Brahma & Maheswara in Ayur Jyotisha
INTRODUCTION
Brahma and Maheswara are two key concepts in Ayur Jyotisha. We know that in Hindu Pantheon, the Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara Create, Protect/ sustain and Annihilate respectively. Thus the concept of Brahma as creater and Maheswara as the liberator are used in some key Ayur Dasas such as Brahma, Sthira, Shoola dasa etc. Though their importance is high, many do not venture into finding them as they turn out to be little complecated. I tried to make this little easire to understand and compute. With hardwork and patience, this can be learnt and applied in Ayur Jyotisha.
BRAHMA
Yagyam is the worship or praise for Prajapati the progenitor. This is the fourth principle of Jyotish and is called Lagna or the ascendant representing the seat of Prajapati the progenitor and the ‘praise worthy one’. He is the (physical) creator of all beings and is a form of Brahma. He is praised with the Gayatri mantra for His excellent service to all creation. (Pt. Sanjay Rath)
One among these six planets (Sun to Venus) will represent Brahma the creator, in the horoscope. Saturn being the Ayus Karaka and having Brahma as his deity[i] cannot represent Brahma. The nodes do not have a physical body and cannot contribute one, besides they are actually demoniacal and have become immortal due to their ‘drinking of the amrita’ clandestinely at the time of the churning of the primordial ocean. (Pt. Sanjay Rath)
Saturn is the deity of Brahma and is the karaka for the Dusthana. Thus the calculation of the Brahma involves finding out the stronger among the three dusthana lords namely, 6th, 8th, 12th lord based on thier placement in odd and visible signs. The predominance of Odd and Visible signs indicate towards the masculine energy and the power to create. If however, the condition of Odd and visible signs are not fulfiled, the Visibility condition is dropped and if even the odd-sign condition fails, the condition gets modified to odd-house placement.
THE 8TH LORDSHIP IS ALWAYS SEEN IN REGULAR ORDER FOR DETERMINATION OF BRAHMA, RUDRA or MAHESWARA AND NOT AS PER THE VRIDDHA'S PRINCIPLE OF EIGHTH HOUSE RECKONING.
STEPS TO IDENTIFY BRAHMA
RIDER: If the lord of the eighth house from the Atmakaraka is placed in the eighth house itself, it disqualifies to be the Maheswara, and instead becomes the Brahma overriding all previous conditions for Brahma determination.
1. Determine the stronger between the lagna and seventh house as per sources of strength and call this dominant satya peetha.
Follow the following steps to determine the stronger of 1st or 7th.
i. The sign aspected by more planets becomes stronger.
ii. The sign placed with exalted or the sign lord becomes stronger.
iii. The sign aspected by the sign lord, Jupiter or Mercury becomes stronger.
iv. The sign whose lord is placed in sign with different oddity becomes stronger. For example if the sign under consideration is Even, and the lord is placed in Odd then it is stronger than if the lord has been placed in the even sign.
v. The sign whose lord has more longitude is stronger.
2. Identify the lords of the 6th, 8th & 12th houses from the dominant satya peetha. Remember to consider the co-lordship of Aquarius (Rahu) and Scorpio (Ketu) if these signs are involved.
3. Check whether any of these lords are
i. Placed in an odd sign and
ii. placed in the visible half of the zodiac from the dominant satya peetha. The visible half of the zodiac constitutes the signs from the 7th to 12th house (the signs which are above the horizon).
4. If more than one planet becomes Brahma, check the stronger of them to qualify for Brahma. However, if none of the 6th, 8th or 12th lord from the dominant satya peeta, are placed in the odd & visible sign, then move to the weaker satya peeta and check the conditions for the 6th, 8th and 12th lord therefrom.
5. If none satisfy the odd & visible sign placement, drop the "visible sign" condition. Now check again from the Dominant Satya Peetha, if the lords of 6th/8th/12th placed in odd signs. If this fails, move to the weaker Satya Peetha and check the placement of 6th/8th/12th lord in Odd sign.
6. If all the lords (6th/8th/12th), from both satya peetha are placed in Even signs, then the placement of 6th/8th/12th lord in Odd "Houses" need to be checked from the Dominant Satya Peetha and if this condition is not met, the same is checked from weaker satya peetha.
7. If two or more planets contend for the position of Brahma, then the strongest should be declared as Brahma.
8. Should any of the three planets Saturn, Rahu or Ketu qualifies for the position of Brahma , then the sixth planet from it, in the order of the reckoning of the weekdays, becomes Brahma.
i. If Saturn qualifies as Brahma , then replace Saturn with Mars.
ii. If Rahu qualifies as Brahma , then replace Rahu with Mercury.
iii. If Ketu qualifies as Brahma , then replace Ketu with Jupiter.
MAHESWARA
There are Ekadas (11) rudras in a horoscope, each being the lord of 8th from each of the signs excluding the one which is conjoined with Jupiter. Among them, the lord of the 8th house from the sign occupied by Atmakaraka has the higest status among the Rudras and is called Mahesvara.
The Bhagwat Gita also indicates this difference when Sri Krishna says, ”amongst the rudras I am çaìkara (or mahesvara)”. The philosophical difference is that each of the other ten rudras simply destroys the body whereas Mahesvara liberates the soul (atma) by delivering it from the cycle of rebirth to the highest spiritual plane. (Pt. Sanjay Rath)
RIDERS:
1. If the 8th lord from Atmakaraka is exalted or in own sign, the lord of the 8th/12th from it, whichever is stronger, becomes Mahesvara. This is based on the principle that the 8th lord in exaltation or in own sign loses its sting to kill and delegates the power to another i.e. the lord of the 8th/12th from the sign where it is placed.
2. If Rahu or Ketu becomes Mahesvara then the sixth planet counted in the weekday order becomes the Mahesvara.
Rahu is replaced by Mercury
Ketu is replaced by Jupiter
3. If Rahu or Ketu is in the 1st/8th from Atmakaraka the sixth lord respectively becomes Mahesvara. Here we most note that the sixth house is the 8th counted in the reverse direction from Atmakaraka due to Rahu & Ketu.
Note: A planet who is qualified to become Brahma is disqualified to become Maheswara. This can happen if the 8th lord from Atkakaraka is in own house in 8th. For such case, the 8th lord becomes Brahma, over-riding all conditions of Brahma determination. However for Maheswara, we need to look at the 8th/12th lord from the disqualified Maheswara (in the previous step).
Brahma and Maheswara are two key concepts in Ayur Jyotisha. We know that in Hindu Pantheon, the Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara Create, Protect/ sustain and Annihilate respectively. Thus the concept of Brahma as creater and Maheswara as the liberator are used in some key Ayur Dasas such as Brahma, Sthira, Shoola dasa etc. Though their importance is high, many do not venture into finding them as they turn out to be little complecated. I tried to make this little easire to understand and compute. With hardwork and patience, this can be learnt and applied in Ayur Jyotisha.
BRAHMA
Yagyam is the worship or praise for Prajapati the progenitor. This is the fourth principle of Jyotish and is called Lagna or the ascendant representing the seat of Prajapati the progenitor and the ‘praise worthy one’. He is the (physical) creator of all beings and is a form of Brahma. He is praised with the Gayatri mantra for His excellent service to all creation. (Pt. Sanjay Rath)
One among these six planets (Sun to Venus) will represent Brahma the creator, in the horoscope. Saturn being the Ayus Karaka and having Brahma as his deity[i] cannot represent Brahma. The nodes do not have a physical body and cannot contribute one, besides they are actually demoniacal and have become immortal due to their ‘drinking of the amrita’ clandestinely at the time of the churning of the primordial ocean. (Pt. Sanjay Rath)
Saturn is the deity of Brahma and is the karaka for the Dusthana. Thus the calculation of the Brahma involves finding out the stronger among the three dusthana lords namely, 6th, 8th, 12th lord based on thier placement in odd and visible signs. The predominance of Odd and Visible signs indicate towards the masculine energy and the power to create. If however, the condition of Odd and visible signs are not fulfiled, the Visibility condition is dropped and if even the odd-sign condition fails, the condition gets modified to odd-house placement.
THE 8TH LORDSHIP IS ALWAYS SEEN IN REGULAR ORDER FOR DETERMINATION OF BRAHMA, RUDRA or MAHESWARA AND NOT AS PER THE VRIDDHA'S PRINCIPLE OF EIGHTH HOUSE RECKONING.
STEPS TO IDENTIFY BRAHMA
RIDER: If the lord of the eighth house from the Atmakaraka is placed in the eighth house itself, it disqualifies to be the Maheswara, and instead becomes the Brahma overriding all previous conditions for Brahma determination.
1. Determine the stronger between the lagna and seventh house as per sources of strength and call this dominant satya peetha.
Follow the following steps to determine the stronger of 1st or 7th.
i. The sign aspected by more planets becomes stronger.
ii. The sign placed with exalted or the sign lord becomes stronger.
iii. The sign aspected by the sign lord, Jupiter or Mercury becomes stronger.
iv. The sign whose lord is placed in sign with different oddity becomes stronger. For example if the sign under consideration is Even, and the lord is placed in Odd then it is stronger than if the lord has been placed in the even sign.
v. The sign whose lord has more longitude is stronger.
2. Identify the lords of the 6th, 8th & 12th houses from the dominant satya peetha. Remember to consider the co-lordship of Aquarius (Rahu) and Scorpio (Ketu) if these signs are involved.
3. Check whether any of these lords are
i. Placed in an odd sign and
ii. placed in the visible half of the zodiac from the dominant satya peetha. The visible half of the zodiac constitutes the signs from the 7th to 12th house (the signs which are above the horizon).
4. If more than one planet becomes Brahma, check the stronger of them to qualify for Brahma. However, if none of the 6th, 8th or 12th lord from the dominant satya peeta, are placed in the odd & visible sign, then move to the weaker satya peeta and check the conditions for the 6th, 8th and 12th lord therefrom.
5. If none satisfy the odd & visible sign placement, drop the "visible sign" condition. Now check again from the Dominant Satya Peetha, if the lords of 6th/8th/12th placed in odd signs. If this fails, move to the weaker Satya Peetha and check the placement of 6th/8th/12th lord in Odd sign.
6. If all the lords (6th/8th/12th), from both satya peetha are placed in Even signs, then the placement of 6th/8th/12th lord in Odd "Houses" need to be checked from the Dominant Satya Peetha and if this condition is not met, the same is checked from weaker satya peetha.
7. If two or more planets contend for the position of Brahma, then the strongest should be declared as Brahma.
8. Should any of the three planets Saturn, Rahu or Ketu qualifies for the position of Brahma , then the sixth planet from it, in the order of the reckoning of the weekdays, becomes Brahma.
i. If Saturn qualifies as Brahma , then replace Saturn with Mars.
ii. If Rahu qualifies as Brahma , then replace Rahu with Mercury.
iii. If Ketu qualifies as Brahma , then replace Ketu with Jupiter.
MAHESWARA
There are Ekadas (11) rudras in a horoscope, each being the lord of 8th from each of the signs excluding the one which is conjoined with Jupiter. Among them, the lord of the 8th house from the sign occupied by Atmakaraka has the higest status among the Rudras and is called Mahesvara.
The Bhagwat Gita also indicates this difference when Sri Krishna says, ”amongst the rudras I am çaìkara (or mahesvara)”. The philosophical difference is that each of the other ten rudras simply destroys the body whereas Mahesvara liberates the soul (atma) by delivering it from the cycle of rebirth to the highest spiritual plane. (Pt. Sanjay Rath)
RIDERS:
1. If the 8th lord from Atmakaraka is exalted or in own sign, the lord of the 8th/12th from it, whichever is stronger, becomes Mahesvara. This is based on the principle that the 8th lord in exaltation or in own sign loses its sting to kill and delegates the power to another i.e. the lord of the 8th/12th from the sign where it is placed.
2. If Rahu or Ketu becomes Mahesvara then the sixth planet counted in the weekday order becomes the Mahesvara.
Rahu is replaced by Mercury
Ketu is replaced by Jupiter
3. If Rahu or Ketu is in the 1st/8th from Atmakaraka the sixth lord respectively becomes Mahesvara. Here we most note that the sixth house is the 8th counted in the reverse direction from Atmakaraka due to Rahu & Ketu.
Note: A planet who is qualified to become Brahma is disqualified to become Maheswara. This can happen if the 8th lord from Atkakaraka is in own house in 8th. For such case, the 8th lord becomes Brahma, over-riding all conditions of Brahma determination. However for Maheswara, we need to look at the 8th/12th lord from the disqualified Maheswara (in the previous step).
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