From Paala Deepika by Sri Mantreswara : A Fundamental Principle of Astrology
Any house (bhava) will bring good results if it is occupied or aspected by a benefic, or its own lord, or one owning a benefic house, and if it is free from any kind of association with a malefic.
This principle takes into consideration not only a natural benefic but a planet that becomes a benefic by virtue of its ownership of houses in a given chart.
Thus Mars for Leo (Sun is friend of Mars) and Saturn for Taurus (Venus is friend of Saturn) are benefics, even if they are natural malefics.
This result does hold good for a malefic also if it is the owner of the house concerned.
Negatively the house concerned must not be the debilitation sign, and the planet must not be in the house of its enemy.
The planet must not also be eclipsed.
This is a Fundamental Principle and a good deal of misinterpretation of charts rests on failure to recognise the importance of this truth.
In assessing the results of any house, one must consider that house as if it were the ascendant and then to proceed to examine it. Similarly one should take up the karaka (signification) of the required bhava and treat the place it is situated in as if it were the ascendant.
Only use the rasi D-1 chart in applying this rule and never the divisional charts which are only after all a mapped reference of planets in division to the birth lagna.
Example:
The 10th House from the ascendant is in Taurus and it is to be treated like the ascendant, call it : dasa lagna. The 2nd house from dasa lagna is karaka for wealth, assets, revenue, aristocracy and family and its ruler Me is karaka for business and profession. Ju is there with Ve spoiled by Sa. They are all of weak strength 4, 3, 2 bindus, while the house itself is a respectable 29 bindus. The house will thus give its results.
In the Kalachakra dasa of this chart the second from dasa lagna is Gemini which has the period 1989-08-19 to 1998-08-19. This was a good period for career development. The 10th from this 10th house is Meena ruled by Ju. Wealth of
professional acumen is assured by Guru. Notice also in Rasi, Me is aspecting this house from the 7th–
the planet of commerce, business and profession. From all these benefic houses and aspects he will succeed in his professional career.
To bring about good results the house, its owner and its karaka must all be strong and benefic.
Vedha obstructions must be noted if a successful prediction is to be made. One must consider the Arudha and Chandra lagans also.
o In the above chart the AL is in Sagittarius. The status of a native is determined by the lord of the arudha lagna. This lagna is ruled by Guru and occupied by Me, the professional planet. Benefics only modify his career. Exalted Yogakaraka Ma(R) in Virgo give success, achievement, strength and character to Me in its aspect. Notice also Ju, Ve, Ma, Me are in a Kendra from the 2nd house and this makes one happy , learned and blessed from this
Brahma yoga.
Rasi D-1
One more principle is that of the famous Astakavarga. This system is usually applied to find out the longevity and to ascertain the transit influences of the planets. But the ashtakavarga is also capable of telling us, along with Shadbalas, which planet in a given chart is strong or weak. This point cannot be too often repeated.
o The ashtakavarga used for the above example illustrates this important principle.
A Bhava is strong and beneficial if the trines and squares and the 2nd from that bhava are occupied by benefics or by the lord of the bhava.
o Example: and if there is no counter-balancing (benefic) force, then the bhava will suffer i.e. the dasa of that lord will be a bad period and all the bad significations of that house will come to bear..
A bhava suffers if the bhava, its lord and its karaka are weak and are between malefics, or are associated only with malefics.
If the 4, 8, 12, 5 (children) and 9 (father) houses from the Bhava are occupied by malefics, the result will be the same.
The planets that cause the malefic results of a Bhava during their periods (dasa) are:
i. the lord of the 8th house counted from the Bhava concerned; ii. the lord of the 22nd drekkana from that Bhava; iii. the planets in 6, 7 and 8 from that Bhava.
Example: How to Find the 22nd Drekkana.
i. The chart on the left has the dasa periods from
Vimshottari dasa below:
The 8th from the 4th house, from Ma/Sa conjunction, is Scorpio ruled by Mars. In the MD of Mars, (the
Vimshottari dasa below) and during this entire period, the native was in foster-care to a family that was soon to abandon him, the foster-mothers compassion did not feature. The 4th house signifies mother, childhood etc.
ii. From Parasara the drekkana is a 3rd division of a sign.
Thus 0-10 degrees; 10-20 degrees; 20-30 degrees is three divisions of a rasi. Use the Ascendant longitude to see where in the division lies. If lagna longitude lies in the 1st division, the 22nd drekkana lord is the 8th from the first (lagna) bhava. Note the 22nd Drekkana is 7*3=21 +1=8th. If lagna lies in the 2nd division (10-20 degrees) the 22nd drekkana lord is the benefic lord, complete the strength to the janma lagna.
house from the lagna. In any other bhava take the strongest planet in that house and
determine which division its longitude lies in i.e. the 1st, 2nd or 3rd and apply: 8th from the 1st, or 8th from the 5th house or 8th from the 9th house to find the 22nd Drekkana lord. In chart on the left the 4th house has AK, Sa, at longitude 28:36 , the 3rd division . Thus the 8th from the 9th house is Cancer or lord Mo.
The thirteenth verse states: a planet may be exalted or may be in a friendly Sign and endowed with all the six kinds of strengths (Shadbalas). Yet if it is in a Bhavasandhi (the point where the last house ends and the first house begins), it is powerless.
The planet that occupies the exact cuspal degree (8-degrees) brings forth the full effect of the Bhava concerned.
Jaimini’s statement: if the lord of a Bhava happens to be in the 6th, 8th or 12th house from that Bhava, or if he is in a depression or an inimical sign (enemy of the lord of the Bhava) , the results will not be benefic. This principle has to be modified considerably when such a planet is associated with or aspected by a benefic, or is exalted.
Summary of Predictive Principles
The lord of the 8th house from a Bhava, the lord of the 22nd Drekkana from that cusp, and those situated in the 6th , 8th and 12th houses (= Dusthana houses) from that Bhava are likely to give malefic results as far as that Bhava (the dasa period) is concerned.
The lords of a Kendra (=1, 4, 7, 10 houses) is a functional malefic if he is a natural benefic and functionally neutral if he is a natural malefic.
The lords of the papasthana houses (=3, 6, 11) are functional malefics. Benefics in the
papasthana houses become functional malefics. But malefics in the 3rd, 6th and 11th houses (=
Papasthana houses) and benefics in the trines and kendras of a bhava will bring about favourable results. Nevertheless placement of a functional malefic planet in these houses is not good, unless it is very strong (5 bindus or more or greater than the strength of the lords of those houses?)
The cusp where the lord of the ascendant is positied becomes stronger for good or evil.
Generally such a planet proves favourable to the house he is in.This provides a key to the entire nativity.
Parasara say’s about trines and kendras occupied by malefic or benefics.
Lords of the trine houses {1, 5, 9 } give good results no matter if their inherent nature is malefic or benefic.
If a planet has a square (kendra) or trine on another planet that is a strong aspect.
Kendras /Squares/Cardinal Houses- {1, 4, 7, 10 } are important houses in a chart, represent significant aspects of an individual’s life
Placement of a Functional Malefic in these houses is not good , unless it is very strong.
Natural Benefics in these houses, Kendras and Konas, give good results.
Planetary Aspects
Any planet aspected by the Sun gets strengthened and is active.
A planet aspected by the Moon or Mercury will become benefic or malefic depending on the Moons phase (waxing or waning) and the associations with Mercury (strong conjunction or aspect by a malefic or benefic).
A planet aspected by Venus becomes like Venus – benefic, if Venus is strong.
A planet aspected by Mars becomes strengthened- i.e. more benefic or more malefic.
One aspected by Jupiter aquires a wider scope and becomes benefic.
Saturns aspect on a planet limits the planets activities- i.e. makes the planet weak and reserved in its effects.
Even if the lord of the ascendant be a malefic by nature it will not harm the house it occupies. If it is not only the lord of the ascendant, but also of a malefic house like the 6th or 8th, its character of a benefic remains because of its ownership of the 1st.