Varahamihira: the Brihat Jataka, the Brihat Samhita and the Panchasiddhantika · Chapter 9 of 22 · Part Two · The Brihat Jataka

#The birth of kings

Brihat Jataka, chapter XI — "On Raja Yoga"

#A disagreement to begin (XI.1)

According to the Yavanas, a person born when three or more malefic planets are in their exaltation signs becomes a tyrannical king. According to Jeevasarma, if such planets be malefic, a person will never become a king (XI.1).

Aiyar's notes fill in the debate: with benefics exalted, the person becomes a good king; with both, both good and bad; Jeevasarma held that exalted malefics make a person rich, angry and quarrelsome, but not a king. Varahamihira sides with the Yavanas, and in his shorter work (quoted in the note) says: three or more planets exalted make a king if born in a king's family; five or more make a king in whatever family. The same applies to moolatrikona signs.

#Combinations of exalted planets (XI.2–3)

• 32 yogas (XI.2): of Mars, Saturn, the Sun and Jupiter, all four or any three exalted with one of them rising (16), or any two or one exalted and rising with the Moon in Cancer (16). Aiyar's note works through all 32.
• 44 yogas (XI.3): the ascendant or the Moon vargottama, aspected by four, five or six of the planets other than the Moon (22 groups each, from the ascendant and from the Moon).

#Sample charts (XI.4–11)

Varahamihira then gives particular charts said to make a king, for example:

• Saturn in Aquarius, the Sun in Aries, the Moon in Taurus, Mercury in Gemini, Jupiter in Leo, Mars in Scorpio, with Aquarius, Aries or Taurus rising (XI.4);
• Mars in Aries and Jupiter in Cancer, with Aries or Cancer rising (XI.8);
• Cancer rising with Jupiter in it, the Moon, Venus and Mercury in Taurus, and the Sun in Aries — "a powerful king" (XI.9);
• Capricorn rising with Saturn in it, Aries, Cancer and Leo occupied by their own lords, Mercury in Gemini and Venus in Libra — "a famous king" (XI.10).

#The rule of birth (XI.12–13)

Persons born under the various yogas described above, though they may be born in low families, will become kings. If such persons are born in a king's family, they will doubtless become kings. We shall now proceed to describe certain yogas, persons born under which will become kings if they belong to a king's family and will become rich if otherwise (XI.12).

When three or more planets are powerful and occupy either their exaltation signs or their moolatrikona signs, a person born becomes a king if he belongs to a king's family. Again, when five or more planets are powerful [and so placed], a person born becomes a king even if he be born in a low family. If, in either case, the number of powerful planets be less than three or five, the persons described above will not become kings but will become only rich (XI.13).

Aiyar counts 96 royal yogas in the chapter (note to XI.12) and stresses that all the planets must be powerful (note to XI.13). The principle — the same yoga gives different results in different lives — is one of the most important in all of Varahamihira.

#More sample charts (XI.14–18)

A second series of charts makes a king of the royal-born and a rich man of others: for example Aries rising with the Sun and Moon in it, Mars in Capricorn, Saturn in Aquarius and Jupiter in Sagittarius (XI.14); Venus in its own sign in the 4th, the Moon in the 9th and the others in the 3rd, 1st and 11th (XI.15); a powerful Mercury rising with a benefic in the 9th (XI.16).

#When it happens, and how it ends (XI.19)

A person obtains kingdom in the dasa periods of those planets producing a raja yoga which occupy the 10th house or the lagna, or in that of the most powerful planet; and he loses it and courts the friendship of another king in the dasa periods of the planets occupying inimical or depression signs (XI.19).

Aiyar adds: if those last planets are powerful, the kingdom is lost for good; if not, it is recovered with the help of allies.

#An impossible yoga (XI.20)

The chapter ends with a yoga needing Jupiter, Venus and Mercury on the ascendant with the Sun in the 10th. Aiyar's note records the objection: Venus and Mercury can never be so far from the Sun (their greatest distances are about 47° and 29°). The commentator Bhattotpala grants the objection but says Garga supports the reading; and Varahamihira, "while admitting the impossibility of the yoga, says that his task is simply to state the views of the ancient writers and nothing more" (note to XI.20). The same verse adds a rule for "the chief of hunters or robbers" when malefics occupy malefic signs.

#Summary

• Varahamihira reports the dispute over exalted malefics and sides with the Yavanas: three exalted planets make a king of the royal-born, five of anyone (XI.1, with notes).
• 32 yogas of exalted planets with one rising (XI.2); 44 of a vargottama ascendant or Moon aspected by many planets (XI.3).
• Sample royal charts (XI.4–11, 14–18), 96 yogas in all.
• The same yoga makes a king of the royal-born and a rich man of others; the planets must be powerful (XI.12–13).
• Royal fortune comes in the periods of the planets in the 10th or ascendant, or the strongest, and is lost in those of debilitated or ill-placed planets (XI.19).
• He reports an impossible yoga as the view of the ancients (XI.20, note).

#Exercises

1. What did Jeevasarma say about exalted malefics, and what did Varahamihira think?
2. How many exalted or moolatrikona planets make a king of anyone, by XI.13?
3. A chart has Mars in Aries and Jupiter in Cancer, with Libra rising. Is XI.8 satisfied?
4. In whose periods does royal fortune come, by XI.19?
5. Why is the yoga of XI.20 impossible, and what did Varahamihira say about it?

Answers: 1. That they make a person rich and quarrelsome but not a king; Varahamihira sided with the Yavanas that exalted planets make a king. 2. Five or more, all powerful. 3. No: it needs Aries or Cancer rising. 4. Of the planets in the 10th or the ascendant, or of the strongest planet. 5. Because Venus and Mercury can never be three signs from the Sun; he said his task was only to report the views of the ancient writers.