To the respected Gurus and Learned Scholars of SJC.

In the following is the assignments for Lesson-4,

With my respects, Sabri.

LESSON 4

1- The Dignity/Strength/Avasthas of Grahas. (Stha-Sthana meaning to

stand or be situated)

(Also please see note at the end of text on use of capital letters,
and Sanskrit names)

A Graha stands for or confers many different attributes. E.g. Mangal

stands for strength, energy, activity, military, management,
accidents, cutting, engineering etc. etc. Also for each attribute,
each Graha, or in this example, Mangal may confer eighter a positive
effect or a negative or not desirable effect. E.g. when Mangal is
strong (eighter in Natal chart or in transit/Gochar in the skies),
the native will have good strength, wheras when Mangal is weak this
will lead to weak strength (since Mangal stands for strength).
Another example would be; a strong Mangal would give good management
ability, wheras a weak Mangal could indicate difficulty or problems
in management. So we see that the same Graha according to his
strength will yield different results in different natal charts, or
in different positions in transit/Gochar.

Although there are various ways to determine the strength of a Graha,

here we will discuss the basic two.

The Nine Avasthas (or dignity) of a Graha:

Each graha as he revolves in orbit and passes through each of the 12
Rashis, has one specific Rashi known as the Exaltation Rashi where he
will be most strong and will yield most desirable results of his
attributes. Here he is called Uccha or Exalted. For Mangal the
Exaltation or Uccha Rashi is Capricorn / Makara Rashi. Further in His
Exaltation / Uccha Rashi a Graha will reach his most exalted position
at a specific degree within the Rashi which is called the "deep
exaltation point or degree". For Mangal this specific point is 28
degrees in Capricorn / Makara Rashi (one should remember that each
Rashi spans over a total of 30 degrees in the Zodiac).

Exactly 180 degrees away, or exactly at the opposite side of this

position is found the Rashi where the same Graha is found to be the
weakest. This is called the Detriment / Debility / Neecha Rashi for
that specific Graha. Again the same exact degree, 180 degrees away
from the deep exaltation degree will give the deep debilitation
degree, where the Graha will be the weekest even in his Rashi of
Debility. So for Mangal this will be; Cancer / Karka Rashi, and
within this Rashi the "deep debility point" will be 28 degrees in
Cancer / Karka Rashi.

These two states / Avasthas; Exaltation / Uccha and Debility /

Detriment / Neecha thus are the two extreme (most strong and weakest)
Avasthas of a Graha out of 9 Avasthas of a Graha.

Next we consider, the Rashi or Rashis that a Graha owns, for which He
is the Lord. Surya and Chandra each have one such Rashi e.g. Cancer /
Karka and Leo / Sinha. The remaining 7 Grahas (except Rahu and Kethu)
each have two Rashis that they own. When a Graha is posited or
situated in his own Rashi, he is said to have good Avastha /
Strength. Symbolically we can say that when a Graha is at his own
Rashi, he is as if "at home", he is confortable, stable and yields
good results. This state is less strong than being Exalted and above
average, above being neutral. In the case of Mangal, these Rashis are
Aries / Mesha and Scorpio / Vrischik. So when Mangal is found to be
eighter in Mesha or Vrischik, He is said to be in his own Rashi, thus
yielding good results. In the range of Avasthas thus we have covered
three States; e.g. Exaltation, Own Rashi, Debility.

One further note here is about; for some specific cases and according
to some authorities, e.g. especially for Shani and to a certain
extent for Mangal, being in own Rashi may even be better than being
exalted but this is an exception. Being first-rate malefics, Shani
and Mangal may still confer not desirable results when Exalted, but
when in their own Rashis, they may be considered to be more
confortable and stable, e.g. cause less harm to the native.

There is one further Avastha of a Graha, which is called

Moolatrikoon, which occurs for a certain degree in his (one of the
Rashis when the Graha owns or lord of more than one Rashi ) own Rashi
(except for Chandra, where Rashi of Moolatrikoon e.g. Vrishabha, is
not her own Rashi, e.g. Karka, further exceptions are Rahu and Kethu)
In this Avastha, the Graha gains considerable more strength than
compared to when he is in own Rashi.

For example Mangal will have moolatrikoon Avastha in Mesha Rashi

between 0 and 12 degrees.

With this addition, our list of Avasthas from Most strong to weakest
becomes; Exaltation, Moolatrikoon, Own House, Debility.

There are certain other Rashis in the Zodiac, where none of the above
cases already covered apply for a Graha. When a Graha is in one of
these Rashis, e.g. none of the Avasthas covered above is applicable,
we look at the relationship of the Graha with the lord of the Rashi
he is in. Being a topic in itself (which can be found in all the
introductory texts on Jyotish) there is a natural and temporary
relationship between two Grahas. For example Shani and Surya are
enemies. This means that when Shani and Surya interact, e.g. come
together or one aspects the other the resulting indications are not
favorable. Likewise when Shani is in Surya's Rashi, e.g. Sinha / Leo,
this is an enmical position for Shani, since the lord of this Rashi
is enmical to Shani e.g. Shani is in one of his enemies Rashi; due to
the enmity, Shani will not yield good results in such a position.
Furthermore there is a temporary relationship between a Graha
occupying a Rashi and the lord of that Rashi, based on where the Lord
himself is situated. E.g. when Sani is posited in Sinha, while Surya,
the lord of Sinha himself is in the same Rashi, this further causes
enmity. We call this situation for Shani as the Avastha of Great
Enemy (both relationships are enemy, the topic of compound
relationship between Grahas as can be found in introductory texts on
Jyotish).

So we have, friendship, and enmity resulting from the natural and

temporary relationships between Grahas. From various combinations of
the relationships (natural and temporary) between the Graha and the
lord of the Rashi he is in (which we call the dispositor) we arrive
at 5 more Avasthas. Namely these are; Great Friend, Friend, Neutral,
Enemy, Great Enemy. These Avasthas yield results with quality between
Own Rashi and Debility. Hence we arrive at the complete list of 9
Avasthas of a Graha as in the following; (The below list is from
Exaltation yielding best results to Debility yielding worst results).

Exaltation
Moolatrikoon
Own Rashi
Great Friend
Friend
Neutral
Enemy
Great Enemy
Debility.

One thing to note here that the relationship between Grahas are only
considered after checking for other Avasthas. For example Mangal is
Exalted in Makar Rashi, whose lord is Shani, an enemy to Mangal.
Here, being exalted rules over the enmity relationship between Mangal
and Shani.

One final note here would be that; there are certain Yogas or
Planetary combinations that take away the effect of Debility from a
Graha (e.g. Neecha Bhanga Yogas). He may even be raised to much
higher levels of strength. So upon seeing a debilitaded Graha one
should not jump at the conclusion that the effects will necessarily
be negative. Also the placement of a debilitated Graha may be such
that the results may be favorable for the native, e.g. when posited
in a dusthana, an evil house.

Furthermore in certain cases a debilitated Graha may lead the native

to make up, spend effort, to nullify the defficiency indicated. E.g.
a weak Guru does not necessarily mean that this person will totally
be devoid of knowledge (an indication of Guru), other factors in the
horoscope may point to the fact that the native spends great effort
to acquaire knowledge, hence there is possibility that a native with
debilitated Guru may have considerable knowledge which can be at
least much above average.

One practical way to look at the Avastha of a Graha is to see where

he stands in the Zodiac in comparison to his Rashi of Exaltation and
Debility. Not taking into consideration other factors (e.g. he may be
in own Rashi, or in any of the other Avasthas) one can generally say
that the Graha is strong the nearest he is to his Exaltation Rashi.
When he moves away from his Exaltation Rashi, towards his Rashi of
Debility he starts to gain strength, only to gain strength again when
he starts to move away from Debility to Exaltation.

The Five Avasthas (or dignity) of a Graha:

There is another important factor (among further considerations like

directional strength Shad-Bala) to be considered related to the
strength of a Graha. And this is associated with the degree of
placement of the Graha within a Rashi, which will give us a further
set of Five Avasthas for the Graha.

When a Graha is posited in a Rashi, he is affected by the qualities

of the Rashi. It is further considered that the lord of that Rashi
(known as the Dispositor of the Graha) serves as the soul Jeeva of
the Graha. When a Graha is passing from one Rashi to the other in his
movement following his orbit, e.g. when he has reached the end of one
Rashi, his placement degree being close to 30 degrees, or when he has
just entered into the next Rashi, e.g. his placement degree being
close to 0 degrees, he is considered to be in transition / changing
of character, and in this transition region known as the Sandhi - the
gap, he is considered to be quiet weak. Following on from this
analogy, we divide the 30 degree span of a Rashi into five equal
parts, each one being 6 degrees. The Graha or rather his character in
this Rashi as he travels through these portions is as if, he is born
to start with upon entering the Rashi, and at the end he is dead, to
repeat, the character he gains in this Rashi is extinct. For odd
numbered Rashis, the qualities or 5 Avasthas a Graha will gain will
be; infant, young, adolescent, old and dead. (the succession in even
numbered Rashis is just the opposite as will be seen in the table
below). One should further note that upon leaving an odd numbered
Rashi, a Graha will be weak having dead avastha, and upon entering
the next even numbered Rashi, the Graha will still be in dead
Avastha, hence the type of weakness associated with being dead will
continue in the next Rashi, the similar argument holds for leaving an
even numbered Rashi and entering an odd numbered Rashi where the
Graha's Avastha will continue to be infant.

Avastha in Avastha in
Odd Numbered Even numbered
Degree Rashi Rashi

0-6 Infant Dead

6-12 Young Old
12-18 Adolescent Adolescent
18-24 Old Young
24-30 Dead Infant

The Sanskrit names for these Avasthas are in the following;

Infant- Baala, Baalavastha

Young- Kumaara, Kumaaravastha
Adolescent- Yuva, Yuvavastha
Old- Vriddha, Vriddhavastha
Dead- Mrit, Mritavastha

When a Grahas Avastha is infant, the results he will confer will be

weak just like an infant human being. He may attempt to do things, he
may promise some results, but due to the fact that his strength is
weak, these will not fully manifest. When the Avastha is dead, the
situation is the same, but the results are more bitter associated
with being dead, or about to pass-on or be dead.

>From this point of view, and not taking into account other factors,
the best placement for a Graha is in the middle of a Rashi, having
adolescent Avastha.

A parallel analogy and consideration applies to the degree of the

rising sign for a native. If the rising degree is very small or near
30 degrees, generally it will be seen that the native can not fully
project his full character and potential to the outside world, his
character is found to be weak. Another way to look at this phenomenan
is based on what Maharishi Parashara says about the lagna; "The
lagna is the first and everything for the native". The lagna (Rashi)
plays a major role on the native, shapes his character and gives him
many attributes. But if the rising degree of the lagna is weak, then
he falls in between two Rashis, he can neighter project the qualities
of one Rashi fully nor the other.

So according to the above discussion, in the following is a list of

the Rashis and Avasthas of Grahas in a chart (I chose another persons
chart instead of mine for better practice, since I am quite familiar
with my own).

Graha/Rashi/Degree/9/5 Avastha

(Lagna)/Mithune/00:04
Surya/Meena/8:25/G.Friend/Old
Chandra/Makar/5:38/Friend/Dead
Mangal/Makar/28:17/Exalted/Infant
Buddha/Kumbha/18:59/Friend/Old (Retrograde)
Guru/Dhanu/9:02/Moolatrikoon/Young
Shukra/Kumbha/14:25/G.Friend/Adolescent
Shani/Dhanu/24:04/Enemy/Dead
Rahu/Kanya/1:20/Own/Dead
Kethu/Meena/1:20/Own/Dead

In the above the Graha that is most strong is Mangal, one should
further note that here Mangal is very close tho his deep degree of
exaltation. Also Rahu is seen to own Kanya and Kethu, Meena. (On the
matter about which Rashis, Rahu and Kethu own, there is some
discrepancy between different authorities on Jyotish).

2- How Grahas influence the native according to their attributes.

For this assignment also I use the above given example, since I know
the person (a lady) in question quite well.

Surya: Surya for this native is in Meena (G.Friend/Old) which is the

10th. house of father and activities. Surya signifies the ego and the
self, hence the native likes to be number one and leader and to be
the very best among others in activity, but this has not been
realized, e.g. has been left as the desire of the native, due to the
effect of Kethu with dead Avastha posited in the same Rashi/House.
Kethu signifying inward energy, and with dead Avastha greatly
overshadows the native in activity, with the result that the lady is
quite timid in new ventures. Surya stands for Pitta Dosha, and being
natural significator (Karakatwa) of father his placement in 10th.
house of father is not considered to be very favorable. Her father
has had severe Pitta problems, healthwise. Also Surya signifies the
government authorities, and again together with the influence of
Kethu, her father has had some serious problems with the government.
Surya signifying the self and ego, as noted in the above, further
yields the result that her father is actually a prominent character,
his ego is quite strong or overly strong in the negative sense that
he does not like to listen to the advise of other people and tends
to go his own way and tends to be selfish.

Chandra: Chandra for the native is in Makar Rashi (Friend/Dead) and

8th. house, together with Mangal. 8th. house is not an auspicious
house, and together with the 6th. house signifies dis-ease and
disconforts. Since Chandra signifies the mind, the native has had
some mild psychological problems in the form of mild phobias. Rahu's
5th. house aspect on the same, adds up to this result. Chandra
further signifies, healing, and 8th. house, transformations with the
result that both the native has transformed through psychological
treatments, and also she is interested in psychology herself. Alhough
she has not taken psychology as a career, she has had extensive
courses in psychology.

Mangal: Mangal for the native is in Makar Rashi (Exalted/infant, and

very close to deep exaltation degree), in the 8th. house together
with Chandra. Mangal signifies aggression, and violence, hence she
tends to be angry towards her mother signified by Chandra. But the
anger expressed is not severe, since Mangal is exalted, hence not
yielding very detrimental effect. Also mangal is in his infancy, so
the anger expressed by the native is childishlike, comes up due to
not so serious things, and suddenly due to the 5th. aspect of Rahu on
the same, and goes away quickly. It can be further noted that the
native does not carry deep seated, long-term anger and enmity. Mangal
further signifies, irritations, inflamations etc., 8th. house being
the genital region, she is bothered by chronic irritations of this
region of the body. Again the disconfort has not been severe, but
mild disconfort from time to time. Mangal from this house, aspects
2nd. house of face, with the result that she often has skin rashes
and boils in the eyelids and the lips. This has also been a mild
disconfort for her especially when Mangal is in such a transit /
Gochar to affect the 2nd. house. Also 2nd. house is the house of
speech, and the way she speaks sometimes is quite sharp.

Buddha: Buddha for the native is in Kumbha Rashi (Friend/Old) in 9th.

house. together with Shukra. Buddha for the native is further the
lord of Lagna. We should further note that Buddha in this case is
Retrograde (e.g. in backward motion). Budha being Lagna lord, and a
young Graha results in childish behaviour for the native. Budha
signifies speech, communication and friendship and also changing
nature and behaviour. She is seen to change moods quite frequently
and unexpectedly, likes to have friends and communicate a lot. Buddha
being in the 9th. house of Dharma, spirituality and religion, she
tends to have spiritual friends especially ladies since Shukra is
also in the same Rashi. Buddha being Retrograde, we can predict that
Buddha has effect on the Rashi one before, e.g. Makar/8th. house.
This is further supporting evidence that she communicates for
transformation (psychology) and tends to have psychologists as
friends. Furthermore with lagna lord being in 9th. house, the best
Dharma house, and the house of God's Grace, she is seen to be a lucky
person always having support this way or the other, with no really
serious problems in her life up to the present.

Guru: Guru for the native is in Dhanu Rashi (Moolatrikoon/Young) in

the 7th. house.

Guru signifies, luck, fortune, knowledge and spiritual tendencies.

Guru for the native has especially good Avastha (Moolatrikoon). From
7th. house, Guru is also aspecting the first house of the natives
self, hence directly affecting the native. The native as noted above
is seen to be generally lucky and does not have any financial
problems. She is lucky in the way that she does not have to work to
earn a living. Since Guru is in 7th. house of spouse, her husband has
a good financial situation, so financial support is coming to her
from her husband, with no effort from her side. Both her husband and
herself are persons with good intentions, e.g. resolved to act and to
do good. We can further say that her husband is a spiritual person
who has aspired to seek the light of God.

Shukra: Shukra for the native is in Kumbha Rashi

(G.Friend/Adolescent) in the 9th. house, as noted above together
with Buddha, lord of Lagna. Sukra signifies conforts and conveyances,
beauty, love of art, ladies. Since Shukra for the native has good
Avastha, and since Shukra is together with lord of Lagna, she has had
a confortable life with conforts and conveyances. Since Shukra and
Buddha are together, she tends to have lady friends mostly. She likes
and pays attention to host her friends at home in an elegant way.
Shukra is aspecting the 3rd. house of self-effort and younger
siblings from 9th. house. As a result, she has interest in arts;
painting and dancing, and especially for painting she has spent
considerable effort, but these has not turned to be a professional
activity for her, e.g. she is not a professional painter, but paints
as a hoby. She also has a younger sister, in parallel to the fact
that there is Shukra's aspect on third house.

Shani: Shani for the native is in Dhanu Rashi (Enemy/Dead) in the

7th. house together with Guru.

Shani is signifying problems, delays, sorrow and grief, also

spirituality. Shani is together with Guru and Guru signifies the
husband for a lady. Furthermore Guru stands for children. So we can
see that the significations of Guru has been overshadowed by the
presence of Shani. The result has been that she has married rather
late in life (in Guru Mahadasa) and has not yet had the happiness of
having children. Shani further signifies distance, and since for the
native Shani is aspecting 4th. house of home, she tends to be away
from home during the day, visiting friends. Also she has been since
childhood physically away from home and mother due to the fact that
she had to have education abroad, the conditions in her hometown were
not favorable for education. Shani's 3rd. house aspect on the 9th.
house further supports the fact that she has spiritual friends. Also
this same aspect is affecting her friendships with people, since the
aspect is also on Buddha. As a result of which, we can see that she
has many friends, but except for the select few, these are not close
or real friends. So we can say that the native has many friends, with
whom on the surface she is having good friendship and communication,
but in reality these are on the surface and weak relationships (also
with the affect of Rahu on the same). Only with a couple of spiritual
people she has strong and heart to heart close friendship.

Rahu: Rahu for the native is in Kanya Rashi (Own/Dead) in the 4th.
house.

Although Rahu has strong Avastha (Own house) his degree is small
(dead) hence has given rise to some problems. 4th. house is
signifying mother, conveyances and home. Rahu signifying,
restlessness, fears, anxieties and outward energy, has given the
native, restlessness in the house, she does not like to stay in the
house, rather spends her day mostly outside. Also when left alone in
the house, she tends to get anxious for no apparent reason especially
during the night. Rahu being an outcast is also affecting the mother
of the native, in that the mother is not a typical lady conforming
easily to the social environment, furthermore the mother also has
some considerable phobias and anxieties. Together with Shani's 10th.
house aspect, the mother is restless to serve visitors at home (Shani
also signifies serving and service), e.g. she feels she should over
serve, and do much for visitors. The native also has had some
anxieties while travelling in a vehicle or herself driving. Rahu acts
like Shani (according to some authorities on Jyotish) which further
has contributed to the natives seperation from home, both during
childhood, e.g. during education, and also during her adult life as
noted above.

Kethu: Kethu for the native is in Meena Rashi (Own/Dead) in the 10th.
house.

Kethu signifies inward energy and secretiveness among other things,

and 10th. house again stands for father and activity in the outside
world. Kethu's influence has resulted for the native to not be able
to project herself fully in activity. Although she is active in the
outside world, she has no occupation, and does not lead an organized,
programmed activity. She rather goes visit friends, engage in
different activities for self-development etc., but in all these
activities she is not playing a prominent and dominating role. Kethu
being secretive has influence on the father, the father being very
secretive, almost never talks about his inner world, likes to make
fun of his friends, what he says is generally not the same as what he
thinks or feels or knows. He is rather acting all the time, and as if
carrying a mask on the face, hiding his inner world. Kethu also is an
outcast, the parallel is also found in the father in that, the father
was born and has lived his whole life as a minority in an enmical
society to that minority. He should always be careful about how he
acts and about what he says, since otherwise he can easily get into
trouble with the society where his family is living. Kethu acts like
Mangal (according to some authorities on Jyotish) which further has
contributed to Pitta related problems for the father.

The above significations has been given based mainly on house

placements for ease of expression and demonstration. If the life of
the native is analysed closely taking into account the dasas she has
run through, it will be apparent that the effects mentioned will be
prominent in the dasas and antardasas of the mentioned Grahas.

Furthermore only some Graha significations has been used and

corelated to findings about the natives life. A close and more
detailed analysis will show that these significations only manifest
due to the fact that for each signification there can be found a
number of supporting factors in the natives chart(s), not that a
single attribute cited herein is enough for the manifestation of the
said signification. In fact some contradictory issues can be found;
as per example, Kethu stands for mathematics, being posited in 10th.
house of father, one may be lead to think that the father should have
something to do with mathematics which is not really the case, except
for the fact that he uses simple calculations at the office for
trade. This is due to the fact that this simple indication is not
supported by other findings in the horoscope.

Note: In this text, Graha and Rashi names are written in Sanskrit and
starting with capital letters. The Sanskrit names are emphasised
since these are the true and original names in the Vedic literature,
carrying more deeper significance and effect on the human mind than
the English translations to the names. Furthermore the names are
written with capital first letters; this is due to the fact that
Jyotish is a Divine science meaning that, what we are dealing with
actually are not only physical bodies revolving around the Sun (e.g.
planets) but they are most important, Divine Beings, manifestation
and represantatives of God Himself. We should be fully aware in
dealing with Jyotish that we are actually interacting with God, and
it is His Ultimate Will that will decide on what will happen and when
and if ever. Likewise, astrological remedies and precautions will
only work and will yield good results if only God decides to bless
the native. In this regard I have come across a lady who has told me
an interesting first-hand experience of her which I would like to
cite here for illustration;

The said lady consults a Jyotishee, and she is told that during a
certain Pratyantardasa (3rd. level dasa) it is very likely that she
has an accident in a vehicle. She lives and works in a health
institution and hence has chosen not to go out at all during this
period to avert any possible danger. After this period is over and
some days pass, she thinks that the danger is over and she feels free
to go out and take her car to go to the nearby town which is only 2-3
kilometers away. She is driving rather carefully and slowly on an
open road with no traffic, but all of a sudden in her own words; "I
could not understand how it happened, but all of a sudden the car
drove out of the road and turned over, there was no reason for this,
nor any other car in sight, it just happened all of a sudden". The
car was totally destroyed, useless, and interestingly and fortunately
no harm has come to her. Apparently God decided for her, that she had
to go through such an experience for some good reason only
understandable on the side of God. So staying in the building for the
indicated period did not avert the danger, and it was delivered the
moment she took her first ride with her car.

Of course this does not mean that astrological remedies and

precautions do not have much value, on the contrary, they do have
immense value, equal of which is not available in any other endeavour
of mankind other than Jyotish (except in another context and
direction in Ayur-Veda), that is to avert the danger before it comes.
We should only be aware in this regard that, on our side we should do
our best to please God to receive His blessings, one form of which is
astrological remedies and precautions. But we should not think that
this is an automatic process, and once done the result is guaranteed.
The gurantee is only in the hands of God, He will decide in His all-
merciful nature, whether the karma should be lifted or not, and
whether this will be good for the native or not. In practice also we
see this Divine principle coming into effect. Sometimes we see some
simple remedies are applied with love of God in the heart of a true
devotee and significant good results are obtained, wheras sometimes
we see extensive remedies, rituals and the like are not enough to
ward of the karma totally, indicating in most probability that the
native should still have to have the lesson for his own betterement.
To cite an illustration; When the mother is wiping the dirt off the
face of the child, the child feels the hurt and is unhappy, but the
mother knows that this is for the childs own good. So we never
consider things as unfortunate and unlucky, we do our best on our
side to resolve a situation, we do our best in terms of devotion and
surrender to God, and leave the rest to Him, whom in His all-merciful
ways will choose and do the best for us.

With my deep respects to the excellent Gurus and learned scholars of

SJC.
Sabri.