Tuesday, August 18, 2009

RESEARCH: How to find bhavas (houses) from various references?

From: Narasimha PVR Rao <pvr@charter.net>
Date: 2009/8/18
Subject: [sohamsa] RESEARCH: How to find bhavas (houses) from various references?
To: vedic-astrology@yahoogroups.com, JyotishGroup@yahoogroups.com, sohamsa@yahoogroups.com


Namaste friends,

Parasara indicated in one place in BPHS that bhavas (houses) could extend across two signs. He never really defined how to find bhavas, but said in the chapter on special ascendants that a "bhava chakra" (house chart), or a "bhava koshtha" as he called it, can be prepared from these references by placing various planets in various houses, just like we do from lagna. When discussing ashtakavarga and planetary significations, he said that bhavas can be seen from Sun, Moon, Mars etc.

So, we can find bhavas from various references, including lagna, planets and special lagnas, and place various planets in various houses from the reference.

But the key question is: Exactly how do we find bhavas from a given reference?

Do we take the entire sign as a house? If we do that, then Parasara's statement on possibly houses extending across two signs becomes illogical.

Do we take 15 deg before the reference and 15 deg after the reference as the first house and take other houses accordingly?

Do we use unequal division methods like Sripathi houses, Krishnamoorthy houses, Koch houses etc?

I believe the answer exists within BPHS!

*        *        *

Parasara declared in "graha sphuta drishti kathanaadhyaaya" (planetary longitudinal aspect evaluation chapter): "I have previously explained the planetary aspects based on the *signs* occupied by planets. Now I will explain another kind of planetary aspects based on the *houses* from planets, which are dependent on their longitudes."

Then Parasara went on to state that Mars has an aspect on the 4th and 8th houses from him, Jupiter has an aspect on the 5th and 9th houses from him and Saturn has an aspect on the 3rd and 10th houses from him.

Of course, one may say "we all know this. What is new in this". But, what *follows* is truly significant, for it clarifies what these "houses" from Mars, Jupiter and Saturn truly are. After all, Parasara went on further and *quantified* houses based on longitudes!!!

Parasara gave a way to evaluate planetary aspects based on the planet's longitude. In the case of Mars, 90-120 deg and 210-240 deg from Mars get a higher score compared to other planets. In the case of Jupiter, 120-150 deg and 240-270 deg from Jupiter get a higher score compared to other planets. So these are the definitions of the corresponding houses from corresponding planets!!! The 4th house from Mars is 90-120 deg from him. The 5th house from Jupiter is 120-150 deg from him. And so on.

Of course, these values are used in shadbala and programmed by me into Jagannatha Hora long back. But it was only a few months back that it dawned on me that here is a clear teaching from Parasara on how to find bhavas (houses) from reference points! Then I started experimenting with it and satisfied myself over time.

It was a radical departure from what I was used to, but I had to accept the words of a maharshi. Moreover, I was intellectually satisfied in the end, after trying out on many charts - natal and annual.

*        *        *

The following is the definition of houses from a reference:

1st house: 0-30 deg from the reference
2nd house: 30-60 deg from the reference
3rd house: 60-90 deg from the reference
4th house: 90-120 deg from the reference
5th house: 120-150 deg from the reference
6th house: 150-180 deg from the reference
7th house: 180-210 deg from the reference
8th house: 210-240 deg from the reference
9th house: 240-270 deg from the reference
10th house: 270-300 deg from the reference
11th house: 300-330 deg from the reference
12th house: 330-360 deg from the reference

If you use the above table, the longitude ranges Parasara mentioned for the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th and 10th houses regarding the special aspects of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will come out correctly.

I recommend using the above table for finding houses with respect to lagna, special lagnas, planets etc. It is very simple to check manually.

*        *        *

We say that the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th houses from lagna form the visible half. With the above method, those houses will consist of 180-360 deg from lagna and that half is indeed visible. If we define houses as entire signs or as "15 deg before/after", then a part of 7th house is visible and the remaining part of 7th house is invisible. Similarly, a part of the 1st house is visible and the remaining part of 1st house is invisible. But, using the above method, the entire 1st house is invisible and the entire 7th house is visible (which should be the case in the first place).

*        *        *

The above will make a difference in many charts with regard to which planets are in which houses from lagna, from GL, from Moon, from Jupiter etc. If you are interested, you can experiment with this in many charts and see if it gives better results. It is more logical and it is based on Parasara's teachings. I have been experimenting with this for several months and I am satisfied.

I will not give too many examples at this time, but let me illustrate the differences with a couple of examples.

Example 1: 1971 April 27, 6:30 am (IST), Bombay, India

The native got married in June 2007 in Jupiter-Jupiter antardasa as per regular Vimsottari dasa. Though Jupiter occupies the 8th sign from the sign containing lagna, he is actually in the 7th house from lagna. Being the 9th lord in 7th, he can give marriage.

Example 2 (John Denver): 1943 December 31, 2:55 pm (PDT), 105w00, 33n20

He died in October 1997 in Ketu-Rahu antardasa. Though Ketu and Rahu occupy the 9th and 3rd signs from the sign occupied by lagna, they are actually in the 8th and 2nd houses from lagna. Being the 7th lord in the 8th house, Ketu is a maaraka. Being a malefic in the 2nd house, Rahu is a maaraka.

Example 3 (Swami Vivekananda): 1863 January 12, 6:33 am (5:54 hrs east of GMT), 88e30, 22n40

He became a renowned world teacher with the Chicago parliament of religions in 1893. Jupiter-Jupiter antardasa was running as per regular Vimsottari dasa. Though Jupiter is in the 11th sign from the sign occupied by lagna and GL, he is in the 10th house from lagna and from GL. That is why Jupiter played an important role in the karma (work) and made him a world teacher.

*        *        *

This being a radical change from the norm, I want to go slow with this one. For now, I will sign off and let interested scholars and students process and digest this information. I may try to write more later. For example, the impact of this on ashtakavarga is tricky and significant.

Best regards,
Narasimha
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Brihaspati Gayatri, Vishwamitra/Gaathina Rishi Rig Veda 6.62.6