Varahamihira: the Brihat Jataka, the Brihat Samhita and the Panchasiddhantika · Chapter 6 of 22 · Part Two · The Brihat Jataka
The periods of life
Brihat Jataka, chapter VIII
Chapter VIII gives Varahamihira's system of dashas, periods of life ruled by the planets. It is not the Vimshottari system most astrologers use today (which comes from the later Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra); it is his own, and very different in spirit.
The order of the periods (VIII.1–2)
- Find which is most powerful: the ascendant, the Sun or the Moon. Its period comes first.
- Then come the periods of the planets in the kendras (angles) from it; then those in the panapharas; then those in the apoklimas (VIII.1).
- The length of each planet's period is the number of years it contributes to the span of life (chapter VII). Among planets in the same group, the strongest comes first; if equally strong, the one with the longer period; if equal again, the one that first rose heliacally (VIII.2).
So, unlike Vimshottari, the order is different for every chart, and it follows the chart's structure: the strongest point first, then the angles, then the rest.
Sub-periods (VIII.3–4)
Within a planet's period, the sub-periods (antardasha) belong to the planets closely linked to it, each with a fixed share:
| Planet | Share of the period's lord's own sub-period |
|---|---|
| the period's lord itself | 1 |
| a planet in the same sign | ½ |
| a planet in the 5th or 9th from it | ⅓ |
| a planet in the 7th from it | ⅐ |
| a planet in the 4th or 8th from it | ¼ |
The shares are brought to a common denominator and the period divided in proportion (VIII.3–4). Aiyar works an example: with the lord, a planet with it, one in the 5th or 9th and one in the 4th or 8th, the shares 1 : ½ : ⅓ : ¼ become 12 : 6 : 4 : 3, and the period is divided into 25 parts (note to VIII.4).
The grades of a period (VIII.5–8)
The quality of a period depends on the planet's condition at birth (VIII.5–7):
| Grade | The planet at birth | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Sampurna (complete) | most powerful, at its exact exaltation degree | great prosperity |
| Purna (full) | in its exaltation sign | prosperity |
| Rikta (empty) | weak, at or in its debilitation | misery and poverty |
| Arohini (ascending) | moving from debilitation towards exaltation | prosperity |
| Avarohini (descending) | moving from exaltation towards debilitation | evil |
| Madhyama (middle) | descending, but in a friend's or exaltation navamsa | prosperity |
| Adhama (low) | ascending, but in an enemy's or debilitation navamsa | evil |
| Mishraphala (mixed) | well placed by sign but in an enemy's or debilitation navamsa, or the reverse | mixed |
The ascendant's own period is graded by which drekkana was rising, differently for movable, fixed and dual signs (VIII.8).
The natural periods (VIII.9)
Varahamihira also gives natural periods (naisargika dasha), the same for everyone: the Moon 1 year, Mars 2, Mercury 9, Venus 20, Jupiter 18, the Sun 20, Saturn 50 — 120 years in all. When a planet's ordinary period and its natural period coincide, the time is prosperous (VIII.9).
Good and bad periods (VIII.10–11)
A period is prosperous if, when it begins, the period's lord or its friend or a benefic is in the ascendant, or the lord is in an upachaya (3rd, 6th, 10th or 11th) from the ascendant (VIII.10). Aiyar's note points out a difficulty: this needs the ascendant at the moment the period begins, which can hardly be known — a frank admission of a practical problem.
The Moon's position in transit, relative to the period's lord, decides the good and bad days within the period (VIII.10), and its sign at the start of a period colours the period (VIII.11).
What each planet's period brings (VIII.12–18)
Varahamihira describes each planet's period in terms of its nature (VIII.12–18). In summary:
- Sun: gain through gold, the king, roads and battle; courage, fame, but trouble through family, enemies or the authorities.
- Moon: gain through mantras, Brahmins, milk and sugar-cane, cloth, flowers and food; patience, respect for the virtuous, daughters, wisdom and renown.
- Mars: gain through fighting enemies, through a brother, the king, land and livestock.
- Mercury: gain through messages, friends, teachers and the learned; fame, comfort, wit and service.
- Jupiter: gain through worship, learning and valour; respect from the king.
- Venus: music, pleasures, perfumes, fine food and clothes, love and jewels; learning, friends, skill in trade and farming.
- Saturn: livestock and old things, authority over villages and towns, and inferior grain.
A good period gives the good effects and a bad period the bad (VIII.19). In a planet's period, all the effects described elsewhere for that planet — in the houses, the signs, its yogas — come to pass (VIII.20).
Conflicting indications (VIII.22–23)
Two verses at the end of the chapter are especially revealing:
- Working backwards. "When a person is found to enjoy the good effects described for a planetary dasa period, it may be concluded that such dasa period is going on at the time" (VIII.22). That is, the period can be inferred from the events — a method that, as Chapter 52 of the course explains, makes it easy to find matches after the fact.
- When yogas conflict. "If the effects of a planet be found to be benefic under one yoga and malefic in respect to the same point under another yoga, neither of the effects will occur." If two different planets have conflicting effects, both will come to pass in their own periods (VIII.23).
These rules show a careful author trying to bring order to an abundance of conflicting indications.
Summary
- Periods run from the strongest of ascendant, Sun and Moon, then the planets in angles, panapharas and apoklimas; lengths are the planets' years of life (VIII.1–2).
- Sub-periods are shared by planets linked to the period's lord, in fixed proportions (VIII.3–4).
- Periods are graded by the planet's condition: Sampurna, Purna, Rikta, Arohini, Avarohini, Madhyama, Adhama, Mishraphala (VIII.5–8).
- Natural periods: Moon 1, Mars 2, Mercury 9, Venus 20, Jupiter 18, Sun 20, Saturn 50 (VIII.9).
- Each planet's period brings its own kinds of gain and trouble (VIII.12–18); conflicting yogas on the same point cancel (VIII.23).
Exercises
- How does Varahamihira's order of periods differ from Vimshottari's?
- A period's lord has one planet in the 7th from it and one in the same sign. In what proportions is the period divided?
- What grade is the period of a planet moving from its debilitation towards its exaltation?
- What problem does Aiyar point out in VIII.10?
- Why is VIII.22 ("it may be concluded that such dasa period is going on") a risky method?
Answers: 1. It is different for every chart: it starts from the strongest of ascendant, Sun and Moon and follows the angles, panapharas and apoklimas; Vimshottari follows a fixed sequence from the Moon's nakshatra. 2. Lord 1, the planet with it ½, the planet in the 7th ⅐: 14 : 7 : 2. 3. Arohini — prosperity (VIII.6). 4. That it needs the ascendant at the moment the period begins, which can hardly be known. 5. Because it infers the period from events, so any good event can be "matched" to a period after the fact.