BA PART I : PAPER 2.2

BRIHAT PARASHARA HORA SHASTRA


Grah Characters and Description

1. Maitreya: "O Maharishi, you have affectionatelyexplained about the incarnations of grahas. Now kindlydetail their characters and dispositions.

2-3. Parashar: "O Brahmin, listen to the account ofplacement of the heavenly bodies. Out of the many luminousbodies sighted in the skies, some are stars; yet some aregrahas. Those that have no movements are the Nakshatras (orasterisms).

4-6. Those are called 'Grahas' that move through theNakshatras (or stellar mansions) in the zodiac. The saidzodiac comprises of 27 Nakshatras commencing from Ashvini.The same area is divided in 12 parts equal to 12 'Rashis'commencing from Mesh. The names of the grahas commence fromSurya. The rashi rising is known as 'Lagn'. Based on Lagnand the grahas joining and departing from each other, thenative's good and bad effects are deducted.[addition from Santhanam till sloka

7] The names of the 27 Nakshatras are:

1. Ashvini 15. Swati
2. Bharani 16. Vishaka
3. Krittika 17. Anuradha
4. Rohini 18. Jyeshtha
5. Mrigasira 19. Mula
6. Ardra 20. Purvashadh
7. Punarvasu 21. Uttarashadh
8. Pushya 22. Shravana
9. Aslesha 23. Dhanishtha
10. Magha 24. Satabhisha
11. Purvaphalguni 25. Purvabhadra
12. Uttaraphalguni 26. Uttarabhadra
13. Hasta 27. Revati1
14. Chitra

The names of the grahas are given in sloka 10 of thischapter.Lagn is a very important point in the horoscope. It is therashi that rises in the east, on the latitude of birth. Theapparent rising of a rashi is due to the rotation of theearth on its own axis at a rate of motion causing everydegree of the zodiac seemingly ascend on the easternhorizon.Approximately, two hours are required for a rashi to passvia the horizon, thereby every degree taking four minutesto ascend. This duration, however, is actually dependent onthe concerned latitude.Actually, Surya has no motion. His motion is an apparentone as viewed from the rotating earth. Other grahasincluding the nodes have varied rates of motion. Theaverage daily motions of the grahas, which are not, howeverstandard, are as follows:
Surya 1
Chandr 13-15
Mangal 30-45'
Buddh 65-100'
Shukr 62-82'
Guru 5-15'
Shani 2'
Rahu/Ketu 3'

With such different motions, a grah forms various drishti'swith others. These drishti's through longitudinal distanceshave a great deal of utility in Jyotish. This is whatMaharishi Parashar suggests to be considered.7. Details (of astronomical nature) of stars have to beunderstood by general rules while I narrate to you aboutthe effects of grahas and rashis

.8-9. The positions of the grahas for a given time be takenas per Drikganit. And with the help of rashi durationsapplicable to the respective places, Lagn at birth shouldbe known. Now, I tell you about the castes, descriptions,and dispositions of the grahas.

10. Names of grahas: The names of the nine grahasrespectively are: Surya, Chandr, Mangal, Buddh, Guru,Shukr, Shani, Rahu, and Ketu.

11. Benefics and Malefics: Among these, Surya, Shani,Mangal, decreasing Chandr, Rahu, and Ketu (the ascendingand the descending nodes of Chandr) are malefics while therest are benefics. Buddh, however, is a malefic if he joinsa malefic.[addition from Santhanam till sloka

12-13]When Chandr is ahead of Surya but within 120, she hasmedium strength. Between 120 to 240 she is very auspicious,see ('Atishubhapred'). From 240 to O she is bereft ofstrength. This is Yavanas' view, vide P. 70 of my EnglishTranslation of Saravali. This view is, however, related toChandr's strength or otherwise, while waning Chandr(Krishna Paksh or dark half Chandr) is a malefic andwaxing Chandr (Shukla Paksh or bright half Chandr) is abenefic.Should Chandr be Yuti with a benefic or receiving adrishti from a benefic, she turns a benefic, even if in awaning state.As regards Buddh, we have clear instructions from MaharishiParashar, that he becomes a malefic if he joins a malefic.If waning Chandr and Buddh are together, both arebenefics.1

2-13. Grah governances: Surya is the soul of all. Chandris the mind. Mangal is one's strength. Buddh isspeech-giver, while Guru confers Knowledge and happiness.Shukr governs semen (potency), while Shani denotes grief.

14-15. Grah cabinet: Of royal status are Surya and Chandr,while Mangal is the army chief. Prince-apparent is Buddh.The ministerial grahas are Guru and Shukr. Shani is aservant. Rahu and Ketu form the grah army.

16-17. Complexions of grahas: Surya is blood-red. Chandr istawny. Mangal who is not very tall is blood-red, whileBuddh's hue is akin to that of green grass. Tawny,variegated, and dark are Guru, Shukr, and Shani in theirorder.

18. Deities of grahas: Fire (Agni), Water (Varuna),Subrahmanya (Lord Shiva's son following Ganesh). MahaVishnu, Indra, Shachi Devi (the consort of Lord Indra),and Brahma are the presiding deities of the 7 grahas intheir order.

19. Gender of the grahas: Buddh and Shani are neuters.Chandr and Shukr are females, while Surya, Mangal, and Guruare males.

20. Primordial compounds: The Panchabhutas, space, air,fire, water, and earth, are respectively governed by Guru,Shani, Mangal, Shukr, and Buddh.

21. Castes of grahas: Guru and Shukr are Brahmins. Surya isa royal grah while Chandr and Buddh belong to commercialcommunity. Shani rules the Sudras (4th caste).

22. Sattvic grahas are the luminaries and Guru; Shukr andBuddh are Rajasik; while Mangal and Shani are Tamasicgrahas.

23. Description of Surya: Surya's eyes are honey coloured.He has a square body. He is of clean habits, bilious,intelligent and has limited hair (on his head).

24. Description of Chandr: Chandr is very windy andphlegmatic. She is learned and has a round body. She hasauspicious looks and sweet speech, is fickle-minded andvery lustful.

25. Description of Mangal: Mangal has blood-red eyes, isfickle-minded, liberal, bilious, given to anger and hasthin waist and thin physique.

26. Description of Buddh: Buddh is endowed with anattractive physique and the capacity to use words with manymeanings. He is fond of jokes. He has a mix of all thethree humours.

27. Description of Guru: Guru has a big body, tawny hairand tawny eyes, is phlegmatic, intelligent and learned inall Shastras.

28. Description of Shukr: Shukr is charming, has asplendourous physique, is excellent or great indisposition, has charming eyes, is a poet, is phlegmaticand windy, and has curly hair.

29. Description of Shani: Shani has an emaciated and longphysique, has tawny eyes, is windy in temperament has bigteeth, is indolent and lame and has coarse hair.

30. Description of Rahu and Ketu: Rahu has smoky appearancewith a blue mix physique. He resides in forests and ishorrible. He is windy in temperament and is intelligent.Ketu is akin to Rahu.

31. Primary ingredients (or Sapth dhatus): Bones, blood,marrow, skin, fat, semen and muscles are respectivelydenoted by the grahas: Surya, Chandr, Mangal, Buddh, Guru,Shukr, and Shani.

32. Abodes of the grahas: Temple, watery place, place offire, sport-ground, treasure-house, bed-room and filthyground: these are respectively the abodes for the sevengrahas from Surya onward.

33. Grah periods: Ayan, Muhurta, a day (consisting day andnight), Ritu, month, fortnight and year: These are theperiods allotted to the grahas from Surya to Shani.

34. Tastes of the grahas : Pungent, saline, bitter, mixed,sweet, acidulous, and astringent are respectively tasteslorded by Surya, Chandr, Mangal, Buddh, Guru, Shukr, andShani.

35-38. Strengths of grahas: Strong in the east are Buddhand Guru. Surya and Mangal are so in the south, while Shaniis the only grah that derives strength in the west. Chandrand Shukr are endowed with vigour when in the north. Again,strong during night are Chandr, Mangal, and Shani whileBuddh is strong during day and night. The rest (i.e. Guru,Surya, and Shukr) are strong only in daytime. During thedark half malefics are strong. Benefics acquire strength inthe bright half of the month. Malefics and benefics arerespectively strong in Dakshinayan and Uttarayan. The lordsof the year, month, day, and Hora (hour of grah) arestronger than the other in ascending order. Again, strongerthan the other in the ascending are: Shani, Mangal, Buddh,Guru, Shukr, Chandr, and Surya.

39-40. Related to trees: Surya rules strong trees (i.e.trees with stout trunks). Shani useless trees, Chandr milkytrees and rubber yielding plants), Mangal bitter ones (likelemon plants), Shukr floral plants, Guru fruitful ones andBuddh fruitless ones.

41-44. Other matters: Rahu rules the outcaste while Ketugoverns mixed caste. Shani and the nodes indicate anthills.Rahu denotes multi-coloured clothes and Ketu rags. Lead andblue gem belong to Rahu and Ketu. Surya, Chandr, Mangal,Buddh, Guru, Shukr, and Shani in their order govern redsilken, white silken, red, black silken, saffron, silken,and multi-coloured robes.

45-46. Seasons of grahas: Vasanta, Greeshma, Varsh, Sarad,Hemanta, and Sisir are the six Ritus (or seasons)respectively governed by Shukr, Mangal, Chandr, Buddh, Guruand Shani. Rahu and Ketu denote 8 months and 3 monthsrespectively.

47. Dhatu, Mool, and Jiva Divisions:Dhatu grahas are Rahu, Mangal, Shani and Chandr, whileSurya and Shukr are Mula grahas. Buddh, Guru, and Ketu ruleJivas.

48. Age: Out of all the grahas Shani is the eldest (i.e.with the highest age). He bestows maximum number of yearsin Naisargik Dasha.

49-50. Exaltation and Debilitation: For the seven grahasfrom Surya on, the exaltation rashis are respectively Mesh,Vrishabh, Makar, Kanya, Kark, Meen, and Tula. The deepestexaltation degrees are respectively 10, 3, 28, 15, 5, 27,and 20 in those rashis. And in the seventh rashi from thesaid exaltation rashi each grah has its own debilitation.The same degrees of deep exaltation apply to deep fall.

51-54. Additional Dignities: In Simh the first 20 degreesare Surya's Mooltrikon while the rest is his own bhava.After the first 3 degrees of exaltation portion inVrishabh, for Chandr, the rest is her Mooltrikon. Mangalhas the first 12 degrees in Mesh as Mooltrikon with therest therein becoming simply his own bhava. For Buddh, inKanya the first 15 degrees are exaltation zone, the next 5degrees Mooltrikon, and the last 10 degrees are own bhava.The first one third of Dhanu is the Mooltrikon of Guruwhile, the remaining part thereof is his own bhava. Shukrdivides Tula into two halves keeping the first asMooltrikon and the second as own bhava. Shani'sarrangements are same in Kumbh as Surya has in Simh.

55. Natural Relationships: Note the rashis which are the2nd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th, and 12th from the Mooltrikon of agrah. The grahas ruling such rashis are its friends, apartfrom the lord of its exaltation rashi. Lords other thanthese are its enemies. If a grah becomes its friend as wellas its enemy (on account of the said two computations) thenit is neutral or equal.

56. Temporary Relationships: The grah posited in the 2nd,3rd, 4th,10th, 11th, or the 12th from another becomes amutual friend. There is enmity otherwise. (This applies toa given Janm Kundali).

57-58. Compound Relationship: Should two grahas benaturally and temporarily friendly, they become extremelyfriendly. Friendship on one count and neutrality on anothercount make them friendly. Enmity on one count combined withaffinity on the other turns into equality. Enmity andneutralship cause only enmity. Should there be enmity inboth manners, extreme enmity is obtained. The Jyotishishould consider these and declare horoscopic effectsaccordingly.

59-60. Ratio of Effects: A grah in exaltation gives fullygood effects while in Mooltrikon it is bereft of itsauspicious effects by one fourth. It is half beneficial inits own bhava. Its beneficence is one fourth in a friendlyrashi. In an equal's rashi one eighth of auspiciousdisposition is useful. The good effects are nil indebilitation or enemy's camp. Inauspicious effects arequite reverse with reference to what is stated.

61-64. Non-luminous Upagrahas (Sub-grahas): Add 4 rashis13 degrees and 20 minutes of arc to Surya's longitude at agiven moment to get the exact position of the allinauspicious Dhoom. Reduce Dhoom from 12 rashis to arriveat Vyatipat. Vyatipat is also inauspicious. Add six rashisto Vyatipat to know the position of Parivesh. He isextremely inauspicious. Deduct Parivesh from 12 rashis toarrive at the position of Chap (Indra Dhanus) who is alsoinauspicious. Add 16 degrees 40 minutes to Chap which willgive Ketu (Upaketu) who is a malefic. By adding a rashi toUpaketu, you get the original longitude of Surya. These arethe grahas devoid of splendour which are malefics by natureand cause affliction.

65. Effects of Sub-grahas: If one of these afflicts Surya,the native's dynasty will decline, while Chandr and Lagnrespectively associated with one of these will destroy thelongevity and wisdom. So declared Lord Brahma, thelotus-born.

66-69. Calculations of Gulik, etc.: The portions of Suryaetc. up to Shani denote the periods of Gulik and others.Divide the day duration (of any week day) into eight equalparts. The eighth portion is lord-less. The seven portionsare distributed to the seven grahas commencing from thelord of the week day. Whichever portion is ruled by Shaniwill be the portion of Gulik. Similarly, make the nightduration into eight equal parts and distribute thesecommencing from the lord of the 5th week. Here again, theeighth portion is lord-less while Shani's portion is Gulik.Surya's portion is Kaal, Mangal's portion is Mrityu, Guru'sportion is Yamaghantak, and Buddh's portion is Ardhaprahar.These durations differently apply to different places(commensurate with variable day and night durations)

70. Gulik's Position: The degree ascending at the time ofstart of Gulik's portion (as above) will be the longitudeof Gulik at a given place. Based on this longitude only,Gulik's effects for a particular nativity be estimated.

71-74. Calculation of Pranapad: Convert the given time intovighatis and divide the same by 15. The resultant rashi,degrees, etc. be added to Surya if he is in a movable rashiwhich will yield Pranapad. If Surya is in a fixed rashi,add 240 degrees additionally and if in a dual rashi add 120degrees in furtherance to get Pranapad. The birth will beauspicious if Pranapad falls in the 2nd, 5th, 9th, 4th,10th, or 11th from the natal Lagn. In other bhavas,Pranapad indicates an inauspicious birth.Notes: Ardhaprahar, Yamaghantak, Mrityu, Kaal, and Gulikare the 5 Kaal Velas, suggested by Maharishi Parashar. Theday duration according to altitude is divided into eightequal parts. The eight portion is unlorded. The firstportion is allotted to the weekday lord. Other portionsfollow in the order of week-day lords. We consider 5portions of grahas ignoring that of Chandr and Shukr. Theportions of Surya, Mangal, Buddh, Guru, and Shani arerespectively called , Mrityu, Ardhaprahar, Yamaghantak,and Gulik.In the case of night, the durations or 1/8th parts areallotted in a different order. The first portion goes tothe grah ruling the 5th weekday lord counted from the dayin question. The others follow in the usual order. Hereagain, the 8th part is lord-less. The portions of grahasfrom Kaal to Gulik are the same in nomenclature, in thenight also.Keeranuru Nataraja of Jatakalankaram (Tamil version) givesrashis of dignities for these Upagrahas and Gulik, etc..:Upagrah Exaltation Debilitation Swakshetra& Gulik, etc. (own rashi)Dhoom Simh Kumbh MakarVyatipat Vrischik Vrishabh MithunParivesh Mithun Dhanu DhanuIndrachap Dhanu Mithun KarkUpaketu Kumbh Simh KarkGulik - - KumbhYamaghantak - - DhanuArdhaprahar - - MithunKaal - - MakarMrityu - - Vrischik>From Surya to Shani, no one is exalted in the abovementioned exaltation rashis, nor debilitated in the abovementioned debilitation rashis.Out of the 5 Kaal Velas, viz. Gulik, etc. four except Kaal(related to Surya) have their own rashi system in therespective rashis ruled by their fathers. Gulik, son ofShani, has Kumbh as his own bhava. Guru's son, Yamaghantak,has it in Dhanu. Ardhaprahar, Buddh's son, is in own rashiif in Mithun. Mrityu, son of Mangal, has Vrischik as ownbhava. It is not known why Kaal, a son of Surya shifted toMakar, a rashi of his brother (Shani) leaving his father'sSimh . Obviously, Shani has given his Mooltrikon to his sonGulik while he gave Makar (a secondary rashi) to his'brother' Kaal.