Author – Bijesh Menon

I have been practicing astrology for more than a decade now. Based on the interactions with my clients, I have come to a conclusion that a people are more concerned about their profession than other aspects of life. Most of my clients come to me questions like “When will I have stability in my job”, “Will I be transferred this year”,  “What if I leave my job and take up a business” or “Am I into the right line of profession, if not what is best for me” etc.  People take such failures very seriously and are less tolerant about them when it comes to career.

When I thought of writing an article about profession and vocation, I found myself confused on where to start. There are many books dedicated on this vast subject. I could not figure out how to express my views in a small article. I therefore decided to dedicate this article on the astrological combinations that cause downfall in profession, as it is the most worrisome area for a lot of us. I am trying to draw the attention of readers towards some of the planetary combinations which causes troubles and down falls to ones profession. These are based on my own experiences.

The Rahu-Ketu Axis and Unstable Career

The axis of Rahu and Ketu occurring in the fourth and tenth houses in a horoscope is one of the worst situations as far as profession is concerned. Irrespective of which planet (Rahu/Ketu) being posited in the tenth, the professional life of the native will suffer.

Rahu’s position in tenth house causes one to have frequent changes in his career. Such natives are much aggressive in their professional life. They seldom listen to others opinion and have strained relation with the co workers. They can be very impulsive which may lead them to making many a hasty decisions in career.

Rahu’s position in a fiery sign (Aries, Leo and Sagittarius) in the tenth house: Rahu is an aggressor and when he gets posited in a fiery sign, his flares burn high. This will lead to native always getting in to adverse situations in the work place. He will have frequent arguments with his co workers and superiors. He will never care others word. He will quickly get bored with his work. He will work hard but most of his hard work would go unnoticed. Such natives may not change the line of profession frequently but change in the job is certain. Business men with this combination will seldom find success since they will never maintain good relation in their business circle. Their success in life will be only in patches.

Rahu position in a watery sign (Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces): Rahu is less malefic than being located in a watery sign being posited in a fiery sign. The reason behind it is that Rahu will never attains much power in a watery sign like a fiery sign.  But still Rahu will cause damage as much as possible because Rahu is uncomfortable in watery signs. In Pisces, Rahu is less harmful because Jupiter has a calming influence over Rahu as the depositor lord.

The natives with Rahu in the 10th house in a watery sign will have fewer changes in career but they tend to suffer more in their jobs. Such natives have a sense of frustration in their career and do not see many opportunities for change.

Rahu’s position in the tenth house in an earth sign (Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn): Earth signs signify patience and practical approach. This influence on Rahu provides stability in career. Also, Rahu maintains a good relation with only a few planets and Venus and Mercury are among them. That’s the reason why Rahu is a less of a trouble in Taurus and Virgo. Such natives also may face some problems in their professional life and have the tendency to change jobs but will always hold their nerves with practical approach to the situation. Also they will have an attitude of seeing things from an angle of enjoyment and cooperation which will always help them stand strong even at the odd periods.

Rahu’s position in the tenth house in an airy sign (Gemini, Libra and Aquarius): In airy signs Rahu is most comfortable and causes least trouble. Once again two of the three airy signs Gemini and Libra are owned by Mercury and Venus who are friendly to Rahu. In Aquarius Rahu does not behave properly since the sign is owned by Saturn and the combination of Rahu-Saturn is always bad influence. Moreover most of the schools of astrology are of the opinion that for Rahu, Gemini and Virgo are like own houses. Taurus is considered Rahu’s exaltation sign. In practice, this has indeed been found to be true.

If Ketu is located in the tenth, then the native tends to suffer humiliation and hardship in their work life. The native will always find it difficult to enjoy their work because most likely he/she will be caught in a line of profession which is not the line of interest. But what makes Ketu’s case different is that such people will keep their frustrations and uneasiness unexpressed for long and then end it with a disastrous move. Unlike Rahu in the tenth, these people will not try to bring in a change in their career, but will ruin it by keep continuing at the same place and the performance going down each day, one day at a time. If Rahu forces one to have changes in the professional front even for no apparent reason, Ketu holds one from even reacting to adverse situations. And at last when they take a decision it will be pretty bad.

The transits of Rahu and Ketu are also adverse for career. Whenever the transit of either Rahu or Ketu has reference to the meridian point, there is tension in profession. A close examination however reveals that the transit of Ketu over the 10th house creates more trouble than than of Rahu. A transit of Rahu or Ketu over the natal 10th, either from Lagna or Moon, along with an influence of transit Saturn by the means of yoga or aspect, the situation gets worsened.

Ideally, this article should have written itself as part II of Progeny in Vedic Astrology and Dattak Putra Yoga. However, life is such that when children come along, they take up majority of the time and energy of their parents. Most importantly, they divert the focus away from all other activities. Even now, when I am trying to concentrate on this article, I am not able to get the tunes of Itsy Bitsy Spider and Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun out of my head.

A relationship between a parent and child is a complex one. Responsibility and expectation does not always balance each other out. Both the parties grow together and as everyone gets older, maintaining the relationship is not necessarily a piece of cake.

To judge such a relationship, we need to look at 5th house in parent’s chart and 9th house in the child’s chart. Due to Bhavat Bhavam, both 5th and 9th become important as 9th is 5th from 5th and 5th is 9th from 9th. In general, we should look at influences on 5th house and its lord to determine how the relationship and association would be in future.

Happiness through children is indicated if there is a positive influence through Moon, Venus and Jupiter. Similarly, unhappiness would be caused by Saturn and Rahu. Afflicted Mercury causes worries, Mars causes danger and Rahu can be the cause of scandals. Adverse navamsha and saptamsha positions of well placed planets in rashi chart cause misunderstanding.

Placement of 5th lord in various houses is important. A good yoga/combination between 1st and 5th house lords predicts a good relationship. A good combination between 5th and 7th or 9th house lord predicts that the parent would benefit from foreign travels of the child. If there are negative influences, the relationship would be estranged by distance. Similarly, if the 2nd house is involved and there are a lot of negative influences, a parent might not be able to support the child financially.

The rules explained above are from the perspective of a parent, but can be turned around and looked from the perspective of the child as well. Take an example of 10th house – an unfavourable combination between 5th and 10th house would mean that a person would neglect his/her children for career. A similar combination involving 9th and 10th house would mean that a child will not get enough support from parent because of the parent’s career aspirations.

Marriage is defined based on a ceremony, whether it is a ceremony in front of Agni dev, Nikaah in front of a kazi, a church wedding in front of a priest or a court wedding in front of a registrar. The importance of a ceremony is such that in 2002 when I applied for a dependent US visa for my wife, the US consulate insisted on seeing wedding photographs along with the marriage certificate.

A relationship can exist without a ceremony as well – in fact one of the types of wedding defined in Indian culture called Gandharva Vivah, is nothing but a man and woman accepting each other as husband and wife and then going ahead with life.

Without sounding judgmental, I have a very honest and personal advice for folks here: if you are in a committed relationship, please do not look for an astrologer’s approval. If you must, please try to get the approval/blessings of your loved ones, which is what a ceremony is anyway.

This Kaliyuga has mere mortals like me who doubted the God (of cricket) and had written him off. I had the temerity to ask him to just be a coach and motivator of India team. He silenced us all and showed that he can coach/motivate/lead from the front just by doing what he does best - batting. Anil Kumble rightly says – “If the youngsters in the team can take even 10 per cent of what he does, they’ll be better cricketers for it”.

I will be very happy to publish your work on this website. It would be very helpful to spread good word about Vedic Astrology throughout the world.

Owners of such houses are inclined to do evil as much as natural malefics. Any association or yoga with natural and temporal benefics in a chart is not considered to be good. Planets occupying such houses are rendered weak and give bad results in relation to their own houses. When the lords of such houses are rendered powerless through their position within one of these houses itself – along with other debilitating combinations – it is said to constitute opposite of a raja yoga – vipareeta raja yoga and we have Vipareeta raja yoga as “a raja yoga with disclaimers”.

The effects on an individual are the very good – windfall, success in a venture, etc. Success does not come with the grace and fame usually associated with hard work and raja yoga. It comes at cost of others and not by one’s own efforts, i.e., when others lose, the individual gains. It becomes important to have such a yoga in a horoscope wherever competition is involved and people like businessmen, politicians would gain tremendously due to this yoga. 

By itself, vipareeta raj yoga gives sudden results and cannot sustain riches for an individual for a long time. Other factors that strengthen the horoscope are necessary to build upon this success. In military parlance, this yoga gives a capability of surgical air strike deep within enemy territory. But if the enemy is still able to retaliate, one’s own defenses should be strong. Vipareeta raja yoga is like the first stage of a missile. It gives the propulsion for first stage, but if the second stage and the guidance system is imperfect, the missile is most likely to miss its intended target.

The following are important conditions for constitution of a vipareeta raj yoga:

1. Lord of one of these houses should be situated within 6th, 8th and 12th house only.
2. They should not associated with lords of 1st, 5th, 10th and 9th house.
3. No association with any natural benefic planet should exist.
4. The lords of these houses should not be located in their own houses.

Specific yogas are:

1. If 6th house is affected by malefic planets and/or if the lord of 6th house is situated in 8th/12th, it is called “Harsha yoga”.
2. If this is the yoga for 8th lord, it constitutes “Sarala yoga”.
3. For 12th house, the corresponding yoga is “Vimala yoga”.

Though the the names of these yogas sound very pleasant, it is seldom the case. Few caveats that ensure that above four points and three yogas are not taken literally:

1. Twelfth house is a little less important here. In case of dual ownership of signs, it is opined that the planet owning twelfth house behaves more like the lord of the other house it is owner of. Therefore, in case of Aries lagna, Vipareeta raj yoga cannot be formed by association with Jupiter, which is a natural benefic and becomes even more beneficial by ownership of 9th house.
2. The location is not 6th/8th/12th from lagna only. Based on principles explained in Uttara Kalamrita, JN Bhasin specifically takes an example of a Cancer lagna horoscope where Mercury is a lord of 12th and 3rd house and its position in 5th house along with aspects from natural malefics causes vipareeta raja yoga. It is interesting to note that 5th house is considered an auspicious house in general. The explanation provided is that Mercury is situated in 3rd from 3rd house and 6th from 12th house, thereby harming the prospects of these houses.
3. Natural benefics should not be involved. They tend to be ineffective in giving results of this yoga. Think about it this way – if you want to hit your enemy hard, then you want the baddest guys working for you. Goodness should not be involved.

This yoga does nothing but extend the logic of a negative of negative being positive. Therefore, an astrologer should consider a vipareeta raja yoga when lords of 6th/8th/12th are powerless not just by virtue of occupancy of such houses, but also by other means viz. debilitation in rashi and navamsha, occupation of enemy rashi, hemming/aspects from natural malefic planets etc.

An astrologer should be very careful while considering vipareeta raja yoga because of parivartana yoga. An parivartana yoga between 6th and 12th lords will end up planets fortifying their own house through full drishti. In case of 8th and 12th, they are 5th/9th to each other and such a location is considered to be advantageous to the planet. That is precisely the reason why Harsha Yoga, Sarala Yoga and Vimala Yoga defined earlier in this article do not fructify and function as expected.

Table: Likely combinations of Vipareeta Raja Yoga for various Lagnas

These are general comments about a lagna. Of course, one has to look at the exact location of each of the planets before arriving to any conclusion.

Timing of events should be seen from Vimshottari dasha periods of the planets involved.

Great to see you discuss such things and help people. 2 neelams on the same finger but two different rings. Watch my finger more closely next time.

What are the odds that this is the real thing?

While I do not have contact information of the above publisher, Santosh shared the details of the distributors in Bangalore:

Vandana Book House
Phone: +91-80-2592-8136 and +91-80-2677-0826
No. 24/1, 4th Main, 9th Cross, N R Colony
Near Tyagaraja Co-op Bank
Bangalore - 560019

Good text books on astrology are hard to find and it is usually a struggle to get hold of them. I would like to thank both these gentlemen for their effort.

For a continuous function, if someone were to compute the value of a function at a point and at another point just besides it, then there would not be a lot of change in the value. In the language of mathematics, consider a function f(x), then f(x+d)-f(x) –> 0 as d –> 0. In common speech, a continuous function is one that does not change values abruptly. Differentiation (or derivative) as a mathematical concept is the rate at which a function changes value at a given point. In the language of mathematics, it is the slope of the tangent at a given point. A differentiable function is one for which a tangent exists at a point. In common speech, a derivative is the direction the function takes at a given point. Differentiability of a function determines if the function changes direction abruptly at a given point.

Life is a smooth function of time – continuous and differentiable. Taking time as the input, it does not change values abruptly, nor does it change directions abruptly. A function like life means that there are very few kinks.

Astrology that is based on movements of planets also follows this pattern. The planets move around the Sun and although we distinguish between houses and/or signs at 30 degree interval, the boundaries are blurred. Effect of one rashi can start before other ends. At rashi/bhava sandhi, a planet’s power to affect the house is almost nil, which means that it does not really matter at when it crosses from one rashi to another. It will do good or evil only when is has “fully” entered the house.

Eclipses are celestial events that affect this natural flow of life. Their occurrence helps the direction change by a small amount, but they do not at all deserve the vile reputation they continue to have. For that matter, a conjunction of Rahu/Ketu with Sun and Moon, even independently, can have a similar effect. Moon is said to be mortified of Rahu and a conjunction is said to cloud the mind and good judgment. This need not happen only during eclipses.

Astrologically, eclipses do make a difference, but people tend to make an unnecessarily big deal out of it. An astrologer cannot claim that someone became bankrupt due to an eclipse. The actual process would have started long back and a conjunction of Rahu/Ketu with Sun/Moon would be just the last straw to break the camel’s back. Still, it takes all the blame. The same event not have an equally devastating effect on a person with a strong ascendant.

From time to time, the kind of treatment Solar and Lunar eclipses gets from media and common folks is at best laughable. On the day of eclipse, almost all TV channels organize a debate between the astrologers and so called rationalists. Anchors, in a desperate effort to appear intelligent, always side with the rationalists. Sabse tez channels talk about vague combinations - “This happened 1000 years back”. They seriously need to rethink these headlines that attach unnecessary significance to such combinations. Does anyone even know if there was an event worth remembering or mentioning a 1000 years back? People use this opportunity to blame eclipses to blame everything from food poisoning to irritation in eyes, when in reality a person would have ventured outside and made the mistake of looking at the eclipse directly, against all advice.

I cannot explain natural calamities and misfortunes due to accidents where someone else’s mistake cuts short the life of many people at the same time. There is some research done in this area within astrology. However, my limited knowledge does not give me enough tools to understand and critique the theories put forward. Still, for astrology for “normal” people like me, we can live with the theory of continuity and differentiability.