The Fifth House

The pancama bhāva or the fifth house is the place of the working of the buddhi and is the seat of the mana, representing its highest level. In the natural zodiac, the fifth house is ruled by the Sun, and hence it reflects it’s glorious persona, with the fifth lord promoting the Sun’s qualities, in advancing supreme knowledge and wisdom. It represents a person’s dhī, intelligence, mind (mana), chitta, bhakti (love/devotion), deities, worship, mantra, purvapunya and everything related to progeny, the future of mankind. Dhī and chitta signifies the understanding, the perceptive power, the reflective and meditative ability to ingest and interpret knowledge. In other words it is the discerning power to make judgements which might ultimately be moral. Vyankatesha Sharma, in the Sarvārtha Cintāmaṇi, has called this, vivekaśakti, and has identified it as one of the qualities to be seen from the fifth house. Mana, in addition to the above, is also associated with hṛdaya or the heart. Unquestionably,  it is one of the most important bhāvas in the natal horoscope and the primary trikona (trine), the ninth house being the trine of the trine. It is a very delicate house, and both benefics and malefics placed in it must be treated with fragile care, like babies (our children), which are also indicated by this bhāva.

The Pentad of Creation

At the beginning of Creation, when the Paramātmā desired to manifest, the foundational underpinning that was formed from the Tamoguna are the five elements or the panca mahābhūtas/tatvas: Ākāśa (Ether), Vāyu (Air), Agni (Fire), Apah (Water) and Pṛthivī (Earth). These tatvas were divided into the panca gyānendriyas (śrotra, tvak, cakṣu, jihvā and ghrāṇa) and panca karmendriyas (vāk, pāṇi, pāda, pāyu and upastha).  The gyānendriyas were composed from the Sātvikāmśas of the panca tatvas and the karmendriyas were composed from the Rajo amśas.  The entire Sātvikāmśas of the tatvas were further sub-divided into mana and buddhi. The collective Rajo amśas united to form the panca prāṇas (prāṇa, apāna, samāna, udāna and vyāna). These seventeen atributes comprising the five gyānendriyas, karmendriyas, prāṇas, mana and buddhi, combined to form the sukṣma śarīra[1]. The divinity in these combined attributes is known as Hiraṇyagarbha and individually in them as Taijas. This divinity, in order to fulfill the desires of these newly-born material bodies, further sub-divided the Panca Tatavas into sets of five by conmmingling the elements. It is from this pentagonic division and sub-divisions of the five Tatvas that this universe, the 14 bhuvanas (sapta lokas and sapta pātālas) and the gross body was fashioned. Hiraṇyagarbha expanded himself to his omniform within this gross body and and the Taijas manifested itself as the devatas, animals, birds and human beings to ultimatley create this world or viśva.

The living beings thus born, are devoid of this higher knowledge which has led to their creation, and are instead engaged in performing actions to fulfill their desires and get caught repeatedly in the cycle of birth and re-birth. This is because the ātmā, or the born soul, deludes itself and forgets this supreme knowledge as it is enshrouded by the Panca Kośas (annamaya, prāṇamaya, manomaya, vigyānamaya and ānandamaya). The Sātvikāmśas of the panca tatvas combined with the gyānendriyas and the mana to form the Manomaya Kośa, and with the buddhi to form the Vigyānamaya Kośa. It is only with knowledge that the ātmā can perceive itself as separate from the Panca Kośas and this is known as vidyā.  It is only if they are fortunate enough, through the initiation of a guru/teacher, or otherwise to gain knowledge of this supreme Brahma tatva about the universe and the Supreme Divine, that they are able to liberate themselves from this created universe and achieve mokṣa.   This vidya or knowledge is nothing but the great phrase, tatvamasi, or “thou art that”, and the person who has attained this gyāna and has the wisdom to discern or distinguish this great truth from other trivia, is endowed with dhī. This quality and the capacity for this perceptive power and supreme knowledge is seen through the pancama bhāva.

Kārakas

The kāraka for the fifth house is devaguru Jupiter, the priest of the gods, the giver of light and the supreme preceptor. Guru is he who removes the darkness of ignorance and ushers in the light of knowledge. The Sun is the actual source of brilliance, so logically the Sun removes darkness but it does so upon the intervention of Guru. Therefore, without the blessings of Guru, the mind is forever enshrouded in darkness, clouded by ignorance, until Jupiter illuminates it and grants wisdom. Hence, Jupiter is the kāraka for the fifth house and the significator for dhī, intelligence, and knowledge.

Mana or the mind is capable of both good and bad thoughts. Thoughts are the seeds (beeja) for future actions; therefore, protection of the mind is extremely necessary, which is done through mantra. Good thoughts lead to good actions. For this the blessings of Jupiter should be invoked so that he fills the mind with good thoughts at all times and illuminates it with the Sun’s light, so that one is always guided by dharma, conscience and the higher perceptive power which elevates one above gloom and murk. Perhaps for this very reason, the Rig Veda has saluted the great Jupiter, telling us to adore him and worship him during our prayers, rites and rituals, so that he may bestow unending treasures, happiness and strength and give shape to all our desires and hopes.

“Adore the noble and pure Bṛhaspati during sacrifices, with your hymns. May he grant unsurpassable strength in the pursuit of achieving knowledge”. So Bṛhaspati, the respected and the adorable One; the One who gives form to the world, the great and the omni form One, should be invoked and worshipped at all times. (Also, refer to Meters 4 and 6 of the above Sukta).

The ninth from Jupiter brings the guru in a subject’s life. If the naisargika kāraka for the guru is Jupiter, representing the dhī, then the physical body of the guru is represented by the chara bhrātṛ kāraka in a natal horoscope. The guru illuminates the mind by dispelling darkness by giving spiritual knowledge and through the initiation of mantra. Hence, the initiation of the correct and the best mantras take place when Jupiter transits or aspects in transit, the Mantrapada, i.e. the āruḍa pada of the fifth house.

Planets in the Fifth House

As mentioned earlier, benefics and malefics placed in this house has to be treated with fragility. Benefics in the fifth house gives a person correct thoughts and makes him  skilled and principled. They expand śrī at home, makes one prone to japa and meditation, spiritual and well-behaved. Malefics give a person wrong and malicious thoughts, disgraced, complaining, unclean, non-spiritual and prone to worshipping malefic mantra devatas.  If the 5^th lord is weak, ill-placed and afflicted by the ṣaḍripus, the native becomes evil-minded and has wrong thoughts. A strong 5^th lord and in conjunction with Jupiter or Mercury, placed in a trine or a kendra, endows him with intelligence. In fact, the association or placement of Jupiter and Mercury in the fifth house, makes one a scholar and an author. If such a Jupiter is a yogakāraka it will make a person a scholar and author of all the śastras, specially in the Vedas and Vedāngas, and if placed in a kendra/kona/exaltation/own sign, it will grant supreme knowledge to the subject. Similarly, the placement of the other benefics in the fifth are to be seen for intelligence and the branch of scholarship that a person will excel in, particularly, the different branches of philosophy, mathematics, astrology and medicine. If the planet so placed is a yogakāraka, it will give expertise in certain specific areas of scholarly disciplines. If kāraka Jupiter is conjunct the 5^th lord and is in strength then the person can achieve immense fame and success in all his undertakings and earn the plesaure of the rulers of his country.

Malefics in fifth house combinations will give the reverse results and destroy all conditions for knowledge, whether mundane or spiritual, and make the person dull witted. Further, it can cause imbalances of the mind, leading to loss of memory and madness. Praśna Mārga clearly associates madness with the fifth house and recommends japa (mantra recitation) and homa (sacrifices) as a remedy. These adverse affects are prominent when a malefic in the fifth house or the conjunction of the fifth lord with a malefic, is debilitated or in an enemy’s house, combust, having dosha, is in a krura ṣaṣṭiāmśa or aspected by malefics. In such conditions the dhī is totally destroyed. The situation worsens when the fifth is devoid of any benefic aspect or association. In addition, if there is an association of Saturn, Gulika or Rahu, there are frequent memory losses. Association of Saturn with the fifth house and the lagna is considered particularly adverse for the proper functioning of one’s intelligence. In such situations, mantras can contribute tremendously in protecting the mind by disciplining it through training and routine. At a higher level, mantra leads to conditions whereby a person cam move towards attaining the supreme knowledge. When this is achieved, and the mind ‘knows’ that it is separate from the materia matrix to which it is attached, and then a person can attain samādhi. Conversely, wrong mantras can create imbalances in the mind. There is thus a very subtle and fragile connection between intelligence, the mind, the stability of one’s mind and mantras.

Mantra and Deity

The mana or mind is protected by mantra, sacred formulae or hymn which are repetitively chanted as an invocation to a deity. The fifth house denotes mantra and everything that is associated with it, that is, mantra (sacred formulae), yantra (sarced diagrams), japa (the repeated mental chanting of mantra), bhakti (devotion), devatā (deity/god), worship, and spirituality. It indicates the inclination and capabilty to chant mantras. It indicates the nature of the deities which should be worshipped and which the subject desires to worship. If the subject starts worshipping this deity, then his discipline will increase and he will become consistent in his spiritual practices, following the regularity of the Sun. He will then become closer to achieving the perfect knowledge.  The trine of the fifth house is the ninth, denoting among other things, dharma or religion. When there is an association between the two trines, the fifth and the ninth, dharma and bhakti (religosity and devotion) come together, creating the ideal conditions for divine worship. If there is an association between the fifth house and the lagna, specially between their lords, then it will bestow upon the subject, the unending blessings of the Creator.

Many jyotisha works first examine the nature of the fifth house and the influences on it to determine the deities to be worshipped. The most common dictum that is found, is that if a male planet is placed in or aspects the fifth house, the subject will worship a male deity and if the planet is female then the object of worhsip will be a female deity[2]. If there are no planets in the fifth house, then the fifth lord is examined, its nature being determined by the planets with whom it is conjoined. This basic dictum has been further elaborated by different scholars, according to the gender and maleficence of planets and the gender, oddity and fixity of the signs, from which we may derive the following:

1. If the fifth house is a masculine sign, aspected by or conjunct a masuline planet, then the subject will desire to worship male deities. If the sign is feminine and associated or aspected by a female planet, then the desire to worship will be towards a female deity.
2. If the fifth house is an odd sign, the fifth lord is in an odd sign and the fifth house is related to a male planet, then one will worship a male deity. If it happens to be an even or a dual sign and associated with a female planet, then the object of worhip will be a female deity.
3. If there are benefics associating or aspecting the fifth house, then the native worships sātvik gods and follows his dharma like a sadhu. If the asscoiation is of malefics then the inclination is to veer towards lesser deities, spirits and departed souls.

Inferring from the above mentioned principles, the śāstras provide a list of the deities corresponding to the nine planets, if placed in or associated with the fifth house. Given below are two such correspondences as mentioned in the Jātaka Pārijāta (henceforth JP) and the Jātaka Tatva (henceforth JT).

Jātaka Pārijāta

  Jātaka Tatva

It is interesting to note that the Jātaka Tatva ascribes a female deity for Jupiter, that of Goddess Śāradā, one of the many forms of Goddess Sarasvati, the pristine and pure śakti who symbolises learning and knowledge. Goddess Durgā is attributed to Venus instead of the common correspondence of Goddess Lakṣmī. The term Yakśiṇī is also open to interpretation, but since the reference is to deities and devotion one may deduce that it may refer to Durga, the chief among Yakśiṇīs, according to one translation[3].  There are a few other combinations mentioned in the JT with refernce to the 5^th house and deities, which are as follows:

1. Like the Jātaka Pārijāta, JT also states, that if the Moon and Venus are associated with the fifth house the subject would have a prefernce for worshipping female deities.
2. If the lord of the 4^th house is in the fifth, the subject shall be a devotee of Lord Viṣṇu. This is also mentioned by Parasara.
3. If the 12^th lord is in the 2^nd or the 8^th and is related to the 5^th lord, the subject’s devotion will be towards sātvik deities.

Suka Nādi

The Suka Nādi gives certain specific combinations for identifying deities from the fifth house and its lord, apart from reiterating the basic principles mentioned earlier. These clauses are as follows:

1. If the fifth lord occupies the sign of Leo and is aspected by the Sun, one will meditate upon the Pancākṣarī mantra and attain the blessings of Shiva.
2. If the Moon is in the fifth house and the fifth lord is with Mars, then the subject will worship Kārtikeya.
3. If the fifth lord is in the sign of Mercury, while Mercury is in the fifth house or the fifth house is aspected by Mercury, the subject will worship Mahāviṣṇu.
4. If Jupiter is placed in the 5^th house with the 5^th lord in Virgo, the subject will worship Goddess Gouri.
5. If the fifth lord and the lagna lord occupy inimical signs, then the subject will be an atheist.

It must be noted here, that the various fifth house correspondence to the deities given above are not the only planetary associations made with divine beings in jyotisha. There are innumerable ways to identify and determine one’s personal gods and goddesses and spiritual inclinations. Many of them are handed down in the paramparas or lineages, while others are mentioned in the classical texts. For instance, Parasara, Jaimini and JT all speak about the 12^th house from Kārakāmśa, which is seen for one’s ishta devata. The planets placed here have a correspondenc with specific deities, which are similar to the lists presented above. JT in addition speaks of planets in the  Kārakāmśa itself to represent deities, while Parasara has said that the 12^th house and trines from the Amātyakāraka are also to be seen, in a manner similar to the Kārakāmśa. Parasara has moreover given a planetary correspondence with the various Viṣṇu avatārs which is familiar to all.  The Praśna Mārga has gone a step further and has given certain specifications for the precise determinations of deities, applicable to any house in the horoscope. Since this would include the fifth house as well, it must be mentioned here. So the above scheme of planetary ascoiations with the various deities must be finetuned with Praśna Mārga’s guide given below. The correct application would be to see the trines in the rasi, navamsa and vimsamsa to accurately come to a conclusion before interpreting the deities indicated in a horoscope.

Praśna Mārga

Parasara

Although Parasara specifically does not elaborate how the fifth house depicts mantra or deity, he clearly enunciates that it is connected with ‘yantra’ and ‘mantra’ (refer to shloka quoted on page 1 above). A few statements mentioned in the Bṛhat Parasara regarding this aspect of the fifth house is as follows:

1. If the 4^th lord is in the 5^th, the subject will be devoted to Lord Viṣṇu (Ch. 24:41). As mentioned above, JT also echoes this.
2. If the 5^th lord is in the 7^th, the subject will assimilate the knowledge of all religions – ‘sarvadharmasamanvita’. (Ch.24:55)
3. If the 11^th lord is in the 5^th, he will be religious. (Ch. 24:125)
4. If the 12^th lord is in the 5^th, he will visit shrines in order to beget a child. (Ch. 24:137)

The Fifth from Kārakāmśa

Parasara however elaborates considerably on the fifth house from the Kārakāmśa (the Navāmśa in which the Ātmakāraka is placed) in order to delineate patterns in worship and the nature and form of deities towards whom the subject will be inclined. The Kārakāmśa per se is the house examined for spirituality parameters hence it is perfectly comprehensible why Parasara has stressed the fifth house from it rather than the fifth in the rasi chart.  Parasara gives further importnace to the trines of Kārakāmśa. Normally, the classical texts in jyotisha give the placemnet of planets in the fifth house in the rasi chart, for the various combinations which grants expertise in different disciplines and branches of knowledge. Parasara examines scholarship from the fifth of  Kārakāmśa, implying that matters relating to the dhī and the mana and spirituality, are seen by the great sage from the Navāmśa, leaving the rasi chart exclusively for the study of progeny. Or perhaps, verses are lost or astrologers are expected to dedeuce the same on their own. This however is a matter of speculation. For the present purposes, a very significant verse is found in Chapter 34, Shlokas 75-76 of the Bṛhat Parasara:

The essence of these two shlokas is that if there are two malefics in a trine from the Kārakāmśa,the subject will have knowledge or be an expert in mantras and tantras. If these planets are aspected by another malefic, then the knoweldge will be misutilised for evil purposes, but if the aspect is that of a benefic, then this knowledge will be used for pubilc good. This dictum is echoed by JT (Shlokas 30-32, Pancama Viveka) and by Jaimini in his Upadesa Sutras (1.2.83-85). The inference is that evil purpose or misutilisation  indicates black magic.

Parasara and Jaimini provide the combinations for scholarship in the different systems of philosophy like Nyaya, Mimamsa, Sānkhya,Vedanta etc., as seen from the fifth from Kārakāmśa and Swamśa, while the other classiscs examine this from the fifth house in the rasi chart. This is beyond the scope of the present paper, however two dictums as mentioned by Parasara and Jaimini must be mentioned relating to the discussion on deities and mantra. The first is that Mercury placed in the fifth from Kārakāmśa makes one a saint/ascetic of a very high stature; those who would establish religious orders which would continue to flourish long after their demise. The precise term used by both Parasara and Jaimini is ‘paramahamsa’. The second is that Jupiter’s presence in the fifth from Kārakāmśa makes one a Vedantic scholar. Jaimini adds that the Sun’s placement in this house, will make the subject an expert in the Bhagavat Gita.

From the above it is clear, that the association of malefics with the fifth house cause affictions in the mind and pushes the subject towards tantrik mantras. However, even benefics, if weak, debilitated, retrograde or severly afflicted can often give similar results as under such condiitons they constitute a curse from the past life. During the periods of such afflicted benefic planets great evil shall befall and the subject may start dabbling in tantrik mantras or black magic and mantras of shudra devatas. This will cause further suffering as such mantras allow evil thoughts to continue in the mind. The following events will happen during the periods of the affected planets, indicating forthcoming curses that will manifest[4].

Examples

We will now examine a few illustrative cases in order to apply the abovementioned principles.

Chart 1: Durmantra – Schizophrenia[5]

This is an example of how an afflicted natural benefic in the fifth house led a person towards black magic, which ultimately affected the balance of his mind. In the fifth house, there is a retrograde and debilitated Jupiter, also the kāraka for the said bhāva, as well as the bādhakesh for the native. Bādhā or obstacle will be āguntaka (external) and adṛśṭa (unnatural), which implies unnatural phenomena. Jupiter is further afflicted by eighth lord Mars and 12^th lord Sun, whose aspects indicate fire hazards. Furthermore, Jupiter in Capricorn denotes dabbling in black magic and spirits.  When Jupiter dasha commenced, the native started learning planchette and engaged in strange tantrik/black magic practices. Jupiter is the dispositor of Rahu, but being unassociated with Gulika and Mandi, it did not kill the native, but affected his mental faculties severely. Rahu is also placed in Mantrapada. One can observe that there are three malefics aspecting the fifth house: Mars, Sun and the Rasi drishti of Saturn. Saturn is conjunct second lord Venus and Mercury. The second house symbolizes speech and the mouth, from wherein mantras are recited. The second lord is with Mercury, the kāraka for speech and mantra. There is Sarpa Yoga, with three malefics in the kendra, which is also conducive to black magic.

The subject became the president of a dramatics association and organized a play. On the first day of the production, a fire broke out in the theatre, which burned the sets completely. This occurred in Jupiter Mahadaśa, Venus Antardaśa and Cancer Narayana Daśa. In a week’s time, the native began to show symptoms of schizophrenia and resigned from his job as a private secretary in a good company. Soon after, the native became completely mad and he still suffers from schizophrenia. The mana continues to be tormented.

Chart 2: Devī Bhakti – Sadhvi Rithambara

This is the horoscope of a politician in India. The fifth house is in the Sātvik, benefic, even and feminine sign of Cancer, with the female planet Moon strongly placed in its own Rasi. This is a clear indication of devotion towards female deities, in particularly Goddess Gouri, who is the ultimate form of the Divine Mother. She is in fact, one of the greatest devotees of the Devi or the Divine Goddess. Her devotion is so great, that despite being a renunciate; she has herself assumed qualities of motherhood and has established many orphanages.  Here Moon is also the Bhrātṛ Kāraka, and its placement in the fifth house is considered most auspicious, showing a total dedication to her guru. She draws her strength from her guru and the mantras received from him.

Chart 3: Śiva Upāsana – Sanjay Rath

In this chart, the fifth house is Cancer with the Sun and Venus placed in it. The sign is feminine and even, both of which indicate an inclination to worship female deities. The fifth lord is also a female planet. However, the planets occupying the fifth house are male and female planets, showing that the subject will have a desire to worship both male and female deities. The Sun in this horoscope dominates, aspected by a very strong male planet, Jupiter, to show personal devotion to Shiva. We need to look at other attributes for a clear picture and here we find the Sun is cara Bhrātṛ Kāraka (Guru) and Venus is cara Pitṛ Kāraka (father). Therefore, the worship of Lord Shiva is in the lineage coming from father and his diksa Guru. The native not only has an extremely strong devotion to Shiva, worshipping Him in every conceivable form, but he particularly adores Shiva as Dakṣiṇāmūrti, the Lord’s manifestation as the Guru. Incidentally, the native is also drawn towards all forms of Guru worship, such as Lord Dattātreya, probably because of the strong aspect on the fifth house by kāraka Jupiter, from its advantageous position in the lagna. The native is also enormously fascinated by Surya, so the position of Sun in the fifth house has given him both Surya and Shiva worship, as indicated by Jātaka Tatva. He was initiated to the Gayatri mantra by his paternal uncle and guru (Chara Bhrātṛ Kāraka Sun) and was given the Surya Yantra by him.

The fifth lord is Moon and is in yoga with Mercury showing devotion for Sri Krishna (Mercury in 2nd drekkana of a fixed sign) and this devotion for Krishna comes from his place of birth, as Mercury is the fourth lord.  Mercury also represents his ishta. As mentioned earlier, the fifth lord Moon is a feminine planet, together with the fact that Venus is placed in the fifth house in a feminine and an even sign. Moon and Venus signify the desire to worship female deities, and truly, the native has a very strong connection with the Divine Mother, especially with her powerful śakti forms, given the aspect of Saturn.

An interesting point to note is that the native has four malefics in the trines to the Kārakāmśa, depicting that he is mantrikā i.e. someone who is an expert in the knowledge of mantras. However since only benefics (Venus and Moon) aspect these planets, he will employ this knowledge for the public good, and will not use it to harm anyone.

No planets in 5^th house

Chart 4: Śiva Bhakti

In this horoscope, the fifth house has no planets. The fifth lord Mercury is conjunct the Sun, Jupiter and lagna lord Venus. The strongest planet conjoining the fifth lord is the Sun, the Amātyakāraka, depicting Shiva worship. Jupiter also portrays worship of Shiva. The native is a great devotee of Shiva, and such is the extent of his devotion, that he recognizes no other deity. For him, there is only one God, one Creator, one Lord of the Universe, and that is Shiva. In an extreme corner of his spacious villa, he has his own private Shiva linga, immersed in a small pool of water, where he sojourns early each morning with his basket of flowers. None of the other family members ventures near the Linga, over which he exercises exclusive proprietary rights. Bare bodied, clad only in his dhoti and huge rudrākṣa beads, he worships his favorite Shiva with freshly plucked flowers, his chanting of Om Namah Shivaya reverberating across the house for all to acknowledge his reverence for the great lord. The relationship that he shares with his god is one of a child with a parent, of a friend with a confidante; alternating in gratitude or anger depending on the turn of events that fate had dealt him at a particular time. This profound single minded devotion towards one deity, almost to the extent of dissolving the self with the divine being can be seen in the conjoining of the 5^th lord and the lagna lord with the Sun and Jupiter, implicating that the self (lagna lord) and bhakti (5^th lord) had merged with Shiva (Sun and Jupiter).

To clinch the matter further, his ishta is also Shiva represented by the Sun, the 12^th lord from the Kārakāmśa, who is placed in the Navamsa lagna with lagna lord Venus. Once again, we see the merger of the deity with the self, Shiva and the native, represented by the Sun and Venus. The lagna is vargottama in the sign of Taurus, the place of exaltation of the Moon. The particular form of Shiva that the native is attached to, is Lord Somnath (symbolized by the Moon), who is also his village deity, yet again depicted by the Sun as the fourth lord.

Chart 5: Kṛṣṇa Bhakti-Prabhupāda

In Srila Prabhupada’s chart, the fifth house has no planets. The fifth lord Mars is conjoined an exalted Moon. The fifth house is a masculine and an odd sign, with the fifth lord being a male planet. Hence, Mars conjunction with Moon, rather then depicting a female deity, indicates more towards a male god. Exalted Moon can be none other than Sri Krishna. The dispositor of the fifth lord Venus is with Mercury, which also indicates Krishna, and the conjunction of Venus and Mercury point towards a love for Radha and Krishna. However, undoubtedly, the fifth lord’s conjunction with the exalted Moon shows his single minded focus on one god, in this case Krishna.

Chart 6: P.V.R.Narasimha Rao

This is the chart of a SJC guru, where one finds the fifth house to be empty, but the fifth lord Mars is placed in the 8^th house in a powerful combination with three planets, Saturn, Mercury and Venus. The fifth house is in the sign of Capricorn, which is a feminine and an even sign, with its lord Saturn, a neutral planet. The deity the native is much attached to and worships regularly is Mahālakṣmī, represented by Venus. Venus also represents his ishta, being the 12^th lord from the Kārakāmśa and conjoined with his Ātmakāraka, indicating a high level of spirituality and a special personal connection and devotion, which he feels towards Mahālakṣmī. Of the other planets, which conjoin the fifth lord, Mars is prominent, strong in his own sign Aries. In his childhood, the native was particularly attached to Hanumān. The third indication is that of Lord Nārāyana (Saturn) and Viṣṇu avatārs (Mercury in moveable sign). It is a well known fact in SJC circles that the native regularly conducts the Satyanārāyaṇa Vṛata at his home in the US. Given the strong presence of Mars in Aries, the avatār who is firmly indicated is Lord Nṛsimha. In fact, interestingly, relatives from his father’s maternal side were such devout worshippers of Lord Nṛsimha, that almost the entire clan was named after the deity in a variety of combinations, such as Ugra Narasimha, Jwala Narasimha, Lakshmi Narasimha, Vijaya Narasimha etc. His grandfather was also named Narasimha Rao, like the native himself. (Close involvement of 9^th lord and 5^th lord shows father’s lineage). As a consequence of this family background, the native worships Lord Nṛsimha but is not particularly attached to the deity. The Viṣṇu avatār towards whom he feels great devotion is Śrī Rāma, following Hanumān and Goddess Mahālakṣmī.

 References

1. Bṛhat Parāsara Horā Śastra, (tr.) Santhanam, R., Ranjan, New Dehi, 2000 edition.
2. Horā Vigyān Rahasyam, Bhattacharya, Narayanchandra Jyotirbhushan, Sanskrit Pustak Bhandar, Calcutta
3. Jaimini Mahāṛṣis Upadeśa Sutras, (tr.), Rath, Sanjay, Sagar, New Delhi, 1997
4. Jātaka Pārijāta, (tr.), V. Subramanya Shastri, Ranjan, New Delhi
5. Jātaka Tatva, (Tr.), Sareen, S. S., Sagar, New Delhi, 1987
6. Praśna Mārga, (tr.), Raman, B. V., Motilal Banarasidas, New Delhi, 1980
7. Pancadaśī (tr.), Vaneshananda, Swami, Udbodhan Karyalaya, Calcutta, 1999
8. Ṛg Veda, (tr.), Wilson, H. H., Ashtekar, Pune, 1926
9. Ṛg Veda, (tr.), Griffith, H. T., Internet version
10. Ṛg Veda, (tr.), Saraswati, Dayanand, Sarvadeshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, New Delhi, 1986
11. Sāṁkhya Kārikā, (tr.), Virupakshananda, Swami, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras, 1995
12. Sārāvali, (tr.), Santhanam, R., Ranjan, New Delhi, 1996
13. Sarvārtha Cintāmaṇi, (tr.), Bhasin, J. N., New Delhi, 1986
14. Suka Nāḍī, (tr.), Santhanam, R., Ranjan, New Delhi, 1996

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[1] A detailed discussion on this is in Vidyaranya Swami’s (Madhavacarya) Pancadaçé.  The Sāmkhya Kārika gives a slightly different configuration of Creation, stating that there are 16 attributes, which make up the sukñma çaréra. Buddhi or Mahat is one of the first to emerge from Primordial Nature, from which the rest of the attributes emerge. However, the definition of buddhi remains unchanged as discussed later in the paper.

[2] Jātaka Pārijāta, Jātaka Tatva, Suka Nādi, Horāvigyāna Rahasyam

[3] M. Monier-Williams however adheres to the meaning, Yakça or Kuvera’s wife or demonesses.

[4] Source: Sanjay Rath

[5] Case study data of Charts 1 and 2 is courtsey Sanjay Rath