Aspects, Friendship and Strength

Chapter 2, verses 13 to 21 · Part of our series on the Brihat Jataka of Varahamihira

No planet in a chart acts alone. Each one looks across the chart at other houses and touches what it sees. Each one gets on well with some planets and badly with others. And each one comes to the moment of birth with more or less strength. These three ideas, aspects, friendship and strength, turn a list of placements into a living picture.

Aspects: how a planet looks across the chart

In jyotish, a planet does not only influence the house it stands in. It also casts its gaze, its dṛṣṭi, on certain other houses, and touches whatever is there. This gaze is called an aspect. The houses a planet aspects are always counted from the house where it stands: the planet's own house is the first, the next is the second, and so on.

Verse 2.13 sets out which houses each planet looks at, and how strongly:

त्रिदशत्रिकोणचतुरस्रसप्तमान्यवलोकयन्ति चरणाभिवृद्धितः । रविजामरेज्यरुधिराः परे च ये क्रमशो भवन्ति किल वीक्षणेऽधिकाः ॥

tridaśatrikoṇacaturasrasaptamāny avalokayanti caraṇābhivṛddhitaḥ | ravijāmarejyarudhirāḥ pare ca ye kramaśo bhavanti kila vīkṣaṇe 'dhikāḥ ||

The planets look at the third and tenth, the trines, the squares and the seventh, with strength growing by quarters. Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, in order, are fuller in their gaze on these.

The verse is compact, so it is worth unfolding. Every planet looks at four sets of houses, each more strongly than the last:

So every planet looks fully at the house opposite it. Three planets also have special full gazes. Saturn looks fully at the 3rd and 10th houses from itself. Jupiter looks fully at the 5th and 9th. Mars looks fully at the 4th and 8th.

For example, if Jupiter stands in the 1st house, it looks fully at the 5th, the 7th and the 9th houses, blessing children, partnership and fortune. If Saturn stands in the 1st house, it looks fully at the 3rd, the 7th and the 10th.

The planets and time, and the six tastes

The next verse gives each planet a measure of time and a taste (2.14):

अयनक्षणवासरर्तवो मासोऽर्धं च समाश्च भास्करात् । कटुकलवणतिक्तमिश्रिता मधुराम्लौ च कषाय इत्यपि ॥

ayanakṣaṇavāsarartavo māso 'rdhaṃ ca samāś ca bhāskarāt | kaṭukalavaṇatiktamiśritā madhurāmlau ca kaṣāya ity api ||

From the Sun: the half-year, the moment, the day, the season, the month, the fortnight and the year. And the pungent, the salty, the bitter, the mixed, the sweet, the sour and the astringent.

The measures of time are used to judge how long something will take, according to the planet that governs it. Fittingly, the Moon, the fastest planet, rules the briefest unit, and slow Saturn rules the year.

Friendship between planets

Planets, like people, get on better with some than with others. When a planet stands in the sign of a friend, it is comfortable and works well. In the sign of an enemy, it is uneasy and works less well. Varahamihira describes two kinds of friendship: natural friendship, which is permanent and the same in every chart, and temporary friendship, which depends on where the planets happen to stand at a particular birth.

Natural friendship: the rule

Verse 2.15 first gives an older list, then the rule taught by the earlier authority Satya:

जीवो जीवबुधौ सितेन्दुतनयौ व्यर्का विभौमाः क्रमाद्वीन्द्वर्का विकुजेन्द्विनाश्च सुहृदः केषांचिदेवं मतम् । सत्योक्ते सुहृदस्त्रिकोणभवनात्स्वात्स्वान्त्यधीधर्मपाः स्वोच्चायुःसुखपाः स्वलक्षणविधेर्नान्यैर्विरोधादिति ॥

jīvo jīvabudhau sitendutanayau vyarkā vibhaumāḥ kramād vīndvarkā vikujendvināś ca suhṛdaḥ keṣāṃcid evaṃ matam | satyokte suhṛdas trikoṇabhavanāt svāt svāntyadhīdharmapāḥ svoccāyuḥsukhapāḥ svalakṣaṇavidher nānyair virodhād iti ||

According to some, the friends of the Sun and the others are, in order: Jupiter; Jupiter and Mercury; Venus and Mercury; all but the Sun; all but Mars; all but the Moon and Sun; and all but Mars, the Moon and the Sun. In Satya's teaching, the friends of a planet are the lords of the 2nd, 12th, 5th and 9th from its own trikona sign, and the lords of its exaltation sign and of the 8th and 4th, by this rule; and not the others, because they contradict it.

Satya's rule is the one Varahamihira adopts. It works like this. Take a planet's mūlatrikoṇa sign, its sign of special strength. Count from it to the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th and 12th signs. The planets that rule those signs are its friends, and so is the lord of its exaltation sign. A planet that rules none of those signs is an enemy. A planet that rules one friendly sign and one unfriendly sign is pulled both ways, and stays neutral.

Take the Sun as an example. Its mulatrikona is Leo. Counting from Leo:

• Friends. The 4th sign is Scorpio and the 9th is Aries, both ruled by Mars. The 5th and 8th are Sagittarius and Pisces, both ruled by Jupiter. The 12th is Cancer, ruled by the Moon. The Sun's exaltation sign is Aries, ruled by Mars again. So Mars, Jupiter and the Moon are the Sun's friends.
• Neutral. Mercury rules the 2nd sign, Virgo, which is friendly, but also the 11th, Gemini, which is not. So Mercury is neutral.
• Enemies. Venus rules the 3rd and 10th signs, and Saturn the 6th and 7th. Neither rules a friendly sign, so both are enemies.

Natural friendship: the result

Applying the rule to every planet gives the natural friendships. Varahamihira states them in the next two verses (2.16 to 2.17), and says at the end that these are the friendships worked out from each planet's mulatrikona and the other signs:

शत्रू मन्दसितौ समश्च शशिजो मित्राणि शेषा रवेस्तीक्ष्णांशुर्हिमरश्मिजश्च सुहृदौ शेषाः समाः शीतगोः । जीवेन्दूष्णकराः कुजस्य सुहृदो ज्ञोऽरिः सितार्की समौ मित्रे सूर्यसितौ बुधस्य हिमगुः शत्रुः समाश्चापरे ॥ सूरेः सौम्यसितावरी रविसुतो मध्योऽपरे त्वन्यथा सौम्यार्की सुहृदौ समौ कुजगुरू शुक्रस्य शेषावरी । शुक्रज्ञौ सुहृदौ समः सुरगुरुः सौरस्य चान्येऽरयो ये प्रोक्ताः स्वत्रिकोणभादिषु पुनस्तेऽमी मया कीर्तिताः ॥

śatrū mandasitau samaś ca śaśijo mitrāṇi śeṣā raves tīkṣṇāṃśur himaraśmijaś ca suhṛdau śeṣāḥ samāḥ śītagoḥ | jīvendūṣṇakarāḥ kujasya suhṛdo jño 'riḥ sitārkī samau mitre sūryasitau budhasya himaguḥ śatruḥ samāś cāpare || sūreḥ saumyasitāv arī ravisuto madhyo 'pare tv anyathā saumyārkī suhṛdau samau kujagurū śukrasya śeṣāv arī | śukrajñau suhṛdau samaḥ suraguruḥ saurasya cānye 'rayo ye proktāḥ svatrikoṇabhādiṣu punas te 'mī mayā kīrtitāḥ ||

For the Sun, Saturn and Venus are enemies, Mercury is neutral, and the rest are friends. For the Moon, the Sun and Mercury are friends, and the rest are neutral. For Mars, Jupiter, the Moon and the Sun are friends, Mercury is an enemy, and Venus and Saturn are neutral. For Mercury, the Sun and Venus are friends, the Moon is an enemy, and the others are neutral. For Jupiter, Mercury and Venus are enemies, Saturn is neutral, and the others are friends. For Venus, Mercury and Saturn are friends, Mars and Jupiter are neutral, and the remaining two are enemies. For Saturn, Venus and Mercury are friends, Jupiter is neutral, and the others are enemies. These are the friendships stated from the trikona signs and the rest:

Notice two things. The Moon has no enemies at all; she is friendly or neutral towards everyone. And friendship is not always returned. The Moon counts Mercury as a friend, but Mercury counts the Moon as an enemy.

Temporary friendship

Natural friendship is the same in every chart. But the planets also form temporary relationships at each birth, depending on where they stand in relation to each other. Verse 2.18 gives the rule, and how to combine the two kinds:

अन्योन्यस्य धनव्ययायसहजव्यापारबन्धुस्थितास्तत्काले सुहृदः स्वतुङ्गभवनेऽप्येकेऽरयस्त्वन्यथा । द्व्येकानुक्तभपान्सुहृत्समरिपून्संचिन्त्य नैसर्गिकांस्तत्काले च पुनस्तु तानधिसुहृन्मित्रादिभिः कल्पयेत् ॥

anyonyasya dhanavyayāyasahajavyāpārabandhusthitās tatkāle suhṛdaḥ svatuṅgabhavane 'py eke 'rayas tv anyathā | dvyekānuktabhapān suhṛtsamaripūn saṃcintya naisargikāṃs tatkāle ca punas tu tān adhisuhṛnmitrādibhiḥ kalpayet ||

Planets standing in the 2nd, 12th, 11th, 3rd, 10th or 4th from one another are friends for that moment; some add, in one's own exaltation sign. Otherwise they are enemies for that moment. Having considered the natural friends, neutrals and enemies, and then their relationship at that moment, one should work out great friends, friends and so on.

So at a birth, two planets that stand close to each other, in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th sign from each other in either direction, are temporary friends. Planets that stand in the same sign, or 5 to 9 signs apart, are temporary enemies.

The two kinds are then combined. A planet that is both a natural friend and a temporary friend becomes a great friend. One that is a natural enemy and also a temporary enemy becomes a great enemy. The other mixtures fall between: friendship and enmity cancel into neutrality, and a natural neutral leans whichever way the temporary relationship points.

Strength

The final verses of the chapter describe the sources of a planet's strength (bala). A strong planet gives its results fully, for good or ill. A weak one gives them faintly. Varahamihira names several kinds.

Strength of position and direction

स्वोच्चसुहृत्स्वत्रिकोणनवांशैः स्थानबलं स्वगृहोपगतैश्च । दिक्षु बुधाङ्गिरसौ रविभौमौ सूर्यसुतः सितशीतकरौ च ॥

svoccasuhṛtsvatrikoṇanavāṃśaiḥ sthānabalaṃ svagṛhopagataiś ca | dikṣu budhāṅgirasau ravibhaumau sūryasutaḥ sitaśītakarau ca ||

Strength of place comes from being in one's own exaltation, a friend's sign, one's own trikona, or the navamshas of these, and from occupying one's own sign. In the directions, Mercury and Jupiter, the Sun and Mars, the son of the Sun, and Venus and the Moon are strong. (2.19)

Strength of place (sthāna-bala) is the strength a planet draws from where it stands: in its exaltation sign, in its mulatrikona, in its own sign, or in a friend's sign, and in the navamshas of these.

Strength of direction (dig-bala). We saw that the four angles of the chart correspond to the four directions: the 1st house to the east, the 10th to the south, the 7th to the west and the 4th to the north. Each planet is strongest in one of them:

Strength of motion

Planets do not always move steadily forward through the signs. Seen from the Earth, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn sometimes appear to slow down, stop, and move backward for a while before turning forward again. This backward motion is called retrograde (vakra, "crooked"). The Sun and Moon never go retrograde, but the Sun moves north and south through the year. For half the year, from the winter solstice to the summer solstice, the Sun travels northward. This is the uttarāyaṇa, the northern course.

Verse 2.20 describes strength of motion (ceṣṭā-bala):

उदगयने रविशीतमयूखौ वक्रसमागमगाः परिशेषाः । विपुलकरा युधि चोत्तरसंस्थाश्चेष्टितवीर्ययुताः परिकल्प्याः ॥

udag ayane raviśītamayūkhau vakrasamāgamagāḥ pariśeṣāḥ | vipulakarā yudhi cottarasaṃsthāś ceṣṭitavīryayutāḥ parikalpyāḥ ||

The Sun and the Moon are strong in motion in the northern course. The remaining planets are strong when retrograde or in conjunction with the Moon, and, in a planetary war, when bright-rayed and placed to the north.

A planetary war happens when two of the five star planets come extremely close together in the sky: not merely in the same sign or house, but within about one degree of each other. Two planets in the same sign but further apart are simply together; they are not at war. The one that shines brighter, and lies further north, is said to win the war and gains strength.

Strength of time, and natural strength

निशि शशिकुजसौराः सर्वदा ज्ञोऽह्नि चान्ये बहुलसितगताः स्युः क्रूरसौम्याः क्रमेण । द्व्ययनदिवसहोरामासपैः कालवीर्यं शरुबुगुशुचसाद्या वृद्धितो वीर्यवन्तः ॥

niśi śaśikujasaurāḥ sarvadā jño 'hni cānye bahulasitagatāḥ syuḥ krūrasaumyāḥ krameṇa | dvyayanadivasahorāmāsapaiḥ kālavīryaṃ śarubuguśucasādyā vṛddhito vīryavantaḥ ||

The Moon, Mars and Saturn are strong at night; Mercury always; the others by day. Malefics are strong in the dark fortnight and benefics in the bright. Strength of time also comes from being lord of the year, the day, the hora and the month. In natural strength, Saturn, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, the Moon and the Sun grow stronger in that order. (2.21)

Strength of time (kāla-bala) depends on when the birth happens:

• Day and night. The Moon, Mars and Saturn are strong in a night birth. The Sun, Jupiter and Venus are strong in a day birth. Mercury is strong in both.
• The fortnight. Malefic planets are strong in the waning half of the month, the dark fortnight. Benefic planets are strong in the waxing half, the bright fortnight.
• Lordship of time. A planet also gains strength when it rules the year, the month, the day or the hora in which the birth falls.

Natural strength (naisargika-bala) is fixed and the same in every chart. The last line gives the order with a clever code: the first syllables of the planets' names, śa-ru-bu-gu-śu-ca-sa, stand for Saturn (śani), Mars (rudhira, "the red one"), Mercury (budha), Jupiter (guru), Venus (śukra), the Moon (candra) and the Sun (savitṛ). Each is stronger than the one before. So the Sun is the strongest by nature, and Saturn the weakest.

In the later tradition, these kinds of strength, together with the strength gained from aspects, were gathered into a single calculation called ṣaḍbala, "six-fold strength".

Verses are from Varahamihira's Brihat Jataka, chapter 2. English renderings are our own, made from the Sanskrit and checked against the public-domain translation by N. Chidambaram Aiyar (1885; second edition 1905) and against the word-by-word analysis in Michael D. Neely's edition.