Varahamihira: the Brihat Jataka, the Brihat Samhita and the Panchasiddhantika · Chapter 3 of 22 · Part Two · The Brihat Jataka

#The planets

Brihat Jataka, chapter II

#The planets as the person of Time (II.1)

To the Kalapurusha, the Sun is the soul, the Moon is the mind, Mars is strength, Mercury is speech, Jupiter is knowledge and health, Venus is desire, and Saturn is sorrow. Of the planets, the Sun and the Moon are kings, Mars is general, Mercury is the prince, Jupiter and Venus are counsellors and Saturn is servant (II.1).

In two sentences Varahamihira gives each planet its inner meaning and its place in the royal court. These are still the first things a student learns about the planets.

#Their names (II.2–3)

Each planet has many names, used for variety in verse: the Sun is Heli; the Moon Shitarashmi ("cool-rayed"); Mercury Hemna, Vit, Jna, Bodhana, Induputra ("son of the Moon"); Mars Ara, Vakra, Kruradrik, Avaneya ("son of the Earth"); Saturn Kona, Manda ("slow"), Suryaputra ("son of the Sun"), Asita ("dark"); Jupiter Jiva, Angirasa, Suraguru ("teacher of the gods"), Vachaspati, Ijya; Venus Shukra, Bhrigu, Sita ("white"), Asphujit; Rahu Tamas ("darkness"), Agu, Asura; Ketu Shikhi (II.2–3). (Some names — Heli from Greek helios, Kona from Kronos, Asphujit from Aphrodite — are Greek.)

#Colours, deities, directions (II.4–5)

• Complexions: the Sun red-brown, the Moon white, Mars red-and-white, Mercury green like grass, Jupiter yellow like gold, Venus neither very fair nor dark, Saturn black (II.4).
• Colours they rule: copper, white, red, green, yellow, mixed, black (II.5).
• Deities: the Sun is Agni, the Moon Varuna, Mars Subrahmanya (Kartikeya), Mercury Vishnu, Jupiter Indra, Venus Indrani, Saturn Brahma (II.5).
• Directions: the Sun east, Venus south-east, Mars south, Rahu south-west, Saturn west, the Moon north-west, Mercury north, Jupiter north-east (II.5).

#Benefics and malefics (II.5)

"The waning Moon, the Sun, Mars, Saturn, and Mercury when in conjunction with any of these, are malefic planets"; Aiyar's note adds that Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury when joined with either of these, are benefic (II.5). The waxing Moon is benefic. So a planet's nature can change: the Moon by its phase, Mercury by its company.

#Sex, elements, class, temperament (II.6–7)

• Sex: Mercury and Saturn are neuter; the Moon and Venus female; the Sun, Mars and Jupiter male (II.6).
• Elements: Mars fire, Mercury earth, Jupiter ether, Venus water, Saturn air (with the Sun fire and the Moon water, in Aiyar's note) (II.6).
• Class (varna): Venus and Jupiter Brahmins, Mars and the Sun Kshatriyas, the Moon Vaishya, Mercury Shudra, Saturn the lowest class (II.7) — a classification of its society, not a judgement this course accepts.
• Temperament (guna): the Moon, the Sun and Jupiter sattva (goodness); Mercury and Venus rajas (passion); Mars and Saturn tamas (darkness) (II.7).

#Their bodies and characters (II.8–11)

Varahamihira describes each planet as a person — the descriptions later used to read appearance from a chart (II.8–11):

• Sun: honey-yellow eyes, of the height of outstretched arms, bilious, with little hair.
• Moon: slender and round-bodied, windy and phlegmatic, learned, soft-voiced, with beautiful eyes.
• Mars: sharp, fierce eyes, a youthful body, generous, bilious, restless, narrow-waisted.
• Mercury: a hesitation in speech, fond of jokes, of mixed constitution.
• Jupiter: a large body, yellowish hair and eyes, great intelligence, phlegmatic.
• Venus: comfortable, handsome, fine-eyed, curly-haired.
• Saturn: lazy, tawny-eyed, thin and tall, with large teeth and stiff hair, windy.

Each also rules a tissue of the body: Saturn the muscles, the Sun the bones, the Moon the blood, Mercury the skin, Venus the semen, Jupiter the flesh, Mars the marrow (II.11).

#Places and times (II.12, 14)

• Places: the Sun the place of worship, the Moon wells and water, Mars the fireplace, Mercury the playground, Jupiter the storeroom, Venus the bedroom, Saturn the rubbish heap (II.12).
• Periods of time: the Sun six months, the Moon a muhurta (48 minutes), Mars a day, Mercury two months, Jupiter a month, Venus a fortnight, Saturn a year (II.14) — used in timing events, especially in prashna.

#Aspects (II.13)

All the planets aspect the 3rd and 10th houses with a quarter sight; the 5th and 9th houses with half a sight; the 4th and 8th houses with three-quarters of a sight; and the 7th house with a full sight; but Saturn aspects the 3rd and 10th houses with a full sight, Jupiter the 5th and 9th, and Mars the 4th and 8th (II.13).

This one verse is the foundation of the aspect doctrine used ever since.

#Friendships: two versions (II.15–18)

Varahamihira gives two systems:

1. "According to some" — a list (II.15): Jupiter is the Sun's friend; Jupiter and Mercury the Moon's; Venus and Mercury Mars's; and so on.
2. Satyacharya's rule, which he adopts: a planet's friends are the lords of the 2nd, 12th, 5th, 9th, 8th and 4th signs from its moolatrikona, and the lord of its exaltation sign — unless those lords also rule other houses that conflict (II.15). From this rule come the friendships in II.16–18: for example, Saturn and Venus are the Sun's enemies, Mercury its neutral, the rest its friends (II.16); Mercury and Venus are Jupiter's enemies, Saturn its neutral (II.17).

Satyacharya's rule is the one the later books (the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra) also use.

#Strengths (II.19–21)

Varahamihira names four kinds of strength (bala):

• Positional (sthana): in exaltation, in a friend's sign, in moolatrikona, in its own navamsa, in its own sign (II.19).
• Directional (dig): Mercury and Jupiter in the east (the ascendant); the Sun and Mars in the south (the 10th); Saturn in the west (the 7th); the Moon and Venus in the north (the 4th) (II.19).
• Motional (cheshta): the Sun and Moon in the six signs from Capricorn (the Sun's northward course); the other planets when retrograde, when joined with the Moon, when at their brightest, or when they are the northern (winning) planet in a planetary war (II.20).
• Temporal (kala): the Moon, Mars and Saturn at night; Mercury always; the others by day; malefics in the dark fortnight, benefics in the bright; and each planet in its own year, month, day and hour (II.21).

With natural strength — the planets' fixed order of power — these become the six strengths (shadbala) of the later books.

#Summary

• The planets as the soul, mind, strength, speech, knowledge, desire and sorrow of Time, and as a royal court (II.1).
• Their names (II.2–3), colours, deities and directions (II.4–5), sex, elements, class and temperament (II.6–7), bodies and tissues (II.8–11), places and periods (II.12, 14).
• Benefics: Jupiter, Venus, the waxing Moon, Mercury with benefics; malefics: the Sun, Mars, Saturn, the waning Moon, Mercury with malefics (II.5).
• Aspects: full on the 7th; special full aspects of Saturn (3, 10), Jupiter (5, 9), Mars (4, 8) (II.13).
• Friendships by Satyacharya's rule from the moolatrikona (II.15–18).
• Positional, directional, motional and temporal strength (II.19–21).

#Exercises

1. What does each planet represent in the person of Time?
2. When is Mercury a benefic, and when a malefic?
3. Which houses does Jupiter aspect fully?
4. State Satyacharya's rule for a planet's friends.
5. Where does Saturn have directional strength? Why might that fit Saturn?

Answers: 1. Sun soul, Moon mind, Mars strength, Mercury speech, Jupiter knowledge and health, Venus desire, Saturn sorrow (II.1). 2. Benefic when with benefics or alone; malefic when joined with malefics (II.5). 3. The 5th, 7th and 9th from itself (II.13). 4. The lords of the 2nd, 12th, 5th, 9th, 8th and 4th from its moolatrikona sign, and the lord of its exaltation sign, unless they conflict (II.15). 5. In the west, the 7th house; the setting point suits Saturn, the planet of endings.