Remedies — Mantra Correction, Deity Choice & Gemstone Rules (Cat’s Eye vs Pearl) for Disease

Remedies Discussed — Mantra, Deity, Gemstones

Correcting the Mantra

The student's mantra used the word "Hanumataye". The teacher corrects it.

• The stem is Hanumat. In a compound it stays so: Hanumat-rūpa, Hanumat-veśa.
• "Hanuman is coming" — Hanumān. "To Hanuman" — Hanumate. A word ending in -at takes -ate when you pray to it: dhīmate.
• Hanumataye is the dative of a feminine Hanumati — it prays to the śakti of Hanuman, not to Hanuman. Not meaningless, but not what was meant.
• Mantras printed in books and website articles carry many typing errors. Check a mantra before you give it.

Bījākṣaras

The student had added a bīja to the mantra.

• The effect of a particular bīja with a particular devatā is not a simple subject. "We don't really have full insight into it."
• Siddha mantras — practised by ṛṣis and siddhas who knew their effect — are already in the literature. Using those is safe.
• Making a new mantra from a name alone is acceptable: Om Kṛṣṇāya namaḥ, Om Vīrahanumate namaḥ. The name evokes a different thought; the effect will not be drastic.
• Adding a bīja to a new mantra is different. You will not know what it does unless you do the sādhana yourself and can feel its effect.
• If someone you trust gave you specific guidance, follow it.

Which Deity

• Hanuman — to strengthen Mars, the debilitated lagna lord. "Praying to Hanuman itself is a very good solution."
• Jupiter — suggested by the student to remove Saturn's affliction on Mars. The teacher adds the stronger reason: Jupiter is the 9th lord of protection from lagna and from Moon, sitting with Moon. "He will keep the mind more stable."

Gemstones for the Nine Planets

The class recites the list:

Cat's Eye for the Nakshatra Lord — Rejected

The student considered cat's eye because Ketu is the lord of Moon's nakshatra, and many people prescribe the stone of the nakshatra lord as a rule.

• The lord of Moon's nakshatra controls the mental state. He is an important planet.
• That does not make him good for you. Whether to strengthen him or play him down depends on what he does in the chart.
• Here Ketu is the 8th lord eclipsing lagna and Moon.
• For someone who wants to renounce material life he is an excellent planet: 8th lord in lagna, within 3° of the 12th lord Jupiter — two mokṣa-trikoṇa lords blessing the lagna.
• That is not what is wanted here. The class is unanimous that cat's eye is a bad stone for her, because Ketu is the 8th lord.

"Just because he controls your mind doesn't mean he is good for you. He may be bad for you too."

Pearl — Not a Bad Idea

• With a stone for a functional malefic you must be careful; the planet should be in good yogas.
• Moon here is functionally neutral and takes part in several yogas (Part 2).
• Moon is weakened by Ketu. Ketu stands between Moon and Jupiter by degree and blocks the transfer of Jupiter's energy.
• Strengthening Moon, the mental energy, is therefore reasonable. Red coral for Mars was the other stone raised.

The teacher says he will return to gemstones later; the recording ends before he does. The three sub-sections below give what the class settled.

Which Hand, Which Finger

From the published class notes; this part is not on the recording.

• A stone worn on the right hand strengthens the planet. On the ring finger it increases the protection.
• A stone worn on the left hand weakens the planet.
• In general the planets of Jupiter's group like the right hand and the planets of Venus's group like the left. (The class notes name Mars, Sun, Mercury and Moon with Jupiter's group.)

Fasting and the Vāra Lord

From the published class notes; this part is not on the recording.

• Depression is a vāta problem. Fasting itself increases vāta, so fasting is not a good remedy for it.
• Mars with Saturn shows a lot of vāta — the combination in this chart's 4th house.
• The placement of the vāreśa (weekday lord) shows how healthy a person is. Here the vāreśa Mars is debilitated and afflicted by Saturn. Strengthening Mars is a good idea.

What Was Prescribed

From the published class notes; this part is not on the recording.

• Stones: yellow sapphire for Jupiter with pearls for Moon, in one ring. Moon is weak in the natal Rashi and Jupiter is the saviour. Strengthening Moon also lets his raja yoga with Jupiter work without obstruction.
• Day to start wearing it: a Tuesday, because Moon and Jupiter are both in a sign of Mars. Had they been in an enemy's sign, Monday or Thursday would be better.
• Dakshinamurthy — for Jupiter, the saviour.
• Moon — Moon daśā is running and Moon is afflicted, so praying to Moon is also good.
• Durga — Moon is in parivartana with Mars, so a goddess of fiery form suits. Reading the Chandi Path (Durga Saptashati) is good for her.
• The Chandi Path is long; chanting all of it daily is difficult. It has three parts, each belonging to one goddess: Kali (tamas), Lakshmi (sattva), Saraswati (rajas). Choose the part by the nature of the planet to be strengthened.
• Here both planets to be strengthened, Moon and Jupiter, are sāttvik. So the second part — the Madhyama Charitam, the Mahalakshmi part — is the one to read.

Is Moon a Functional Benefic or Malefic?

The rule the teacher restates:

• A trine lord is always a functional benefic.
• A quadrant lord is never good. A natural malefic owning a quadrant becomes neutral. A natural benefic owning a quadrant becomes malefic.
• Jupiter and Venus are natural benefics. Saturn, Mars, Rahu, Ketu and Sun are natural malefics. These are fixed.
• Mercury changes with the company he keeps. Moon changes with the paksha.

Applied here:

• The birth is on Krishna Trayodashi. Moon is waning and close to Amavasya — almost fully a natural malefic.
• A natural malefic owning a quadrant (the 4th) is functionally neutral.
• "Had Moon been a Shukla paksha Moon, he would have been a functional malefic here, but he is a functionally neutral planet here."

Yogas Moon Takes Part In

• Gajakesari yoga — Moon conjoined with Jupiter.
• Raja yoga — Moon is 4th lord, Jupiter is 9th lord; a quadrant lord and a trine lord together.
• Chandra-Mangala yoga — through the Moon–Mars parivartana (Moon in Aries, Mars in Cancer).
• A second raja yoga — the same parivartana is an exchange between the lagna lord and the 4th lord.

So Moon gives one raja yoga with Jupiter, one with Mars, and Chandra-Mangala and Gajakesari besides.