Dasha System Roles, Bhava vs Pada & Marriage Timing Puzzle

Dasha System Roles — Each Dasha Has Its Own Focus

A student who had been listening to the old recordings asked: Narayana Dasha shows where the effort goes and Sudasa shows where the blessings come from, yet in class Narayana Dasha was used to say "this will happen in this dasha". It is the effort, not the result. PVNR agreed.

"What you are saying is absolutely true. When we make predictions, many times we are making compromises and trying to see everything in everything."

The Three Dashas He Names

Why Everything Gets Seen in Everything

• The boundaries are fuzzy. He taught them as clear, but the dashas overlap.
• Where there is effort there is probably some blessing. If someone perceives that he is in trouble, he probably is in trouble.
• Seeing everything in Vimshottari is not a sin or a big error, but it is not the ideal thing to do.
• There are many other dashas beyond these three, each with its own focus.
• His instruction to the class: keep the critical attitude. When he does something less than ideal in an analysis, catch it, and a better analysis can be done.

Bhava vs. Pada — The Fundamental Distinction (Review)

He gives this as a second trap he falls into himself.

• The word used for a house is bhava: it means meaning, concept. The word used for the arudha is pada: it means a word, a symbol.
• The word "computer" is tangible. Everybody hears the same word. What I mean by it is only in my mind, and what you understand may be slightly different.
• A bhava cannot be communicated directly. It is communicated through padas, because padas are tangible and the whole world can perceive them.
• The 4th house shows the true comfort inside. The arudha pada of the 4th tries to capture it in things the world can see.
• Rule: see tangible things in the arudha padas of houses, not in the houses. See the true feelings, comfort, abilities, dharma and work from the houses counted from lagna.
• He admits the recordings contain places where he looked at a house for something tangible, or at an arudha pada for something intangible. Such approximations happen in a hurry. A student who sticks to the rule and questions every compromise gets a more perfect understanding.

Conditional Nakshatra Dashas — Applicability Rules

Before choosing the nakshatra dasha for the puzzle chart he goes through the staple conditional dashas, in the Rasi chart:

• In the puzzle chart the first three do not apply. Venus is the 7th lord and he is in lagna (Scorpio), so Dwisaptati Sama Dasha is used instead of Vimshottari.
• A student later asked whether the same condition should be looked at in the Navamsa. No.

"The condition of applicability of nakshatra dashas is in the Rasi chart."

• When the nakshatra dasha and the Narayana Dasha disagreed, a student wondered whether the conditional dasha was wrongly chosen. PVNR checked how far the birth time would have to move for the Rasi lagna to change: 46 minutes 40 seconds back or 1 hour 25 minutes forward. Venus in lagna is a given, so Dwisaptati Sama Dasha definitely applies. "Let us not compromise on that."

Marriage Puzzle — Four Candidate Dates

A student brought a puzzle posted on an astrology mailing list. The native gives his birth data and four dates; he married on one of them. He says his birth time is accurate and gives no other events.

The Four Dates

• A: January 26, 1997
• B: August 22, 1999
• C: May 9, 1997
• D: August 17, 1998

PVNR uses three tools: the nakshatra dasha that applies, the Narayana Dasha of the Navamsa, and the Tithi Pravesha chart. "When you are solving a puzzle you don't have to restrict yourself to one technique."

Step 1: Can the Mahadasha Lord Give Marriage?

• All four dates fall in Rahu dasha of Dwisaptati Sama Dasha, which the published class notes date April 1994 to April 2003. The antardashas across the range are Moon, Mars and Mercury.
• Marriage is seen in the Navamsa. In the Navamsa Rahu is in the 6th house (Pisces) with exalted Venus.
• Venus is the karaka of marriage and the Navamsa lagna lord. From Pisces he aspects Sagittarius, which holds both UL and A7 (rasi drishti).
• Two planets together give each other's results unless they are totally inimical. Sun with Rahu is an eclipse, so those two do not exchange. Venus and Rahu are friends, so Rahu gives Venus's results.
• So Rahu can give marriage.

The lagna is not proved by this. The native says the time is accurate. PVNR: "He is not doubtful about the time, but you should always be." If the Navamsa lagna were Scorpio, Venus would be the 7th lord and Rahu could still give marriage. If it were Virgo, Rahu would be in the 7th house. The lagna on either side explains the event equally well.

Step 2: Which Antardasha Lord?

• Moon is the most likely. A student pointed out that Moon is in UL and A7 (Sagittarius).
• Why UL and A7 and not the 7th house: the 7th house shows the relationship — the birth of a new relationship. The marriage ceremony is a tangible event. It is shown by the arudha pada of the 7th house (A7) and the arudha pada of the 12th house (UL).
• Moon (10th lord, in the 3rd) and Jupiter (3rd lord, in the 10th) have a parivartana. The 10th is activity in society; the 3rd is initiative, the seed of the kama trikona. Jupiter is also the lord of the sign holding UL. So Moon or Jupiter can give the marriage.
• Mars is the 7th lord, so he has some likelihood.
• Mercury looked the least likely at first. Later PVNR corrected this: Mercury is the 9th lord in the 9th house, and he can also give marriage.
• First conclusion: Moon antardasha, which ended in September 1997. That leaves January 26, 1997 and May 9, 1997.

Step 3: Narayana Dasha of the Navamsa

The mahadasha over the whole period is Virgo. Its last one-third is the year from January 20, 1999 to January 20, 2000.

What lets a Narayana Dasha sign give marriage:

• association with lagna or the 7th house, or better, with UL, which shows the ritual of marriage;
• Venus or Ketu occupying or aspecting the dasha sign.

Virgo: Sagittarius (UL and A7) aspects it, Venus aspects it from Pisces, Ketu is in it. If UL aspects the dasha sign there is marriage; if A7 aspects it there is relationship. Virgo is capable.

Antardashas on the four dates:

• Gemini. A student wanted to rule it out because it does not hold UL, A7, Venus or Ketu. PVNR refused. Gemini aspects UL and A7 and aspects Virgo. It holds Mercury, the 9th lord in the 9th house, and marriage is upholding one's dharma. Mercury is the lord of Virgo and Ketu's dispositor; of his two signs he is in Gemini, so he can give the event of Virgo mahadasha in the antardasha of the sign he sits in.

"There are hundreds of rules. When there is a consonance between all the rules, the event happens. So you can't expect every principle to work to the fullest."

• Capricorn has nothing to do with UL, Ketu or Venus, and it holds A8. A8 is the mrityu pada: for a married man it shows divorce, fighting with the wife, staying away from her. It is the opposite of marriage. Capricorn is ruled out.

Three antardashas remain capable, so this made little progress.

Step 4: The Three-Parts Rule on Virgo Mahadasha

• Virgo is a shirshodaya (head-rising) sign, so the sign gives its own results in the first one-third. Had it been prishthodaya it would give them in the last one-third.
• The lord Mercury is in Gemini, also shirshodaya, so he takes the earliest part left: the second one-third.
• The last one-third goes to the planets occupying and aspecting Virgo.

The question to ask is why the sign gives the result.

• If Aries (the 7th house) or Libra (the lagna) were the mahadasha giving marriage, the result would come from the sign itself, in the sign's own one-third.
• If Cancer gave it because its lord Moon is in UL, it would come in the lord's one-third.
• Virgo gives marriage because Ketu is in it and Venus aspects it. So the last one-third dominates.

Order inside the last one-third — by longitude, highest first:

• Venus 28°15′, then Moon 27°, then Mercury.
• For Rahu and Ketu subtract the longitude from 30°. Here that leaves about half a degree, so they come last.
• Rahu before Ketu is a judgment call that varies from case to case. Here Rahu is with exalted Venus, so he goes first.
• Five planets share one year: about 2.4 months each. Venus runs from January 20, 1999 to about April 1.

August 22, 1999 is about 7 months in. It falls at the end of the third share — Mercury's aspect on Virgo, the 9th lord in the 9th house. On this reading the Narayana Dasha points to August 22, 1999.

A student objected: the nakshatra dasha had not put 1999 in the picture at all. PVNR: when several techniques are used, they have to be reconciled.

Step 5: Pratyantardasha, and the Chain of Exchanges

"More than the mahadasha, antardasha will show it even clearer. And more than antardasha, pratyantardasha will show it even clearer."

In a 20-year dasha many things are going on and the marriage may not be the biggest thing on the mind. In a pratyantardasha of three months the marriage that happens on one day is the biggest event on the mind.

The dates are not written in stone. A change of two minutes in the birth time moves them by a couple of days.

Mars. A student pointed out what had been ignored: in the Navamsa Mars is with Sun, so they give each other's results. Mars gives the result of Sun. Sun is the 11th lord in the 5th house and has nothing to do with lagna or the 7th house. August 17, 1998 is ruled out.

Saturn. He is yogakaraka, but he is in A6, which shows quarrel and separation, and he is in the 12th from UL. A student then pointed out that Saturn has a parivartana with Mars (Saturn in Scorpio, Mars in Aquarius). "You guys are really complicating things for me." The final chain:

• Sun gives Mars's results,
• Mars gives Saturn's results,
• Saturn gives Sun's results.

Mars acts as the agent between Sun and Saturn. Of the three, only the one giving the 7th lord Mars's results — Sun — can give marriage. Mars antardasha stays unlikely. "We should have looked at all these factors to start with."

Moon–Jupiter (January 26, 1997). Moon is in UL and A7 and Jupiter is their lord. The result of an exchange is given when the dasha or antardasha of one runs with a sub-period of the other. Their exchange is Gajakesari yoga, and it falls on the 3rd–10th axis: the initiative fructifies as a social function. January 1997 looks very feasible.

Moon–Saturn (May 9, 1997) is not very likely.

So the nakshatra dasha now favours January 26, 1997.

Step 6: Reconciling With the Narayana Dasha

January 1997 is the very start of Virgo mahadasha, in the first one-third, where Virgo gives the results of the sign itself. Can Virgo itself give marriage?

• Virgo is the 12th house. A student had said the 12th house with Ketu is opposite to marriage. PVNR: the 12th house with Ketu gives a pull toward moksha; if it gives marriage, it is marriage to get children and be done with the material life.
• The 12th house is the house of continuing the lineage. UL, the most important arudha pada for marriage, is nothing but the arudha pada of the 12th house. He had hoped someone would answer that.
• Virgo aspects UL and A7 in Sagittarius. This is a sign aspecting a sign, so it belongs to the sign's own one-third. The aspects of Venus and Ketu on Virgo belong to the last one-third.

The first one-third can be reconciled with January 1997. The puzzle is still open.

Step 7: The Tithi Pravesha Charts Settle It

"If there is one technique that works reliably, using which you can make predictions confidently, it is not Vimshottari dasha, it is not Narayana dasha, it is Tithi Pravesha."

The lunar birthday of 1997 fell on January 28, two days after the first date. So January 26, 1997 belongs to the 1996 chart.

1996 chart (February 9, 1996) — covers January 26, 1997

• Hora lord (ruler of the year) is Mars. In Rasi he is the lagna lord in the 11th house; in the Navamsa he is the lagna lord in the 12th house.
• Vivaha Sahama is in Gemini with UL. Its lord Mercury is at the very beginning of Capricorn and has no link with the 7th lord.
• January 1997 is the end of this year, in Jupiter dasha. Jupiter is in the 9th house, aspects UL, and in the Navamsa has a Raj yoga with Venus. There is some chance, no more.

1997 chart (January 28, 1997) — covers May 9, 1997

• Hora lord is Venus, the karaka of marriage.
• Rasi (Gemini lagna): Venus is the 5th lord in the 7th house, with the lagna lord Mercury. Venus is near 29°, Mercury near 21° — a reasonably close Raj yoga, and both aspect lagna. An important event happens that year.
• Navamsa (Aries lagna): lagna lord Mars is in lagna. Mercury is in the 7th house, a functional malefic for Aries, which is not auspicious. But the 7th lord Venus is in the 9th house of dharma, in UL.
• A student asked for Vivaha Sahama. It is at 11°47′ Aries. Its lord Mars aspects Venus (4th aspect) and Venus is in the 10th from him. Not a strong link, but there is already a confluence of many factors.
• The dasha of the year running on May 9, 1997 is Venus dasha, Mercury antardasha — the two planets of the Raj yoga in the 7th house. In the compressed dasha of the annual chart this antardasha lasts 11 days, and the date he gave falls inside those 11 days.
• A student objected that Mercury is the 6th lord in the 7th house of the Navamsa, in marana karaka sthana. PVNR agreed about Mercury's own dasha of the year: quarrels, even though newly married. But inside Venus dasha the antardasha is judged from Venus. From Venus, Mercury is the 7th lord in the 11th house: fructification of desire. The bhoga — the 11th counted again from Mercury — falls in Leo, the 5th house: poorva punya. An auspicious event.

"Rasi chart shows what is happening physically. Navamsa shows the dharmic environment in which whatever is happening is happening."

• "If I was just making a prediction, I would have actually expected marriage in that period."

1999 chart (lunar birthday in February 1999) — covers August 22, 1999

• Hora lord is Venus again. In the Navamsa (Virgo lagna) Venus is the 9th lord in the 6th house, which is marana karaka sthana for Venus. The 9th lord in MKS: dharma is spoiled that year.
• The 6th house is the anger and frustration felt inside. A6 is the actual shouting match. Venus sits in the 6th house and, as read in class, also owns A6, so he joins the two. The year shows fighting and misunderstandings with the wife.
• Rahu, the 6th lord, is in the 7th house of the Navamsa.
• To a married man the advice for this year is: be careful, do not fight with your wife. It is not a year to pick for marriage.

Conclusion

May 9, 1997. The student who brought the puzzle had ticked the same date on his printout from his own analysis, and said the wife's Tithi Pravesha chart for 1997 makes the same year stand out. PVNR: "Even though we fluctuated based on other dashas, I am very confident based on his Tithi Pravesha that this particular date must be the date."

• In a minority of cases no year is a clear winner and the indications in the year of marriage are weak. In the majority, an important event like marriage stands out in the annual chart. Once it does, there is no need to look further.
• Learn Narayana Dasha, Vimshottari, Dwisaptati Sama and all the dashas. For a very short-term focus Tithi Pravesha is the best. Tajika also works well, but Tithi Pravesha is the best.

Venus and Ketu as Marriage Givers

Two planets are capable of giving marriage in general: Venus and Ketu. A Narayana Dasha sign occupied or aspected by either one can give marriage.

Venus

• The natural karaka of love and marriage.
• When Venus is involved there is love, and kama — material desire — is there too.

Ketu

• The giver of moksha, and the planet of lineage and succession. Guru–disciple succession, parampara, tradition: all Ketu.
• Because he wants moksha for people, he wants them to marry quickly, get children, and then forget everything and go to moksha.
• The marriage Ketu gives is for children, for doing one's dharma, for keeping the lineage unbroken. Not for love and sex.
• If only Ketu is active in the Narayana Dasha at the time of marriage, the person married to have children and grow the family.
• In the puzzle chart both are involved: Ketu is in Virgo and Venus aspects it.

Narayana Dasha 3-Part Rule — As Applied in This Class

The Rule

1. Is the mahadasha sign shirshodaya (head-rising) or prishthodaya (back-rising)?
   • Head-rising: the sign gives its own results in the first one-third.
   • Back-rising: the sign gives them in the last one-third.
2. The lord then picks from what is left. In a head-rising sign he wants to give as early as possible; in a back-rising sign he takes the later part.
3. The remaining one-third goes to the planets occupying and aspecting the sign.

Which One-Third Gives the Event

Ask why the sign is giving the result:

• because of what the sign is — which house from lagna or AL, or the sign's own aspect on another sign → the sign's one-third;
• because of where its lord sits → the lord's one-third;
• because of planets in it or aspecting it → the planets' one-third.

Ordering Planets Inside Their One-Third

• Descending order of degree. The most advanced planet gives results first.
• For Rahu and Ketu subtract the longitude from 30°.
• Between Rahu and Ketu (always the same degree) it is a judgment call, case by case.
• Each planet gets an equal share.