2.49. Akash Tattva refers to the essence of creation that embraces the ether element.
Tat is “That”. Tvam is “You”. Tatvam Asi = “That Which Is You”.
Tattvam is the essence of something. Tattva is a principle that defines the essence of something.
2.50. How do you visualise ether? How do you think ether feels when you come in contact with it? What is the nature of ether? What is the purpose of ether?
First of all, the question that pops up often: Is Ether = Space?
Let us look at definitions:
ETHER: The substance formerly supposed to fill the upper regions of the atmosphere above the clouds, in particular as a medium breathed by deities. The medium breathed by human beings; the air. The sky, the heavens; the void, nothingness.
SPACE: Unlimited or generalized physical extent. The near-vacuum in which planets, stars and other celestial objects are situated; the universe beyond the earth's atmosphere.
For our purposes, Space can be considered as Ether. We will refer to it as Ether. And Ether in Sanskrit for Jyotish is AKASHAM. AKASH also means ‘the skies above’ or the heavens above.
Akasha Tattva is not air but vacuum. It is a hollow space where nothing exists. It is not barren or sterile. It is devoid of all attributes and yet is all encompassing. It is omniscience and the innate intelligence of the universe. It is one of the more mystical and enigmatic tattvas because we can’t feel it or sense it or touch it.
Some say God is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. How can such a being exist and the skepticism is warranted. And yet this undefined all pervading, all knowing and all powerful force exists in everything.
We believe.. as Hindus..that a wisp of this divinity resides in everything, both animate and inanimate objects. Sometimes this is referred to as Brahman, the supereme universal consciousness. Some call it God.
AKASH TATTVA is part of ALL FOUR RASI TATTVAS.
Remember: the Tattva of any Rasi means that that Rasi or zodiac space in space has a predominance of that Tattva.
This Tattva could be any of four: Agni, Prithvi, Vayu or Jala Tattvas. This occurs four times for the 12 Rasi Houses. In astrology, a triplicity is a group of three signs belonging to the same element.
(Quadraplicity is a group of four signs that share the same attribute. This is the GUNA division we studied in Week 1)
When it comes to the four Tattvas of the Rasis/Signs, all of them exist WITHIN AKASH TATTVA. In other words: Aries, Leo and Saggitarius Rasis are all Agni Tattvas encapsulated within the all pervading Akash Tattva. This is true for Jala, Vayu and Prithvi Tattvas too.
So where is there a predominace of Akash Tattvas when it comes to Rasis? Answer: All of them!
2.51. There are two kinds of Tattvas in a chart. One is Rasi Tattva and the other is Graha Tattva.
Rasi Tattva is the essence or elemental nature of the 12 Rasi houses or signs.
Graha Tattva is the essence or elemental nature of the 9 Grahas or celestial bodies.
Rasi is a ‘space’ that is fixed in the zodiac/skies. They contain within them 27 nakshatras or stellar constellations. These 27 nakshatras are distributed evenly amongst the 12 Rasis or Zodiac Signs.
Graha is a celestial body that is always in motion in the skies. A snapshot of their positions during the moment of birth in the zodiac and in particular Rasis is what we call our horoscope.
Grahas are influenced by the Rasis whose signs/spaces they are ‘visiting’ during their transit. Rasis are not affected by the Grahas. This means that Grahas have an innate nature and Rasis have an innate nature.
Since Graha is like a guest that goes around to various Rasis, their tattva or elemental nature will be influenced by the tattva of the Rasis.
2.52. Graha Tattva of Akash: Akash Tattva can be seen in two grahas. Jupiter and Ketu.
2.53. For every other Rasi tattva, there is a positive and negative use. Akash tattva being the space around every one of the four tattvas is hence present in every one of the 12 Rasis. If you recall, we consider Rasis to have a predominance of one of the four tattvas(fire, earth, air and water). And each of these tattvas are controlled by two grahas.
Agni or fiery nature is predominant in Aries, Leo and Saggitarius. It is controlled by Sun and Mars.
Jala or watery nature is predominant in Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. It is controlled by Moon and Venus.
Vayu or airy nature is predominant in Gemini, Libra and Aquarius. It is controlled by Saturn and Rahu.
We will cover this tomorrow, but:
Prithvi or earthy nature is predominant in Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. It is controlled by Mercury. Lagna also has a limited control over Prithvi tattva even though it is not a graha. We will discuss this in the next session.
But what we have determined is that All 12 Rasis have a predominance of one of the five tattvas. All of them have Akash tattva controlling them too.
Now..would it then be right to say that Jupiter and Ketu who are controllers of Akash Tattva or the ether element exert influence over ALL of the Rasis?
2.54: Jupiter or Guru is the jeevakaraka of any chart in that he infuses life which is divine wisdom. It is a graha that expands everything it touches or glances at because of its beneficiance. Jupiter is a teacher and the storehouse of wisdom. Wisdom is very different from intelligence or intuition. Jupiter’s wisdom is ‘knowingness’. It is wisdom that is like a superset of all knowledge of the world. It is present in everything in the universe and everything in the universe is contained within it.
For this reason, Jupiter as a Graha controls Akash Tattva. Akash is intangible space and vacuum. It has no limits as it faces no restrictions or resistance. It is vast and ever expanding as everything that is created…a thought, object, life, worlds…must be contained with it.
Any aspect of Jupiter promises divine grace and guidance. At it’s most benefic, Jupiter will expand all good things. During tough times, Jupiter will act as a protective force to minimise suffering and be the light at the end of a dark tunnel. It is not the wisdom of the native, but Jupiter denotes the wisdom of the universe itself. Jupiter is the guiding intelligence of Brahman itself. The way to activiate Jupiter is through meditation when the ego soaked individual mind and intelligence is silenced so the voice of the Brahman comes through the veil of Maya.
2.55. Ketu or the lunar node aka the south node is the second Graha Tattva of Akash. Ketu is headless intelligence. It is like fire without heat or light. It is often related to clarivoyance or intuition or psychic instincts. In our mythology, Ketu is the headless body of the Asura Svarbhanu who changed forms to take a share of the nectar of immortality after the SamudraManthan or The Great Churning. We know this story and have discussed this many times before.
Svarbhanu’s head was severed and the headless body became Ketu while the head without the body became Rahu. This is why the headless body wanders with no senses and instead of his own head, Ketu only has the vacuum of space or Akash where his head used to be… Ketu’s Akash Tattva, just like Jupiter..can be accessed by meditation.
2.56. Our heads house our brain. It is the physical shell..the head office.. within which mind, intellect and ego operate. But if the head is lost and there is no defined boundaries that distinguish ourselves from the universe, then the whole universe’s identity will become ours.
2.57. Let me explain this further. If we dont think of our hands as ‘our’ hands. If we dont think of our possessions as ‘our’ possessions..if we dont think of our feelings as ‘our’ feelings etc, then there is nothing that is ‘ours’. What happens when we have nothing to identify ourselves with..? This is what happened with Ketu. He lost his identity and hence merged with the whole entire universe and all creations.
Having access to the world’s data means that he has access to the server that is connected to the superset of consciousness that is Akasha. That’s how Ketu controls Akash Tattva. But while Jupiter is a Saatvic Graha, Ketu is a Tamasic Graha(remember from week 1?)
2.58. While Jupiter is expansive and is benefic to all things he touches/glances at, Ketu is The Great Constraint. Ketu has no desire or attachment. His tamas nature or inactivity comes from a lack of desire as he has already been in touch with the Brahman.
2.59. Jupiter being a Saatvic Graha is programmed to act for the sake of others. Ketu being Tamasic is programmed to act only for it’s own sake. And Ketu having lost it’s head..mind, intellect and ego..is all about ‘giving up’. Ketu is the slumber that creeps in after a full meal. The tamas nature of inactivity occurs due to lack of want/desire.
2.60. While Jupiter is about all things expansive and big, Ketu is all about invisible and tiny things. If Jupiter is about worldly knowledge, Ketu is about unseen intelligence like psychic and occult knowledge. If Jupiter is the bestower of all that we desire, Ketu is the remover of any desire we is an obstacle to our liberation from this world of Maya.
But both Jupiter and Ketu control Akash Tattvas. There is a need to live this life of Maya and also a need to join the Brahman within us. Which one wins depends on our weight of our karmic baggage and the strength of our past life vasanas.
2.61. The zodiac is composed of the constellations and planets and stars. All of them go around the Sun. But the entire set up is contained within the vacuum of Space. This space is Akash. When an egg is broken, we see the yolk and the surrounding albumen(the egg whites), but when the egg has been fertilised and a baby bird forms, the albumen disappears even as it gets absorbed into the new life that will soon be hatched. Similarly, Akash tattva nourishes all other tattvas and even though it is invisible, it is part of all the other four tattvas.
2.62. Rasi Tattvas: AKASH TATTVA is part of ALL FOUR RASI TATTVAS.
2.63. Even though Akash Tattva is part of all Rasi Tattvas, it doesnt have a predominance over them in any of the 12 Rasi Houses. They can be accessed for any of 12 Rasi Significations through meditation. This is why MEDITATION is the only way to access Akash Tattva that is controlled by Jupiter and Ketu.
2.64. Important to remember: The lord of a Rasi does not have a tattva assigned to it on the basis of a Rasi. Example: The lord of Pisces is Jupiter. Pisces Rasi has Jala Tattva. Jupiter, the graha does not have Jala tattva. It is important to remember this.
HINT 1 : THE TATTVA ASSIGNED TO A RASI MEANS THAT THE RASI HAS A PREDOMINANCE OF THAT TATTVA.
HINT 2: THE TATTVA ASSIGNED TO A GRAHA MEANS THAT THE GRAHA CONTROLS THAT TATTVA.
HINT 3: THIS IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HOW TO UNPACK RASI TATTVA AND GRAHA TATTVA.
- RASI IS A ‘PLACE IN THE ZODIAC SKY’.
-GRAHA IS A ‘CELESTIAL BODY’.
HINT 4: RASIS ARE STATIONARY SPACES IN THE HEAVENS.
GRAHAS ARE ALWAYS IN MOTION, MOVING FROM ONE RASI SIGN/HOUSE TO ANOTHER.
Assignment:
How will Jupiter act in the water sign of Cancer?
How will Ketu act in the earth sign of Taurus?
How will Jupiter act in the air sign of Aquarius?
How will Ketu act in the fire sign of Aries?
Write down the Rasi Gunas and their movement from week one.
Write down the Graha Gunas from week one.
Combine Graha Gunas and Graha Tattvas in a table.
Combine Rasi Gunas and Rasi Tattvas in a table.
PLEASE ASK DOUBTS IF YOU DONT UNDERSTAND ANY OF THE ABOVE IN THE LIVE CLUBHOUSE SESSIONS. WE ARE HAVING THE CLUBHOUSE SESSIONS ONLY TO RESOLVE DOUBTS OR ANSWER QUESTIONS.
GUNAS AND TATTVAS ARE VERY IMPORTANT AND IF YOU DONT UNDERSTAND THIS AND KNOW THESE ALLOCATIONS BY-HEART, IT WILL BE DIFFICULT LATER DURING PREDICTIVE CLASSES.
TOMORROW: PRITHVI TATTVA.