He was introduced to jyotish by his

Kulguru at the age of eight. After the

initial trigger early in life, he has pursued the study of jyotish with utmost passion

ever since. He writes with the pen name

Abhishekha and is the Editor/Publisher of

AIAC Times, Chicago.

By Abhishekha, USA

Introduction

“If you tell the truth, you don't have to

remember anything.”

― Mark Twain

endra-adhipati Dosha is an age old

topic in the jyotish world. Back in

the days when I used to active in

cyber groups, a debate ensused on this

topic. It has been 7 years since that debate

but the idea and the contradictions circling

this topic still exists today.

Concepts

The Lord of a Rasi

he lord of a Rasi is the controller

of the Rasi. In a very simplistic

non-technical language, a Rasi can

be imagined as an apartment, the Rasi lord

as a land lord of the apartment, the

apartment owner.

K

T

A natural benefic in very layman terms can be equated to person who is well-behaved and

pleasing to the mind.

A natural malefic can be imagined as a person who is tough and well-guarded.

The best thing that can happen to an apartment is this – a strict owner and a kind tenant.

The strict owner will ensure that no trespassers occupy the apartment or enter it. She/he

will ensure that the apartment is taken care of, maintained and not exploited. After all it is

her/his own property.

On the other hand if the owner of the apartment is a soft-spoken, kind, considerate

individual, her/his friends might ask for the apartment’s keys and stay there for free. She/he

may also decide to host some sick, ill people with no money due to his inherent kindness.

Such a deed will be great for those tenants but what about the apartment? It might not be

really taken care of. So, a bad combination for the apartment would be – a kind owner and a

sick or ill-tempered tenant.

Thus, a Rasi owned by a benefic tends to behave like an apartment owned by a kind owner.

On the other hand, a Rasi owned by a malefic tends to behave like an apartment owned by a

strict owner.

The Graha in a Rasi

As explained in the earlier section, a Graha in a Rasi is just like a tenant in an apartment.

Everyone would like a good tenant in their apartment. However, the magnitude of

“goodness” of a tenant is based on her/his comfort quotient. For example, if a super kind

tenant is kept in an apartment where the toilet doesn’t work; she/he is probably not going to

be kind for a very long time.

The cumulative effect of the behavior of a tenant in an apartment is based on the tenant’s

comfort level and meeting of requirements in the apartment she/he rents.

The Square Concept

The Kendras or Squares in the charts are gateways of urges, impulses, emotions that can

influence a person greatly. These are the gateways to the person’s intelligence and the mind.

The placement and status of the Kendra Lord is of umpteen importance. It shows the status

of the controller of the impulses of the native.

Dual Lordship of Rasis

ukteshveshu bali yogo nirbalasya prabadhakah|

na randhreshatva doshotra suryachandramaso bharvetah||

- Brihat Parasara Hora Shastra, Yogakarakadhyay, Verse 7

The planet owning the stronger house will stall the effect of the lord of the weaker house.

Sun and moon as the lordship of the 8th house does not produce evil effects.

Every Graha with the exception of the luminaries rules two Rasis. However, based on their

placement in a chart, a Graha is “more” functional controller of one rasi than the other. The

reason behind the “Why” is based on a principle detailed earlier.

Bhava Group Strongest Bhava Medium Bhava Weakest Bhava

Kendra 10 7 4

Trikona 9 5 1

Trishadayadhisha 11 6 3

Parashraya 8 2 12

Let’s see an example. In a chart, let’s assume for an Aquarius Lagna, Mercury is in Libra.

Mercury is in trines to Gemini [5th] and in the 2nd from Virgo. Mercury will thus tend to give

its benefic influence on Gemini more than Virgo.

Verses

What Parasara says

kendradhipatayah saumya na dishanti shubham phalam |

kroora naevashubham kuryuhu shubhadahacha trikonapaha || 2

- Brihat Parasara Hora Shastra, Yogakarakadhyay, Verse 2

Benefic planets owning the square rasis [Kendra Rasis] will not give auspicious results. On

the other hand, malefic planets owning the square rasis will not be inauspicious.

The lord of the trines will always give auspicious effects, irrespective of benefic or malefic

lordship of the Rasi.

Later in the verses, Parasara clearly states, that Lagna is to be considered a Kona [Trikona,

Trine] and not a Kendra. Lagna Lord is always benefic.

Parasara also goes on to explain the relative strengths of the Square Bhavas/Rasis – 10th

Bhava/Rasi is the strongest, then 7th and then 4th. There is a specific reasoning to this too but

for the sake of the size of the article, that explanation is being skipped here.

Let us now visit each of the twelve Rasis and see which of these when the Lagna can have a

lord of a Square [Kendra] as a Natural Benefic Graha.

Lagna 10H 7H 4H Problem

Graha

Aries Malefic Benefic Benefic Venus, Moon

Taurus Malefic Malefic Malefic

Gemini Benefic Benefic Benefic Jupiter

Cancer Malefic Malefic Benefic Venus

Leo Benefic Malefic Malefic Venus

Virgo Benefic Benefic Benefic Jupiter

Libra Benefic Malefic Malefic Moon

Scorpio Malefic Benefic Malefic Venus

Sagittarius Benefic Benefic Benefic Mercury

Capricorn Benefic Benefic Malefic Venus, Moon

Aquarius Malefic Malefic Benefic Venus

Pisces Benefic Benefic Benefic Mercury

The “Problem Graha” is a Benefic Lord of a Kendra who is not the Lord of Lagna. While

composing this table, we see that only for Dual signs as Lagna, we have one graha ruling two

Kendras [squares] and thus it is a tendency [incorrect technically speaking] to associate

Kendradhipati Dosha [Lordship of Squares Issue] to only Dual Signs.

gurushukrau shubhau proktau chandrah madhyama uchyate |

udasinah budhah khyatah papa ravi arki bhoomijah || 8

Jupiter and Venus are benefics, Moon is middling in benefic effects, Mercury is neutral; malefics are

Sun, Saturn and Mars

purnendu gye jya shukraha cha prabala uttarottaram |

ksheenendu arka arki bhoomiputraha prabalaha cha yathottaram || 9

Full Moon, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus are stronger in the ascending order. Weak Moon, Sun,

Saturn and Mars are stronger in the descending order.

kendradhipataydoshayoho shubhanam kathito hi sah |

chandra gya guru shukranam prabalaha cha uttarottaram || 10

The Kendradipatidosha is spoken of the benefics. Moon, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus is the order of

significance.

I find it really interesting that Parasara is so distinct and precise with the above verses

leaving no room for debate on which Grahas are to be considered malefic and which ones are

to be considered benefics.

Case Studies

Now, that we understand this, let us visit a few case studies to see how this would manifest.

Mother Teresa

The Lord of the 10H is Mercury in Virgo. Mercury is alone with Jupiter which makes

Mercury a class one benefic. Mercury is also exalted and enhances the complete element of

Virgo [Service, Purity] rich in Prithvi Tattwa, like a fertile soil waiting for the seed to be

sown. The seed comes in the form of Jupiter who is the Lagna Lord and the 4L.

The life of Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu changed in a train journey [Mercury in a dual sign] to a

pilgrimage [Jupiter]. Her final resolution was taken on 15 August 1928, while praying at the

shrine of the Black Madonna of Letnice, where she often went on pilgrimage. She had a

vision of Christ and the Holy Mother while returning from the shrine.

Mother’s famous quote was – “By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith,

I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong

entirely to the Heart of Jesus.” The way the benefic Mercury did not get auspicious results

was that it did not make Her the owner of a large corporation or perhaps the richest person

on Earth. However, the way that Mercury manifested was to the complete surrender and service

to the God [Jupiter] in a form of sacrifice for the world [Jesus Christ, Mercury in Virgo].

Abraham Lincoln

In the case of Lincoln, the forth Lord is a benefic and thus not auspicious for Lincoln. Venus

is exalted in the chart with another class one benefic Jupiter. Venus also lords the 9H for

which is it extremely auspicious and it fructifies the Vijaya Yoga between Mars and Rahu in

the 9H.

However, protection of the 4H is weak. How Venus caused the lack of protection for

Lincoln is detailed below. “After attending an April 11, 1865, speech in which Lincoln

promoted voting rights for blacks, an incensed Booth changed his plans and became

determined to assassinate the president. Learning that the President, First Lady, and head

Union General Ulysses S. Grant would be attending Ford's Theatre, Booth formulated a plan

with co-conspirators to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson, Secretary of State William

H. Seward and General Grant. Without his main bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon, Lincoln left to

attend the play Our American Cousin on April 14. Grant along with his wife chose at the last

minute to travel to Philadelphia instead of attending the play.

Lincoln's bodyguard, John Parker, left Ford's Theater during intermission to join Lincoln's coachman

for drinks in the Star Saloon next door. The now unguarded President sat in his state box in the

balcony. Seizing the opportunity, Booth crept up from behind and at about 10:13 pm, aimed at

the back of Lincoln's head and fired at point-blank range, mortally wounding the President.

Major Henry Rathbone momentarily grappled with Booth, but Booth stabbed him and escaped.”

Swami Vivekananda

Swamiji’s chart is a very interesting study. Mercury is in trines to his 10H and 8th to the 7H.

It is associated with a benefic planet Venus who is the 11th and the 6th Lord. Mercury being a

benefic will be a weak protector for the 10H and 7H.

In the 10H, Saturn and Moon, both malefics influence the 10H of career.

The death of Narendra’s father (10H is the Maraka to the 9H and shows its activation),

completely turned his life. His marriage which was to be consummated was cancelled. He

desperately tried to get a job to support his mother and family. Even after having excellent grades

in school and an amazing memory, he was completely unsuccessful in securing a job for

himself.

At this juncture in his life, Ramakrishna, a servant of the Goddess [Virgo represents service;

Kali is represented by Saturn and Moon, the dark mother] enters his life and turns him to

Sannyasa.

The Mercury was unable to prevent this conversion from Grihasta to Sannyasa, the

conversion from Narendra Nath Dutta to Swami Vivekananda.

Adolf Hitler

Moon is a benefic since it bright and the Lord of the 10H. Moon is with a “Class A” benefic

Jupiter. This reduces the protective ability of Moon greatly. “From 1905, Hitler lived a

bohemian life in Vienna, financed by orphan's benefits and support from his mother. He

worked as a casual laborer and eventually as a painter, selling watercolours. The Academy of Fine

Arts Vienna rejected him twice, in 1907 and 1908, because of his "unfitness for painting". The

director recommended that Hitler study architecture, but he lacked the academic credentials.

On 21 December 1907, his mother died aged 47. After the Academy's second rejection, Hitler ran

out of money. In 1909 he lived in a homeless shelter, and by 1910, he had settled into a house for poor

working men on Meldemannstraße.”

The inefficiency of Moon [emotions, Mother] to protect Hitler gave way to the activation of

Saturn [a malefic] in his 10H. “At the time Hitler lived there, Vienna was a hotbed of

religious prejudice and racism. Fears of being overrun by immigrants from the East were

widespread, and the populist mayor, Karl Lueger, exploited the rhetoric of virulent antisemitism for

political effect. Georg Schönerer's pan-Germanic antisemitism had a strong following in the

Mariahilf district, where Hitler lived. Hitler read local newspapers, such as the Deutsches

Volksblatt, that fanned prejudice and played on Christian fears of being swamped by an

influx of eastern Jews. Hostile to what he saw as Catholic "Germanophobia", he developed

an admiration for Martin Luther.” This was inception of the Hitler the world knew.

Conclusion

s fellow-student of jyotish, I would like to warn my other fellow-students of jyotish

about literal translation. What may appear “Shubha” to the material world is

“Ashubha” to the spiritual world and vice-versa.

A natal chart is a life story, not a pile of dictums and rules that needs to remembered and

uttered. The better one can read the life story from the chart, the better jyotish he/she is.

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