The Study of Jyotisha · Chapter 15 of 54 · Part Three · Strength

#Avasthas and other strengths

#The condition of a planet

Shadbala (Chapter 14) gives one big number for each planet. But astrologers also describe a planet's condition in words: it is combust, or defeated in war, or "sleeping", or "an infant". These descriptions are called avasthas, "states". Some are as old as Varahamihira; most come from the later books. They answer a slightly different question from shadbala — not "how much strength does the planet have?" but "in what state is it, and can it act?"

This chapter covers the most useful of these states, and the second great numerical measure of strength, the Vimshopaka or twenty-point strength across the divisional charts.

#Combustion

A planet too close to the Sun is invisible (Chapter 3). In astrology it is called combust (asta, astangata, "set"), and it is treated as weakened: its light is taken over by the Sun.

The distances at which a planet becomes combust are those of the Surya Siddhanta (IX.6–9; X.1), used by later astrologers as distances in longitude:

Varahamihira's rule for scaling results says a combust planet gives none of the good results it otherwise promises (Brihat Jataka XX.11). But the tradition is not mechanical about it. Even Varahamihira makes exceptions: in his method of computing the span of life, a combust planet loses half its contribution — but Saturn and Venus lose nothing for combustion (Brihat Jataka VII.2). Many later astrologers add that Mercury, which is very often close to the Sun, should not be judged harshly for combustion, and that a combust planet in its own or exaltation sign keeps much of its strength.

What a combust planet means in practice depends on the planet. The usual reading is that its significations are "eclipsed by" or absorbed into the Sun's: for example, a combust Mercury may show an intelligence that serves authority, or ideas that go unrecognised; a combust Venus, that comfort or love is subordinated to duty or ego. These are interpretations, not classical rules. Use them gently.

In the example chart no planet is combust: Mercury is 27° from the Sun, Venus 20½°, Jupiter almost 23° — all outside their limits.

#Planetary war

When two of the five star-planets (Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn) are within a degree of each other, they are in planetary war (graha yuddha, Chapter 3). The winner, by the Surya Siddhanta's rule, is the bright planet on the north; the loser is faint, on the south, and "struck down"; Venus usually wins (Surya Siddhanta VII.18–23). Varahamihira gives motional strength to the northern planet in a war (Brihat Jataka II.20), and the later text transfers strength from the loser to the winner in shadbala (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra 27).

A planet defeated in war is treated as badly weakened, and its significations are said to suffer. Wars are not common: the example chart has none.

#The Moon's phase

The Moon's strength depends above all on its phase — how much of it is lit. A Moon near full is bright, benefic and strong; a Moon near new is dark, malefic and weak (Brihat Jataka II.5, with Aiyar's note; Chapter 8). In shadbala this is the Moon's lunar-phase strength (Chapter 14).

Different authors draw the line between "strong" and "weak" Moon in different places:

• some by the tithi: the Moon is strong from the 8th tithi of the bright half to the 8th tithi of the dark half (that is, more than about 90° from the Sun);
• some by a smooth measure, like the lunar-phase strength, rising from nothing at new moon to the maximum at full moon.

Varahamihira's rules often turn on the Moon's strength. His portraits of the Moon in each sign come to pass fully only when the Moon, its sign and its sign's lord are strong (Brihat Jataka XVII.13), and his portraits of the Moon in the nakshatras only when the Moon is powerful (note at the end of Brihat Jataka XVI). So always ask first: is the Moon waxing or waning, and how far from the Sun?

In the example chart the Moon is about 69° behind the Sun in the waning half — past the third quarter, on its way to new moon. By the tithi rule (Krishna Dashami, the 10th of the dark half) it is past the 8th of the dark half and so counts as weak by phase. Its great strength by sign (moolatrikona in Taurus) partly makes up for this. Shadbala gave the same mixed verdict in Chapter 14: strong in place, weak in time.

#The planet's age: baladi avasthas

A later scheme gives each planet an "age" according to its degree in the sign. Each sign is divided into five parts of 6°, and the planet is an infant, a youth, an adult, old or "dead". In odd signs the order runs from infant to dead; in even signs it is reversed:

The idea is that a planet gives its results fully when it is an adult, partly when it is a youth, a little when an infant, and hardly at all when old or "dead". This scheme comes from the later books (for example the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra's chapter on the avasthas), not from Varahamihira.

In the example chart: the Sun at 28° Cancer (an even sign) is an infant; the Moon at 19° Taurus (even) is a youth; Venus at 8° Cancer (even) is old; and Mars at 27° Aries, Mercury at 25° Leo and Saturn at 26° Sagittarius (all odd) — and Jupiter at 6° Cancer (even) — are all "dead".

This example is instructive. Jupiter, almost exactly at its deepest exaltation and with nearly full exaltation strength, is called "dead" by this scheme. A reader who took the label literally would throw away everything the rest of the chart says about Jupiter. The lesson: avasthas are refinements, not verdicts. The older and broader measures — dignity, house, aspects, shadbala — come first. The later states can add a nuance (perhaps Jupiter's gifts come in a quieter or more inward form than its exaltation alone suggests), but they cannot overturn the main judgement.

#Awake, dreaming, asleep: jagradadi avasthas

Another later scheme describes a planet as:

• awake (jagrat) in its own or exaltation sign — it gives its results fully;
• dreaming (svapna) in a friend's or neutral's sign — it gives them partly;
• asleep (sushupti) in an enemy's or debilitation sign — it gives little.

This is really a three-step version of the dignity ladder of Chapter 10, and of Varahamihira's scaling rule (Brihat Jataka XX.11), in more picturesque words.

#Longer lists of states

The later books go further. The Phaladeepika (chapter 3) and the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (chapter on the avasthas) give lists of nine or ten states named for moods — "blazing" for an exalted planet, "at ease" in its own sign, "delighted" in a great friend's sign, "distressed", "fearful" and so on — and a system of twelve states (shayanadi, "lying down" and others) computed from the planet's nakshatra, the time of birth and other factors. These systems differ between books and even between editions, and are hard to test. This course does not use them; it mentions them so that you recognise their names.

#Vimshopaka bala: the twenty-point strength

The second great numerical measure is Vimshopaka bala, "strength out of twenty". It measures how well a planet is placed across the divisional charts of Chapter 12 (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra 7.17–27, in the common numbering).

#How it works

1. Choose a set of divisional charts. The text gives four sets: the six charts of Varahamihira (shadvarga), seven (saptavarga), ten (dashavarga) and all sixteen (shodashavarga).
2. Each chart in the set has a weight, and the weights always add up to 20. For the six-chart set:

3. In each chart, the planet gets a score out of 20 according to its relation to the lord of the sign it falls in: 20 if it is in its own sign, 18 in a great friend's sign, 15 in a friend's, 10 in a neutral's, 7 in an enemy's and 5 in a great enemy's.
4. Multiply each chart's score by the chart's weight, divide by 20, and add them all up. The result is a number from 0 to 20.

The text reads the result roughly like this:

#A worked example: Venus

In the example chart, Venus is in:

Venus's six-chart Vimshopaka is 13.4 out of 20: middling.

Notice something. In the navamsa Venus is in Virgo, its debilitation sign (Chapter 12). But this scheme scores Virgo by its lord, Mercury — Venus's great friend — and so gives a good score. The scheme as the text states it does not separately score exaltation and debilitation in the divisions. Some modern programs add that refinement; the engine on this website follows the text and says so. Here, as everywhere, the numbers are only as meaningful as the rules behind them.

#The example chart

The six-chart Vimshopaka of all seven planets, computed with this website's engine:

Mars again comes out on top, as it did in shadbala. Saturn, which passed its shadbala minimum mostly through its retrogression and the aspects it receives, scores lowest here, because it is in signs of its enemies or neutrals in most of the divisions.

#Putting the measures together

You now have many ways to judge a planet's strength and condition. A practical order of questions, from the most to the least important:

1. Dignity in the birth chart (Chapter 10): exalted, own, friend, enemy, debilitated?
2. House (Chapter 9): in an angle, a trine, an upachaya, a dusthana?
3. Aspects and conjunctions (Chapter 11): helped by benefics, pressed by malefics?
4. Special conditions: combust? defeated in war? retrograde? For the Moon: waxing or waning?
5. The navamsa (Chapter 12): does it confirm or weaken the birth-chart dignity? Vargottama?
6. Shadbala (Chapter 14): does the planet reach its minimum? How does it compare with the others?
7. Vimshopaka (this chapter): how is it placed across the divisions?
8. Later states (baladi, jagradadi and the rest): only as nuance.

When most of these agree, you can judge with confidence. When they disagree — as they often do — say so, weigh the older and broader measures more heavily, and look for what the disagreement itself might mean. A planet strong by sign but weak by time, like the example chart's Moon, often describes a quality that is real but comes and goes.

#Summary

• Avasthas are named states describing a planet's condition.
• Combust planets (within 12°–17° of the Sun, by planet) are weakened (Surya Siddhanta IX.6–9; Brihat Jataka XX.11), with exceptions even in Varahamihira (Brihat Jataka VII.2).
• Planets in war lose or gain strength by the war's outcome (Surya Siddhanta VII.18–23; Brihat Jataka II.20).
• The Moon's strength depends on its phase; many of Varahamihira's descriptions apply fully only when the Moon is strong (Brihat Jataka XVI, XVII.13).
• Baladi (age) and jagradadi (wakefulness) states are later refinements; they add nuance but cannot overturn the main judgement.
• Vimshopaka bala scores a planet out of 20 across a set of divisional charts, using weights and the planet's relation to each sign's lord (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra 7.17–27).
• Combine the measures in order: dignity, house, aspects, special conditions, navamsa, shadbala, Vimshopaka, later states.

#Exercises

1. The Sun is at 10° Gemini. Which of these planets would be combust: Mercury at 22° Gemini; Venus at 25° Gemini; Jupiter at 28° Taurus; Saturn at 1° Cancer?
2. What is the baladi state of a planet at 15° Leo? At 3° Virgo? At 27° Capricorn?
3. Work out the six-chart Vimshopaka of a planet that is in its own sign in every one of the six charts. In a great enemy's sign in every one.
4. Why might a planet be strong in shadbala but weak in Vimshopaka? Give one reason from the example chart.
5. A friend says, "My Jupiter is dead, so I will never have any luck." Using this chapter, what would you say to them?

Answers: 1. Mercury 12° away (limit 14°): combust. Venus 15° away (limit 10°): not. Jupiter 12° away (limit 11°): not, just outside. Saturn 21° away (limit 15°): not. 2. Leo is odd: 15° is adult. Virgo is even: 3° is "dead". Capricorn is even: 27° is infant. 3. All own: 20 × (6+2+4+5+2+1) ÷ 20 = 20. All great enemy: 5 × 20 ÷ 20 = 5. 4. Shadbala counts things like retrogression and aspects that Vimshopaka ignores; Saturn in the example is strong in shadbala largely through retrogression and benefic aspects, but weak in Vimshopaka because of its signs in the divisions. 5. That the "dead" state is a late refinement that cannot overrule the main judgement; that their Jupiter must be judged first by its sign, house, aspects and strength; and that the tradition itself treats a chart as tendencies that effort works with.