Deep Introduction to Nakshatras

Kapiel Raaj: Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, he is back, he was a blockbuster head on KRSchannel so we are bringing the sequel because the blockbuster head movie needs the sequels. Please help me welcome Shri Sanjay Rath ji. Welcome, you are in huge hit.

Sanjay Rath: Thank you Kapiel, thank you very much.

KR: Today you are going to cover my favorite subject ‘Nakshatras’, as you promised.

SR: That’s right. In fact, what we were talking initially was – I wanted to go into a concept of Nakshatras before I get into anything else. And the concept of the Nakshatras is very important. Unless we understand these Nakshatras and have a clear idea about what we are talking, getting into an integrity of individual Nakshatras will be pointless, because we need to get a broad picture first before we are going into more detail picture. For example, often people ask me, what exactly are Nakshatras. When you look up at the skies, there are thousands and thousands of stars over there. So what exactly is the Nakshatra? And why are these Nakshatras exactly of equal sizes? Right? That is very important question. If you take the Lunar motion around the Earth, it is about 27 days and about 7 hours, – roughly, 7 and 3 quarters, – there are two ways, we can round off this number. We can round off it to a lower portion, 27, or we can round off it to upper portion, 28. So, basically, there are two types of Nakshatras, one, which is 27 Nakshatra breadth, and one, which is 28 Nakshatra breadth. Now, if I take a Zodiac of 360° and divide into 27 parts, I am getting each of 13°20’. What am I assuming out here? I am assuming that the motion is uniform, that the motion of the Moon around the Zodiac is uniform and that it is passing through each of these mansions, called Nakshatras (Nakshatras are mansions, that is why we called them Lunar mansions), of 13°20’ in approximately 1 day. Approximately. But actually, it is slightly more time to pass. So, that is the reason why we are cutting it into equal portions. But in the Vedic Time they realized that the motion of the Moon is not uniform. It accelerates and decelerates, something like that. So, if we are going to Vedic Nakshatras, which is far more intricate system of Nakshatras, the length of each Nakshatras is actually different. This is something nobody talks about, because a very few people even know such a things exist. If, for example, we take the first Nakshatra, which we all know as Ashvini. We know that it is from 0° Aries to 13°20’ of Aries. But, according to Brahma, the Creator, this is not true, because actually the speed of the Moon is different. So, we has assigned different length for each Nakshatra. But that is called the Creation Nakshatras.

KR: That is how Moon is slowing down in Rohini and that is why it is favorite Nakshatra.

SR: You’ve got it. That is the reason why, that is why we say – it is favorite Nakshatra. Because it slows down over there. It hangs on over there more. It means it is favorite, it is being biased. And who is the Deity of these Nakshatra? It is Brahma, Prajapati. That is why Brahma says: ‘Hey, there is different times assigned for different Nakshatras. And so, that is the Vedic Nakshatra system. But what we call the Shrishti, the Creation Nakshatras, are different from Sustenance. In the Sustenance they are all the equal sizes of 13°20’ each. And each of them has got four legs like animal, like four legged animal. So, each Nakshatra is like a cow. Think of Nakshatra like a cow.

KR: I always asked this and I never been able to really find the true answer for it. We know, that Nakshatra has four padas and those padas land a planet in certain sign in Navamsha, but is there actual meaning of a planet being in the first pada versus second pada versus third pada… Can we just say: “Oh, you have Sun in third pada, OK, this is supposed to happen.” Is there something like that? Whether pada itself has some meaning of why it is in third pada?

SR: See, these padas are not just about tattvas. The first pada has been known as Agni, because it is always mapped to Agni Navamsha. The second pada is Prithvi, it is always mapped to Prithvi. Third is Vayu and the fourth is Jala. And based upon these four padas we are getting Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. And these four padas are like four legs of the Bull. Because the Moon in the end of the day is representing the Bull. So, the Bull is going to visit each of these cows, one by one. Ashvini Nakshatra is a cow, the Moon, which is the Bull, is going to visit her. And first pada, second pada, third pada and fourth pada are four legs of the Bull, the four legs of the cow. And these are four legs of Dharma actually, if we’ll see. During Satya Yuga all the four legs are very strong. During Dvapara Yuga three are strong. In Treta two are strong. And Kali Yuga only one is strong. What does that mean? That means that during Kali Yuga it is not only quite to see [Moon’s] Nakshatra, but we also have to see Nakshatra pada, because only that Nakshatra pada is strong. The rest of them are going to be weak.

KR: OK. So, if Moon is in Rohini Nakshatra in the first pada of Agni, that means that Dharma of that Nakshatra is much stronger.

SR: Exactly. That means this person is focused on Dharma. That is only thing which has got strength in it. If it is in the second pada, then the Artha pada is strong, the others are weak. Earlier, in Satya Yuga, the Moon had so much strength, then when he was in Rohini, all the four padas would be strong. Therefore, that is the importance of the understanding the padas in the Nakshatra. Further, we realized that, look, every Nakshatra which has a pada, is basically going to map into certain kind of destiny. For example, if my Moon, let us say, in Agni pada, that means, that Agni rashis are strong in my chart, that leg of Dharma Bull is strong. So, planets, which are placed in Agni rashis are going to be enjoying a lot of Moon light. Because you mind has only got the capacity to focus on one thing. It does not have the capacity to focus on all the four things. That is why only one thing is going to be strong. Let us say, in my chart I find the Moon to be in the fourth pada of Satabhisha. Forth pada is being known as Moksha pada, which has to do with a Jala rashis. So, all the planets in the Jala rashis – my mind is going to dwell on them. So, naturally they are going to be strong. The remaining planets will not be as strong, that is the point of having the Moon’s pada.

KR: Wow. OK. So, like even mine is in the Moksha pada, that means – this is why my mind always to know what is beyond this plain, is this why I dwell: ‘why am I here, in this place?”

SR: You and me are searchers, we are searching. Look at the Moksha pada – here are the 4^th house, 8^th house and 12^th house. It is all about life after death, 12^th house, all about transformations, 8^th house: ‘why am I born? Why am I passing through the transformation?’ And the 4^th house is about home, about relationships. What are these karmas that are associated with relationships? That is more important, that this why we connect.

KR: And at the same time you have desire: ‘Oh, I want to eat, I want to buy a nice shirt and I want to buy a nice car.’ How does that also play because we have so many different desires… sometimes we have Kama desires, sometimes we have Artha desires, ‘I want to have a good career.’ So, how is that playing at the same time?

SR: The thing is we are not as good in that as we are in this. The mind, ultimately, it is the mind that matters. The mind tends to focus more on the Moksha area. So, if next couple of years you have to go to buy your shirt, then I will at least need one planet in let us say Agni pada for you to care for yourself. That planets, which are in Agni padas, – you end up caring for yourself. Planets, which are in Prithvi pada, will make you care for your work and money. Planets in Vayu padas will deal with your travel and your relationships and things like that.

KR: And in the end I have all four happening. First, second, third, fourth. They all help me in the certain areas of my life.

SR: Exactly. So, every planet will be in the certain pada and that planet will be only able to focus better on the pada, in which it is placed. Whereas it will be unfit in the other padas. A Venus, which is placed in a Vayu pada, will be super with relationships.

KR: And that is what I have, Vayu pada.

SR: That is why you are super, you are smiling all the time, you are so good to interact people. How old is your channel?

KR: 7 years by now.

SR: And I think you are number one. That is your Venus in Vayu. You see? You are able to interact, because, end of the day, if planets are not in Vayu pada, you cannot go out there. You are friendly, you are interacting and you can easily see how it is going. And beauty is – because Venus is the Lord of pada therefore it will go global.

KR: It is landed in Libra in Navamsha with Mercury.

SR: That is awesome, you see.

KR: And it is opposite Sun and Mars in Aries.

SR: Awesome. Normally, I found Mars – Venus opposition in the Navamsha to be good for Astrologers. Very interesting. It is something to do with the Gandanta point of Fire and Water. Mars rules the Fire and Venus rules the Water.

KR: My Mars is in the Gandanta between Leo and Cancer, it is nearly, less than 1 degree of Magha Nakshatra. And Moon landed itself in Cancer and Saturn in Capricorn, as we have discussed it in New-York, for Navamsha.

SR: Very good karma. So we come back to the Nakshatras. Now, the questions is since we have 27 Nakshatras, where does the counting start from? There are seven planets, like the Saptarishi, who are sitting around Parvati, who is the Moon. And normally they reckoning all the stars from the Sun. But the Moon said: ‘No, I am the Lord of the Nakshatras.’ And therefore the reckoning will start from where the Moon gets exalted. And the Moon gets exalted in the 2 degree of Taurus, which is in Krittika Nakshatra. That is the reason why Nakshatra counting is always done from Krittika. It is very basic thing – why from there?

KR: Why it is also starting from Ashvini?

SR: We will come to that. We will see the dominance of the Sun. The Sun is the Boss of the System, right? So, naturally, when it comes to talking about Nakshatras, the reckoning always starts from Krittika. But the Sun says: ‘Hey, I am the Boss of the whole Zodiac.’ Therefore, where does the Zodiac reckoning start from? From where the Sun gets exalted. The Sun is exalted the 10 degrees of Aries, that is the reason why among the Rashis Aries, or Mesha is the first Rashi. And Ashvini is the first Nakshatra of the Kalapurusha. That is why. The question is: ‘Why am I starting from Ashvini?’ Because that is the exaltation of the Sun. So, the Sun elevates to himself, all Nakshatras start from Ashvini as far as Manushya Jataka is concerned. And human beings will be made on basis of Aries. Aries will be the head, Taurus will be the face and so on. Similarly we have something calling Nakshatra Purusha. And then again we are start counting from Ashvini. To understand the Nakshatra schema.

Since the Moon is from Krittika therefore all Dasha allocations, like Vimshottari Dasha and all, will be from Krittika. You see the shlokas, they always start with Krittika as the first Nakshatra and since the Sun is the King, the chain will be allocated to the Sun, as a Dasha. That is how we have two different reckonings of Nakshatras – one from Ashvini and one from Krittika. But there is one which is called the Night System. And the Night System says: ‘ ‘Hey, I do not agree with both of you. I am different. And I will start from Ardra.’ So, technically, we have three different Nakshatra schemes: one, that starts from Krittika; one, that starts from Ashvini, and one, that starts from Ardra. That is called Ardradi. That means ‘from Ardra and others’. Krittika – Krittikadi, ’from Krittika and others’. Ashvinadi – ‘Ashvini and others.’ So, we have three Nakshatra schemes, not one.

KR: Who controls that Ardra scheme? Because we know Sun is exalted here, Moon is exalted here..

SR: Must be another planet that gets exalted. You see? So, when people asked me: ‘Who gets exalted there?’ I said: ‘I guess, the only one left is Rahu, is not it?’ Who is the one that is going dissolve the Sun and the Moon? Only Rahu. There you go. So, therefore we have creation, that is happening from Ashvini; we have a sustenance, which is happening from Krittika; and we have a destruction, which is happening from Ardra. That is why we have Shrishti (or creation) from Ashvini, Sthiti (or sustenance) from Krittika and Samhara (or destruction) from Ardra. So, let us say, we are using Vimshottari Dasha. What are we going to do with Vimshottari Dasha? We are going to use it see, how the native or any being is being sustained in the Planet. Since it is for sustenance, that is why Vimshottari Dasha reckoning must be from Krittika.

KR: But Vimshottari is based on the position of the Moon.

SR: Exactly. But when we say that the Moon is the certain Nakshatra, where are we counting Nakshatras from? Because the order is Navatara System. And Navatara order is Surya, Chandra, Mangal, Rahu, Brihaspati, Shani, Budha, Ketu, Shukra. So, the starting point is Surya. Therefore the starting point is Krittika [Moon is Lord], and then, three times nine they go around the Zodiac. And then we see where exactly the Moon is. And from there we get the Vimshottari Dasha. So, the System that is being used, is the Krittikadi System. Although the Creation is from Ashvini, the Sustenance is happening from Krittika. So, he Dashas are all running from Krittika.

KR: Is there Dasha that also will give some importance to Ardradi?

SR: Of course, if I have Dasha System only to find out death, how is death coming towards, it is reverse, it is retrograde. Death is always there and he is walking towards you. The point when you and Death will cross the paths, we call Samnas.

KR: That make sense because you come close  and that is why death happens.

SR: So, the death’s time is actually retrograding from some point, let us say, 144 years. From 144 year it is retrograding. And here you are going forward. It is very interesting, you know. So, there must be a whole system of Dashas, which is associated with Death only. OK, we will leave that for now because right now we just need to understand the foundation of the Nakshatras. Right?

KR: Right.

SR: So you got these three schemes of Nakshatras very clearly. Good. And then, what we have, something called Sabhya Apasabhya Nakshatras. That means some Nakshatras are going forward and some Nakshatras are retrograding. This is based upon three steps of Vishnu, because Vishnu takes three steps forward and three steps backward, then three steps forward and three steps backward. And it does this with Rashis and it does this with Nakshatras. This is very advance concept. For example, you will see, Aries, Taurus and Gemini are walking forward, whereas Cancer, Leo and Virgo are walking backwards. So, they are called Sabhya Rashi – walking forward; Apasabhya Rashi – walking backwards. Similarly, Nakshatras. From Ashvini you can count: Ashvini, Bharani, Krittika are walking forward, Sabhya Nakshatra; then after that Rohini, Mrigashira and Ardra are walking backward, Apasabhya, like that, Every three Nakshatras are walking forward or walking backward.

KR: And what is the significance of that walking backwards versus forward? If a planet is in walking backward Nakshatra, will it behave any non-commensal way or how does that scheme play out?

SR: See, the forward and backward Nakshatras we use in multiple ways. We have a lot of Nakshatras and sometimes we count from one Nakshatra to another Nakshatra -how far away it is from this Nakshatra. Just as we have Signs and planets from Signs. Let us say, you have Mars in Leo. From Aries Mars is in the 5^th sign because I am counting forward. From Scorpio I am again counting forward, because both signs of Mars are forward counting signs. Now, let us say, I would talk about Nakshatra Mrigashira. From Mrigashira how far is Mars? From Mrigashira I will not count forward, I will have to count in the reverse.

KR: OK, so, it is 11^th from itself?

SR: Exactly. Mrigashira is looking at Mars as it is in 11^th house from it.

KR: OK… Because my Moon is here…

SR: How interesting, right? So, you observe that from Mrigashira he is looking at Mangal as in 11^th house, so he is friendly to Mangal and he is happy with the position of Mangal. But I have to count the exact number of Nakshatras and see exactly what that means. OK, these are advanced concepts, but there are much more simple concepts, like Navatara. Everybody talks about Navatara.

Think about Navatara latency. Every human being is passing through 9 stages of life. Ketu, who rules Ashvini Nakshatra is indicating a stage of headless. Ketu is headless. Who is headless? A baby or child is headless. Have you seen a little two-year-olds running around? That is complete Ketu situation. You cannot get angry with them because you know, that are kids over there, they do not understand. Everybody knows that the kid does not understand because he is headless. After that, he grows up. Venus. What is Venus? The hormones are jumping around. The teenager is fighting, angry. He does not know why he is angry. Second Nakshatra is the second stage of your life. Then the Sun. I have got to work. I have got to be timed. It has got to be a discipline. I have got to take responsibility, to settle down in my career. So, what does the third Nakshatra do? Ruled by the Sun. And the Sun is one who takes everyone to work. Then the Moon. My family. It means I must marry, I must settle down, I must have kids. Who wants that? The fourth Nakshatra. Then the 5^th Nakshatra. Mars, power, position, authority. You have been working for such a long time, now you have got a wife, she would like to know why the hell you stay in your career. Till then you were just happy, like ‘OK, I have got a job my boss told me I got to do certain things’. But suddenly now you need your power position, your authority, all these things. So, that is 5^th Nakshatra. Then Rahu, the Nakshatra of doubts, the 6^th Nakshatra. You go through your period of doubts, that ‘what the hell, what power, what the meaning of this power, what did I achieve?’ It is all about reflecting, thinking, thinking, thinking… And then realizing that may be this whole thing is a dream, this may be all false. ‘What am I doing wasting my time in this? I should be doing something better for myself.’ All those questions come up. Then the 7^th Nakshatra, Jupiter. ‘I need to have a spiritual path. I may die now.’ And then the 8^th Nakshatra, Saturn. Disease, old age. Then the last Nakshatra, Mercury. You become like a child. When you real become old you are like a child. You cannot do anything, you are dependent completely, like a child.

So, keeping that order in your head, wherever the Moon is, from the Moon we make Navataras. And, no matter what dasha you are running, what you need to count is which dasha are you in? In the 1^st dasha, 2^nd dasha, 3^rd dasha, 4^th dasha…? Because the 1^st dasha for everybody, you and me, is like a Ketu dasha, irrespective what planet there. See, there are two things in the dasha. One is planet, that is running the dasha, two is governor of the dasha. Let us say, your Moon is in Mrigashira, your Janma Tara. So, Naturally you first dasha is going to be Mars. But Mars is there like a Lord. He is a Lord of dasha. But who is the Karaka for that dasha?

KR: Ketu.

SR: Exactly.

KR: OK. And how do we relate all? Because the first dasha would be like a headless dasha, you are just running around.

SR: Exactly. So, I have to study the relationships between Ketu and Mars in your chart to figure out what exactly happen in your childhood. Just from Mars I cannot make out. Mars alone may not be sufficient.

Then we go to your second dasha. That means ‘Hey, how long did it take to mature?’ Did you mature quickly? So, people born in 4^th pada mature very quickly, because that is not much of the first dasha left. Interesting? You are not given too much time for being headless. Imaging somebody, who is born in, let us say, Pushya Nakshatra, right at the beginning. 19 years of heedlessness! That whole Saturn dasha is like Ketu. He is really not growing up. Late starters, late bloomers. It is a mind, the mind is maturing late.

Your second dasha will be that of Rahu, but the governor, the controller of the dasha is Venus. You third dasha is that of Jupiter, but the governor of that is the Sun.

KR: So, you always look at the position of the Lord and the Karaka.

SR: Karaka is very important. If the Karaka is negative, even if the Lord is exalted, you will not get super results. Because Karaka is the hand of God, is the hand of Nature.

KR: And this is why we have 9-9-9 scheme: Brahma – Vishnu – Maheshwara?

SR: Exactly. Totally. Navatara is very-very advanced concept in Nakshatras. It is not as simple as people talk about. This is one of the ways to understand Navatara, the Karaka system of understanding Navatara. Another way of understanding Navatara is – where you have a Lagna in Nakshatra – from your Lagna Nakshatra where is the Moon? From the Lagna Nakshatra I can have Navataras. Look at your Lagna. Your Lagna is Cancer. So, from Cancer, if I start counting the Navataras, I can say that it is not in the first group, it is not in the second group, it is in the third group. Your Moon is in the third Navatara group counting from Lagna. From Lagna till the 4^th house childhood. Basically, it we call Vartamana, ‘right now’. From Lagna to the 4^th house Moon will be very conscious of Now, mind is always dwelling in Now. From the 5^th house to the 8^th house Moon will always be in Future, you always think of Future. From the 9^th house to the 12^th house roughly – I am not taking Nakshatras, OK? – roughly, you see, it will be about Past. Studying History, studying Astrology, studying Cosmology, going into depth of Time. Life before birth and after death, those things.

So, basically, you can clearly see that this is Navatara. What is Navatara? Navatara is nothing but 4 Signs. You can clearly see that these people like to dwell into past, like to think about the past, like to wonder about past and deep past – History, Anthropology, Jyotish, all those things. That is how the mind is.

KR: And that is only for the Moon you are looking for, irrespective of the Ascendant? It could be Sagittarius Ascendant, but Moon in the 11^th house that 3^rd stage.

SR: Exactly. Then we are going into individual Nakshatras. And then we get more details. So, like that there are multiple kinds of things that we learn about the Nakshatra schemes. Then we have various Chakras like Surya Kalanala Chakra, Chandra Kalanala Chakra, Mangala Kalanala Chakra, that different-different Kalanala Chakras for each Nakshatra to understand to what extend that planet is giving good results or bad results. Because end of the day there one dictum, which says: if the Moon does not agree with Rajayoga, that Rajayoga cannot manifest. Id the Moon is giving Rajayoga, then even all the negative Yogas will get destroyed. So, both ways it is the Moon that gets to decide. He is deciding. It is like the mind. The mind gets to decide. So therefore, even if a planet is giving Rajayoga, we need to do certain calculation just to find out whether this planet is actually being favored or not? If it is not being favored by the Moon, by the mind, then it is not going to function. So, you can see, Nakshatras Jyotish is a very-very deep Jyotish. After studying and finishing the Rashi you go back to Nakshatras to understand, what will work and what will not work. OK. I want to give you a deep idea about basics of the Nakshatras plus how deep is this.

But, you know, Navatara is just one scheme, there are other schemes. For example, everybody says that the 22^nd Nakshatra is Vainashika Nakshatra; it destroys you. And how do we use it? For example, the 22^nd Nakshatra will exactly map to the 10^th house, it is roughly the middle Nakshatra in the 10^th house. Why should the planet in the 10^th house in the 22^nd Nakshatra be a destroyer? So therefore, the question I ask – is it a destroyer or is it one who prevents destruction. Because that Nakshatra can destroy. The planet over there can prevent the destruction. So, he can protect you.

KR: OK. So, the Nakshatra can destroy, but the planet can actually step on and say: ‘No, you are not going to destroy.’

SR: Exactly. And so, you see, they say some of the highest mantras for protection are 22 syllables mantras.

KR: And did you say about 22^nd Nakshatra from Ashvini or where the Moon is placed?

SR: 22 from the Moon. Vainashika Nakshatra. Because that Nakshatra is supposed to destroy you. And when does it destroy you? When you finish your karmas. That is why 10^th house has to do with karmas. That this why 10^th house is also important house for longevity. Lagna is important for longevity, 10^th house is important for longevity, because it decides whether your karma iss done or not. If that is done, what are you doing out here? So, longevity component that is coming from 10^th house is basically from 22^nd Nakshatra and that is giving you the karma, that you have to do in this planet. Similarly, there are many special Nakshatras like this and we need all the special Nakshatras.

And then we have talked about Gandanta, your Mars is being in Gandanta. And it is very interesting thing to know, that for men and women Gandantas work completely differently. For example, to give you a rough idea, take Magha Nakshatra, since you are interested in Magha. First pada of Magha is Agni dosha, second pada is Jala dosha. You see, the second pada is actually Prithvi, but the dosha is Jala for men. The third pada is Prithvi dosha and the fourth is Vayu dosha. So, the doshas of the Gandanta Nakshatras are different from the Tattvas. In the first case, it was Agni-Agni, in the second pada it is Prithvi, but the dosha is Jala, the third pada is Vayu, but the dosha is Prithvi, the fourth pada is Jala, and the dosha is Vayu. For example, let us say, the Moon is in first pada, then we can say, that is there danger to father. That Moon will destroy the father when his dasha will come. If it was in the second pada, it is not the father, but the mother who is in danger. In the third pada, neither father no mother but your finance is in trouble. The fourth pada could be dangerous for siblings and other things. Whereas for a woman it is very different. The first pada of Magha has Prithvi dosha, second has Agni dosha, third has Jala dosha and the fourth has Vayu. You see, so the doshas of Nakshatra padas from the padas themselves. For example, if I say, that Mars is in Gandanta in first pada, then it is not your father, but whomever Mangal will represent, Mangal is having the problem of Gandanta. Particularly, Mangal. May that could be a sudden change in career. A sudden disruption in career. Mars will sudden wake up one day and say: ‘what the hell career you were doing, enjoy leave and get back in my job.’ And then Mangal will say: ‘OK, what job shall I give him?’ Then, depending on aspects and this and that, Mangal will say: ‘OK, why not the highest job, that I can give?’ What is the highest job of Mangal? Vedanga. What Vedanga does Mangal do? He is Agni and that is Jyotish.

KR: That is so true, I just was laid off from the job, back in 2010 and from that point I said ‘That is it, I have done with this, I do not want to do 9×5 job, I want to do something different.’ And from that transition happened, happened and here I am.

SR: There you go. See, if Moon was there, it would be absolutely different. It is more personal, more about the blood. That is why father, mother… Who are mother and father? They are linked to you through your blood. That is why Moon in Gandanta is considered more dangerous. Mars in Gandanta would hit what it can hit. How can Mars hit something which is related to you through blood? It cannot hit your dad or your mom. Moon has to do with blood. That is why the Moon being there is very sensitive.

Good. So now, basically, we have talked about certain important points. What else should we talk about Nakshatras?

KR: Do we still use Abhijit in some way? And where 28^th Nakshatra is placed in our life, what way?

SR: Very good question. As I said, there are two Nakshatra schemes. One is the 27 Nakshatra scheme and one is the 28 Nakshatra scheme. In 27 Nakshatra what did we do? We did 3 Navataras, right? 9 Starts, then 9 Stars and then 9 Stars. So, if I put 9 Stars in one line, I get one side of triangle. 9 Stars – another side… So basically, Navatara is diving the whole Zodiac into three parts. If I joint these 3 points, I get a triangle. And do you know what does this triangle represent? It represents Bhūr, Bhuvaḥ, Svaḥ. The first 9 Stars are Bhu-loka. So, from your Lagna – your Lagna is Pushya? – from Pushya the first 9 Starts will represent Bhu-loka. The next 9 Stars are Bhuva-loka and the last 9 Stars are Svarga-loka. But these are three manifested worlds. They are not the spiritual worlds. The spiritual worlds are Mahar-loka, Janar-loka, Tapar-loka and Satya-loka. How do we represent these four spiritual world? We have to use then 28 Nakshatra. When we use 28 Nakshatras we get 7 x 4. So, each side of a square is 7. This square is called Jagannath or Chouka. In Orissi dance – somebody who knows and understand the Orissi dance, it is a very spiritual dance, because it is based upon the Chouka, the square the Jagannath, in which each side of a square has 7 Stars. From your Lagna Nakshatra to Nakshatra 14 will be Mahar-loka, then from 15 onwards the next 7 Stars will be Janar-loka, then next 7 Stars will be Tapar-loka and the last 7 Stars are Satya-loka. So, basically, there is one Zodiac map that you are seeing. Actually, there are two Zodiacs, two Lunar Zodiacs, super imposed on each other inside the Zodiac.

RK: Is there way to determine what Loka you are coming from or going to? Is that map about?

SR: The starting point for is the Dreshkana. So for that you really need to know whether Moon is stronger or Sun is stronger. And once I know that, I need to know in which dreshkana it is placed. And the Lord of that Dreshkana gives me an idea. Your Moon is in Mrigashira. Now, which Dreshkana System am I using? I cannot use Parashara, because Parashara Dreshkana has to do with brothers and sisters. I have to use Jagannath Dreshkana or the Nādi Dreshkana. In the Nādi Dreshkana the first Dreshkana of every Rashi will go to the movable sign. So, the Moon is in Libra. From where you came – I am assuming Moon is stronger, Venus will tell me from where you came. From there I will get the idea. Let us say you came from higher spiritual world, I assume so, otherwise why would you be so much interested in spirituality? Remember the last interview I was looking at. So, basically we found out that from your Lagna the first 7 Nakshatras are finishing in the Nakshatra 14. So, you are in the second. If I assume that you have come from spiritual plain that is why you are spiritual person. Then I will say: ‘Oh, he has come from Janar-loka.’ And which planet is the governor of Janar-loka? According to that I will know that this planet must have a profound say in your life.

KR: This course is really deep like a Black hole.

SR: Yes, Nakshatras are absolutely fantastic. And you know, the entire concept of Nakshatras is so deep. We were talking about Ashvini today. May be we can take it up next time. The idea today is to really get some idea. Nakshatra has a Devata. They say that the Devata awake us, when the Sun passes through Nakshatra. Because the Sun passes burning the Nakshatra. Whichever the Nakshatra the Sun is in, that Nakshatra is combusted. We only talk about combustion of planets, people do not talk about combustion of Nakshatras. That Nakshatra is called Astangata Nakshatra. That Nakshatra is in pain. It is in pain, it is burning, it is hurting. So, whichever part of your mind that rules, that part will hurt. And if it has to do with your consciousness, the guy can lose his sanity. Do you know that the 24^th Nakshatra (in 27 Nakshatra schema; and in 28 Nakshatra scheme – 25^th) is called Manasa Nakshatra. And if the Sun is in that Nakshatra, it is very dangerous. It can cause insanity. Because your head is burning, it is heated up. You are not able to take it, as an anger. You do not know why does anger is in your head. Does it get a lot of chili all the time? Like that, each Nakshatra is a part of the mind. So, unless we know the Devata of Nakshatra we cannot really heal that Nakshatra. Because the Devata is healing that part of the brain.

KR: So, when you see somebody’s Sun in the birth chart, does it show that there is the Nakshatra that is going to be really burning and hurting you?

SR: Of course. That Nakshatra is burning you. Nakshatras have to do with the wind, Vayu. If you see the Panchanga, five elements the Panchanga, we have Vara – Vara is associated with Agni Tattva, then we Tithi, which has to do with Jala Tattva, and then we have Nakshatra, which has to do with Vayu Tattva. You see? Nakshatras are Vayu, so Saturn is very happy in Nakshatras, very-very happy. Saturn takes about 28 or 29 years to go around the Zodiac or he goes around one Nakshatra per year.

KR: Yes, he takes his time enjoying every Nakshatra.

SR: Exactly.

KR:  I thought that Saturn is Karma, so brings heavy karma to every Nakshatra, no?

SR: Saturn in any Nakshatra is the wind, Why would Saturn be bad in the Nakshatra? HE becomes unclean over there. He is unclean over there.

KR: If you look at somebody’s Saturn Nakshatra, what would it tell you, mentally, like, what is this person should do with this? Or what is that Saturn trying to do in that Nakshatra?

SR: He is polluted. Since he is polluted in that Nakshatra, whatever is indicated by that, could get polluted. Or, alternatively, it can give you a consciousness, that ‘I am polluted and I should become clean’. That is how it works in the brain. Brain realizes that this part is polluted, so ‘I need to clean it’. Saturn is a problem, but it is not as much problem as Sun or as Mars. Because that is Agni. Agni will burn out that Nakshatra. Because these are Lunar Mansions, these are water. And fire and water form Gandanta. That is why fire is not welcome in any Nakshatra. Wherever it is going to be it is going to create problems.

KR: Once you see that, what would you tell that person, looking at that Nakshatra? What should they do to may be cool that Nakshatra down? The Sun combusted Nakshatra?

SR: For the Sun there is only one solution. Whenever we talk of the Sun, go to the Pratyadi Devata. The Pratyadi Devata of the Sun is Rudra or Shiva. Go to the Shiva Temple and pour water.

KR: That is what I do every two weeks. It is religious thing.

SR: As simple like that. He is heater; give him some water. What do you do to yourself when heat is up to cool down? Go to swimming pool. So, it is simple like that. But, the worst is Ketu. Whichever Nakshatra Ketu is in, the day when the Moon shall pass on that Nakshatra, that is the day you need to take day off. No matter what – take a break. Because Ketu is the fire that does not die down with water. Among the three fires, – Hindu is having three types of fires, – Ketu is that fire, which is the worst. The Sun will come down with water. Oblations with water will calm down the Sun. Mars will need more than that. He will need honey, he will need other things, other offerings to cool down, lots of yogurt. What do you do when your stomach burns? Yogurt. But then there is a terrible fire, let us say you were talking to somebody and you got one of red chili, you know red, which is the worst chili in the planet. And we have one more chili from South Orissa, which is like a size of upper portion of your thumb, tiny like that. If you bite it, next seven days you’ve had it. That is the Ketu kind of burning. Your brain ceases to function, you cannot think any more, when you eat chili like that. What is the way out for that? Rice. Now you know why rice is called mahaprasad. Because rice can stop that burning, which neither milk no water cannot do.

KR: Does it mean that day you should eat rice?

SR: You must eat rice.

KR: You are also saying to take the day off, but let us say in this modern year and age if you do not work they will fair you. What can people do in real life on that day, when you know it is Monday and you are going to work and Moon is transiting that Ketu Nakshatra. Is there any solution?

SR: Let us say, I want to do daily remedy. I do not want to see the chart, I do not want to see the Panchanga, I do not know what happens, when dasha comes… I want to do daily remedy. From your Lagna start moving backwards at the rate of 4 minutes per degree. Come to Ketu. How long does it take for Lagna your moving backwards to Ketu? How long does it take? Every day, if you take rice at that time, you will never suffer because of that. That terrible burning by which you become headless, it has gone, it will never happen. Just eat little bit of rice or some form of rice. The best is white boiled rice. If it is offered to Krishna – Oh my God! It works like Wow! That is ultimate remedy.

KR: One thing else, I want to ask you: whenever people see – you have your Moon or Sun between 6 degrees to 11 degrees of Capricorn, meaning, that your Moon is also in Abhijit Nakshatra, is that concept true when people see that – like is not only Uttarashada but also Abhijit? That means it is doubled power you have…

SR: It is Abhijit for the Zodiac, it is not Abhijit for you. Abhijit is the last pada of Uttarashada and about degree of Shravana. Let us say, planet is there, that portion of Zodiac. Yes, it is in Abhijit Nakshatra. And Abhijit Nakshatra also has four padas, which means that you are supposed to break it into smaller parts. See, the point is not if planet over there is powerful or not. What means – what is he doing for you? It is in Abhijit for the Zodiac, not for you. Your Abhijit is in the different place. Your Abhijit is in the exact fourth house of your Sun. Tell me, where is your Sun in your horoscope. It is in the Vishakha Nakshatra.

SR: Vishakha Nakshatra. Then the 4^th house from that I definitely Capricorn. But let us say somebody has the Sun in Cancer. Like me, I have Sun in Cancer. For me Abhijit is not in the Capricorn. For me Abhijit is in Libra.

KR: Why is that? I have never heard that.

SR: See, what is Abhijit? Abhijit is that, which has a maximum light. And when is the maximum light during the day? When the Sun is in the 10^th house. So, if my Sun was in Cancer, that on that time, when the Lagna was in Libra, the Sun would be in the 10^th house. So, the Abhijit would then be at that time. That is the midday. You know that Abhijit Muhurta? That is the midday. So, for me those special degrees should occur somewhere in Libra and not in Capricorn. For me a planet in Libra is super. Any planet. For you any planet in Capricorn will be super. They are playing critical role in your money matters, if you look up though all your life. The Lord of that sign (for you – Saturn) is very fortunate for you. He is very lucky for you as a symbol because he is going to ensure that you are succeeding and getting light all the time. You see my point. Kapiel? The way we need to study Dashas, we have to take all these into account, otherwise we miss out on the main points. Whereas you look at any planet in 10^th from the Sun, he is horrible. The 4^th from the Sun is Abhijit, or full of light. 10^th from the Sun is zero light; it is like midnight.

KR: But 10^th from the Sun should be the strong place, because it is 10^th from the King, no?

SR: It is horrible. It is midnight. Midnight is not a good time. The Sun is like sunrise. 7^th from the Sun is like sunset. 4^th from the Sun is like midday. 10^th from the Sun is like midnight. For the Moon it is reversed. Where the Moon is – it is moonrise, which is like evening. Opposite the Moon is like sunrise. Therefore 7^th from the Moon is more important than the Moon, because that is like a sunrise. The 4^th from the Moon is then become midnight and the 10^th from the Moon is like full of light, midday. That is why the 10^th Lord from the Moon takes you to work. He gives you jobs, he gives you everything. When the mind dwell Sun, he is giving full life. What is life? Life is nothing but light. And where is the light? 10^th from the Moon has light like the 4^th from the Sun.

KR: This is why Moon chart becomes important to look at the planetary positions from the Moon.

SR: Of course. Exactly, Totally. A single planet in the 4^th from the Moon can kill you. Just like that any planet in the 10^th from the Sun can make your finance go worst, unless it is a planet who does opposite things. How interesting, yes? This is just Abhijit concept.

KR: Yes, that is right, you are just talking about the Abhijit concept. But having the planet in the particular degree is only good for the Zodiac in this Uttarashada?

SR: That is why God is sitting over there. Jagannath sits over there. What is Makara Sankranti? Why are we celebrating Makara Sankranti? You know why? Not because Sun goes to Capricorn. Sun is going to Capricorn – there is nothing to celebrate. It is a house of Saturn, what is good about it? It is the Sun going to Abhijit Nakshatra. Because I told you, wherever the Sun, the Devata of that Nakshatra will awaken.

KR: So, when I say in the end of horoscope or whenever they want to declare some war, do something great, they look for Abhijit Muhurta. When this Abhijit muhurta operating and when the Moon is transiting in Abhijit, should they be doing there or should they be doing in the 4^th from the Sun or 10^th from the Moon?

SR: 4^th from the Sun of course. But if you are doing something for a Country, that is not about individual. If you want to go to war, then of course you are not looking at Abhijit Muhurta. What is exactly Abhijit Nakshatra? Abhijit Nakshatra has a Devata, who is called Hari. Hari is Vishnu. Therefore, when the Sun enters Abhijit Nakshatra, Jagannath, Vishu, Hari is waking up. That means this is a very good time to start any kind of a spiritual practice, associated with Vishnu, with Krishna. So, obviously, that is why we celebrate that time. That is why we have a festival. That is why we worship Vishnu at that time. He awakes us.

KR: If you see also this one concept that Saturn is the enemy of the Moon, but if you look at trikona Nakshatra of Cancer Ascendant, Saturn rules that trikona Nakshatras of Bhagya and of Dharma. That is something I want to ask you, how is that? Because it sounds like Saturn actually gives you more than Jupiter, because Jupiter then goes and rules Moksha Nakshatras for the Cancer. Is that a concept we can really use to see how planet will give us good or bad results or take you to the right place?

SR: It is your Lagna Nakshatra. For you it is like Lagna Nakshatra. For somebody else Punarvasu may be Lagna Nakshatra. Where the Lagna is very critical because that Nakshatra is going to give you life. We will go into that. Let us call it a day today. Let us go to this in our next session, because to end this question I will have to explain to you the concept of Ashvini Nakshatra. Ashvini is not just a Nakshatra. It is a concept. Unless we understand the concept, we will never understand Lagna.

KR: OK, let us do that. Thank you very much Sanjayji. And guys, please, visit his web-site www.srath.com. Thank you so much, Sanjayji.

SR: Thank you.