Example Chart (1985): D24/D4 Border Rectification, 5th House = Poorvapunya for First Job, June-July 2009 Job Window & D20 Aquarius Lagna, Leo Drig Dasha 2036-44 = Peak Sadhana, Ashtakshari Mantra for 8th House Charts

Chart Analysis — First Job, a Packed 8th House, Spiritual Potential (1985 chart)

Birth data read out in class: November 29, 1985, 3:30 PM IST, India. Chart seen on June 8, 2009.

Question: the native studied electronics engineering in India, came to the US for studies at the end of 2007, and is finishing a master's in electronics and computer science. No one is taking his résumé in the recession. Will he get a job, and in what line?

• Lagna is about 15° Aries, on the border of the two horas. Moon is at 4°15′ Gemini.
• Rahu is in lagna, Ketu in the 7th, Moon in the 3rd, Mars in the 6th in Virgo, Jupiter in the 10th in Capricorn.
• Sun, Mercury, Venus and Saturn are all in Scorpio, the 8th house.

Lagna on a Hora Border — Every Even Varga Changes Together

• At 3:30:00 the Daśāṁśa lagna is Leo. About 11 seconds later it is Virgo. Both are possible.
• 15° is a hora change, so the lagna of every even division changes at the same instant — D4, D8, D10, D12, D20, D24.
• So any even varga can be used to decide whether the lagna is below or above 15°. Once that is settled, the D10 lagna is settled.

D24 Test — Which Lagna Explains the Education?

• Cancer D24 lagna (time as given): the 9th is Pisces, empty, owned and aspected by Jupiter alone. The 2nd is Leo, with its lord Sun in Taurus. Neither explains electronics and computer science.
• Leo D24 lagna (a few seconds later): the 9th house of the bachelor's degree is Aries with Mercury and Mars together. Mars shows electronics; Mercury shows computers, mathematics, logic.
• The 2nd house of the master's degree is Virgo, owned by Mercury. Jupiter sits there but is weaker by comparison; Mercury, the 2nd lord, is strong in the 9th. The 9th and 2nd are linked, so the master's continues the same Mercury–Mars theme.
• Leo fits. A few seconds have to be added; the teacher makes the time 3:30:15 PM. D24 lagna becomes Leo, D10 lagna Virgo.

D4 Check — Going Abroad at the End of 2007

• With the changed time the D4 lagna is Libra; with the original time it is Cancer. Which explains moving to the US in December 2007?
• Vimśottarī from the Moon: Jupiter mahādaśā, Saturn antardaśā.
• Libra D4: Jupiter is in the 10th with Rahu, with argala on the 9th and the 12th — possible. Saturn is the yoga-kāraka for residence, and he is the dispositor of Sun and Mercury and sits with them in Aquarius. Sun is the bādhaka lord; Mercury is the 9th and 12th lord. A dispositor who is conjoined is a landlord living in the house — he has full control over them. Saturn can take him abroad.
• Cancer D4: Jupiter fits very well (9th lord with Rahu). Saturn fits only as dispositor of the 12th lord Mercury.
• Cancer explains it feebly; Libra explains it strongly, because the antardaśā fits. Saturn and Mercury antardaśās are the likeliest for going abroad. The rectified time stands.

D10 — Will He Get a Job?

Daśāṁśa, Virgo lagna. Jupiter mahādaśā, Saturn antardaśā until about November 2009; Mercury antardaśā after that.

• Saturn is the 5th lord in lagna. He is also the lord of the ārūḍha lagna (Capricorn), placed in the 9th from it — he protects the status and image.
• The 5th house is pūrva-puṇya, and a first job needs it. A lagna placement shows a beginning.

"Especially for getting a job, you need pūrva-puṇya. It may also be because you are smart and you deserve it, but in general, especially the first job, you have to just impress people."

• A break — a first job, a career break, a break as an actor — is to a large extent a past good deed coming back.
• From the mahādaśā lord Jupiter, Saturn is the 11th (and 12th) lord in the 7th — in a kendra from him. Acceptable.
• The bhoga of the period falls in the 7th. The 7th is not a house for starting service, but it is a kendra.
• Verdict: the daśā is very conducive. A beginning in the career is likely before November.

Tithi Praveśa 2008–09 — The Month

• Tithi Praveśa of December 14, 2008, 8:59:10 AM.
• Hora lord of the year is Mercury. In the annual Daśāṁśa (Libra lagna) he is the 9th lord in the 5th with the 5th lord Rahu.
• The period running in early June is Jupiter's. The Rahu period runs June 23 – August 1, 2009.
• A job is very likely in that window. Rahu–Mercury antardaśā, in the middle of July, is the best part of it.

Service or Independent Work?

Back to the natal Daśāṁśa (Virgo lagna).

• The antardaśā lord Saturn is the 6th lord and the kāraka of service. He can put the native into a job now.
• Mercury, lagna lord and 10th lord, is in the 3rd house of initiative, in a sign of Mars, aspected by Jupiter (graha dṛṣṭi).
• The 11th is extremely strong: the 11th lord Moon in his own house with the 9th lord Venus.
• Jupiter is in the 7th in his own sign Pisces and aspects them (graha dṛṣṭi).
• A3 falls in the 7th with Jupiter in it; A7 is also in a sign of Jupiter.
• So within Jupiter daśā — it is a long daśā — he will very likely move to business, contracting or consulting. Jupiter shows the man who is taken as an expert and gives advice.
• Advice: start as an intern, learn something, become an expert in one high-tech subject over a few years, then contract or consult. If something new and a little risky comes up, take it. Plan the career from that angle and be ambitious, instead of "I have a job, I will keep working."

Electronics or Software?

• First reading: Mars and the nodes are not prominent; the key planets are Venus, Moon, Jupiter and Mercury. The 10th is owned by Mercury — software and logic, with some electronics.
• The teacher takes it back: Mercury is in a sign of Mars; exalted Mars is in the ārūḍha lagna; A10 — the tangible career — is in Aries, and so are A6 and A11. Hardware, design, silicon design are possible later.
• Ketu is in the 6th of the Daśāṁśa, and Ketu shows electronics and silicon. The Saturn and Mercury antardaśās do not show an electronics career; Ketu's very likely does.
• "Don't despair. Whatever you get exposure to, build expertise in it."

The Packed 8th House

In the Rāśi chart Scorpio holds Sun (5th lord), Mercury (3rd and 6th lord), Venus (2nd and 7th lord) and Saturn (10th and 11th lord).

• 10th lord Saturn in the 8th: not a smooth career. Either a rocky career or a man dedicated to hard work. This is the placement that set off the free-will discussion in Part 3.
• Expect changes: computers, later electronics, later something else. Exposure to two or three fields can come together and make him the expert who is suddenly in demand.
• The 8th is the house of instability, hard work, tapasyā, workaholism, setbacks and tension. It can also show ill health, or living away from the motherland.
• Degrees: Venus 1°, Saturn about 8°, Mercury 12°, Sun 13°. Sun and Mercury are the closest pair — the 5th and 6th lords together, which the teacher counts as a yoga, and Budha-Āditya as well. Intelligence.
• Is the 8th showing a big setback somewhere? Check the vargas.
  • Navāṁśa (Leo lagna): lagna lord Sun in the 4th of sukha with the kāraka of sukha, Moon. Rahu in lagna. Nothing terrible.
  • Daśāṁśa: a fine chart. Mercury with the 12th lord Sun is a flaw, but Sun is the kāraka of power. Venus and Moon in the 11th and Jupiter in the 7th are superb. The 8th lord Mars exalted is not good, but he ties A6 to the ārūḍha lagna.
  • D6 (Cancer lagna): lagna lord Moon in a kendra; 6th lord Jupiter debilitated, which is good; Venus in the 4th. No lagna lord joined with the 6th or 8th lord, as in charts of suffering.
  • D30 (Sagittarius lagna): Rahu and Ketu in lagna — some basic proneness to illness. Lagna lord Jupiter, 9th lord Sun and 7th lord Mercury in the 4th; Venus, the 6th lord, in the 6th. Nothing else of concern.
• Not the chart of a sick man or of one who suffers all the time.
• Workaholic: in the Daśāṁśa A10, A6 and A11 fall in the 8th house (Aries), and the lagna and 10th lord Mercury is in Scorpio, the natural 8th sign. A man who works hard and is dedicated to his work.
• The other reading of a strong 8th house is spiritual: occult and mystical experience, tapasyā, sādhanā. When the 8th and 12th are strong they can show material loss, and they can show spirituality. Look at the Viṁśāṁśa.

D20 — Viṁśāṁśa

Aquarius lagna.

• The 12th is very strong: Mars, Rahu and Ketu in Capricorn.
• The 7th lord Sun is in the 7th with the 8th lord Mercury. The 7th and 8th lords together are a combination of death — good in the spiritual chart. The 7th, 8th and 12th dominate, which is as it should be.
• Lagna lord Saturn is in the 4th, the house of basic direction. He is not confused or lost on the path, though Saturn is no planet of clarity. The 4th lord Venus is well placed in the 11th.
• Jupiter daśā (to 2021): Jupiter is the 2nd and 11th lord, a functional malefic, in the 3rd — maraṇa-kāraka sthāna. Not a daśā of much spiritual progress.
• Saturn daśā (from 2021): clear direction. Saturn gives direction; he does not give experiences.
• Mercury daśā (from 2040): the 8th lord in the 7th, a māraka daśā — excellent here.
• A powerful chart spiritually. That is probably what the strong 8th house means.

Dṛg Daśā — When

Read in the Rāśi chart. In each daśā the teacher takes as lagna the sign from which the daśā sign is the 9th.

• Gemini daśā (running in 2009): Libra becomes lagna. Many planets in the 2nd. Not much.
• Virgo daśā: Capricorn becomes lagna. Many planets in the 11th. Good for some progress.
• Capricorn daśā (from about 2021): Taurus becomes lagna. Jupiter in the 9th of guru — good guidance. The Scorpio planets are in the 7th — many interactions; he will be part of a group or a spiritual organisation. Rahu in the 12th is fine for some experiences.
• Scorpio daśā: Pisces becomes lagna. Many planets in the 9th of dharma. An active religious life.
• Leo daśā, 2036–2044: Sagittarius becomes lagna and the 12th holds four planets. This is the daśā of experience.

"Until then, lot of work, work, no experience, nothing basically. With some belief, he just keeps doing things."

• From 2021 to 2036 he may play an active part in some organisation. From 2036 to 2044, excellent progress and powerful experiences.
• Mercury mahādaśā starts in 2040, so 2040–2044 is the crux of the spiritual life.
• Spiritual progress does not come from connecting symbols and imagery. It comes from inner understanding, and that comes when the 12th house is powerful.

Iṣṭa Devatā and Mantra

• Ātmakāraka is Mars. In Navāṁśa Mars is in Virgo with Saturn. The 12th from him is Leo, which holds Rahu and the Navāṁśa lagna. The lagna there shows a good, saintly disposition.
• Rahu in the 12th from the ātmakāraka: Veṅkaṭeśvara or Durgā. A form of the Mother, or a form of Viṣṇu?
• A5, the mantra pada, is Scorpio in the Rāśi chart, with Mercury, Saturn, Sun and Venus. In that 8th house of sādhanā Mercury and Saturn dominate; Venus stands apart from the others and the Moon is far away.
• The ātmakāraka is with Saturn in a sign of Mercury. Rahu in the 12th from him is aspected by Mercury (rāśi dṛṣṭi, Libra on Leo).
• The Saturn–Mercury influence is stronger than the Moon–Venus influence. So a form of Viṣṇu, not of the Mother: Rahu shows Veṅkaṭeśvara.
• Any mantra or śloka of Veṅkaṭeśvara is good for him. With so strong an 8th house, an eight-syllable mantra is especially apt: the aṣṭākṣarī of Veṅkaṭeśvara, Oṁ Namo Veṅkaṭeśāya.