Longevity Case Studies — Kanchi Swami (100 Years: Vargottama Saturn 73%), Example Chart (20 Years: Verse 6 + Jupiter in 6H) & Rahu in Leo/Virgo Raj Yoga

Long Life — Swami Chandrashekara Saraswati (Kanchi Paramacharya)

Chart: May 20, 1894, 1:22 PM IST (5:30 east of GMT), 79°32'E, 11°57'N
Lagna: Leo
Lived: around 100 years (the teacher: passed away in "'94 or '95")

Working definition in class: above 72 is long life; below 36 is short life (alpayu).

The Four Planets by the Thumb Rules

• Student's question on Mercury: he is the 11th lord — does that not make him good here? Answer: a planet in the 11th gives gains for its own agenda; the 11th lord is a functional malefic. And Mercury is the 2nd lord as well. No exception for him.
• Advanced reading: Jupiter (Taurus) and Venus (Pisces) are in Parivartana. Jupiter acts as if in his own 8th house, Venus as if in her own 10th house. Then both are strong.
• Navamsa: none of Sun, Jupiter, Venus or Saturn is in own Navamsa, so that clause of verse 4 gives nothing.
• Result: at least three of the four strong, the fourth neutral and strong by the Parivartana. Long life.

Verse 13 Tested on This Chart

• Lagna lord Sun: in a Kendra but not extremely strong. In Aries he would be. The verse does not apply to him. A native can still live long without it.
• Who is extremely strong? Vaisheshikamsa: Venus, Jupiter and Saturn are in Uttamamsa.
• Venus: exalted in Rasi, in a friendly Navamsa. Of the Kendra planets (Sun, Mercury, Jupiter in the 10th; Moon in the 4th) only the Moon aspects her, a partial (50%) Graha Drishti, and the Moon here is a neutral, not a benefic. The verse does not apply to Venus.
• The teacher's reminder: the special aspects are not only for Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Every planet has them in part.
• Saturn: Vargottama, in Uttamamsa, in a friend's sign, 73% in Vimsopaka Bala — the strongest planet in the Dasavarga scheme. Aspected by Graha Drishti from Kendras by:
  • Mars in the 7th — full 8th aspect. 4th and 9th lord: neutral for the 4th, benefic for the 9th, so a functional benefic.
  • Sun in the 10th — half aspect. Lagna lord, functional benefic.
  • Jupiter in the 10th — full 5th aspect. Functional benefic.
• "Two and a half" functional benefics aspect a strong karaka of longevity. The verse does not apply to the lagna lord; it "kind of applies" to Saturn.

"Lagna lord can pull up a chart irrespective of all other drawbacks. Saturn, he can also pull up, but his ability is limited."

Either way the chart shows a long life.

Example chart

Lagna: Sagittarius
Died: at 18, 19 or 20; the exact age is not known. Below 36 — alpayu.

The Four Planets by the Thumb Rules

• Jupiter and Venus exchange signs. Ignore it for strength: a Parivartana of the lagna lord with the 6th lord is a bad yoga, not a Raja Yoga.
• Who dominates? Hard to say. The Moon–Venus pair in Lagna is likely to: Venus is in Lagna and is the dispositor of the lagna lord. Or Mercury, who has more planets with him.
• Three planets show a bad result; Saturn alone shows a good one, and he is weak. By the thumb rules: short life.
• Navamsa: Saturn in own Navamsa (Aquarius), extremely strong. Jupiter debilitated. Mercury and Moon not strong. Saturn is the only saving grace.

Verse 6 Fits

8th lord Moon in a Kendra (the Lagna itself) and the lagna lord with no strength: "20 years, at most 32". The native lived about 20.

Dasha — Use Kshema Vimshottari Here

• By regular Vimshottari he was running Mars–Saturn.
• For marriage, children and so on, use regular Vimshottari (Kshema may suit some charts better). For longevity: if the Kshema or Adhana nakshatra is stronger than the Janma nakshatra, you must use that one.
• Kshema is stronger in this chart. Kshema Vimshottari starts from the 4th nakshatra from the Moon.
• By it he was running the dasha of Jupiter — the weak lagna lord, who cannot give long life.
• Jupiter dasha ends in 2009. Had he been kept alive until then, he would very likely have been safe through the dasha that follows.

Remedy

• The planet to propitiate was Saturn, the one planet promising longevity. It may give a troubled life, but it protects the length of it.
• Limit: a chart showing short life cannot be pulled straight to long life. Perhaps to middle life.

Rahu in Leo/Virgo Lagna — Raj Yoga

The teacher had said earlier that Rahu in a Cancer, Leo or Virgo lagna gives Raja Yoga. A student asks: only in Lagna, or in any house?

• The source is two of Rahu's 108 names: born in Simha, born in Kanya — "giver of kingdom". Only those two signs.
• The names say janma. That can mean Lagna or Moon sign. The teacher takes Lagna: Rahu stays in a sign long enough that otherwise everyone born in that stretch would have the Raja Yoga.
• No other house is named. It might extend to the 10th or 5th, "one of the important houses", but the rule itself is Lagna.
• It is given as a birth combination, so it holds even when Rahu is a functional malefic — for Virgo lagna he is the 6th lord.
• Cancer is mentioned in a different context: an inimical sign where Rahu becomes more charged up.

"It is almost like a mafia leader is at the house of a police inspector. He will really be determined to ruin the house or do whatever he came to do."