During Week 7, we looked at the degrees within a Rasi house. We also learnt that Rasi is a fixed place that has qualities and Grahas are celestials in motion that carry energies. Grahas occupy Rasis.
This week, let us see how Grahas are energised(or otherwise weakened) within Rasi degrees. We evaluate the energy of a Graha in relation to the Rasi House by way of it’s dignity.
The following are the ways to evaluate Guru Graha’s dignity in decreasing order.
8.01: Exaltation: The Sanskrit word for this is ‘Uccha’. It roughly translates to ‘high’ or above. Here it can be translated to ‘exaltation’. When a Graha is ‘uccha’ or in it’s highest dignity, then it has all the capabilities to express it’s highest capabilities from it’s existing position. It is EXALTED. A Graha can be exalted at a specific degree only.
Guru is exalted at 5 degrees Cancer.
What does this mean? It means that:
In the Rasi of Cancer/Karkataka, at 5 degrees, Guru is at it’s highest functioning capability. Graha’s nature at this degree is suited to the qualities of the Rasi.
5 degrees Cancer means that it is at it’s Mrtya Avastha due to Cancer being an even sign.
Here Jupiter has an old person’s energy. Jupiter’s exaltation happens towards his older age and the reason for this is illustrated in his puranic lore.
From our Puranas, we know that Jupiter’s journey was not an easy or straight forward one. He was not perfect. He was a jealous brother and sought to seduce his brother’s wife. He cursed his nephew to be born blind. He ignored his family and his wife Tara rightfully peeved eloped with Moon/Chandra.
The Lord of Karkataka Rasi/Cancer is Chandra/Moon eloped with Jupiter’s wife Tara and yet Chandra exalts him in his Rasi. Why?
Despite Guru’s past actions, he was still the DevaGuru. He is still the number one benefic of the zodiac. He evolved. He let go of all his mortal traits and existed only for the well being of his students.
He accepted Budh or Mercury as his adopted son because he was impressed by the child’s intellect and brilliance. It is only Jupiter who can ..without bias..give credit and admiration where it is due.
This is why Moon exalts Jupiter in his Rasi. Afterall, Jupiter is Jeevakaraka. He is the most auspicious of all grahas and Karaka of progeny. Moon is Karaka for domestic bliss, love and home. What is home without children? What is Moon’s role without the blessing of his Guru Jupiter?
And where is he exalted? At his Mrtya avastha. When Jupiter got older, he became divine and was able to elevate himself from the Maya of mortal existence.
Guru is able to draw energy exactly at 5th degree of Cancer that makes him the best that he can be..the giver of Jeeva.
Assignment 1: Apply everything we have learnt so far. Gunas, Tattvas…and imagine how and why Guru feels exalted here. Keep refining as you go along.
Example I gave for Surya. Now do the same for Jupiter. > Surya is exalted in Aries. Surya is exalted in 10 degrees Aries. Surya is exalted in Ashwini nakshatra 3rd pada. The Purusharatha of Ashwini 3rd pada is Kama. Aries is ruled by Mars which is a Fire tattva. Surya controls Fire and is in a Rasi that is predominantly fire. The grahas involved are Mars at Rasi level, Ketu at nakshatra level and Budha at navamsa level(3rd pada Ashwini goes to Gemini in D9).
What more can you add to the above? Use everything we have learnt in the past 7 weeks. Do not apply anything we havent covered it or from what you already know from other sources. Just the 7 weeks details should form a picture. What does your picture look like..?
8.02: Moolatrikona: Moolatrikona can be split into Moola + Trikona. This is a range of degrees within a Rasi from where the Graha draws it’s power or charge. If Rasi houses are constellations, it means that there is a span of this constellation or a cluster of stars within a range from the 360 degrees ecliptic that the Graha DRAWS it’s energies from to add to it’s dignity.
Guru’s Moolatrikona is in Cancer/Karkataka Rasi from 0-10 degrees.
What does this mean?
It means that in the Rasi D1 Chart, when Jupiter is anywhere between 0 and 10 degrees in Sagittarius, it is charging itself with the qualities of Sagittarius Rasi.
In Moolatrikona, Graha derives it’s strength from it’s inherent nature. Here, the Graha is able to shine bright and the charge between Moolatrikona Rasi zone and Graha is live. It is a charging port.
Compare this to the highest dignity a planet can experience, it’s EXALTATION point. The difference is that at exaltation, the Graha has been given all the tools/energies to transform itself to get closer to it’s highest self. It is like being given an extra advantage or a special power to chase a long cherished goal.
What it means here is that the exalted station of Guru at 0-10 degrees Saggitarius in Bala/Kumara Avastha results in Guru being in his strongest Moolatrikona zone in Sagittarius 0-10 degrees.
8.03: Own Rasi: Every Graha has a Rasi that it has lordship over and sometimes, a Graha has lordship over two Rasi houses. With the exception of Moon, all other Grahas have their Moolatrikona in the Rasi that they rule.
Jupiter rules Sagittarius Rasi. Moolatrikona is extra special charging zone from 0-10 degrees in Sagittarius constellation. In his own Rasi, Sagittarius which is an odd Rasi, Jupiter experiences Moolatrikona charge for the first two AVASTHAS of Bala and Kumara upto 10 degrees into Saggitarius.
There is another Rasi under Jupiter’s ownership. It is Pisces/Meena Rasi.
This means that Jupiter gains some dignity in Pisces/Meena Rasi. Juputer isn’t exalted or has its moolatrikona here.
It is Venus or Shukaracharya, the DaityaGuru who is Jupiter’s nemesis that is exalted here. We will come to that tomorrow when we discuss Shukracharya.
The dignity is at par with Own Rasi dignity and given the same points as though Mercury was in Sagittarius 10-30 degrees. 30 points.
Guru’s Own Rasi is 10-30 degrees of Sagittarius Rasi and all of Pisces/Meena Rasi.
Assignment 2: Same as Assignment 1 above, but only…do it for Moolatrikona/Own Rasi table using all that you have learnt in the past 7 weeks. Apply gunas, tattvas, triplicities, quadraplicities, avasthas etc.
8.04: Friendships: There are five kinds of relationships a Graha can have with the owner of the Rasi house he is occupying:
Great Friend
Friend
Neutral
Enemy
Great Enemy
On a sliding scale, a great friend is more auspicous than a great enemy who is outright inauspicious.
What does this mean? Example: It means that if you are ill and need a donor kidney, a great friend will donate his own organs. A friend will work tirelessly to help you survive your crisis. A neutral person would not do anything, but won’t harm you. An enemy would not support your efforts and stop others from helping you. A great enemy would actually harm you and suffocate you with a pillow on your death bed.
I think the above is self explanatory and it should be easy to apply to relationships between Grahas and Rasi Lords.
Assignment 3: There is a very straight forward formula to find Graha/Rasi friendships/enemities. The assignment for you is to see if you can detect the pattern. I will reveal the method at the end of the week here or on ClubHouse. But I would like everyone to try if you can find the pattern.
For Guru :
Sun, Mars and Moon are Friends.
Saturn is Neutral.
Budha and Venus are Enemies.
Dignity of Guru increases if it is in a Rasi ruled by friends and decreases if it’s in a Rasi ruled by enemies.
Note: I had a message asking clarification. It can also be read as:
“Jupiter is friendly towards Sun, Mars, Moon. Jupiter is inimical towards Venus and Mercury. Jupiter is neutral towards Saturn.
This is how Guru’s friendships are towards other grahas. Not how they feel towards Guru. As we have seen from last few lessons, friendships and enmities are not always mutual.
Have you been able to detect the pattern and formula to figure out how friendships/enmities are formed?
8.05: Debilitation: The Sanskrit word for this is ‘Neecha’. It roughly translates to ‘low’ or beneath. Here it can be translated to ‘debilitation’. When a Graha is ‘neech’ or in it’s lowest dignity, then it has lost all of it’s capabilities and is too weak. It is DEBILITATED. A Graha can be debilitated at a specific degree only.
Guru is debilitated at 5 degrees Makara.
Debilitation will always occur 180 degrees from the the point of exaltation. It will be in the 7th Rasi House from the Rasi House of exaltation.
What does this mean? It means that:
In the Rasi of Makara, at 5 degrees, Guru is at it’s lowest functioning capability. Graha’s nature at this degree totally trashed due to the qualities of the Rasi.
5 degrees Makara means that it is at it’s Bala Avastha due to Makara being an even sign. The debilitation occurs at the 7th H from his exaltation.
7H represents spouse and Jupiter’s wife Tara’s elopement with Chandra/Moon was the lowest point in Jupiter’s story. He was humiliated and had to constantly battle for his wife who refused to return to him. It was his fall from grace.
A great chart that illustrates the debilitation is the example of Lord Rama’s chart which has Moon and exalted Jupiter in Cancer Asc. And Mars in 7H Makara Rasi. It was his wife’s kidnapping that activated his Mars in Makara leading to the war against Ravana and Lanka.
Assignment 4: Same as Assignment 1. Apply everything we have learnt so far. Gunas, Tattvas…and imagine how and why Jupiter feels debilitated here. Keep refining as you go along.
8.06: Summary: There are 9 forces whose interactions determine the dignity of a Graha occupying a Rasi House. They are : exaltation, moolatrikona, own sign, 5 kinds of relationships between graha and lord of occupied rasi, debilitation.
GURU is:
exalted at 5 degree Cancer.
moolatrikona at 0-10 degrees Sagittarius
own rasi influence 10-30 degrees Sagittarius
own rasi influence is also in Pisces
friends with sun, mars and moon
neutral with saturn
enemies with venus and mercury
debilitated at 5 degrees Capricorn
exaltation, moolatrikona, own rasi, great friendships and friendships bring auspicious scores to the graha. neutral influence is zero. enemies and great enemies influence and debilitation bring inauspicous scores to the graha.
8.07: Dignities Score Card: Total dignity is calculated by adding all the positive auspicious scores and all the negative inauspicous scores. We can determine dignity of every single Graha in the Rasi chart. The point system is given below for D1 chart only. For other divisional charts, halve the overall score before determining dignity.
The scores for D1 Rasi chart are as follows:
Exaltation: 60 points
Moolatrikona: 45 points
Own Rasi: 30 points.
Great Friend’s Rasi: 22 points
Friend’s Rasi: 15 points
Neutral Rasi: 0 points
Great Enemy’s Rasi: -58 points
Enemy’s Rasi: -56 points
Debilitation: -60 points
8.08: I am skipping the explanations for the mathematical values that are assigned to determining dignity. I will bring it up when we discuss Assignment 3 when we are done with basics and when I give the formula for determining friendships/enemies. We will also speak about Rahu/Ketu separately as they deserve sessions dedicated just for them.
If you cant create formulas or figure out the numerical patterns, memorise. MEMORISE. It will come to you as you practice on charts which you must be doing everyday. Practice assignments on 3-5 charts everyday.
If you have attended my Nakshatra Bootcamp, apply relevant details during assignments. Otherwise, dont bring in other material you have learnt elsewhere. It will disturb the order and flow of my lesson plan.
Next: Guru Shukracharya: Degrees and Dignities.