The Sun, son of Aditi - courtesy of Alice Donovan Rouse on Unsplash
An Astronomical Lesson
This month the grahas themselves are teaching all who observe them their order—from closest to furthest from the Sun. The lesson begins before sunrise during the month of June and especially the last days of June when Mercury will be easier to see. This alignment of the five tārā grahas (true planets) in their exact order occurred last in 2002 and won’t happen again until 2040.
To add to this very beautiful sight, on June 24th, the crescent moon will be visible between Mercury and Venus. If you are fortunate enough to have a good clear Eastern horizon and it isn’t cloudy that day, you will be in for a special treat, one worth getting up to see.
The Paradox of the Sun
Would there be life on earth if not for the Sun? Haven’t untold generations worshiped the Sun as it rises each day, some chanting the famous Āditya Hṛdayaṃ quoted above? Among the three guṇas, isn’t it so that the Sun is classified as sattvic? Don’t many of the teaching examples in the Vedic tradition use the Sun as the metaphor for the all-pervading light of pure being or consciousness—ātman. Isn’t it true that the Gayatri mantra, the stotra that extolls the Sun, is considered to be a singularly sacred hymn?
Yes, all of the above statements are true. Then why is the Sun classified as a krura graha, a word usually translated as a natural malefic? As is often the case, the answer is embedded in a traditional tale in the Vedic tradition.
When it came time for the Sun (Sūrya) to marry, Saṁjñā, the beautiful daughter of Viśvakarma, the architect of the universe, was the perfect choice. As befitting such a spectacular couple, their wedding was in the palace of Viśvakarma with all of the devatas showering blessings on the couple. A golden palace was built by the father of the bride and the couple lived happily together for awhile. However, after some time, Saṁjñā could no longer bear the heat emanating from her husband. He was her beloved but she could not endure his presence. She finally had to ask him to reduce the intensity of his heat and radiance or she would have to leave. The tale goes on to describe the extraordinary circumstances in their marriage such Saṁjñā substituting her shadow as a stand-in wife. However, ultimately there was a workable conclusion. This story deals with the very quandary I have laid out. How do we view the Sun in a chart? A sattvic, kind (saumya) graha or a cruel (krura), malefic one?
The answer is that we, like Saṁjñā, need to deal with the reality that the Sun’s inherent nature is to burn. It is a star. That heat will burn where it is in a chart, not from malice but because the Sun is essentially a ball of fire. Yet it is also the absolute truth that the Sun is the source of light in our solar system and no life is possible in its absence. As it is pure light, it is sattvic and has all the attributes that flow from that. And they too will come shining through.
Swami Vivekananda: An Example of Resolving the Paradox
Swami Vivekananda was the brilliant disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa who brought Vedanta out of India to the world. The power of his voice was legendary as evidenced by his speech in Chicago in 1893 at the first Parliament of World Religions. Upon uttering his first five words, “Sisters and Brothers of America”, the throng of thousands sprang to their feet in thunderous applause that lasted at least two minutes.
He was given the responsibility of carrying forward Ramakrishna’s mission at a very young age of 23 and made a Swami at 24. Having fulfilled his duties, he left this world at age 39.
Swami Vivekananda
The Sun in Swami Vivekananda’s chart is an excellent example of how this graha can operate at the most exalted level in life and yet be a detriment to the physical body and a contributor to his health problems. Let’s examine both of these ideas.
The Sun is the lord of the 9th bhāva of dharma and is utterly unafflicted in Swami-ji’s first bhāva. At 29° 25’ of Sagittarius it is vargottama and therefore strong. Note also that the 9th bhāva is likewise unafflicted. The puruṣārtha of dharma is dominant in his chart as he has Jupiter, Mars and Sun, the 3 dharma lords (rulers of bhāvas 1, 5, 9) in or aspecting the dharmasthānas (bhāvas 1, 5, 9). Furthermore, two of those lords, Mars and Jupiter, are in sambandha (mutual aspect).
His destiny as a renunciate is clearly seen by the fact that he was born into the very combination that forms a pravrājya yoga, a yoga for renunciaton. Saturn influencing the Moon in the natal chart while Moon is in a rāśi of Saturn or Mars in the Drekkāna (D-3) is one of the conditions for forming this kind of yoga. To actually be born into the daśā and bhukti of exactly those two grahas is stunning.
So much more can be said about this remarkable chart. But in the context of resolving the paradox, we can want to confirm how his powerful prominent Sun, the lord ot the principle bhāva of dharma, represents the exalted ideas laid out in his life above.
Yet it is also true that when the Sun is in the first bhāva, it is an indicator of physical issues for the native. The Sun burns. In this sense it is krura or cruel. As we saw in the story, the Sun’s wife Saṁjñā could not handle the heat. As the Sun is the kāraka of the first in the first, we have the principle of kārko bhāvo naśya - the kāraka in the bhāva it signifies is often deleterious. The Sun is also in the final degree of Sagittarius, Mrita avastha, which adds confluence for a loss of bodily vigor and health. His health declined precipitously in the Jupiter daśā. Note that Jupiter is afflicted by powerful natural malefic Mars, a good combination for dharma but not for health. It is also hemmed in by Saturn and Rahu.
Every chart will have the Sun in it and therefore contributes to the native’s destiny pattern. Will the problematic side be well contained and /or will its very lovely attributes shine through? This will be determined by the current of karma in each individual’s chart.
Media Corner: My Debut on Social Media
The inevitable did happen. I was invited to do a podcast on the YouTube channel of Anuradha Sharda, a well-known Jyotiṣi in India with a big online presence. It is linked below. Anuradha is a pleasure to work with and we are scheduled to record another one very soon. Please feel free to share this one and make a comment if you feel moved to do so.
“ Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future. ” - Robert H. Schuller
The Expanding Cosmic Kaleidoscope
I am thrilled to announce a new website that represents the vision of our saṅgha as it has grown over the last seven years. I hope you will enjoy meeting the awesome teachers who are partnering with me and creating the opportunity for students to pursue studies that are transformational and deeply respectful of the source. We hope those who visit will be inspired and the content will touch the minds and hearts of all of you. There is a very special surprise jewel somewhere in the website. Hoping you all find it. https://www.cosmickaleidoscope.com/
Hope is the Thing with Feathers
The immortal words of Emily Dickinson form a soaring metaphor for the resilience of the human spirit. Just a ray of sunlight, a hint of hope and the human spirit embraces even just the possibility that adversity can be conquered. Somehow that capacity for hope lodged deep in the soul gives strength and resilience even in troubled times.
The sweetness of hope is a unifying force capable of moving mountains. It is one of the most precious resources of a human being and when it moves to a collective, anything can happen. And it never asks a thing of us. It is just there. Here is the complete text of the poem that I hope resounds in all of your hearts over the coming months:
“Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all - And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm - I’ve heard it in the chillest land - And on the strangest Sea - Yet - never - in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me.
The Race is On
I know I can’t get away with not showing the chart of Kamala Harris. This is not the forum for detailed predictions but a couple of comments on her chart are warranted, comments which might not be the run of the mill.
For example, I am struck by the symmetry of the graha distributions. Jupiter and Mars are on either side of the lagna followed by Venus and Moon being equidistant from the lagna in the 3rd and 11th and Sun/Mercury in the 5th equidistant from the lagna with Saturn in the 9th, completing the pattern. In śāstra there are specific descriptions of planetary distributions that constitute a number of yogas but they all exclude Rāhu and Ketu and are thus formed by the seven “true” grahas. They are known as Nābhasa Yogas.
Interestingly, if Mars and Jupiter were in the 1st and 7th, it would have been a Cakra yoga whereby the native would be “an emperor at whose feet will be the prostrating kings’ heads”! Ah so close but no cigar. However, along with the symmetrical pattern present in Harris’s chart, note that like the Cakra yoga, the seven grahas occupy six separate bhāvas.
This is known as a Dāma or Vardāma yoga meaning a garland or line. Not every Dāma yoga, however, is made in such a symmetrical way and that close to being a Cakra yoga. This symmetry might heighten the positive results that are indicated across the śāstras for the Dāma yoga—statements such as helpful to others, famous, generous, devoted to public welfare, patient etc.
The other comment I would like to make involves the Rāja Yoga of the 5th and 9th lord, which I have dubbed a “trikona rāja yoga”. It is formed by Venus and Saturn. This catches my attention for a couple of reasons. The first is that Harris is running a Rāhu daśā and Venus bhukti starting in February 2024 so this yoga will be operative. And even more importantly, transiting Saturn is back in its natal position recreating that yoga and will remain there until early spring 2025. I will leave it at that for now.
Media Corner - The Audacity of Hope
This seems like an appropriate time to revisit the book that changed history. Its message of hope caught fire and the messenger became the first African American president of the US. Perhaps history will repeat itself.
“ Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future. ” - Robert H. Schuller
The Expanding Cosmic Kaleidoscope
I am thrilled to announce a new website that represents the vision of our saṅgha as it has grown over the last seven years. I hope you will enjoy meeting the awesome teachers who are partnering with me and creating the opportunity for students to pursue studies that are transformational and deeply respectful of the source. We hope those who visit will be inspired and the content will touch the minds and hearts of all of you. There is a very special surprise jewel somewhere in the website. Hoping you all find it. https://www.cosmickaleidoscope.com/
Hope is the Thing with Feathers
The immortal words of Emily Dickinson form a soaring metaphor for the resilience of the human spirit. Just a ray of sunlight, a hint of hope and the human spirit embraces even just the possibility that adversity can be conquered. Somehow that capacity for hope lodged deep in the soul gives strength and resilience even in troubled times.
The sweetness of hope is a unifying force capable of moving mountains. It is one of the most precious resources of a human being and when it moves to a collective, anything can happen. And it never asks a thing of us. It is just there. Here is the complete text of the poem that I hope resounds in all of your hearts over the coming months:
“Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all - And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm - I’ve heard it in the chillest land - And on the strangest Sea - Yet - never - in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me.
The Race is On
I know I can’t get away with not showing the chart of Kamala Harris. This is not the forum for detailed predictions but a couple of comments on her chart are warranted, comments which might not be the run of the mill.
For example, I am struck by the symmetry of the graha distributions. Jupiter and Mars are on either side of the lagna followed by Venus and Moon being equidistant from the lagna in the 3rd and 11th and Sun/Mercury in the 5th equidistant from the lagna with Saturn in the 9th, completing the pattern. In śāstra there are specific descriptions of planetary distributions that constitute a number of yogas but they all exclude Rāhu and Ketu and are thus formed by the seven “true” grahas. They are known as Nābhasa Yogas.
Interestingly, if Mars and Jupiter were in the 1st and 7th, it would have been a Cakra yoga whereby the native would be “an emperor at whose feet will be the prostrating kings’ heads”! Ah so close but no cigar. However, along with the symmetrical pattern present in Harris’s chart, note that like the Cakra yoga, the seven grahas occupy six separate bhāvas.
This is known as a Dāma or Vardāma yoga meaning a garland or line. Not every Dāma yoga, however, is made in such a symmetrical way and that close to being a Cakra yoga. This symmetry might heighten the positive results that are indicated across the śāstras for the Dāma yoga—statements such as helpful to others, famous, generous, devoted to public welfare, patient etc.
The other comment I would like to make involves the Rāja Yoga of the 5th and 9th lord, which I have dubbed a “trikona rāja yoga”. It is formed by Venus and Saturn. This catches my attention for a couple of reasons. The first is that Harris is running a Rāhu daśā and Venus bhukti starting in February 2024 so this yoga will be operative. And even more importantly, transiting Saturn is back in its natal position recreating that yoga and will remain there until early spring 2025. I will leave it at that for now.
Media Corner - The Audacity of Hope
This seems like an appropriate time to revisit the book that changed history. Its message of hope caught fire and the messenger became the first African American president of the US. Perhaps history will repeat itself.
