ORDEN DEL ACUARIUS- FACULTAD DE ALTOS ESTUDIOS INICIATICOS Y DE PSICOLOGIA UNIVERSAL

Astrology is a noble science. Some say that it is indeed an art. Some others reject it as they would an idol or an illusion. Some people who have no disappointments or difficulties in their lives say that they have no faith in astrology. I submit that astrology is not only a science, but that it can very accurately guide you in making correct decisions at every level of your life. It can give very precise results, such as a person’s educational path and career in life, the sharpness of his/her mind or the degree of an individual’s brilliancy for example. Astrology is not fortune telling. It is based on the scientific calculations of the different aspects of planetary constellations at a certain time. People born into this world at any instant have certain characteristics which are related to the positions of the heavenly bodies. These characteristics are different than those people born at other times, according to the planetary positions at their birth. The horoscope is the time chart of the person at the time of birth and from this horoscope, by reverse calculations, one can determine the birth time, birth date and birthplace as well. However, it should be noted that as soon as a child is born, his environment begins to modify his character. Mostly, education and upbringing molds the personality of any individual. We all have certain qualities which, according to our environment, develop in a positive or negative manner. Thus, selfishness may emerge as unselfishness, kindness may become cruelty, and a constructive person may, through frustration, become destructive, and so on. The apparent character depends upon so many variables. . . the country, the area, the surroundings, the family and their customs, the mother and her education, the foods they eat, the teachers and of course, the friends. The latent characteristics with which we were born can therefore, through environment and good or bad training, become something superficially different, and act in contradiction with the astrological descriptions of the character. The true character will be buried deep beneath these essentially superficial traits. As of today, the knowledge of astrology is still incomplete. This is due to a misinterpretation of the writings of the ancient sages because of language barriers and the inability to correctly translate the inner essence of these teachings. Most of these works have been lost through the course of time. The translations of the verses, interpreted by individuals, may not be correct or may be colored by personal opinions. Major untranslated portions are either unavailable or known to certain people and yet have remained hidden. Therefore the present concept of this science contains only a certain portion of it. The same case applies with the Ashtakavarga system. The major portion of it is lost, and 3 therefore not available. That is the reason why this very important system is not followed. The Upachayas are referred to in all the textbooks, but its use in finding the results of timed events is not described anywhere. The Ashtakavarga system is a very precise and systematical way of finding the true strengths of the planets. Not only can this system give the strengths of the planets for each and every house, it can also give the shares of the planets, as well as the results of all the houses. All planets aspect the 7th house from themselves, always. The lords of opposite signs are always enemies. Similarly, the opposite house denotes opposite functions. It is easy to note that the seventh sight is always on either the enemies’ house or on its opposite criteria house. The planet in its Uccha sign (exaltation) looks on its neecha sign (debilitation) or vice versa. It should also be noted that in the horoscope, opposite signs have opposite meanings. Consider the 3rd and 9th house for instance. One stands for Initiative and using one’s own efforts to acquire things. The other stands for luck and good fortune. These are opposing factors. Where some people receive many things through sheer luck without expending any effort or struggle to acquire them, others have to struggle long and hard to get anything at all. The Fourth house gives family happiness and its opposite sign, the tenth house, represents Power and authority. Family versus Career. . .If one has power, fame or authority, it becomes difficult for him to assign quality time for his family thus imposing a certain type of conflict. Such is the case with the remaining houses. So, if a planet is in an exalted position in a house, how can it give the same or good results for its opposite sign? Surely it will spoil the results of its opposite sign. Hence it should be noted that any planet that is situated in any particular house will give the opposite results of equal strength but in a negative direction. The strength of the planets should be considered only by the amount of benefic points the planet receives in any particular house. The exaltation or debilitation of the planet according to sign, will definitely increase or reduce the overall result, but this will be based only on the benefic points that any planet gets in any particular house. While learning this great science from my guru, the late Shri BrijGopal Shastri of Amravati (vidharbha), I came across some handwritten books in his possession on Ashtakavarga. He had explained to me the meaning of so many verses written in that book. Those verses were not available in any of the current books. Meanings of some of those verses have been noted down in my diary. In 1966, I had moved to Satara. There after I had no contact with my guru. While doing detailed study on the subject, I had found that those verses were very important, and had be studied in detail. After a long time, I returned to my native place, and came to know that my guru had passed on and all his hand written material on this subject was no longer available through his heirs. My guru had married very late in life. When he passed on, his children were much too small to understand the science. All his treasures of books were of no use to his heirs, so 4 they discarded all of it, and sold it as raddi to kabadi. I was very disappointed and tried to recollect his teachings from my notes. The write-up available with me although not adequate, was sufficiently enough however to study and apply in a brand new direction. There are 150 nadis in every sign. The duration of each nadi is in the range from 8 to 115 seconds. The nadis of twins will be different, and so will be their fate. But unfortunately details about this are not known. Actually the nadi is nothing but the shodasavarga (16th harmonic chart). If we cast all the shodasavarga charts, definitely there will be a change in some of them after a time lapse of even 8 seconds. That is the main reason why the fate of twins is not necessarily the same. The Ashtakavarga system is based on the relative positions of the planets. The benefic or malefic places are determined with respect to the other planets. Therefore this system can be employed for all the 16 divisional charts. Hence only this and this system can give much better results then any other system. I have been a student of astrology from 1961 for nearly 38 years and have experimented in my own way with various methods of interpretations of horoscopes mainly derived from ancient classical sources. The Ashtakavarga System, on which I have received notes, has engaged my attention for a long time now. It occupies an important place in the general scheme of Hindu astrology and offers considerable scope for further research, especially in the matter of timing events. A large number of horoscopes have been studied in the light of Ashtakavarga and a few important discoveries have been made. My specialty lies in finding the period for marriage and timing events. With the help of this Ashtakavarga system and with some research experience in the field, I have full faith in the accuracy of this system. The Ashtakavarga method of prediction has been quite popular with the rank and file of Hindu Astrology. But as usual, the method is so indiscriminately employed that its practical utility is often lost sight of. Under some wrong impression, it was known only as a system for finding out the longevity. It was discarded for some other reasons also. The main reason is the complicated method used for casting the Ashtakavarga of the planets manually. It was a time consuming job, requiring much concentration. But now with the help of computers it is a very easy job. I have also developed an "Ashtakavarga Chakra” which can give the Ashtakavarga and Sarvashtakavarga within a few seconds. With the help of this ‘chakra’, people who don’t have a computer can also cast the Ashtakavarga tables very easily. The particular Ashtakavarga system that was taught to me by my guru, when used in the interpretation of a horoscope, can give very accurate results. I have found this system to be highly useful in making predictions and it is very reliable. Of course, it requires a thorough knowledge of the various principles and rules of astrology, as well as a capacity for interpretative skills. 5 While studying various horoscopes, I’ve found vast differen