Mantreswara: the Phaladeepika · Chapter 1 of 3

#The book and its foundations

#The Phaladeepika

The Phaladeepika ("lamp of results") of Mantreswara is the most widely used book of horoscopy in South India after Varahamihira and Parashara. It is a compact, practical book, in 28 chapters, strongest on yogas and results. Its date is uncertain; it is a medieval South Indian work.

This book keeps Mantreswara's teaching together. It follows the English translation of V. Subrahmanya Sastri (2nd edition, 1950), cited by chapter and verse: "PD VI.5". Because the translation's copyright status is uncertain, this book paraphrases and does not quote.

#Friendships (PD II)

Mantreswara gives the natural friendships in the same form as the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra's rule: for example, the Moon's friends are the Sun and Mercury, and it has no enemies; Mars's enemy is Mercury, with Venus and Saturn neutral; Mercury's enemy is the Moon and its friends the Sun and Venus; Venus's friends are Saturn and Mercury, with Jupiter and Mars neutral; Saturn's friends are Venus and Mercury, with Jupiter neutral (PD II).

He also gives friendships for Rahu and Ketu, which the BPHS chapters read do not: Mercury, Saturn and Venus are their friends; Mars neutral; the rest their enemies (PD II).

#Gems as attributes (PD 2.29)

Mantreswara lists a gem for each planet — the ruby for the Sun, the pearl for the Moon, and so on — among the planets' other attributes such as metals and cloths (PD 2.29; the same verse is in the Jataka Parijata, 2.21). It is a list of associations, used for example in describing lost objects; it is not an instruction to wear a gem against a planet.

#Minimum strengths (PD IV)

The minimum totals of the six-fold strength are the same as the BPHS's, in rupas: Sun 6½, Moon 6, Mars 5, Mercury 7, Jupiter 6½, Venus 5½, Saturn 5 (PD IV).

#Planets in the houses (PD VIII)

Chapter VIII gives each planet's results in each house. For example, Mars in the 7th is said to make a man "lose his wife", and Mars in the 8th to give a deformed body, poverty and short life (PD VIII.9). These are house results in the manner of Varahamihira's Brihat Jataka XX; like his, they are scaled by dignity and do not stand alone.

#Women's charts (PD XI)

Chapter XI, on women's charts, includes rules for widowhood, among them Mars in the 7th or the 7th's sign and navamsa belonging to Mars (PD XI.3, 9) — one of the roots of the modern "Mangala dosha". It is history and is not used here.

#Planetary war

Mantreswara treats a planet defeated in planetary war as afflicted, and lists planetary wars with eclipses and meteors among the signs of the sky.

#Summary

• The Phaladeepika of Mantreswara, a medieval South Indian book, is cited from Sastri's 1950 translation.
• Natural friendships as in the BPHS, plus the nodes' friends: Mercury, Saturn and Venus (PD II).
• Gems listed as planetary attributes, not remedies (PD 2.29).
• Minimum shadbala as in the BPHS (PD IV); house results such as Mars in the 7th and 8th (PD VIII.9); widowhood rules in the women's chapter (PD XI).

#Exercises

1. Which planets are friends of Rahu and Ketu, according to the Phaladeepika?
2. Does PD 2.29 tell anyone to wear a gem? What is it?
3. What is the minimum strength of Mercury in rupas?

Answers: 1. Mercury, Saturn and Venus (PD II). 2. No: it is a list of each planet's gem among its attributes. 3. 7 (PD IV).