explanations in about 90% of cases. Some cases will still need roundabout reasoning, because our knowledge is not perfect.

All You Need Is the Condition

• Lagna lord in the 7th, or 7th lord in lagna → Dwisaptati Sama dasha (72 years).
• 10th lord in the 10th → Chaturaseeti Sama dasha (84 years).
• Sun in lagna → Shashtihayani dasha (60 years).

Know the conditions of a few of these and swap them in for Vimshottari.

Dwisaptatisamadasha (Visaptati Samadasha) — 72-Year Death Dasha

The Condition Is Met

Dwisaptati Sama dasha applies if lagna lord is in the 7th or the 7th lord is in lagna.

• Mars is the 7th lord (Aries) and he is in lagna (Libra).

72 Years Is Not Her Longevity

• Dwisaptati means 72. The first cycle of 72 years was over (born 1916). In the software you move forward to the next cycle. The same sequence repeats.
• She lived past 72 though a 72-year dasha applies to her.
• If a 36-year dasha applies in your chart, do not think your longevity is 36 years. It only means a dasha with that pattern — 36, 72, 60 years — applies to you.

The Dasha of Death

• Jupiter dasha, August 1998 to August 2007.
• Which antardasha would you expect inside it? Students: Moon or Mars.
• She was running Jupiter dasha, Moon antardasha.
• Jupiter and Moon are the two planets in the 7th house — two of the three marakas picked out before any dasha was opened. No roundabout chain is needed.

How Far to Trust the Antardasha Date

• Moon antardasha is shown starting 26 March 2004. With the birth time not rectified it may have been 1 March, or 15 April.
• If an event fell on 28 March 2004 you could not be sure it was Moon antardasha. It could as well have been Sun antardasha.
• When something changes only a few days before an event in a natal dasha, be careful.

A student says she lost her husband in 1997. Nobody has the date, so it is not examined.

Annual TP Chart — Timing Within the Year

The class opens the Tithi Pravesha chart for 2004 to ask: can you see her death in it at all?

2004 TP Chart

• Hora Lord is Saturn, in the 9th house. "Nothing really special."
• The dasha running in the annual chart at death: Venus. Venus dasha started on 8 December 2004 and ran to 14 February.
• Venus is the 7th lord of the annual chart. He is a maraka — capable of killing.

Why the Annual Dasha Date Can Be Trusted

• In the natal Vimshottari a small error in birth time moves a dasha date by days.
• In the annual chart 120 years, or 72 years, are compressed into one year of roughly 360 days. The same error is hours.

"You can be sure that the date is basically accurate. Maybe there is half day error, maximum."

So she definitely passed away in the annual Venus dasha.

What This Does Not Let You Do

• You cannot look at this TP chart and this annual dasha and conclude she will die between 8 December and 14 February.
• The natal chart must show it. The correct natal dasha has to be running. Charts other than Rasi are seen for death too.
• A student points out that Jupiter is the 2nd lord of the annual chart, so the annual Jupiter dasha earlier in the year could also have killed. PVNR: quite possible.

What It Is Good For

Somebody is in a critical state, hospitalised. You are given the chart and see that in a couple of days the dasha of a maraka begins. Then be concerned. Tell them to be careful.

For this chart: if they came toward the end of the annual Rahu dasha and asked whether she was likely to pass away — with Venus dasha coming, tell them things are dicey, you are not too hopeful, and it may be a good idea to stay around.

PVNR's Father and the Political Leader

• A local political leader in Machilipatnam consulted PVNR's father. His mother had been ailing for a long time.
• He travelled a lot. Before each trip he asked whether he could leave her. He was religious and wanted to be there when she passed, to give her the water with tulasi.
• Several times the father said: go, I see no danger.
• One time he did not say she would die. He said: "I can't be sure, but this time it may be a better idea for you to stay around."
• He stayed. That night she passed away. He was by her side, pouring the water into her mouth, and was happy he had that opportunity.

Students' questions:

• The father had only the son's chart. The mother was very old and had no accurate birth data. Death of the mother is seen from the son's chart.
• To see when a husband passes away: take the 7th house in Navamsa and see the marakas from there.
• Her diabetes cannot be seen from the Tithi Pravesha chart. What a person suffers from is seen from the natal chart alone. The TP chart shows when it is activated.
• Amsa rulers of the annual dasha lord, to tell a coma from a death: possible, but leave them out of annual charts for now. Stick to natal charts — "this is more tricky".

Ethics of Death Prediction

Never Announce a Death

"Never make a prediction that somebody will die on a particular date or a particular year or a particular 9-year period. Never make that prediction. That is very bad karma for you."

You may speak when there is a positive use for it, and then nicely — as his father did.

One Maraka Dasha Is Not a Verdict

A student asks about a client entering the dasha of Mars, a maraka.

• Nobody has only one planet that can kill. Usually two or three can.
• The dasha of a planet in the 2nd house arriving does not mean death. It may be the next time such a dasha comes.
• In her case Jupiter dasha, Moon dasha or Mars dasha could each have killed.
• With one dasha you cannot be 100% sure. Mix two or three dashas and take the intersection. There are dashas devoted to longevity, such as Shoola dasha.
• First settle the longevity class: alpayu (under 36), madhyayu (36 to 72) or purnayu (above 72). There are standard principles for it, including the method of three pairs.
• If the person is in the right portion of life and a bad dasha also comes, then counsel them.

What to Say

• If somebody is destined to die, they will die. You cannot help it.
• If this dasha may kill but is not sure to, and there is another — tell the person to do Mrityunjaya mantra, and hope this is not the one.
• If you are strongly inclined to think this is the dasha, there is nothing to do, and no point in telling them — unless you want fame.

"It is better to make a good prediction and go wrong than make a bad prediction and be right."

Making predictions for fame is bad in general. Negative predictions made for fame are terrible karma for the next life.

"Never predict death unless you have to, and even in that case, don't say you will die. You say this period is critical, do Mrityunjaya mantra. That's it."

• If you suspect somebody is deeply depressed and may take his own life, say nothing to that person. Tell the people around him to take good care of him, and do Mrityunjaya mantra for him.

Astrology Is Not 100%

• Markandeya was an alpayu person, supposed to die young. He became a chiranjeevi and lived forever.
• The astrology Brahma laid down works 99.999999% — and even that is not 100%, as Markandeya shows.
• The astrology we know works maybe 70% or 80%.

"We have to be humble about that and we have to guide people to take positive measures, not negative measures."

Death-Like Periods; Praying for Others

• A planet of the 2nd or 7th that does not kill can give a death-like situation — a great ganda, where the person goes close to death.
• You can pray for somebody else. In the sankalpa say the person's gotra and name and that the puja is for his health.
• If you do not know the formal sankalpa, say it in the language you know. "God will understand."