Chara dasa: Lords of Aq and Sc

Chara dasa: Lords of Aq and Sc By PVR Narasimha Rao

Jaimini's rules dealing with the sources of strength for judging the lords of Aq and Sc are pretty complicated. The rules taught by Pt Rath for judging the lords of Aq and Sc in Narayana dasa use several additional sutras of Jaimini not considered by Sri KN Rao. I used Pt Rath's interpretation in all the three chara dasa variations given in JHora.

I do realize that I should have strictly used Sri KN Rao's rules, whether I agree with them or not, in "KN Rao's Chara dasa". This variation of chara dasa was added in my software as an after-thought, as I prefer Maharshi Parasara's chara dasa to Sri KN Rao's chara dasa. Moreover, most users of my software use Narayana dasa rather than chara dasa (until now anyway). So "KN Rao's Chara dasa" given in JHora may not have been perfected yet. Thanks for pointing this out. In the next release, I will fix this.

* * *

Whether the strength calculations done by JHora match what one gets using the rules in Sri KN Rao's book strictly or not is certainly an issue (and I WILL take care of it in the next release), but there is a bigger issue. The issue is: Are the rules given by Sri KN Rao perfect or do they have some missing links?

Not only do I think that the rules Sri KN Rao gave are incomplete based on all the rules taught by Jaimini in his cryptic "Jaimini Sutram", but they are incomplete even compared to the simpler and more direct set of rules taught by Maharshi Parasara in BPHS (in the chara dasa section).

From this point of view, the option I give in chara dasa in JHora to manually change the strength judgment made by software can be useful to researchers.

I am not dogmatic and do not suggest that I or Pt Rath is 100% correct in the rules to judge the stronger lord of Aq and Sc. But, at the same time, it is reasonable to think that the rules taught by Sri KN Rao regarding the lords of Aq and Sc are imperfect too.

* * *

Pt Sanjay Rath is essentially like those scholars whose conversation Sri KN Rao over-heard in a train. Pt Rath is from a traditional family in Orissa (a state that borders the north-eastern corner of Andha Pradesh state, where Jaimini's teachings are truly alive). He learnt Jaimini Sutram and several rasi dasas of Jaimini from his grandfather and uncle.

As a student, I had full access to him (and did not have to overhear his conversation in a train and figure out the rules) and yet it took me a few months and many charts to completely comprehend all the rules used in judging the stronger lord of Aq and Sc for the purpose of Narayana dasa! If somebody says that he figured out the rules of strength from a conversation overheard in a train, I will be extremely skeptical. It is like solving a ten-variable problem using just two equations!

* * *

For those who are interested, here are the rules given by Maharshi Parasara in BPHS for the dasa years of Aq and Sc.

(1) If both the lords of the sign are in the sign itself, give 12 years.

(2) If one is in the sign and the other elsewhere, use the second lord (who is elsewhere).

(3) If both are elsewhere, check if they are joined by other planets. A planet joined by other planets is stronger than a planet who is alone.

(4) If both are alone are both are joined by other planets and hence equally strong, check the strengths of signs occupied by them. Movable signs are weaker than fixed signs and fixed signs are weaker than dual signs.

(5) If the signs occupied are equally strong, then take the lord who gives more years.

The rules taught by Pt Rath based on his interpretation of Jaimini Sutram contain the above rules with a few additional rules added in between. In our tradition, we do compare the degrees and minutes as mentioned in the final step given by Sri KN Rao, but we do that only when finding the stronger lord of Aq and Sc for the pupose of finding arudha padas. For the purpose of dasa years, we use the final step given by Parasara (i.e. the planet giving more years wins).

When one starts, it is a good idea to stick to one set of clearly defined rules. But, as one progresses, it may not be a bad idea to explore different ways.

May Jupiter's light shine on us,
Narasimha

Continuation Mail.

Dear Tom,

When mentioning Parasara's set of rules for finding the stronger lord of Aq and Sc for the purpose of chara dasa years, I missed out one rule.

> For those who are interested, here are the rules given by Maharshi Parasara in
BPHS for the dasa years of Aq and Sc.
>
> (1) If both the lords of the sign are in the sign itself, give 12 years.
>
> (2) If one is in the sign and the other elsewhere, use the second lord (who is
elsewhere).
>
> (3) If both are elsewhere, check if they are joined by other planets. A planet
joined by other planets is stronger than a planet who is alone.
>
> (4) If both are alone are both are joined by other planets and hence equally
strong, check the strengths of signs occupied by them. Movable signs are weaker
than fixed signs and fixed signs are weaker than dual signs.
>
> (5) If the signs occupied are equally strong, then take the lord who gives
more years.

Parasara also says that if one lord is exalted and the other is not, the exalted lord should be used. In our tradition, we use this rule after rule (3) above. If one accepts Parasara's word here, the next controversy is the exaltation and debilitation signs of nodes. Where are Rahu and Ketu exalted and debilitated? Scholars have disagreements. In our tradition, we use two sets of exaltation/debilitation signs. We use one set when judging strengths in phalita dasas and one set in ayur dasas (like Brahma dasa, shoola dasa etc).

May Jupiter's light shine on us,
Narasimha