Adhi Yoga in Vedic Astrology
When I had just passed my B.A. honours examination my father took me with him to an astrologer. He was a real Tejaswi, in the traditional way putting on kumkum mark on his forehead but he used to chew paan and tobacco frequently. My father showed him my horoscope, given below, and asked him will he come up and shine well in life ?”
He gazed at the horoscope, just for five minutes, and replied “What?” This is a good horoscope with chandraadhi Yoga which is a Raja Yoga and which is unpolluted.
Budha, Guru and Shukra are in the 6th and the 7th houses from the Moon and they are not combust. They are not spoiled by malefic planets especially they are not eclipsed by Rahu or Ketu. He is sure to come up very well and reach very high positions in life.” The chart is as follows:
Mark Mercury in the 6th house from the Moon. Guru is in the 7th house from the full Moon and Venus is retrograde in the 6th house from the Moon. Later, only I studied law, after M.A. degree and I passed L.L.B
When I studied law, at the instance of my maternal grandfather who had financed me for this course for enlistment as an advocate. I consulted Sr. Kavassery Subrahmania Sastrigni who used to practice astrology from the small frontal room in a house in Lingichetty street, Madras while his family was in his native place near Palghat. He also predicted a high position.
Neither the Singapore Jotishar nor Sri K. Subrahmania Sastrigal referred to or relied on the 9th and the 10th houses and the strength of the lord of the 10th house.
As I had picked up some knowledge of astrology, by that time. I asked the Sastrigal how he could predict high position in life for me when Saturn, the lord of the 10th house, was relegated to the 12th (hidden) house.
He replied since Saturn was in Meena (Pisces) it had the good aspect of exalted Jupiter, the 9th lord. But he explained that, apart, Adhi Yoga is a very important Yoga and it has alone capable of conferring very high position.
According to Brihat Jataka, Adhi Yoga is a Raja Yoga especially when it is caused by the Moon who was powerful and who was aspected by exalted Jupiter. This was also the view of Kalyana Varma of Saravali concurring with the views expressed by Varaha Mihira.
Adhi Yoga gives the native long life, health, freedom from ailments or disability, power to overcome cruel enemies and to be a king or a Senadhipati or a Mantri of Nyayadheesh. The exalted placement of Jupiter always magnifies Adhi Yoga. Adhi Yoga can also be formed in relation to the ascendant.
The principle is that all the four benefics namely full Moon, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter are or should be involved in the formation of Adhi Yoga to make the Yoga fully effective and powerful. But if the Moon is weak and or is not well placed then the effect to Adhi Yoga will not be so benefic as it should otherwise be.
Another classical text defines Adhi Yoga in a slightly different way in which it says that Adhi Yoga becomes useless if Chandra is placed in the 6th the 8th or the 12th house from the ascendant in spite of Budha, Guru and Shukra being in the 6th the 7th or the 8 from the ascendant. This is perhaps Yoga Bhanga or cancellation of the benefic power of Yogas. The effect of Adhi Yoga will be totally diluted.
Mahadeva, in Jataka Tatwa, says that benefic Mercury, Venus and Jupiter should all be necessarily in the 6th, the 7th or the 8th from the Moon for a native to become a Senadhipathi, Mantri or King’s Counsel. Further, the strength of the Yoga will depend upon the strength of all the planets.
Kumaara Swamiyam, a Tamil work, says that Guru or Jupiter must not be in the 8th house from the Moon but preferably it should be in the 7th house from the Moon for the formation of an effective and beneficial Adhi Yoga.
Another important point is that all the three benefics namely Mercury, Venus and Jupiter together in the 6th or the 7th house also cause Adhi Yoga in which event they better stay in friendly houses alone.
A question arises whether Adhi Yoga is constituted when only 2 out of 3 benefic planets are in the 6th, the 7th or the 8th houses from the Moon or the ascendant. The fact remains that for constituting a strong, beneficial and useful Adhi Yoga all the three benefics must be there in the 6th, the 7th or the 8th houses from the Moon or the ascendant.
I know some Kerala astrologers and even others who overlook Adhi Yoga or ignore it. This is not correct. Adhi Yoga is one of the best Yogas and it raises a man from very ordinary circumstances to dizzling heights.
But it is one of the most difficult Yogas to be easily interpreted; and unless the astrologer possesses expertise thorough knowledge and Vak siddhi he will prove a failure in interpreting Yogas. Intutive ability and capacity to assess the planets properly are both a must to evaluate the strength of Adhi Yoga from its correct perspective.
Rationale of Adhi Yoga
A number of articles have been written on Adhi Yoga. Various learned contributors have very rightly pointed out by discussion that Adhi Yoga is one of the best Yogas for affluence and power. A very good attempt has also been made by them to explain the rationale behind the good effects of this most important yoga. It, however, appears that something more can be said on the subject particularly on the rationale and hence the following lines.
Before we go into the rationale of this most important and useful yoga, we should better reproduce the Sloka from Maharishi Parasara himself, the Sloka that forms the basis of our present discussion. Dealing with Chandradhi Yoga he avers:
From the position of the Moon, if there are in the 8th, the 6th or in the 7th house, natural benefic planets, then Chandradhi Yoga is constituted. When the yoga is formed, you have a king or a minister or a general, respectively, in the descending order of the strength of benefic planets involved.
Two theories may be said to exist in regard to the rationale behind this vital yoga. The first theory lays stress on the position, as such, of benefic planets in stipulated houses, i.e., the houses counted 6th, 7th and 8th from the Moon. The second theory lays stress on the Moon vis- à-vis placed in the 6th, 7th and 8th from benefic planets.
Sri B. N. Addy is of the opinion that Adhi Yoga is in the natural of a yoga of conversion from malefic to benefic effects by benefic occupation. In more plain words, what the learned contributor means is that a natural benefic, for example Venus, when placed in a bad house, say the 6th, changes as it were the nature of the house from bad to good to the advantage of the native.
We cannot subscribe to the above view. Our submission is that the 6th house as its very name Roga House, signifies, stands for disease, and such other undesirable traits as debts and enemies. Destruction of disease would obviously require that the disease should be adversely effected, that is to say, that the house of disease – the 6th should be occupied or aspected by malefic planets.
If occupied by a benefic planet, the 6th house, to our mind, should prosper and lead to more and more disease and debts, etc. How then can be occupation of the 6th house by a benefic change it into one of plenty, instead of dearth as it actually is?
The statement of learned contributors in the same article to the effect that Venus in the 6th and Jupiter in the 8th house becomes powerful, being karaka planets placed in the 12th of the concerned Bhavas has also to be taken with a pinch of salt.
We are aware of the opinion of the author of Bhavartha Ratnakara to the effect that the 6th house position of Venus confers yoga and affluence but then it is nowhere stated by the author that affluence is the result of that position. In fact the author of Uttarakalamrita holds the same view when he says, Shashtastho subhakrit kavihi, i.e., Venus in the 6th house does good. Here again it is not stated that the good in question accrues from the strength acquired by Venus by virtue of position in the 6th house, Venus, in every text-book, is considered useless in the 6th.
For example, the author of Jataka Parijata says: – The Moon with the Sun and Mercury in the 4th house, Mars in the 2nd, Venus in the 6th and Saturn in the 7th from Lagna become useless. Obviously Venus in the 6th could not be considered as powerful.
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And yet there is no contradiction between the statements of the author of either Uttarakalamrita or of Bhavartha Ratnakara. Venus in the 6th is considered as week by all canons of astrology and as such would give bad and undesirable results both in regard to the traits of the house over which he has lordship and in regard to his karaka properties such as wife.
But as he is a planet of luxury, his aspect on the 12th, house of luxury and enjoyment enhances these qualities under the law of similitude. Hence Venus in the 6th is both good and bad – good for financial prospects and bad for relational prospects, wife, etc.
Similarly, there is to our knowledge no sanction for the statement made by the learned contributor that a karaka posited in the 12th from the karaka house becomes powerful. There is an extraordinary statement to make. Jupiter karaka or significator of the 9th placed (in the 12th from the 9th) in the 8th, on the other hand, definitely becomes weak, since any house and lord if situated in the Trik houses (6th, 8th and 12th) does harm to the significators. This is obviously possible only on the basis of the planet coming to the Trik houses losing strength. For Jupiter’s position in the 8th house the author of Phaladeepika says:
When Jupiter is in the 8th in any horoscope, the native becomes poor, lives by service, is sinful, but lives long (the 8th house gets benefited, while the traits of Jupiter as karaka for wealth, dignity and morality suffer). The traits of Jupiter suffer because of the weakness of Jupiter in the 8th house.
In female nativities, Jupiter is karaka or significator of the husband. Will his position in the 6th house be conducive to the health and longevity of the husband on the plea that Jupiter, being placed in the 12th from the 7th, the karaka house of the husband, shall be considered as strong and as such conducive to the longevity etc., of the husband? I am afraid not.
On the other hand, such a position will weaken Jupiter and would create rift between husband and wife in addition to subtracting the longevity of the husband, since one of the main factors relevant to the consideration of longevity of the husband, viz., Jupiter, would be adversely placed not merely from the house of the partner (12th from it) but also from the Lagna (6th from it).
A similar question may be raised in regard to Mars. Mars is karaka or significator for younger brothers, i.e., for the 3rd house. Will occupation, by Mars, of the 2nd house, i.e., the 12th from his karaka house be conducive to the strength of Mars? The answer is a definite no, as Mars in the 2nd house is useless according to the authority of Jatakabharana already cited.
The reader might intervene at this stage and ask what about Jupiter, Karaka for 5th (sons) (Placed in the 12th from the 5th), in the 4th house or what about Jupiter, karaka for the 11th (elder brothers) placed in the 10th house, i.e., 12th from the 11th ? In such cases, it would be seen that the 4th and 10th houses are Kendra houses. Jupiter in these two cases would get strength, no doubt, but not because of his position (12th from karaka) but because of his position in a Kendra.
In the case of Mercury placed in the 7th from the Moon in Chandradhi Yoga, how can the theory of benefics placed in bad houses being conducive to the occupied houses, be applied as the 7th house has nowhere been classified in general as a bad house for any planet to occupy, except of course for purposes of health and disease as a maraca house.
But then we must not forget that the context, i.e., Chandradhi Yoga, is not relative to disease but to affluence and power as is quite evident from the fact that the good results accruing from Chandradhi Yoga relate to such items of power and affluence as kingship, ministership and generalship.
Assuming, however, for argument’s sake, that the 7th house is a bad house, what we could say at least for Mercury’s position (7th from the Moon) is that Mercury, a malefic planet, owning in the natural horoscope two bad houses, viz., the 3rd and the 6th, destroys the bad qualities of the 3rd and 6th houses and thereby generates good.
But even in that event, all texts require (and logic also demands) that the evil planet in an evil house in order to give bad results for the 3rd and the 6th houses, should be devoid of benefic influences. But what is the actual position of Mercury in the type of Chandradhi Yoga considered by the learned contributor?
Mercury is aspected by the strong benefic Moon, for the Moon must be considered as strong in Paksha Bala – his main source of strength, as he would be very much away from the Sun, being very much away from Mercury and Venus in whose vicinity the Sun always remains. Apart from the Moon’s benefic influence on Mercury, he has Subhakartari or the surrounding benefic influence of Jupiter and Venus.
How can, therefore, Mercury harm the prospects of the 3rd and the 6th (poverty and debts) or harm the prospects of the 7th house – life partner etc.? On the other hand, it would be legitimate and logical to assume that by virtue of the strong and good position of Mercury as lord of two evil houses he would enhance the evil effects of these houses and would, therefore, be instrumental in bringing about poverty – a strange finale to Chandradhi Yoga indeed!
Hence it is quite clear that the excellent results rightly attributed to Chandradhi Yoga by Maharishi Parasara and other celebrated authors do not arise as a result of some change being introduced in the 6th, the 7th or the 8th from the Moon.
It would be equally erroneous if we consider, to hold (as held by the learned contributor) that in the case of Chandradhi Yoga, Maharishi Parasara requires that all the three benefic planets should occupy only one of the three stipulated houses (6th, 7th and 8th). The Sloka from Brihat Parasara quoted in the beginning of this article does not, to our mind, admit of this interpretation.
Our view is that the intention of the father of Indian astrology is to refer to the individual position of the three benefics and not to their combined presence in one of the stipulated houses. And it seems to us, in company with so many others, that the Maharishi’s emphasis is on the benefic nature of the planets taking part in the said yoga rather than on the fact that a plurality of planet should be involved in a single house.
What then is the correct rationale that would explain the benefic results accruing from this wonderful yoga? The correct rationale to our mind would be to hold the second theory referred to above as valid.
According to the second theory, what is of utmost importance is not the position as such of benefics in the stipulated houses, but the position as such of the Moon with reference to those benefics. The centre of our attention should be the Moon and the position of the benefics should be considered as subverting and helpful to the Moon.
How? When any strong benefic planet is placed in the 7th from the Moon, it is quite clear that the aspect of that benefic would greatly benefit the Moon. The Moon being one of the three Lagnas (Lagna, Chandra Lagna and Surya Lagna), any strong benefic influence on the Moon will naturally enhance the Moon’s characteristics and traits as a Lagna, such nice traits for example, as health, wealth and power. So much for the benefic planet situated in the 7th from the Moon.
As regards the planets in the 6th and the 8th from the Moon, let us consider for a moment the fact that a planet in the 6th house throws its influence on the 12th house, while the one placed in the 8th house throws its influence on the 2nd house.
We can thus easily see that in the event of the 6th and the 8th from the Moon being occupied by strong benefics, the houses adjoining the Moon would be under great benefic influence and thus the Moon would, thereby, be placed in between two strong benefics influences, as if the Moon has a Subhakartari.
Thus, the net result in the case of Chandradhi Yoga is that the Moon’s strength is boosted not only by the beneficial aspect he receives from the benefic planet placed in the 7th from him but also by the beneficial strength he gets by being surrounded by beneficial influences.
The principle that the planets placed in the 6th and the 8th influence the house or planet etc., from which they are so placed is not our innovation. The principle is recognised by no less an authority than the great Varaha Mihir Acharya, who has stated in Sloka:-
Early death is brought about, inter alia, by malefics occupying the two houses adjoining the Lagna and the 7th house. Obviously both the sets of planets would adversely affect the Lagna and thus bring about early death.
In the above discussion about Chandradhi Yoga, we have adversely qualified the benefics situated in the 6th, 7th and 8th houses from the Moon by the use of the adjective strong. This is in keeping with the spirit of Maharishi Parasara as also with the modus operandi of the second theory advocated by us for it is easily seen that stronger the benefics in the three stipulated houses, the stronger the Moon becomes and as such the better the results. This is the reason why the Maharishi has given the best result, viz., a kingship to the strongest position of the three benefics and the least good results, viz., generalship of the least strength of the benefics.
Since Mercury and Venus are also constituents of Chandradhi Yoga, and since there are many chances for these planets to be in close proximity with the Sun, they are apt to become weak by that proximity and thereby fail to throw adequate benefic influence on the Moon, thus detracting from the value of the yoga. To guard against a mis- judgement of the strength of the Moon in such an event, it was but appropriate for subsequent authors like those of Saravali etc., to issue the warning that the stipulated benefics must not only be free from affliction by association or aspect, but must also be away from the Sun in order to give the best results of the yoga.
Such indeed is the importance in astrology of the Moon on which man is walking these days!
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