Do You Have the Predictive Aptitude for Vedic Astrology? A Guru Questions a Disciple from MIT
A Prologue by Dr. Richa Shukla (The Guru)
I have always given a very serious consideration to proper studentship (being a shishya) in the subject of Vedic astrology (Jyotish). I have taught more than 300 students in this subject. Almost all of them are working individuals in today’s professional and busy world and have rightfully a very practical mindset towards life. Nobody took up astrology as a first-choice career and they need not. This is similar/parallel to saying that not everyone becomes a sannyasi but has the right to practice/inculcate spirituality in their lives. However, every aspirant in this subject needs to have some bare minimum qualifications to give back to society in a useful and ethical manner once he/she completes an astrological education.
Consequently, I have always pondered on an all-important question to which I have my own opinion: how the basic aptitude of a student should be, who is a professional first in his day-to-day life, and who also wants to embark on his/her journey to learn Vedic astrology and use it to predict and time (human) events accurately enough for the benefit of mankind?
In order to satiate my curiosity, I tested/interviewed one of my students, Dr. Ranjan Pal, recently on a two-part oral examination (who had interviewed me months earlier 😊 — see Video).
This type of an examination is akin to the widely popular Cambridge Mathematical Tripos degree examination held by the University of Cambridge every year — the only difference being that my exam is oral in nature. Taking a cue from the Vedic traditions of oral dialogue between a Guru and his/her student, I judged Dr. Ranjan Pal on his behavioral (Part 1) and conceptual/predictive (Part 2 — this article) aptitudes for the subject of Jyotish. I consider both aptitudes equally important to be a good student.
Given that Ranjan answered exceptionally well (A+), I decided to share my questions and Ranjan’s answers with the public audience. Ranjan addresses me as Professor Shukla throughout his answering. It just looked to me that his mind was on a different frequency plane of thought while answering my questions — something way out of the ordinary.
Disclaimer by Richa Shukla: The questions that are discussed with my shishya, Dr. Ranjan Pal are less related to the pre-requisites to be a professional astrologer. They are MORE pre-requisites in relation to being an effective student for years prior to taking up astrology as a profession and doing well in it.
Questions (Conceptual/Predictive Aptitude)
Richa Shukla: Ranjan I am going to ask you fundamental questions on the basic principles of Jyotisha and on analysing a horoscope. These are not necessarily the typical ones from my lectures, but even more essential from a logical viewpoint, and from the viewpoint of the feasibility of practical implementation. The answers to these questions (according to me) fit a linear predictor of the real aptitude of a student in Vedic astrology but have a base/knowledge good enough for clients to trust his/her advice to a considerable degree.
Ranjan Pal: Professor Shukla, I will do my best. However, before I answer these questions, I would like to thank a few “people” for their astrological influence on me.
(i) My late father, an esteemed Professor at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, who instilled in me the seed of Vedic astrology. He coaxed me into slowly taking to the subject (when I was running my 8th Lord MD) but hardly ever spoke a word advising me how to read/analyse and let me do my own thing. He knew the subject very well and encouraged me to make many mistakes before I crystallize a concept in my mind and taught me the art of ‘shut up’ 😊when it comes to gaining knowledge of any subject deeply. I must admit that I had through bear several “dismissive” comments from him on Jyotisha like “tujhe yeh sab simple cheez bhi nahi aata”, 😉 and these taunts pushed me to learn better.
(ii) Some excellent astrology texts available in the market that include classics (BPHS, Brihat Jataka, Phaladeepika, Saravali) and works by modern greats (Dr. B.V. Raman, Shri K. N. Rao, Dr. S. C. Mishra). I salute them for the service they are doing to mankind. When no one was spoon-feeding me (in the non-Internet/non-Youtube era), some of these books were all what I had to push my learning.
(iii) Dr. Richa Shukla — my formal Jyotish Guru and the disciple of Shri K. N. Rao, for systematically teaching me astrology in a course format. I had never imagined growing up with Vedic astrology that one day I could be so lucky to ever have a teacher who would teach me Jyotish in a lecture-mode (that imagination became a reality when my 8th house became active 😊in a Vimshottari Dasha period a few years ago). Not only are you a great teacher to me, but your logical abilities impress me utmost, and you provide me with the bare necessary push and motivation to improve my learning and the delivery of that learning.
Now you can channel your barrage of questions at me 😊.
1. Richa Shukla: A scientifically inclined sceptic individual challenges your astrological thought process by saying that astrology is ‘farce’ because planets being ‘millions’ of miles away from humans can never influence them. I have heard this question quite a few times. How do you counter this statement — especially when you are in the western world, and this is the basic question anyone wants to get an answer to before a significant chunk take Vedic astrology seriously?
Ranjan Pal: Professor Shukla, I will answer this question using science at the intermediate school level, but I cannot guarantee even a correct answer will flip many sceptics in favor of Vedic astrology soon enough 😊.
There are three basic mediums via which energy of any form is transmitted from one body to another (energy is not transmitted in vacuum ether). These mediums are the electric, magnetic, and gravitational fields (for the non-scientists, think of fields as just ‘space’ to traverse). Planets and stars are charged bodies (surrounded by their magnetic field) that emit/radiate energy in the form of light/rays in space. These forms of energy are received (via the process of field attraction) by other planets in the cosmos including planet earth (and subsequently the humans that live on earth) and these energy forms can only be transmitted via either of these above mediums.
However, Einstein has theoretically proved in the early 1900s that light/rays exhibit both a particle and wave nature — the so-called wave-particle duality concept in physics. Hence, any radiation (including light) is made up of, for example, gravitational waves (e.g., due to a planet/star in motion producing disturbances in their gravitational field) and other waves that parallel in size and frequency of electromagnetic waves but with different properties. These gravitational waves propagate at the speed of light and reach earth. In addition, these waves can have any frequency from the smallest possible to the largest possible and are present in abundance surround humans to which they are blind to. Particle transmissions are affected by distance, but not waves. A wave transmission is all about frequency and not about distance. This is the reason we can see radio and television in the modern age. Thus, it makes no difference whether a light wave comes from a nearby lamp or faraway star/planet thousand light years away. The effect is the same. This, therefore, completely nullifies the ‘westerner’ (and of many Indians today) argument that how can planets and stars influence a human in a strong manner from a ‘million’ miles away. My rationale above also justifies why gem-therapy and color-therapy are applicable on humans in an astrological sense, as both are related to color that is directly related/correspond to particular frequencies of a radiation wave.
However, the sceptic world might still not be convinced with a theory (even though by Einstein) and may want practical evidence of existing gravitational waves. A sceptic might say “Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves 100 years ago, but can we really detect them in practice?” In 2015, researchers from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in the USA laid this question to rest by experimentally detecting a wave that stretched space by a minuscule small margin making the earth contract to about the width of an atomic nucleus — thereby showing, in an astrological sense, that such waves can influence humans. For this amazing discovery, researchers Rainer Weiss (MIT), Barry Barish (Caltech) and Kip Thorne (Caltech) were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for the year 2017. It is also precisely because of this discovery on can establish the angular aspects of planets on other planets in Vedic astrology, via the concept of directional wave effects. Two things got established through this: (i) it takes a Nobel Prize worth discovery to establish the veracity of astrological influence of stars/planets — something our sages had envisioned centuries ago through their cosmic vision, (ii) even verifying a theory proposed by Einstein is deserving of a Nobel Prize — highlighting how great of a scientist he was. I would suggest anyone having questions on the scientific misconceptions of Vedic astrology to read the excellent text “Astrology and the Hoax of Science” by the legendary astrologer Gayatri Devi Vasudev.
2. Richa Shukla: You get twin births of various types. These days there are quite a few twin births that are happening. How should you logically approach analysing birth chart of twins at a very high level? (I am not asking for the analysis methodology). Assume you cannot do birth timing rectification.
Ranjan Pal: Professor, we can approach this problem logically in two ways. The first approach (that uses the D60 for differing karmic account analysis of twins) is relatively more suitable for births under modern medical infrastructure where it is likely to have exact birth times recorded, than the second (that does not use the D60) that can also work for births not under modern medical infrastructures where it is less likely to have exact birth times recorded for twins. I will state the logic for both with an example and some implications.
Method 1 — We have D1 as the physical chart of the twins, and D9 as the imaginary chart of the zodiac space formed from D1 of the twins (for the sake of simplicity, I just take the D1 and the D9 for an ease of explanation). The D1 is usually the same for the twins in longitudinal terms, and it is likely that D9 (and some other divisional charts might also be exactly the same) is also the same if the birth time difference between the two is less than 13 minutes (actually D9 can also be different even if birth time differ by a minute or two, but I am trying to be logically conservative). However, it is quite unlikely that (a) the fine-grained D60 for both the twins will be the same, and (b) the special lagnas (birth ascendants other than the traditional birth ascendant) such as the Ghati Lagna, Vighati Lagna, Sree Lagna, Indu Lagnas will be the same for the twins born even within a time difference within 2 minutes.
In practice, the chance (probability) twins having the exact same combination of D-charts and special lagnas is virtually zero. It is this difference that is enough for both the twins to have different fates in life (based on different prarabdha karmas from past lives). However, the necessary requirement for Method 1 is obtaining the exact birth time of the twins that can only be feasible under modern medical infrastructure (and usually was not a thing of the past). Once you have the charts from Method 1, you can apply the traditional PACE analysis taught in your course to chart the destinies of twins. On obtaining the exact birth time of twins, I would like to mention something here Professor Shukla. I believe when it comes to working on D60, it is virtually impossible to guarantee a correct chart. Why? because according to the BPHS, in the Kaliyuga, the exact birth time of a newborn is NOT when the umbilical cord is cut, but when the jataaka takes its first breath. The time for the former is not equal to the time when the jataaka takes its first breath (hard to clock even with modern infrastructure). While the D1 and the D9 will be unchanged, D60 is likely to change is this time gap is greater than 48 seconds. I was once at a friend’s place whose husband unknowingly claimed that he could use his influence to get the exact birthtime if he wanted. In practice, he would be good of to know the popular saying of the ages “Birth, Marriage, Death” exact times are only known to the Almighty. Humans can only approximate.
Method 2 — Suppose we do not have the luxury of exact birth times. This is so much more a reality if you take charts from not so long ago in India when only the metros had modern infrastructure facilities in recording exact birth times of twins. So, for majority of the births in rural and sub-urban areas we cannot guarantee exact birth times. What do we do here? (assume we are keeping things simple and not doing birth time rectification etc. and only rely on what softwares can provide us instantly). My answer is to simply work with D1, D9, and/or Rashi Tulya D60 alongside any information you can get from some special lagnas.
To be more conservative with our assumptions on data availability, say, we just work with D1 and D9 and see that both the twins have identical D1 and D9. I am an engineer, so I logically suggest we dissect D9 further. We generate finer charts from D9. i.e., a navamsa of a navamsa (alternatively a D9 of D9). This ‘engineering’ provides a 9x9 times magnification of the D1 chart and this D9 of D9 chart can be constructed exactly using the same principles of constructing a D9 from the Parashara rules mentioned in the BPHS. You then read this new D9 of D9 chart (highly likely to be different for both the twins) and apply PACE on this chart for both the twins. However there are some drawbacks of Method 2: (i) softwares do not give this D9 of D9 chart — you have to create it yourself as a manual exercise, (ii) you are not able to get an explicit karmic account (prarabdha) of the twins as you get in the D60 chart. Assume you can bypass the first drawback with your own efforts, the second drawback can be partially mitigated using a Rashi Tulya D60 that can be used when one is not sure about the exact D60. Now given identical D1 of both the twins, the different D9 of D9 charts, and the identical Rashi Tulya D60, PACE analyses can be done on them.
Case Example to Showcase Degree of Fate Difference — Professor Shukla, I conclude my arguments by giving an example of how even a difference of about 2 minutes in the birth time of twins with identical D1 and D9 can produce entirely different fates for both the twins. Consider twins born on the 16/07/1961 at 4 PM and 4:02 PM in Lucknow India. Use your favorite software to generate D1 and D9 and they will be the same (even if the times are exact). We assume (being conservative) they are not exact and do not resort to a D60 chart here.
Now see the D9 of D9 of both the twins. For the twin born at 4 PM, the ascendant of the D9 of D9 chart is Aries and the planets placed therein are Venus in Gemini; (Moon, Mars) in Cancer; (Saturn, Ketu, Mercury) in Virgo; (Sun, Rahu, Jupiter) in Pisces. For the twin born at 4:02 PM, the ascendant of the D9 of D9 chart is Taurus. Venus is in Gemini, (Moon, Mars) in Cancer; (Saturn, Ketu, Mercury) in Virgo; (Sun, Rahu, Jupiter) in Pisces. A simple change in the ascendant position in the two D9 of D9 charts creates a HUGE difference in fate. The earlier born twin has two sons after marriage while the later born twin has two daughters. The earlier born twin is a professional, whereas the later both twin is a housewife. I am not going into the analysis but for the profession you can do a D10 of D10 (the D10 are identical) and run PACE, whereas for the children aspect, for this case the D7s are different for twins. You could do PACE on D7 and see the D7 of D7 chart and run PACE. You need not require a D60 analysis here as we are content with the sex of children and job type, but if exact times were guaranteed you could have only worked with D1, D9, D7, D10, and D60 and get the same answers.
3. Richa Shukla: That indeed was a very mathematical answer, Ranjan. Let me now move to the world of divisional charts. When do you see Divisional charts for a client (assume that you are a graduating student of this subject and you are ready to see clients) is, and how to decide how many charts to see in the consulting process?
Ranjan Pal: Professor Shukla, in more than 95% of the practical cases a divisional chart (the exception being D9 and the situation of twin/triplet births) is not necessary to be checked for the client. Here, I am assuming the practical setting where a client comes to an astrologer for consulting and gets anywhere between 30 to 45 minutes as consultation time.
For such types of consulting, any human with normal cognitive abilities can extract only enough useful information from D1 and D9 in that amount of time for the number of questions that will be thrown at him/her by a client. This set of information (from D1 and D9 only) includes (but not limited to) bhavas, rashis, planets sitting and/or aspecting a house, house lords and their dispositors, special lagnas, karakas, nakshatras, yogas, arudha padas, upapadas, and argalas (borrowing a bit from Jaimini astrology — though you did not cover it in class). These are the crux of the PACE analysis you teach in the classes. Is it even humanely possible within 30 to 45 minutes to collect such information beyond the D1 and D9 charts? (that too with modern softwares available) I do not believe it is possible, and if anyone is telling you that he/she sees everything, it is pure bluff and nothing else. The D1 and D9 together are usually more than enough to make good predictions. Note that even in the 1990s and prior to that (in the age of the non-Internet and commercial softwares) most astrologers I heard of only used D1 and D9 and extracted the full power of D1 (including Nakshatras) to do good predictions. On one hand they were on average more spiritual than the astrologer of today, and on the other hand, birth times were hardly accurate for them to invest time in possibly faulty D-charts. They used to do birth rectification based on some basic Q&A on the life events of a native. In other words, a student of Vedic astrology who does not have mastery/confidence of seeing D1 and D9 cannot make much difference by predicting using other D-charts.
However, the great sage Parashara gave us the D-charts. It must be of some use, correct? In my opinion the use of D-charts comes in handy (after birth time rectification) when there is not enough clarity from a PACE analysis of the D1 and D9 charts. This is rare in practice (and part of the 5% of charts I mentioned above), but then you cannot control the type of charts that can come to you for advice and so a student needs to do a thorough study of D-charts before graduating in the subject of Jyotish. D-charts is like your “cheat sheet” that you are allowed to carry in the examination hall (consultation room) and use it ONLY if needed, OR if you have sufficient time (hours/days) to look at a chart (say a family member’s chart or a VIP’s chart for a fine-grained analysis and subsequent predictions that comprises the other 5% of charts).
Now the part of your question that remains to be answered is: how many and which D-charts should one consult? The answer to this question lies in the type of client and the type of the question. If the client is a normal someone (say like me) and the question is not of the Prashna branch of astrology, the Parashari Dasavarga collection (that includes the D-60 for a past life karmic account and is a must for individual horoscopy and especially when analysing twin/triplet/etc. siblings) of D-charts should be looked into. If the client is a VIP or a “king” (say PM Narendra Modi) every chart of the Parashari Shodashvarga needs to be looked into. Why? because the Shodashvarga includes, as examples, the D-40 and D-45 (showing previous karma of father and mother) that does not have that much effect on an individual when compared to the ruler of a country whose karmas have huge impact on so many people and whose karmas also have a big impact on the ruler of the country in future generations. It is obvious that if you are invited to give predictions on the PM’s chart you will be spending far more than 45 minutes in your analysis. It is opined by masters that the Parashari Saptavarga should be seen for muhurta and mundane astrology, and the Parashari Shadvarga should be seen for Prashna charts. Since a prashna itself is a manifestation of desire, the D-7 chart analyzing the manifestation of desire need not be present in the Parashari Shadvarga — however, D7 is part of the Parashari Saptavarga because in mundane and muhurta astrology it is mostly about getting the right time to start/create things (and the 5th house comes into play here to create).
4. Richa Shukla: OK Ranjan, let me get a bit deeper into your mind on the logic of predictive astrology. A chart comes to you (including all relevant details of D-charts included, as from a standard software). How will you see the static potential of the horoscope in a reasonable amount of time — say you have 20 minutes? Professional astrologers have much less (usually half) for this basic question I am asking you. You get points for depth, rigor, and accuracy. (You can propose your own logical method here; in the end every astrologer irrespective of their mentor must have their method).
Ranjan Pal: Professor Shukla, I am not sure how deep my mind is 😉 but I certainly appreciate the great importance of the role of vitally correct information in the shortest amount of time. Being a consultant to multiple companies, that is all what they want. Clients coming for astrological predictions are exactly like that.
I have a static four-phase method (SFPM), assimilated using your lectures, that I currently use to see the static potential of a horoscope (it is not necessarily the method I will always adopt, but from experience this has always given me accurate enough assessments). I usually take 15–20 minutes to do this analysis. By the term ‘horoscope’, I imply the D1 chart and all other D-charts, and all related information that are generated by software for these charts. I will provide relevant examples where necessary to explain my logical SFPM method. However, before I say anything, the premise of “Sthan, Kaal, Vaatavaran” holds for every native. In other words, the good and not so good points of any horoscope is with respect to the place, time, and lineage a native is born in. An Ambani born exactly at the same time as an ordinary person in the same hospital (but different wards) will have a different future than the latter, even though the structure of the positive and negative changes in their fates might be the same — the magnitudes will be very different (a simple application of karma theory).
SFPM Phase 0 (mostly for professional clientele) consists of the bare skeletal elements of a D1 chart to provide faith to your clients. This phase consists of looking at the Lagna/Lagnesh, Chandra rashi, Chandresh, the dasha lord at the time of birth, and the sarvastakvarga chart of the client native. The placement of these factors in the D1 chart and the sarvastakvarga analysis of D1 houses can give a good firsthand high-level approximation of the persona and goal of life for the client that should give confidence to the latter that he/she has come to a respectable astrologer. There are too many astrologers in the market, but Phase 0 is the basic primer that is a pre-requisite of any consulting session. I suggest anyone needing more details on Phase 0 to enroll in your basic course.
SFPM Phase 1 (judging the support strength of a horoscope) consists of three steps: (i) counting the number of planets in kendra (quadrant) and trikona (trine) of the D1 chart, (ii) the number of houses that have their lords linked to that house, and (iii) the presence (and the quantity) of status and wealth yogas in the D1 chart. Using this information, I can get a reasonable analysis of the support strength of a native’s birth chart. The support strength of the chart is the bare pre-requisite needed for good/great or not so good events (or how challenging will be a native’s life) to materialize in the life of the native, BUT this strength is NOT THE SUFFICIENT condition. Sufficiency requires a dynamic analysis. However, it should be emphasized that (i) having no planets in the quadrant and trine houses does not imply a lack of support strength (but indeed lesser strength than the case when a significant fraction of planets are in these houses), (ii) planets placed in quadrants and trines from each other also form a secondary level of quadrant/trine relationships and imparts support strength to a horoscope.
SFPM Phase 2 (judging the ability of significators to give good results) consists of a basic accounting of the Naisargik/Bhava kaarakas (significators) in the Parashari Dasvarga charts once we have estimated the support strength of a horoscope from SFPM Phase 1. For now, I discount the Chara karaakas (as it is not taught in your class and it complements the analysis from the Naisargik/Bhava kaarakas and does not supplement it) — though the logic is repeatable as for the Naisargik and Bhava karaakas. Phase 2 is necessary to check how much potential is there in your horoscope to achieve good results in life in relation to the significance, for a native. In particular, we need to see which Vaiseshikamsa does a particular significator fall into. A special emphasis should be given to the Vaiseshikamsa placements of quadrant and trine lords in the D1 chart.
Examples — As an example, if a quadrant lord (say the 10th house lord of D1) is there in the Simhaasanamsa, one could expect a king-like status for the native in his/her career. This inference has to be combined with the answer of how the Naisargik karaka for career is doing with respect to the Vaiseshikamsa count. As another example, Rishi Aurobindo Ghosh (Born August 15, 1872, 05:08 AM, Calcutta) had Sun (also the Atmakaraaka) in Sreedhaamamsa that resulted in him being one of the purest and holy souls to have transcended in modern India. He also had his 5th Lord in the Paarvaatamsa that resulted him having great knowledge of Brahma Vidya. An exalted planet in the D1 chart but having a zero count in the Vaiseshikamsa criteria might give average exalted results without much widespread fame/name/wealth.
SFPM Phase 3 (judging the karmic account from past lives on every sphere — only if you know exact time; otherwise go to Phase 4) consists of analysing the past-life karmic account with which one is born (as a legacy) to accept and channel your actions in this birth on every significator dimension. While there are multiple ways to check karmic account of a native from his/her horoscope Parashara includes the D60 chart as the ultimate indicator of this account. More importantly in the set of his Dasavarga and the Shodashvarga charts, Parashara allots in even greater Vimsopakbala importance to D60 than the D9 and the D1. Not only this, but D60 is one of the 5th harmonics (signifying the supra conscious existence) of the D1 — D12 set of charts that represents the cause of physical existence of a native in this birth.
Checking the D60 is indeed necessary to identify the finer essence of one’s activity on why you are doing something in any sphere of your life this birth, and how you could shape one’s activity in this birth on these spheres to prevent accruing bad karma points for subsequent births. In simple terms, while the D1 chart can only say that one would become a dictator in this birth for example, the D60 validates (as a solid horoscopic proof) from past birth karmas on why that someone is a dictator for example in this birth and how that someone can modify his/her karmas to prevent the ill after-effects of dictator bad actions in subsequent births.
The main analysis points in relation to the D60 chart (in relation to significators) are
(i) which shastyamsa type (krura or saumya — not necessarily good or bad as many modern authors put it; the sages have not classified it is as ‘good’ or ‘bad’) is a particular planet of the D1 (Rashi) chart fit in (and subsequently identifying that shastyamsa deity for remedial actions), as suggested in BPHS 7:41, 7:34–39 and Jataka Parijata (JP) 14–96,
(ii) which shastyamsa rashi is a particular planet of the D1 chart in the D60 (to adjudge the nature of the significance such as a significator driven by fire/earth/air/water nature and/or fixed/movable/dual nature of the rashi) as suggested in BPHS 7:41 and BPHS 7:33, and
(iii) the placement strength of planets in D1 in the D60 — especially the placement of the ninth lord (as per JP) as Dharma lord (not necessarily as the Bhagya Lord for which you see D9 as it is more materialistic/physical in nature) in the D1 in the D60 as dharma is more related to spirituality and the supra conscious dimension (suggested in BPHS 7:41, BPHS 7:33, JP 14–96, and JP 14–89). It is a must to see the Dharma aspects of a native in D60 as it generalizes how ethically (among other things) that native is going to deal with the spheres of his life in this birth. It is also to be noted that since the D60 chart changes every 48 seconds for a native, in the absence of the surety of an exact time of birth, one could analyse the Rashi Tulya D60 when it comes to a placement analysis.
As an example, for Dr. B. V. Raman (birth details: August 8, 1912, 7:43 PM 77E35, 12N59), a dharma-kendridhipati yoga in the D1 chart is formed between Venus (9th lord) and Mars (10th lord) that results in his professional strongly adhering to dharma. At the same time, this dharmic impulse also MUST be karmically evident from the D60 chart. We see the 9th lord of D1 is in the Sagittarius shashtyamsa (a fire sign and dharmic in nature) that is ruled by Jupiter — a significator of the profession of astrology.
SFPM Phase 4 (doing the PACE analysis to get analysis accuracy) consists of undertaking the PACE analysis you have taught in the class to assess more fine-grained characteristics of a horoscope. This should necessarily be done after following the first three phases of the SFPM method (except for the exception of SFPM Phase 3). While doing the PACE analysis, the D1, D9, and the D-chart of the specific query at hand (e.g., D10 for career matters) is sufficient (but not necessary as mentioned earlier). Ideally, the D1 and the D60 chart is enough if one can guarantee the accuracy of the D60. However, chances of that being rare, the D9 (that subsumes a nakshatra analysis also) is the necessary and often sufficient companion to the D1 for most astrological queries.
Professor Shukla, I also want to add (sprinkle is probably a better word) in here the role of a fundamental concepts in Jaimini astrology (purely my choice of analysis) that is entirely supplementary (not complementary by any means) to PACE and that is to assess the Arudha Lagna and corresponding Bhava Arudhas (for every bhava) of an individual. These Arudhas and the planets associated with them help us to identify the perception of the individual in society very easily (for an ascendant and other corresponding bhavas). It is often the case that what a person is internally (e.g., not having the ability of great professional prowess) is not how he/she is perceived in the outside world (e.g., gets recognitions, according to A10, even with less professional prowess and is considered as an individual with professional prowess). As another example, while the Lagna reflects the internal personality of an individual, the Arudha Lagna reflects the public personality of the individual. I personally find it easier to get this “distinctive” information (and only when combined with the PACE analysis) from the Arudha analysis than from the non-Jaimini approach.
Only after applying all four phases in the SFPM method will someone be able to result in effective analysis (and predictions) in a period of around 20 or so minutes. Jumping steps while analysing/predicting will only increase error rates for the predictor.
5. Richa Shukla: Having seen the static potential of a horoscope, I turn my focus now to the dynamic part. Say you have 20 minutes (less than 10 minutes for a professional astrologer) to judge timing of events (on a specific sphere of a native’s life) based upon the static analysis of a horoscope. Please focus on providing a logically sound thought process on astrologically resolving the timing of a client query.
Ranjan Pal: Professor Shukla, I have a dynamic four-phase method (DFPM), assimilated using your lectures, that I currently use to see the dynamic potential of a horoscope (it has always given me accurate enough assessments). The primary crux (and the first important step) behind doing effective dynamic astrology is the birth dasha of a native and more importantly how much time is left for the birth mahadasha (MD) to complete, i.e., the balance of the birth MD.
DFPM Phase 1 (fix the ‘right’ ayanamsa) — This is primarily decided by (a) the correct time of birth (assume that we get a very good approximate of it, if not exact), and (b) the ayanamsha being used for a horoscope study. Choosing the latter is very tricky because multiple panchangs follow different ayanamshas, and without a standard ayanamsha even if the birth time obtained is exact, the horoscope will have a different degree of the Moon that will affect the balance of the birth MD. In Bengal where I come from, the Lahiri Ayanamsa (equivalently the Chitra Paksha Ayanamsa) is followed by most astrologers. I also believe many other astrologers in India (including you) might be following that as a standard. I do not have the answer to why the Lahiri Ayanamsa is the most followed, but I will go with the fact that there is atleast a consensus-based standard. It is safe for an astrologer to assume that no matter what ayanamsa he/she uses, the balance of the birth MD he/she works with is approximate to the best. He/she can rectify this approximation based on pre-consultation Q&A on life-events, but I think that is hardly what is the norm in practice in the market.
DFPM Phase 2 identify relevant dasha systems from D1) — The next step is to figure out from the D1 chart what types of dashas would one analyze for a client query. We will necessarily analyse the mahadasha/antardasha/pratyantar dasha (MD/AD/PD) suite of the Vimshottari dasha (VD) the native. The VD system by sage Parashara is the ONLY non-conditional dasha system and is a nakshatra-based dasha system. According to many astrologers, analysing the Parashari VD system is both necessary and sufficient, even though analysing other non-conditional dasha systems — examples of such being (a) the rashi-based Jaimini chara dasha system, (b) the nakshatra-based Chaturashiti Sama dasha system (only if the tenth lord is in the 10th house in D1), and © the nakshatra-based Ashtottari dasha system (for daytime birth in Krishna Paksha and nighttime birth in Shukla Paksha) (among many others) can act as a very good supplementary analysis. As Dr. S. C. Mishra nicely puts it — “Vimshottari dasha analysis is the main course, everything else is a dessert (sweet as you get very fine-grained predictions) but is supplementary”.
DFPM Phase 3 (optimally analyze the dasha systems) — The next step is to analyze the dasha systems from Phase 2 in an optimal manner. I will not get into the details of how to see each relevant dasha system as it is already covered in the class and can easily be looked up — though the underlying main point here is to follow principles from the Laghu Parashari to analyze the Vimshottari dasha (MD/AD/PD) of the native as both a necessary and a sufficient step from (a) the D1 chart, (b) the D9 chart, and © a divisional chart pertaining to the query of a client (e.g., D10 for career). Doing this is good enough to arrive at the correct dasha predictions even if one does not want to conduct supplementary dasha analyses.
However, what I am going to focus on is a mistake that most people make during analysing the VD itself — leave alone analyses of supplementary dashas. Most people check the VD of planets as judged from the Lagna. While there is nothing wrong with that (though always not necessary), at times you have to also check the VD of the same planet from the house that hosts the Moon and/or that hosts the Sun to arrive at correct predictions without which you can get grossly sub-optimal or incorrect predictions ( I will give an example in a minute) — you had passingly mentioned this in class Professor Shukla. The problem is — it is very time taking to check the VD of a planet from all three reference points: the Lagna, the house that hosts the Sun, and the house hosting the Moon, and then make predictions. On the other hand, how can we know from the D1 which reference point to choose to analyze a VD of a planet?
Consider the following example chart with the corresponding planetary placements: (Ascendant) — Aquarius; (Rahu) — Aries; (Jupiter) — Taurus; (Venus) — Cancer; (Sun) — Leo; (Mercury, Mars) — Virgo; (Ketu) — Libra; (Saturn, Moon) — Scorpio. For this native with the Aquarius lagna, both Saturn and Venus are yogakaraka. Hence the Venus/Saturn bhukti should be really good according to the Laghu Parashari principles taught in the class and I have discussed this chart with many people and each and every one said that the native will have an excellent time in his career during this period. However, the native got separated from his service in the Venus/Saturn bhukti. How did this wrong prediction happen? This happened because the Lagna Lord of D1 is Saturn, and the Lagna Lords from the Sun and the Moon reference points are Sun and Mars respectively, both being enemies of Saturn. Hence, doing a VD analysis of the Venus/Saturn bhukti with reference to the D1 Lagna Lord will give you incorrect prediction results. You should do a VD analysis of this bhukti from Leo and Scorpio reference points. I must admit here that even without this frame of reference change, you can arrive at the correct prediction, but you will have to do a lot of hard work.
DFPM Phase 4 (time events based on planetary transits) — Once and ONLY IF a dasha suite (MD/AD/PD) shows promise for a particular event in the life of a native, the next and final step is to analyze planetary transits during the dasha suite to time that event. In this regard, there are four primary factors for event fructification results: (i) the Lagna Lord of D1, (ii) the lord(s) of event houses, (iii) the lord of the dasha suite (MD/AD/PD), and (iv) the significator of the event pertaining to a query. Either all or a subset of these planets need to transit into the likely result giving area (i.e., the bhava madhya, and the natal longitude of a planet) of a house in both the D1 chart and corresponding divisional charts (e.g., D10 for career) pertaining to a high-chance fructification of an event. On top of these four factors, the celebrated Double Transit Rule (mentioned in the Phaladeepika, lectures of Shri K. N. Rao) of Saturn and Jupiter transiting over a house in D1 and relevant divisional charts increase the likelihood of an event happening. In my opinion, Jupiter is the dharma karaaka and Saturn is a karma karaaka. Hence, the blessing over a house from both the dharma karaaka and karma karaaka transits much increases the fructification of an event related to the house. Finally, transit analyses MUST be backed up by an Ashtakvarga analyses on both the Rashi and relevant divisional charts.
As an example, to illustrate the birth of a child, we should first check whether BOTH the parents are going through a dasha suite that can promise childbirth. Once that is ensured, we should check whether both Saturn and Jupiter (the Double Transit) are aspecting (in D1) the fifth house, or the fifth lord, or the ninth house, or the ninth lord within nine months of the birth of a child (note that both Jupiter and Saturn stay over house for a considerable period, and hence the logic). In the event this event is satisfied, we should see whether Mars will aspect (in D1) the fifth house, or the fifth lord, or the ninth house, or the ninth lord within 45 days before the birth of the child to narrow down the period of birth. The same logic above can (and should) be repeated over a D7 and D9 chart for a very accurate analysis of the timing with respect to the dasha suite of the native.
6. Richa Shukla: Ranjan, finally to my last question of Part B and of the oral exam. In the western world, and increasingly even in India (that is getting influenced by the western world) people question the notion of destiny and say things like “Destiny is in your own hands, and mostly things are free will”. Can you argue for or against this statement using ONLY astrological logic? I understand there are deep philosophical perspectives to this question, but I am looking for an example-backed astrological answer. Alternatively, can you astrologically convince a nay-sayer into accepting inevitable aspects of destiny, if not making him believe in destiny?
Ranjan Pal: Professor Shukla, I will use a statistically convincing logic to answer this question and start with arguing in favor of destiny using examples — as you want a logically crisp answer. Let me take the following set of astrological combinations (I found them in three books in your office when I was waiting there).
D1 Example #1 — (Ascendant) — Taurus; (Jupiter) — Cancer; (Sun, Venus, Mercury (R)) — Leo; (Mars, Ketu) — Virgo; (Moon, Saturn) — Sagittarius; (Rahu) — Pisces.
D1 Example #2 — (Ascendant) — Pisces; (Saturn) — Taurus; (Ketu, Venus, Mercury) — Cancer; (Mercury) — Leo; (Moon) — Libra; (Jupiter) — Scorpio; (Rahu, Mars) — Capricorn.
D1 Example #3 — (Ascendant) — Gemini; (Mercury) — Cancer; (Sun, Venus (R), Mars) — Leo; (Rahu) — Virgo; (Jupiter) — Scorpio; (Saturn) — Sagittarius; (Moon) — Aquarius; (Ketu) — Pisces.
D1 Example #4 — (Ascendant) — Gemini; (Mars, Rahu) — Cancer; (Saturn, Ketu) — Capricorn; (Moon) — Aquarius; (Jupiter, Venus) — Pisces; (Sun, Mercury) — Aries.
D1 Example #5 — (Ascendant) — Cancer; (Saturn) — Leo; (Venus) — Virgo; (Ketu, Sun, Mercury) — Libra; (Mars) — Scorpio; (Jupiter) — Sagittarius; (Moon) — Aquarius; (Rahu) — Aries.
D1 Example #6 — (Ascendant, Rahu, Sun, Mercury) — Taurus; (Saturn) — Cancer; (Jupiter) — Libra; (Ketu) — Scorpio; (Moon) — Pisces; (Venus, Mars) — Aries.
Now take note of the following Parashari concept (from BPHS) that “if the 3rd lord is in the 11th house or the 11th lord is in the third house, the native is either the eldest or the youngest child of his/her parents. Either this, or he/she will be the eldest or youngest among sisters or brothers.”
The natives above in (i) Example 1 is the youngest child of his parents; (ii) Example 2 is the youngest child of her parents; (iii) Example 3 is the eldest brother of the two children of his parents; (iv) Example 4 is not the eldest of his siblings but is the eldest male sibling; (v) Example 5 is the youngest son of his parents; and (vi) Example 6 is the eldest among the five children of her parents. The Parashari concept stated above gets validated in 5/6 scenarios — a percentage greater than 80 (higher than the gold standard of 70–75 in astrology). Did any of these 5/6 natives have a choice in their birth to be the eldest/youngest, their lineage, or the social status of their parents? The answer is ‘NO’. If this is not destiny, I am not sure Professor Shukla, how can anyone define destiny. Hence, using elementary statistics (though my sample set is small but randomly chosen and can be replicated over a larger sample set), it can be shown that destiny is for real.
Professor Shukla, when it comes to exercising free-will, conditioned on the destiny point made above, one can only play around in the field of pre-destiny. In other words, your boundary in relation to a particular sphere in life is pre-destined, except that you can do several things within that boundary. I will get to the astrological significance of it but let me first give you an example of what I just said. Say, your destiny says you can be an engineer of machines. The pre-willed destiny is that you will be an engineer of machines and nothing else. This is your boundary. The variable part of being within this boundary is whether you become an electrical engineer, or an electronics engineer, or a hydraulics engineer — all these engineering disciplines deal with machines. You may change between these disciplines during your lifetime, and you may not either. There is an astrological significance of that too I will get into.
Now let me get into an astrological explanation of the idea in the previous paragraph in the context of education. The same line of thought can be applied to other contextsThe Nakshatra of the 5th lord in D1, its dispositor, the fifth house, and the fifth lord are the first line of factors to adjudge the education of the person. The second line of factors include the 5th house from Mercury and its lord. Combining these two lines of factors and using PACE we get possible choices of education for a native. The different possibilities that arise here reflect the variabilities within the boundary of a pre-destined education universe specific to the native.
I justify this above reasoning using a few examples.
D1 Example #1 — (Ascendant, Venus, Jupiter, Mars [11 57’]) — Libra; (Ketu) — Scorpio; (Moon) — Sagittarius; (Rahu) — Taurus; (Saturn) — Cancer; (Mercury, Sun) — Virgo.
In this example, the fifth lord Saturn is in its own nakshatra and in the house of the Moon. The fifth house from Mercury is Capricorn which is owned by Saturn and is aspected by Saturn and Mars. Hence, on both line of factors, Saturn is the dominant planet and so the education of the person that is pre-destined is technical, i.e., engineering. One could either do electrical engineering, or automobile engineering. This native did automobile engineering within the boundary of technical education.
D1 Example #2 — (Ascendant, Mars, Rahu) — Capricorn; (Moon) — Pisces; (Saturn) — Taurus; (Ketu) — Cancer; (Sun, Mercury, Venus [own nakshatra]) — Leo; (Jupiter) — Scorpio.
In this example, the fifth house has Saturn that is aspected by Jupiter and the fifth house is Taurus that is owned by Venus and is in its own nakshatra. Venus is with Sun and Mercury and is aspected by Mars. Hence, on both line of factors, Venus is the dominant planet (among Saturn and Jupiter) and by being conjunct with Mercury can give an education in subjects such as accountancy, commerce, economics, etc. that are artsy in nature (Venusian influence). Alternatively, the education of the person that is pre-destined is arts. The native initially complete a B. Com. and then moved into fashion designing reflecting the variation in education within the boundary of arts.
Through the above two examples, I establish that when it comes to exercising free-will, one can only play around in the field surrounded by a boundary of pre-destiny.
About the Authors
Ranjan Pal is a computer scientist, decision scientist, and an applied mathematician who is on the faculty of the MIT Sloan School of Management, USA, where he leads research in cyber-security management within service enterprises and their ecosystems. He is a non-professional practicing astrologer, an ardent follower of Vedic philosophy, and is a research student of Vedic astrology under Richa Shukla — Founder of Dev Jyotish school of astrology, Gurgaon, India.
Richa Shukla is a professional astrologer based in Gurgaon (Gurugram), India with over 20 years of practice experience. Her illustrious clientele ranges from normal civilians to politicians, corporates, and Indian administrative officers. She is the Founder and lead faculty member of the Dev Jyotish school of astrology and was a student of Vedic astrology under K. N. Rao at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Institute of Astrology, New Delhi, India.