Varga Chakras (Divisional Horoscopes) In Jyotish

PREAMBLEmost of them utilized concepts from both (a) and
Time and again spirited discussions take place on(b) streams. There seemed to be a few other
internet fora pertaining to an examination of theindividuals who totally denied the veracity of
status of a variety of jyotish parameters,thought stream (b) and a few were a bit taciturn
including chara dasha (a sign based planetaryabout it, perhaps to avoid acrimony and getting
period astrofactor) and karakamsha (theensnared in the controversy. Or perhaps there
navamsha in which the atmakaraka (mostwere some other reasons, known only to them.
advanced planet in longitude) is placed. AsWHAT DO THE JYOTISH CLASSICS OPINE:
characteristically happens, some of theWhile the purists and historians duke it out as to
discussants began to branch into other sidewhat constitutes a Classic and what not, there
discussions which really had nothing to do with theseemed to be no significant resistance to
original questions or topics and some evenaccepting Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra,
became a bit exercised and emotional, as alsodescribed - by a very accomplished and brilliant,
often happens on the internet where attentionjyotishi who is an excellent writer and teacher and
spans of days and weeks are required in order toa very wise person beyond his years - as ... a
get to the bottom of things and whereremarkably well-preserved and reasonably intact,
sometimes a topic is being discussed on manywell-organized compendium of Jyotish knowledge.
different boards and many topics simultaneouslySo I spent a few minutes going through it after
on a given board! As too is typical, nothing wasChapter 5 was brought to our attention as a
really resolved, and some of the regulars beganstrong indication of bhavas only being considered
expressing their frustrations about these topicsin rashi and in none of the other vargas since the
coming up again and again and directing people toSage had not explicitly stated so. On the surface,
archives etc. Unfortunately, the yahoo forumsthis indeed seemed to be the case! However a
fora are such that only limited searching of pastfurther stroll into the magnum opus brought me
messages is possible without losing all of one'sto the chapter on Karakamshas In this Chapter
hair, and the archives sometimes are maintained35 (Karakamshaphalaadhyaaya), BPHS describes
on another yahoo site so this does not helpthe effects of planets that are in 2nd or 5th from
matters when all one wants is to get a quickkarakamsha (sloka 30-31 for instance) and other
summary of what others are using and if possiblehouses also from karakamsha in subsequent
their reasons for adopting a certain position! Thisslokas. Additionally, in sloka 33 BPHS mentions
latter usually brings out more gall than goodabout the aspects (drishti) of Moon and Venus on
information even though the intention of thethe 4th from karakamsha and also in sloka 13.
person posing the question may have been veryNow, here lies the quandary
noble and not at all confrontational. KnowingBPHS has, to the best of my understanding, not
Jyotish does not protect one from harbouringclarified if the karakamsha kundali is to be read in
Neurotic traits!the navamsha arrangement or the rashi
Somewhere, along the path of this former quest,arrangement (even though in both case the
another topic got born and began questioning thekarakamsha sign will be taken from the navamsha
use of varga kundalis or varga chakras, divisionalwhere AK is placed). Modern jyotishis are split
horoscopes which are the core of jyotish andover this matter.
have also been used by tropical astrologers in theThis, therefore, will be the deciding factor. If you
form of harmonic charts. Now this is somethingsee planetary arrangements for the karakamsha
that is utilized in Jyotish going back to almost thechart in rashi after finding the seed orientation
first memories of even the oldest members in(atmakaraka in navamsha), then you would say
the forum who eventually admitted to such beingthat the above citation in BPHS does not clarify or
the case. I myself, though myself not that senior,indicate the use of varga kundali or of bhavas in
have seen horoscopes that were drawn in thesub-rashi vargas. On the other hand, if you
century before last where the jyotishi had drawncontinue to use the navamsha positions of other
the rashi chakra and navamsha and dashamshaplanets for the karakamsha examination, then
and so on and more importantly had commentedthere lies the less explicit (than Chapter 5) but
on these charts in his reading. So, at least someimportant recommendation that houses matter
individuals had been utilizing varga-charts even aand should be studied in vargas. By extrapolation,
couple of hundred years ago and conceivablyas in the navamsha, so in the dashamsa and the
perhaps even prior to these times.remaining 13 (Rashi having being unequivocally
Somewhere during the discussion, in one of theaccepted as suitable for studying houses in a
lists, one of the members made available anhoroscopic manner: Chapter 5, BPHS!). However,
article in which the author had expressed thoughtsthere still was no evidence or classical indication
to the contrary, i.e., vargas should not be used infor the use of drishtis in amsha varga kundalis. A
a chart format. A discussion ensued whichcase was made about it "just not being
sidestepped the more important and pertinentastronomically correct" because drishtis were
matter of the practical merits of using ofbased on angular distances (even though Vedic
navamsha varga as a secondary chart. A fewdrishtis are more lax in orbs than their western
individuals asked for proofs in classics thattropical astrology counterparts, but angular all the
indicates that ancient jyotishis advocated of vargasame). There was more searching that needed to
chakras. The discussants emphasized that ONLYbe done, obviously!
rashi chakra must be used and varga placementsAt this juncture, someone mentioned that Kalyan
should only be used for determining the strengthsVarma, the jyotishi king was a reputable source
of planets etc.and had dealt with navamshas in a brilliant manner
Now, those who have studied BPHS would know,and had not recommended the use of varga
that 16 vargas had been defined by the Sagekundali. It was indeed a cue from the Universe!
starting with rashi ehich is also known as 'kshetra'My next focus of attention was - Saravali, a text
(field or area) and so on. One of the membersthat I absolutely love! Anyways, I recalled
brought to all astrologers' attention that Parasharasomething in Saravali that I was a bit bothered by
had described very clearly how to determineearly on during my Jyotish learning. Indeed, soon I
bhavas in the rashi chart (ascendant, 10th housewas looking at Chapters 22 onwards where
and then trisection of the arcs, etc. in Chapter Veffects of drishtis between planets were
of BPHS). This was indeed true and a positivementioned by Kalyan Varma.
step forward in the discussion. There were parallelBefore I got into it, though, I needed to make
discussions going on which were rehashing thesure what a drishti means to jyotishis. Most
point that BPHS was not original and was perhapsjyotishis writing in English use the term 'aspects'
not even a classic and written by one or a groupfor drishtis, just like their tropical brethren.
of 'latter day saints' [my term, not the originalHowever, there are some differences.
poster's!] in Jyotish and therefore cannot beConjunction is an aspect, however yugma or
treated as a classic. Obviously, there was somemore specifically yuti (coming together of planets)
support for this as could be similarly expected ifis not a drishti. Several references in
someone were to make a comment that JyotishSatyacharya's writings mention "Yuto Drishto" and
was nothing but a derivative of Babylonianother grammatical forms of these two terms.
astrology that the army that came withNow Satyacharya is economical in the use of
Alexander brought to India. A topic that has beenwords, if nothing else. He would not use two
known to bring even sedate jyotishis out on thewords that mean the same thing next to each
"war-path!"other. This then would imply that Yuti
To those who were still interested and intrigued(conjunction) is separate from Drishti (aspect) in
by this, there seemed to be two streams ofJyotish parlance. Yuti is not drishti, though the
thought prevailing:effect or influence might be similar.
(a) Only Rashi horoscopes should be used. OtherNext, looking into the mathematical consideration
varga kundalis were the product of corruptedof drishti in drig bala, conjunctions do not come
understanding of the classics - which themselvesinto consideration when determining aspect
many concur might not have survived in purestrengths. In fact the planets have to be greater
form [though some of them have thankfullythan 2 signs in order to get a aspect strength
survived in reasonably good shape1]. Underlyingvalue. This allows an unambiguous cuff of
this is the belief some may harbor that, alike theseparation between two planets and yuti or
iceberg, available Jyotish is only 1/10th of the totalconjunction not getting aspect strength at all. An
body while the submerged 9/10th is mostly lostindirect but important confirmation that
and partly hidden in the secret chambers ofconjunction is not meant when ancient jyotishis
paramparas and some of the secret documentsreferred to 'drishti'.
that exist but jealously guarded by the custodianHow come, then, Kalyan Varma in several slokas
families. I do not know how much of this iceberg(e.g., Chap. 22, sloka 6, 7, 14 ..., Chap.26, slokas 25,
postulate is based facts and how much is wishful29, on and on in similar slokas - talks about
fiction. According to the purists of this stream ofeffects of drishtis (no mention of conjunctions or
thought, vargas MUST only be used as measuresyutis) between Sun and Mercury and Sun and
of qualitative and quantitative strength of planetsVenus, and Mercury and Venus? Once or twice
and for the consideration of the deities and primalcould have been a mistake or error committed
forces those represent BUT not in the form of aby a dozing student of Kalyan Varma who was
horoscope and certainly no serious considerationtaking dictation but there are too many instances
must be given to aspects and bhavathere! Now, even a neophyte in astrology would
considerations. Just for clarity, they wouldagree that Venus and definitely Mercury would
maintain, for instance, that while the 2nd housenever get so far from Sun to enter into a drishti
lord in navamsha is an important indicator, thesambandh! UNLESS, obviously, Kalyan Varma was
fact that it is placed in the 2nd navamsha varganot referring to the rashi horoscope but also to
from the navamsha lagna (essentially in 2nd houseamsha varga horoscopes! Yes, this makes sense!!
in navamsha chart) is not significant. Or, forCONCLUSION: Putting 2 and 2 together -
instance, if Mars is in Aries sign and LibraParashara indicating house relationships in varga
navamsha, and Saturn is in Gemini sign and Libracharts in the karakamsha examination and Kalyan
navamsha, the two planets are not relatedVarma even more directly and at several places
(though they would be depicted as beingreferring to something that can be an
conjoined in the same navamsha varga in aastronomical reality only in varga charts - are
navamsha chart).providing firm indication of Jyotish classics
(b) Regardless of whether explicitly described orrecommending the use vargas in a kundali, chakra
not, the other stream of thinking maintains thator horoscope form with consideration of bhavas
varga kundalis have an important role to play inas in rashi as well as aspects, or drishtis!
Jyotish and possibly are of significant utility inA good beginning! Now we would all need to study
discerning primary mandates matters pertaining tofurther and find practical applicability for this
the prescription given by sages. In other words,information. Even more than what has been
navamsha chart, for example, would hold ashown in the past by way of demonstration of
significant sway over matters of marriage anduse of varga charts in practical Jyotish. Not so
spouse, while saptamsha chart would be of similarmuch to convince a few individuals who would
import in the examination of children in a givenrather hang on to their pegs of comfort and
nativity's reading. These vargas should beconviction, but to create more light and less
examined in a chart format.smoke in the caverns of Jyotish. A much admired
I do not recall anyone in the 'camp (b)' saying thatjyotishi generally signs off his messages with,
the first part of (a) is not correct, namely, the"May Jupiter's light shine on us". To that I would
varga positions must be considered, per se, forlike to add, "Maybe we should invite the
examination of strength and quality of a planet assoul-karaka Sun too - for the cavern needs all the
prescribed within the Jyotish framework. In factlight it can get!