Karakas:Edited and Amplified

I have come back after a long time. So let us not waste time. Let us talk of some important aspect, say the karakas.
What are the karakas? These are nine planets. Each planet is by nature inclined to produce events relating to some aspects of human life. To take a few examples, the Sun is the karaka for father, status, heart, abdomen, fire etc. The Moon is the karaka for mother, water, home, mind, chest, female genitalia etc. Mars represents younger siblings, disputes, litigation, accidents, injury, surgery, immovable property, etc. Mercury should be examined for education, speech, writing, communication, mother's younger siblings, etc. Jupiter stands for wealth, children,scholarship, elder siblings, husband, finance, etc. Venus is the karaka for wife, women, sex, vehicles, luxury, kidneys, etc. Saturn is the karaka for death, longevity, disease, obstacles, debts, danger, profession, loss, delay, etc. Rahu should be studied for journeys abroad, diplomacy, riots, fraud, incarceration etc; and, Ketu for spiritualism, black magic, moksha, etc. If a karaka is strong and is not afflicted by adverse planets in a chart, it would persuade us to believe that matters relating to the karaka would show a healthy existence. But we notice that this is not entirely true in life. An individual is wealthy but he has no children; a man has a luxurious car but he has a perpetually ailing wife; a man goes abroad and gets jailed there. Such illustrations can be quoted without end. So there have to be some more elements to be considered.Therefore, we must also see if the concerned house is also similarly well placed. Suppose Venus is healthy in the chart and the fifth house is also strong and unafflicted, the individual is expected to be happy in his romantic affiliations.
A karaka cannot be read in isolation. If you are looking for the status of the individual in a chart, besides the Sun, you have to examine the tenth house from the ascendant; if for his home, then the fourth house with the Moon; if for his younger siblings, then Mars and the third house; if for his education, the fourth house and Mercury; if for his wealth, Jupiter and the second house; if for his wife, Venus and the seventh house; if for his profession, the tenth house and Saturn; if for his loss of liberty, Rahu and the twelfth house; and if for his spiritual status, Ketu and the twelfth house. When the house and the karaka are strong and they do not bear adverse influence, that aspect of life of the individual will flourish and he will be a happy man in that regard. Illustration, if Jupiter and the fifth house are good, the individual will have good children and he will be happy with them. Yet, there is scope of doubt.
Parashar here has introduced another element. In Chapter 32 verses 22-24 of his magnum opus Brihat Parashar Hora Shastra he has said that to examine any aspect of life the same number of house should be examined from the karaka as from the ascendant. Therefore if you wish to study the father of an individual you ought also to study the ninth house from the karaka Sun as the ninth from the ascendant. Therefore we now have three elements, viz., the karaka, the house from the ascendant and the house from the karaka. Each element has to be scrutinised closely to reach a conclusion about any aspect of life of a person.
An event can happen in the period of a planet only when the planet is a karaka for that event, or it is related to the right karaka. If the mother of the individual is going to pass away, the period planets, ie, the major, sub and inter-period planets should each one of them be related to the Moon (event relating to mother) and Saturn (loss through death). Suppose the major-period of Jupiter, the sub of Mars and the inter of Venus were current when the mother died. Then Jupiter, Mars and Venus will be seen to be related to the Moon and Saturn in the birth chart. The question is should each of these planets also be related to the fourth house from the ascendant. The major-period planet has to be related to the fourth house from the ascendant; the sub-period planet should be related to the fourth house from the place occupied by the major-period planet; and, the inter-period planet should be related to the fourth house from the sub-period planet. In the same manner, the planets should be related to the eighth and twelfth houses. Further, the three planets must also be related to the fourth house from the Moon and the eight and twelfth from Saturn.
What happens when a planet is not related to a karaka but is related to the two relevant houses? To be more concrete, the dasa of Mercury is running; it is related to the fifth house, and the fifth house from Jupiter, but it is not related to Jupiter. Clearly, nothing relating to children will transpire in that dasa. The thumb rule is that a planet must be related to all the three elements for it to produce results relating to that aspect of life.
The question of relationship between planets and houses therefore assumes considerable importance. We will discuss it in the next blog.
May 23, 2009 3:51 AM