What is my Being or What is my Dharma?

What is my Being or What is my Dharma?

Published in Spring 2017 Gochara

A look at the trines to the 9^thhouse to see how intrinsic nature and intelligence can affect quality of life of a person and the importance of Dharma Karamadhipathi Yoga.

In the philosophy of Sanatana Dharma, there are four Purusharthas or purposes in life. First among them is Dharma shown by the trines from the ascendant. The first house shows the nature and self, the fifth intelligence and knowledge coming from past life, and the ninth house shows how one perceives duty or what one wishes to engage with in life. The trines from ascendant support each other and a person’s nature and his intelligence influence his purpose in life and motivation.

The word dharma in Sanskrit comes from the root “Dhr” literally meaning to uphold which means to be responsible. Dharma is commonly defined as religion, duty or spirituality. Most of the definitions are derived from practical or legal usage, however at a very philosophical level, dharma is just to find your true purpose and do that in an effortless way. For example, the dharma of a flower is to bloom. It has nothing to do with its religion or duty. Dharma is to respond truly to every situation we come across. When the purpose of life is manifested in an effortless way, then that person becomes a Karma Yogi and incurs no Agami Karma (extra karma added in this life).

Lord Krishna in the divine song of Bhagavat Gita says, a karma yogi is one who perform actions effortlessly with devotion and renouncing the expectations of fruits. This is different from most of the doers who seek payoff or profits who are called as “karmis”.

Our interpretation of dharma is usually dependant on our inherent nature, collectively called as gunas. Gunas are made up of experiences from this life and past lives, as well as from circumstances both external and internal (which includes our body and senses) and are usually acted upon by our Ahamkara. Ahamkara, is the identity of ourselves and not ego as usually translated in many western books. On the death of the human being, it is said that while the gross body drops, the causal and subtle body including our mind, memories, experiences and habits travels along with the individual soul to the next destination to be exhausted and experienced in the next life. We are so bound by her past experiences that it very difficult for us to change habits or thought patterns.

In our chart, we can find out impulses by taking a deep look at our ninth house in the rasi chart, along with the planets in the trines influencing it, and the house and sign placement and conjunctions of the 9^th lord. The 9^th lord can give a clue about our past lives and also the nature of karma we have to undergo this life. The 9^th lord can also tell you whether the karma we are likely to face in this life is going to be very fixed or can be remedied. We have to look at the placements in rasi (D1) and various divisional charts such as navamsa (D9), jagannath drekkana (D3J) and shastiamsa varga (D60) charts. It is vital to look at the asterism the 9^th Lord is placed in, as well as the nature of navamsa deity governing the placement to see the impact on the mentality of the individual.

There are three groups of deities governing the navamsa placements of planets, based on the gunas of sattva, rajas and tamas. The deities are – deva like, manushya like or rakshasa like. Deva people have light, giving them access to knowledge gained through prior good karma and they have the ability to restrain sense organs to achieve greater good. Manushya category is intelligent and industrious but very desiring and covetous. The Rakshasa group exerts huge effort to achieve want they want, but can experience denial or negativity in the form of the shad ripus of desire, anger, greed, delusion, arrogance and jealousy. They are essentially driven by a need for power and dominance and are unwilling to show compassion.

For movable signs, the nine portions of navamsa follow the order of deva, manushya and rakshasa, repeated thrice. Similarly, for the fixed signs, the order starts from manushya followed by rakshasha and deva and the dual signs follow the order of rakshasa, deva and manushya, respectively.

For interpretation of the ninth house, one should also take a look at the planets in tenth, twelfth, first and fourth houses from the ascendant that have a positive argala on the ninth house. Ninth house is twelfth from the tenth house of karma, and it represents dissolution of karma. The dissolution of impulses to ultimately reach liberation is in the twelfth house. The twelfth house is also the feet of the divine and it shows the ultimate path of the individual. One has to see the link between the ninth and the twelfth house to see direction. A single malefic in the ninth house can block the functioning of the tenth house and push one towards the twelfth
house. A malefic in the first house can interfere with the proper functioning of ninth house primarily by affecting his intelligence and attitude.

Moon is our mind which has the memory of all our past lives locked inside, therefore, one should also look at the Moon sign, nature of the asterism, the nature of the deity governing its navamsa placement and the pada it is in.

To understand how all this works together, I have chosen a few examples of leading statesmen influencing the world today. I would like to say that this is not a complete examination of their charts or their raja yogas but an attempt to analyse their charts primarily to illustrate the motivations of their actions and show how they are influenced by the gunas inherent in them. This discussion is also limited to looking at rasi and navamsa charts only.

Angela Merkel – Chancellor of Germany

Angela Merkel 17th July 1954, Hamburg 1800 hrs
	CK	Deg	Sign	Nak	Pada	Nak Ruler	Nak Deity	Nav deity
Asc		23 18	Sco	Jyeshta	2	Mer	Indra	Manushya
Moo	AK	22 14	Cap	Shravana	4	Moo	Vishnu	Deva
Jup	AMK	19 00	Gem	Ardra	4	Rah	Rudra	Manushya
Mer	BK	16 04	Gem	Ardra	3	Rah	Rudra	Deva
Ven	MK	11 46	Leo	Magha	4	Ket	Pitris	Manushya
Sat	PIK	09 31	Lib	Swati	1	Rah	Vayu	Rakshasa
Rah	PUK	21 04	Sag	Purvashada	3	Ven	Apas	Rakshasa
Mar	GK	03 21	Sag	Mula	2	Ket	Nritti	Deva
Sun	DK	01 21	Can	Punarvasu	4	Jup	Aditi	Deva
Ket		21 04	Gem	Punarvasu	1	Jup	Aditi	Rakshasa

The ninth house is the sign of Cancer which has a predominance of sattva guna. Sattva guna is illuminating and calming and such people’s work result in the benefit of others. The 9^th lord Moon is also the atma karaka planet. Moon is of sattva nature but the movable sign brings some active impulses which are classified as rajasic. People with this nature are usually driven and ambitious. Further, when the ninth house is lorded by Moon, the objective is usually a rightful social purpose, but they can fight to get what they want.

The 10^th lord Sun governing work is in the ninth house of dharma. Moon is also aspecting its own house from its placement in the third house. The strong association of 9^th and the 10^th lord gives her a powerful raja yoga called “Dharma Karmadhipathi”. The presence of such a yoga shows that there is an alignment of her nature to the activity she performs. People with this yoga work tirelessly in their chosen field and are not driven by payoffs. Sun being her in 10^th lord in the ninth house will give her fame, as we have to see the fifth from the 10^th lord to see the result. This yoga is strengthened further by the conjunction of the Sun and Moon in the Navamsa. She has tirelessly dedicated herself to politics for the past 28 years and has helped in the process of reunification of Germany as well as in the creation of a successful European Union.

Sun is vargottama and when placed in the ninth makes her partial to tradition and philosophy. Her father was a pastor and she has been brought up under strong influence of the church. The Sun in the 9^th brings out the qualities of equity and fairness of Anshuman Aditya who rules the spirit of the 9^th house and Sagittarius sign. Sun is also placed in the asterism of Punarvasu that is ruled by a sattva planet Jupiter. Punarvasu literally means “light again”. This asterism blesses a person with boundless energy and creativity. However, they can usually take a lot of decisions hastily.

Venus is placed in tenth house and planets in the tenth definitely give good results. Venus is the dispositor of an exalted Saturn in the twelfth that aspects the ninth house and the 10^th lord Sun placed in it. She became interested in politics in Venus antar dasha of the maha dasha of Jupiter in 1989. She won her first seat in elections at thirty-six years of age when Saturn matures. However, it was in Saturn maha dasha she held positions of power, including being chosen as the head of her party – THE CDU, first as the head of opposition to the ruling party and then as the Chancellor of Germany three times over. The subject matter of her work was influenced by the planet Venus in the tenth house, houses owned by Venus and the planet Saturn placed in it. The experience was given by the tenth house ruler Sun which gave her the raja yoga.

The ultimate desire of the work is seventh from where the 10^th lord is and for her this falls in the third house which governs agreements and contracts. As the atma karaka Moon is placed there, there is a great desire for keeping the family together, protecting younger ones, so the desire has manifested in creating and preserving the European Union. Moon is in the asterism of Shravana that gives her excellent organisational capabilities. The desire to preserve coming comes from Vishnu, the deity ruling the asterism who is the ultimate preserver of the Universe. Moon is placed in the fourth pada of this asterism and as it is in the moksha pada, it makes her charitable and sympathetic which results in generating mass appeal.

The deities ruling the navamsa placements of the Sun and Moon are devas which further enhances her image as a competent person and she is compassionate towards an image of a liberal world. However, the Saturn that helped her rise is a Rakshasha amsa, meaning her rise to power would have entailed stress and huge compromises.

There are no planets in the trines to the ninth that can further influence her nature, however we have Mars and Saturn giving full aspect to the ninth house, and this would be classically called the Yama Yoga that can bring great death and disaster. However, this yoga gave her fortune as her rise in politics was as the result of the fall of the Berlin Wall and death of the Eastern Soviet Bloc. Mars as a co-lord of the ascendant is a functional benefic and is conjunct with Rahu, the 4^th lord. The combination of Rahu and Mars is also dangerous. Further Mars is in the asterism of Nirriti, therefore, she will seek some change to the existing order. Saturn is the dispositor of Moon and is in asterism of Swati that gives her the qualities of independence and adaptability. The Moon is aspected by Rahu which is a raja yoga as it is the conjunction of Atma Karaka and Putra Karaka and this reveals her sympathy for foreign matters or subject to foreign influences. Rahu being the 4^th lord in a rakshasa ruled amsa, she will go any length to preserve the European Union.

Vladimir Putin – President of Russia

Vladimir Putin October 17, 1952 St. Petersburg 9.30am
	CK	Deg	Sign	Nak	Pada	Nak Ruler	Nak Deity	Nav deity
Asc		9 59	Lib	Swati	1	Rah	Vayu	Rakshasa
Mer	AK	29 59	Vir	Chitra	2	Mar	Tvashtr	Manushya
Jup(R)	AMK	25 34	Ari	Bharani	4	Ven	Yama	Manushya
Sat	BK	24 16	Vir	Chitra	1	Mar	Tavshtr	Deva
Sun	MK	20 44	Vir	Hasta	4	Moo	Savitur	Rakshasa
Ven	PIK	18 31	Lib	Swati	4	Rah	Vayu	Rakshasa
Moo	PUK	9 43	Tau	Kritikka	4	Sun	Agni	Deva
Rah	GK	25 26	Cap	Dhanishta	1	Mar	Vasu	Manushya
Mar	DK	3 20	Sag	Mula	2	Ket	Nritti	Deva
Ket		25 26	Can	Ashlesha	3	Mer	Sarpa	Manushya

The ninth house is ruled by Gemini, a dual sign showing sattva nature, however the ruler Mercury is rajasic. Ninth house is lorded by Mercury which limits the definition of fortune as to merely being wealth and such people can exploit positions of trust to accumulate wealth. A strong Sun would help mitigate this situation, but Putin does not have a strong Sun. There are no planets in ninth house but there are aspects. Mars and Saturn aspect the ninth house jointly from the third and the twelfth house respectively creating the same Yama Yoga as in Merkel’s Chart. His fortune came about as the result of the fall of the Eastern Bloc. Mars and Saturn are placed in deva amsas and Saturn is the yoga karaka. His fortune is definitely linked to war and destruction.

Mercury, the 9^th lord is also the atma karaka and is placed in the twelfth house in the asterism of Chitra, which is bright and creative. Mercury is
placed in manushya amsa, making him covetous. However the conjunction with yoga karaka Saturn brings a positive influence giving him a raja yoga. The 11^th lord Sun is in marana sthana in the twelfth house and is placed in rakshasa amsa which makes him aggressive and selfish. Sun in the twelfth house gives him excellent support for politics and makes him a huge risk taker manifesting the qualities of the Vishnu Aditya. However, this combination with Sun in the twelfth house led him to purge all the non-conforming industrialists and steal their wealth in 2006.

Moon is the 10^th lord exalted in the asterism Krittika. This makes him extremely intelligent and splendorous. It is in the eighth house of secrets and when taken together with digbala Ketu in the tenth house, gives him a career as a spy. The arudha lagna is in the tenth house and Moon is placed in the eleventh from it showing gains from it. Moon is excellently placed in the navamsa with an exalted Venus in the fourth house. The navamsa deity ruling the Moon is deva, thus he was extremely competent at his work and dedicated to his career when he was in secret service at the KGB. Moon in the fourth Pada of Kritikka usually gives a long life.

There is no association of Mercury the 9^th Lord and Moon the 10^th Lord in the rasi chart but there is there is in the navamsa. This yoga is also present when we look from arudha in Cancer. The 9^th lord from arudha is Jupiter in the tenth house and Mars the 10^th lord from arudha aspects the ninth house of Pisces contributing to the image of him being a dedicated servant of the state.

Venus is in the ascendant forming a Malavya Mahapurusha Yoga placed in trine to the ninthhouse and influencing the ninth and tenth houses by argala. Venus is placed in the asterism of Swati in the 4^th pada making him an independent thinker, agile and social. Unfortunately Venus is placed in an amsa ruled by a rakshasha making him power hungry, thriving in wars and disagreements. He will go to any lengths to get his wants satisfied, making his own rules along the way and proving to be a very difficult person to deal with. A single planet in the ascendant can have a great influence on the ninth house and the therefore governs how a person will perceive his role in the society. Venus, the ascendant lord is conjunct Moon and is in opposition to Mercury in the navamsa thus strengthening the influence of aggressive Venus on the 9^th and 10^th lords, making him a law unto himself when it comes to governance!

It was in maha dasha of yoga karaka Saturn he attained heights of power. Because Saturn is a deva amsa and ruling the fourth house, he brought welfare to the masses and increased the image of Russia.

Donald Trump – President United States of America

Donald Trump June 14 1946, 10.52 hrs Jamaica, NY
	CK	Deg	Sign	Nak	Pada	Nak Ruler	Nak Deity	Nav deity
Asc		6 28	Lib	Magha	2	Ket	Pitris	Rakshasa
Sun	AK	29 50	Vir	Mrgashira	2	Mar	Soma	Deva
Moo	AMK	28 08	Ari	Jyeshta	4	Mer	Indra	Deva
Jup(R)	BK	24 21	Vir	Chitra	1	Mar	Tvashtr	Deva
Mer	MK	15 45	Vir	Ardra	3	Rah	Rudra	Deva
Mar	PIK	03 40	Lib	Magha	2	Ket	Pitris	Rakshasa
Ven	PUK	02 38	Tau	Punarvasu	4	Jup	Aditi	Deva
Rah	GK	27 39	Cap	Mrgashira	2	Mar	Soma	Deva
Sat	DK	00 43	Sag	Punarvasu	4	Jup	Aditi	Deva
Ket		27 39	Can	Jyeshta	4	Mer	Indra	Deva

The ninth house is Aries which is a movable sign having rajas qualities, and the ruler of the sign Mars is tamasic, the combined result is usually sattva. When the ninth house is ruled by Mars, the person gets to fight to get what he wants usually for a larger social cause especially when supported by a well-placed Moon. The ninth house has no planets and the lord Mars is in ascendant. This placement usually assures the blessing of Goddess Shri bringing prosperity and public honour. Mars is also the yoga karaka for a Leo ascendant, and it is the significator for property, therefore his fortune was related to property and he became a property Mogul.

Mars is in the asterism of Magha ruled by the deity Pitris, meaning ancestors. The symbol of Magha is a throne and can make him an elitist. Mars is 2^nd pada of Magha, which is artha pada guaranteeing him sons and inheritance. The navamsa placement of Mars is ruled by a rakshasha, making him rather insatiable for power and fortune, and when such a planet is placed in the ascendant gives him a combative nature. No other planet aspects Mars making him very independent.

There are no graha aspects to the ninth house, however Mars and Moon have a rasi aspect on the ninth house. Moon is the 12^th lord debilitated in asterism of Jyeshta, but gets a neechabhanga from Mars which aspects it from the ascendant and also by being in a Kendra from it. Jyeshta makes an individual competent but they can indulge in battles for power. Indra rules this asterism and though he is the Lord of the Heavens, his position is not guaranteed and has to keep waging wars to able to retain his position. Moon is in moksha pada of Jyeshta and is placed in an amsa ruled by deva. This should have made him compassionate but as Moon’s debilitation is cancelled by Mars, the qualities of Mars in rakshasa amsa are absorbed by Moon.

The ascendant lord Sun is also the atma karaka in the tenth house in digbala, which is a position blessed by the lokpala Indra, giving him a siddhi yoga (extremely capable) and fame beyond death. Sun is conjunct with the 7^th lord Rahu and when placed in the tenth gives him the tenacity and ambition. Both planets are placed in deva amsas and are placed in the asterism of gentle but indulgent Mrigashira.

The 10^th lord Venus is vargottama and placed in the twelfth in Punarvasu making him creative and skilful. It is conjunct Saturn, showing some obstacles, however all these planets are placed in deva amsas.

There is no connection between the ninth and the tenth house, unless we can consider Moon as the co-lord of Taurus. There is a partial aspect, with Mars aspecting Moon the 10^th Lord, but Moon does not aspect the 9^th Lord or ninth house.

If we look from arudha lagna, the 9^th lord Moon and 10^th lord Sun aspect each other, which is also true for Merkel and Putin. For Trump they are influenced by the nodes, which are exalted – showing some karma that will have longevity.

With the exception of the 9^th lord Mars and the ascendant, all his planets are in amsas whose deities are ruled by devas showing him as competent and having knowledge on various subjects from his previous life, however one strong planet Mars in the ascendant in rakshasa amsa will unfortunately rule is his vision and dharma.

To conclude one can say that, the dharma of everyone is to truly respond to every situation in an authentic manner. However we are limited by our influences or gunas that we carry from many lives. It is usually only in the horoscope of avatars and saints we find the ninth lord in a perfect condition- strong, exalted or in digbala, connected to the tenth house, placed well and influenced by sattvic deities. The purpose of this article is to show the importance of the 9^th lord in our lives. An afflicted 9^th lord or an afflicted planet in the ascendant can cause great harm to ourselves and to the society. We can remedy the situation of the 9^th lord in many ways by service, prayer, and by seeking knowledge to change our cognitive thinking.

Om Tat Sat