Observations on as Ht Ottari Dasha System Color

S. S. Kakatkar is a student of

Astrology. His interests include the

study of astrology and endeavoring

to understand the contemporary

scientific basis and inspiration

behind various concepts and ideas

used in Vedic astrology and their

modern relevance.

By

S.S. Kakatkar, India.

SA Team: Maurcio Avila, Brazil

I. Introduction

ut of the numerous dasha

systems used for prediction in

Vedic Astrology, the

Vimshottari and the Ashtottari dasha

system are two of the most popular and

most widely used systems. Although no

authoritative text or work may be cited

in which a clear logic has been

expounded for the dasha period or dasha

sequence of these systems, an attempt

has been made in a recent work1 to

highlight some interesting observations

and striking features of Vimshottari

dasha system. In the present work,

similar observations have been noted

for the Ashtottari dasha system.

In the present work, the two

luminaries, the five planets and the two

lunar nodes have been referred to as

1

Kakatkar S. S. Observations on the Vimshottari dasha system - Part I and Part II, Saptarishis Astrology Magazine, Vol. IX.

O

simply planets or grahas. The Ashtottari dasha2 is a conditional dasha and is supposed

to be applicable when:

a) Rahu, not being in Lagna (Ascendant), forms a square or trine with the lord of Lagna.

b) When the birth is in the daytime during dark half (Krishna Paksha) of the Moon and in

the night time during bright half (Shukla Paksha) of the month.

tarting from Ardra, the nakshatras (constellations) are counted up to the

constellation of birth in the sequence four, three, four, three and so forth. Sun,

Moon, Mars, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter, Rahu and Venus are the lords of

successive dashas. Six, fifteen, eight, seventeen, ten, nineteen, twelve and twenty one

are the duration periods of the Mahadasha planets starting with the Sun. This dasha

period is for the total stay of moon in all the nakshatras owned by the planet taken

together. The total dasha span of Ashtottari dasha is 108 years.

In some texts3, the second condition is not mentioned. However, in these texts the

counting for the dasha begins from Ardra when Rahu is conjunct with another

planet(s) and from Krittika when Rahu is placed alone.

The motif developed in the earlier article about Vimshottari Dasha System (viz. that

of dasha system being dependent upon the orbital motion characteristics of so-called

rival grahas) has been carried forward in this one too, and the observations have been

noted for each planet in Section II. It has been proposed that the Ashtottari dasha

system was developed from the planetary catastrophic era model and the interesting

resemblance between the dasha periods of planets and the planetary conditions

supposed to be existing during planetary catastrophic era (following the principle of as

above, so below) has been brought out in Section II.

II. Observations

e draw upon the ideas already developed in the work on Vimshottari

dasha system and the same are briefly reviewed in the following, for the

sake of completeness. As discussed in the referred article, the dasha

period of each one of the planets is shown to have a strong correlation with the orbital

motion characteristics of its rival grahas. Planets form such rival pairs by virtue of

being lords of houses or signs opposite to each other or due to their natural enmity.

2 Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, trans. R. Santhanam, Vol. 1 (New Delhi: Ranjan Publications).

3 Sage Lomash, Lomash Samhita, as published in earlier volumes of SA magazine

S

W

It may also be recollected that each planet in a rival planet pair is seen to determine the

dasha period of other planet in the pair. As such, both the planets are loosely called

rivals in this work even though naturally, they may not be so.

Further, it is to be remembered that the dasha period is given in full years

corresponding to the solar return point at the start of the dasha period. Reader is

referred to the earlier article for a definition of synodic period and orbital period of

planets. The present orbital periods of planets round their parent body and synodic

periods relatively to Earth as seen from the Sun (or relative to Sun as seen from Earth)

are given in Table 1.

Table 1. Orbital and Synodic periods of grahas

Sr.

No Planet

Modern

Orbital

Period

Years

(Days)

Modern Synodic

Period

(Days)

1 Sun 1.0

(365.254) -

2 Moon 0.0748

(27.3 ) 29.5

3 Mars 1.881 779.8

4 Mercury 0.241 115.98

5 Saturn 29.45 378.1

6 Jupiter 11.86 398.9

7 Lunar

Nodes 18.6 346.6

8 Venus 0.615 583.9

The observations for total dasha span, conditions of applicability, dasha sequence and

dasha periods of individual planets are given below.

1. 108 Year Span

A few observations may be made for the 108 year span:

i. It is known that the synodic period of Moon is 29.5 days. Also, Venus (Shukra also

means semen) is supposed to be responsible for life and the first month after

conception is ruled by Venus. Now, during the time it takes for human birth to take

place or gestation period to end (approximately nine months), the Moon completes

around nine synodic periods or lunar months lasting from one New Moon to the next.

The Moon and Sun are both enemies of Venus. Jupiter who considers Venus as its

enemy fulfills the same role after birth as done by Sun and Moon before birth. The

Earth, Sun and Jupiter again align at the solar return point after 12 years when Jupiter

completes 11 synodic periods (11*1,092 years). For Shukra, the total span of 108 years is 9

times this 12 year solar return synodic period of its rival, Jupiter or after approximately

9 orbital periods of Jupiter.

As elaborated later in this section, it has been conjectured in literature4 that before

about 701, BCE5, the orbital periods of most of the planets were in perfect ratio. The

earth year was 360 days, orbital period of Mars was 2 years, that of Jupiter 12 years and

Saturn 30 years. Also, the Moon took exactly 30 days for one revolution around the

earth and 12 lunar months made up one year. Then, the gestation period would be

approximately 9 ancient orbital periods of Moon and life span after birth would be 9

ancient orbital periods of Jupiter or 108 ancient years.

ii. It is known that solar or lunar eclipses of similar characteristics occur every 18 years

also known as Saros period. The moon completes an integral number of synodic,

anomalistic and nodical months during this period. The next similar Solar eclipse

moves 120o in longitude and a time of 54 years is required for it to come back a full

circle to the same geographical region (viz. Triple Saros or Exeligmos). 108 years

corresponds to two (ahoratra or day and night) of such Exeligmos or 6 of such similar

eclipses around the globe. The path of each eclipse, one Exeligmos apart, is about 950

km away from the previous similar eclipse in the series, and two Exeligmos would

cover around 1900 km, about twice the length of modern Egypt or Greece. The angular

separation between the Moon and the lunar nodes increases about half a degree for

each eclipse occurring after one Saros period and would increase by about 3 degrees after

108 years. The dependence of applicability of Ashtottari dasha upon Rahu and the

preceding discussion about eclipses is noteworthy. Also, the fact that 54 years is a trifle

short for Purnayu (full life span) and not divisible by 12 (Jupiter's orbits) could have 4Donald W. Patten and Samuel R. Windsor, The Mars-Earth Wars, Pacific Meridian

Publishing Co. 5 BCE is the abbreviation for Before the Common/Current/Christian Era (an alternative to Before

Christ, abbreviated BC)

prompted taking two of these Exeligmos together for a total span of 108 years.

iii. One of the most compelling arguments in favour of 108 years dasha span is provided

by the hypothesis of planetary catastrophism as put forward by Donald Patten et al6 and

Velikovsky7. In this planetary catastrophe hypothesis, it has been shown that the

numerous catastrophes that befell the earth have been recorded in various accounts of

ancient books such as Genesis, the Vedas and others mythological texts. These

catastrophes have been recorded at least from October 2484, BCE, starting from the

flood of Noah, and include the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Exodus of

Moses, the long day of Joshua and so forth, up to the rout of Assyrian army at

Sennacherib in March, 701, BCE. Various catastrophes are shown to have occurred in

Asia-Europe at a regular interval of 54 years or its multiples, either in October during

day time or in March during night time. The time of day was reversed for catastrophes

observed in America. The period for successive October daytime (night time)

catastrophes in Asia (America) is thus 108 years. This daytime and nighttime

occurrence of catastrophes could have relation to the time of birth being one of the

conditions of applicability of Ashtottari dasha in one's chart.

These catastrophes have been speculated to have their cause in the close fly-bys of

Mars that had a different and a much more eccentric orbit before about 701, BCE. It is

postulated that Mars acquired this catastrophic third orbit as named by authors, due to

its collision with the planet then existing in between Mars and Jupiter. Jupiter might

be responsible for perturbing the orbit of either planet (perhaps directly or by diverting

a comet) and putting it on a collision course with the other, in effect leading to the

destruction of planet orbiting between Mars and Jupiter and the subsequent formation

of Asteroid Belt.

In the previous article on Vimshottari dasha, by comparing the dasha sequence,

existing sequence of planets from the Sun and the appearance of Rahu dasha in

between Mars and Jupiter Mahadasha, it was conjectured there that perhaps the

asteroids have been referred to as Rahu in the ancient texts. The fragmented nature of

asteroids, retrograde motion of Hilda asteroids had also supported this view. The

projection of lunar nodes on the asteroid belt may then be conveniently taken as

modern Rahu. Some mass from this planetary collision could have got ejected as

comets that latter perhaps formed part of Jupiter's family or formed part of Kuiper Belt.

Hence, the Rahu/Ketu analogy is plausible.

Obviously, this Rahu would have Mars and Jupiter along with the traditional rivals,

the Sun and the Moon, as its enemies. Not surprisingly, a number of texts do list

6 Donald W. Patten and Samuel R. Windsor, The Mars-Earth Wars (Seattle: Pacific Meridian Publishing Co., 1996). 7 Velikovsky, Immanuel, Worlds in Collision (Paradigma Ltd. Later Printing edition, 2009).

either Mars or Jupiter or both as the enemies of Rahu, in addition to the Sun and the

Moon.

It is further believed that as a result of this close encounter of Mars with Rahu,

Rahu shattered into numerous fragments now known as asteroids and Mars acquired a

different orbit. This new orbit came perilously close to both Venus and Earth.

Whenever Mars approached the Earth, it led to traumatic events on our planet in

terms of monstrous tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, electromagnetic discharges or

lightning bolts, tilting of earths axis and similar disasters recorded as Acts of God in

Biblical and other ancient texts. Finally, when Mars had an extra close encounter with

both Venus and Earth in 701, BCE, its energy increased sufficiently to allow it to

expand its orbit, which was further rounded out over the course of time because of

perturbations from Jupiter and other planets. The reader is referred to the original text

for a more detailed and in-depth analysis of the subject.

The result of this final fling of Mars was a change in orbital periods of Venus, Earth

(or Sun as seen from Earth), Moon and Mars. It is possible that the Sun and Moon

and other planets of Solar system considered Mars and Jupiter as their enemies during

the catastrophic era because of their role in the disintegration of Rahu and its

subsequent effect on the orbits of other planets.

iv. Another planetary catastrophic scenario has been speculated upon by Immanuel

Velikovsky, in which Venus is supposed to have been ejected out of Jupiter and this

proto-Venus was mainly responsible for wreaking cosmic havoc through its encounters,

first with Earth and then with Mars. The periodicity of these catastrophes has been

assumed to be 52 years, based mainly upon Israelite and Mayan traditions and folklore.

Velikovsky notes that comets do not return at exact periods due to perturbations caused

by larger planets. Thus, it is possible that the propounders of Ashtottari dasha were of

the opinion that Venus was responsible for the catastrophes, however, they observed a

periodicity of 54 years (or 108 years for successive day or nighttime catastrophes) as

discussed by Patten et al rather than 52 or 104 years8. Also, it has been noted in ancient

traditions that Jupiter or its Greek counterpart Zeus, was responsible for orchestrating

the celestial events, which could be related to the ejection of proto-Venus.

Later, when Mars became the cause of catastrophes, its periodicity of approach was

supposed to be around 14 to 16 years, similar to its perihelion period now. Assuming

this was actually 13.5 years on an average, there would be 4 approaches in 54 years and

8 in 108 years. According to Latin historians, when the Roman Empire was founded

8 In fact, the total dasha spans of a great many dasha systems could perhaps be explained from this catastrophe theory by tweaking the catastrophe periodicity a bit. However, this topic will be dealt with separately in another communication.

(around 747, BCE) the movement of Sun was disrupted. Also, the night of

annihilation of Sennacheribs army is speculated to be in 687, BCE, a difference of

about 60 years for day and night-time catastrophes. Also, the cult of Mars was known

to have two festivals of Mars, one in March and another in October, similar to the fly-

bys described by Patten.

v. Comets have been observed since ancient times in India and have been described by

Sage Parashara and others, along with the aftermath of each9. The dreaded comet

Samvartaka is noted to be appearing after a lapse of 108 years after its predecessor

Avarta-ketu. The time elapsed between the appearance of successive comets varies

from about 100 years to 130 years in most of the cases described by Parashara, Vriddha

Garga and others. Assuming that different dasha systems were developed in the wake

of the mayhem caused by different comets, the total dasha span of various dasha

systems may be readily explained from this. The Samvartaka comet in particular

appears to be dreaded in various mythological texts and is even said to be responsible

for reducing the world, possibly through heavy rains or deluge. Particularly, appearing

together with Dhumaketu, it is supposed to wreak havoc on earth. In planetary

catastrophe works, also, two comets or starry bodies have been described as being

observed in the sky with similar descriptions of smoky appearance, copper color etc.

Some of these comets could have brushed close to earth or could have been responsible

for the disintegration of Rahu or could even be proto-Venus or priori-Mars with

cometary tails and appearance as speculated by Velikovsky and Patten.

vi. The importance of sacred number 108 in Hindu literature is well known10

. Right from

108 shri before the names of holy saints to 108 beads in japamala or rosary, the literature

and lifestyle is rife with the mention or occurrence of the number 108.

As believed in Ayurveda, there is a chain of 108 links in body held together by 107

marmas or weak spots.

The distance between the Sun and Earth is of 108 times the Suns diameter and the

distance between the Earth and Moon is 108 times the Moon's diameter. Also, the

diameter of Sun is 108 times the Earth's diameter.

The orbital period of Saturn is 10,885 days, approximately 100 times of 108. In fact, as

postulated in the planetary catastrophe theory, the orbits of all the planets before the

9 R.N. Iyengar, On Some Comet Observations in Ancient India. Journal of the Geological Society of India vol.67, March (2006). 10

Stephen Knapp, 108: The Significance of the Number. http:// www.stephen-knapp.com/ 108_the_significance_of_the_number.htm.

present order were in perfect ratio and Saturn, in all probability had an orbital period

of 30 years with 360 days per year. This would mean exactly 10800 days for Saturn's

orbital period.

vii. Assuming a normal man breathes around 15 times in one minute, the total

number of breaths is around 21,600 during the whole day. 108 is half of 216.

viii. Assuming the Moon to take approximately 27 days for one orbit or one day

in one nakshatra made up of 4 padas, one orbit of moon corresponds to 108 padas.

Taking 1 year to be equivalent with Moon's stay in one pada, the total dasha span

comes to 108 years.

2. Conditions Of Applicability

he logic behind the conditions of applicability of Ashtottari dasha system

may also be deduced from the planetary catastrophe hypothesis.

i. Various catastrophes have been shown to have occurred in Asia-Europe at a

regular interval of 54 years or its multiples, either in October during day time or in

March during night time corresponding to the close fly-bys of Mars (i.e. in general,

catastrophes were observed to occur during daytime in Sun's Dakshinayana and during

night-time in the Sun's Uttarayana, respectively). Before birth, these conditions could

be fulfilled by Moon and Sun's ayans could be replaced with Moon's dark and bright

fortnights for daytime and night-time births, respectively.

ii. The ancient orbital periods of Mars and Jupiter were in 1:6 ratio. Thus, the semi-major

axes of their respective elliptical orbits were perpendicular to each other. It has also

been shown that the position of Jupiter was precisely perpendicular to the Earth and

Mars during each and every March case flyby. The roles of Mars and Jupiter after

birth during planetary catastrophe events could be played by the Lord of Ascendant

and Rahu at the epoch of birth, thus making this planetary catastrophe inspired dasha

applicable in the natives chart. As per the conditions of applicability, Rahu should be

either perpendicular or in trine with the Lord of ascendant.

iii. It has been shown that during mega catastrophe events, Jupiter was either in Cancer or

Capricorn and Saturn opposite to it. At the time of Biblical floods it has been shown

that Uranus and Neptune, too, could be together with Saturn in Capricorn leading to

the unprecedented deluge. It has been argued that the orbit of Mars could widen

slightly (but dangerously for Earth) due to the exchange of angular momentum

between planets. Thus, the widening of orbit or the proximity of Mars fly-bys could

depend upon the position of other planets. The condition of Rahu being alone or with

T

other planets for taking the starting nakshatra as either Krittika or Ardra could also

allude to this arrangement of other planets.

iv. The fact that these potentially disastrous conditions and ancient orbital periods no

longer exist in modern times could have prompted Maharishi Parashar to recommend

Vimshottari dasha for the general populace, a fact also borne out by the results

obtained by various astrologers (yatha pinde tatha brahmande or As above, so below).

Assuming this to be true, BPHS may safely be dated as being more recent than 701

BCE, as it is generally assumed to be. Ashtottari dasha may be taken to be applicable

only in those charts where the birth conditions mimic the planetary catastrophe

environment as spelt out in the conditions of applicability of this dasha.

3. Dasha sequence

Following observations are in order:

i. During the catastrophic era, the orbits of planet Mars and Venus were much more

elliptical than at present as discussed earlier. As discussed by Velikovsky, after

ejection from Jupiter, the orbit of Venus was quite elongated and possibly stretched

almost up to the Asteroid Belt (maximum distance from Earth could be greater than 1

a.u., where 1 a.u.= Sun-Earth distance) and the orbit of Mars, too, was more elongated

(possibly maximum distance from Earth was greater than 0.61 a.u. and lesser than 1.0

a.u). Then, starting from Saturn, the orbits are in decreasing order of their distance

from Earth (viz. Saturn, Jupiter, Rahu - asteroid, Venus, Sun/Moon, Mars and

Mercury). Sun and Moon are taken as a single unit because of their equal angular

extent as discussed in earlier article.

ii. Again, assuming Mercury to be actually Uranus (Mercury's higher octave) and

considering the possibility that during planetary catastrophe era, Mars actually passed

between the Earth and Moon, the sequence in decreasing order of distance from Earth

becomes Mercury (Uranus), Saturn, Jupiter, Rahu, Venus, Moon(Sun) and Mars.

Finally, although the closest distance of Mars from Earth was lesser than that of

Moon, the farthest distance was more than Mercury's. Considering the brightness and

size of Mercury and the farthest distance of Mars would have led to Mercury being

placed on a lower level in dasha sequence, which would now become Saturn, Jupiter,

Rahu, Venus, Moon(Sun), Mars and Mercury (as Mercury itself).

These observations seem to be more plausible and in line with the earlier cataclysmic

scenario, where the orbits of inner planets crossed one another leading to the jumbling

of dasha sequence. It should be noted that we arrive at the correct sequence with

respect to decreasing order of distance of the planet from Sun (i.e. Saturn, Jupiter,

Rahu - asteroids, Mars, Earth or Sun-Moon, Venus and Mercury). Merely by

interchanging the positions of two planets in the dasha sequence of Ashtottari system

(viz. Mars and Venus), the same two planets held responsible for planetary

catastrophism by most of the researchers, further lending substance to our speculation

that planetary catastrophism could be at the root of Ashtottari system.

4. Dasha Periods

In general, the following broad observations may be noted:

i. It may be observed that the dashas of benefic and malefic planets are in alternate

order. Also, starting from the Sun, the dasha periods of malefic planets are increasing

even numbers (viz. 6, 8, 10 and 12 years for Sun, Mars, Saturn and Rahu, respectively).

Similarly, the dasha periods of benefic planets are increasing odd numbers starting

from 15 years for Moon (viz. 15, 17, 19 and 21 years for Moon, Mercury, Jupiter and

Venus, respectively).

This may also be viewed as malefic or benefic planet dasha starting with half of

Jupiter or Saturn ancient orbital periods, respectively, and one Mars ancient period

added for each subsequent malefic or benefic planet dasha. These orbital periods are

approximately the same even today.

ii. In general, the Mahadasha period is seen to correspond consistently with 10 synodic

periods or 10 orbital revolutions of rival planets as defined in earlier article. At the

same time, it is noticed that these periods may also coincide with other major events

associated with other planets.

For Vimshottari dasha, as each planet owns 3 nakshatras with full dasha period

corresponding to each, one revolution of Moon around the Earth corresponds to 3

dasha periods or, 1 dasha period corresponds to 1/3 of the orbital or synodic period.

Thus, some of the planets in Vimshottari dasha were shown to have dasha periods

equal to 1/3 of the orbital or synodic period of their rivals. In Ashtottari dasha,

although each planet owns 3 or 4 nakshatras depending upon whether the planet is

benefic or malefic, respectively, the total dasha period corresponds to the stay of Moon

in all the nakshatras taken together. Thus, one revolution of Moon around the Earth

corresponds to one dasha period for one planet or graha. Correspondingly, the dasha

period for certain planets is seen to be equal to one orbital or synodic period of its rival

graha or, alternatively, 10 times this period as discussed earlier.

iii. As a special case, the planets involved in the Planetary Catastrophe phenomenon (viz.

Earth or Sun-Moon and Mars), have dasha periods equal to half of this period (i.e.

either , or 5 orbital or synodic periods). This could be because of the overlapping of

the orbits of these planets during the catastrophic era leading to premature ending of

dasha with one half of the dasha periods being the effective dasha period for these

planets. Consistent with Pattenss hypothesis, Mars is supposed to have travelled

between the Earth and the Moon which could lead to the reduction of Moons

influence on Earth as well as reduction of the effect of other planets on Mars.

Obviously this dasha is concerned only with the catastrophic effects on humans or the

Earth-Moon-Sun system and the planets directly responsible for it. The Dasha system

could also have been originated after the disintegration of Rahu (i.e. after 3000 BCE),

in effect lending the dangerous orbit to Mars as per Patten. Thus, Rahu and other

outer planets are not affected and have their full dasha periods without reduction.

iv. There is also a subtle underlying pattern in the dasha periods of planets where the

theme of one-half the orbital or synodic period is noticeable when Mars or Jupiter is

involved in the dasha period calculation. This is further explored in the observations

on dasha periods of individual planets.

Because of the role played by Jupiter and Mars in the planetary catastrophe events, it

is possible that all the planets in this dasha system consider Jupiter and Mars as their

enemies. It would be interesting to see whether the antar dasha of Jupiter or Mars is,

in general, considered to be malefic for the Maha dashas of all the planets in Ashtottari

dasha system. However, no dashaphal (dasha results) specific to Ashtottari dasha has

come to the author's notice.

Mostly, the same dasha and antar dasha results are taken to be applicable for

Vimshottari as well as other dasha systems.

Although the above assumption of Jupiter and or Mars being a universal rival is not

absolutely necessary for the logic developed here, as generally there are other

observations consistently seen to be supporting the derivation of dasha periods of

planets, the correlation between the orbital periods of Jupiter and Mars with the dasha

periods of planets is nonetheless interesting.

v. Jupiter is usually called the great benefic as it normally deflects most of the meteorites

and comets approaching the Solar system towards itself, thereby protecting other

planets11. However, just once in a while, it may also deflect a meteorite or two towards

one of the other planets assuming the role of a villain for the Solar system. As a

consequence of one such unfortunate incident, Jupiter could have perturbed the orbit

of Rahu or Mars because of its gravity or by deflecting a meteorite towards one of

these, thereby dislodging it from its earlier stable orbit.

11 Similarly, it is possible that Saturn could be considered a malefic in general, because it could have been diverting

meteorites towards the Earth or other planets. The role played by Mars and Rahu as discussed above may complete the trio of malefics.

Also, it is known that the magnetosphere of Jupiter is the largest among all the

planets, next only to that of Sun. The magnetosphere of Sun is thus opposed and

shaped by Jupiter's magnetosphere, making the Sun and Jupiter rivals. It is also known

that the Sun moves around its barycentre (centre of mass of solar system) because of

the pull exerted mainly by Jupiter. These could be some of the reasons for the

perceived enmity between the Sun and Jupiter as elaborated later.

It is also believed that the placement of Jupiter with respect to Mars at the time of

Mars fly-bys determines the actual closest approach distance and the extent of damage

done. It has also been noted in ancient mythological literature that Jupiter or its Greek

counterpart Zeus, was responsible for orchestrating the planetary catastrophe events.

vi. On the whole, compared to Vimshottari dasha, the dasha period of benefic planets (72

years) in Ashtottari dasha is much more than the dasha period of malefic planets (36

years). Of course, this assuming that Jupiter is a benefic planet in this system.

However, as discussed earlier, if all the planets consider Jupiter as an enemy or as a

malefic planet, then the dasha period of benefics and malefics planets would be almost

the same (i.e. 53 years for benefic planets and 55 years for malefic planets). The fact

that Jupiter could be an enemy for other planets is also borne out by other observations

on the dasha periods of individual planets as discussed below. Thus, further research

may be required on the role of Jupiter in Ashtottari Dasha system.

Dasha Periods of Each Planet

n view of the discussion in preceding sections, some important observations

regarding the dasha period of each planet are given below:

Sun - 6 years

a. During this period, Venus, one of the bitter enemies of the Sun, completes almost 10

revolutions around the Sun. One revolution of Venus around the Sun takes 0.61 years.

Ten of such revolutions rounded to nearest year would be of 6 years.

b. As mentioned previously, the dasha period of planets affected by the catastrophe

corresponds to one half the orbital or synodic period of its rival or 5 times these

periods. As discussed before, it is possible that all the planets consider Jupiter and

Mars as their enemies in this particular dasha system. 6 years is one half the orbital

period of Jupiter, a possible rival of Sun and other catastrophic event affected planet.

c. Neptune, often considered to be the higher octave of Venus, moves one nakshatra

angular distance (165/28=5.9 or 165/27=6.1 years). It is often observed that planets give

noticeable results during transition from one nakshatra to other or from one sign to

I

other as in the case of Sadhesati. The changes of Maha Dashas are similarly a period to

watch out for.

d. As discussed in the article on Vimshottari dasha, the 18 year Saros eclipse cycle was

known during Rig Vedic period and the cycle was further divided into three cycles of 6

year each.

e. The effective period of Sun is said to be an ayan or 6 months (i.e. half of its revolution

period of one year). Correspondingly, if Jupiter can be thought of as taking over the

role of Sun after birth in the Ashtottari system, the dasha period of Sun is one ayan or

one half of Jupiter's revolution period of 12 years (11.86 years).

f. If Jupiter's position in the zodiac at the start of dasha is taken as its Ascendant, then

Jupiter goes to the region called Bhu loka (the earthly plane, from the longitude of the

Descendant to the end of the sign) after 6 years. It shows death and rebirth as this is

also the Mrityu loka or where death occurs, and this is where the dasha ends.

Similarly, planetary catastrophe theory talks about the destruction of planets, deluge

and other nasty events.

g. 6 years is 1/5 of the orbital period of its rival, Saturn (29.4/5 = 5.88 years).

Moon - 15 years

a. 15 years is one half the orbital period of Saturn, who considers Moon as its enemy.

b. Mars, perhaps one of the enemies of Moon (and other planets) in the Catastrophic era,

completes almost exactly 7 synods with the Sun in this period (2.135*7= 14.95 years),

thus aligning with the Sun at its starting position. At the same time, Mars completes 8

orbital revolutions around the Sun in 15 years (1.881*8= 15.048 years).

Mars - 8 years

a. Venus, although neutral with respect to Mars, owns the houses exactly opposite to

those of Mars (The other pairs being Saturn's houses opposite to those of Moon and

Sun, and Mercury's houses being opposite to those of Jupiter's) and is of opposite

polarity to Mars. Also, as discussed earlier, Mars might have just strayed a bit too

close to Venus during the catastrophic era, turning it into an enemy. Now, 8 years is 5

times the synodic period of Venus with Sun (1.6*5).

b. 8 years is also the period during which Venus completes its famous pentagram,

returning to align with the Sun at almost the same point that it started.

c. The Hilda Asteroids, having three heads and retrograde perihelion motion have a

period of 8 years. These could be dubbed as Rahu because of their appearance and

motion. Rahu is a rival of Mars.

d. The synodic period of Jupiter and Asteroid Ceres (pre-explosion Rahu?) as per modern

orbital periods is approximately 8 years (11.86*4.6/ (11.86-4.6) = 7.5 years). Assuming

slight changes to these orbits due to planetary catastrophes and even assuming that

Jupiter's orbit remained unchanged after planetary collisions, the modern orbit of

Rahu could have changed marginally from ancient 4.8 years to 4.6 years after

disintegration. Then, the ancient synodic period between Jupiter and Ceres (Rahu?)

would be 8.06 years. If the ancient periods of Jupiter and Ceres are assumed to be 12

years and 4.8 years, respectively, the synodic period would be exactly 8 years.

Mercury - 17 years

a. Mars considers Mercury as its natural enemy. Now, if the definition of synodic period

given in earlier article as that of repeating the same angle between two lines is used,

the Sun-Mars line and the line joining lunar nodes are at the same angle relative to

each other after every 1.708 years. Thus, after every 1.708 years, the Sun-Mars line

again becomes parallel to the nodal line, assuming that initially these two lines were

parallel or coincident. After ten of such similar configurations of Sun and Mars line

with the nodal line or after approximately 17.08 years, these two lines almost coincide

(i.e. Mars and Sun also align closely with actual lunar nodes Rahu and Ketu when seen

from Earth). As is known, Mars and Rahu are enemies as well.

Also, seen from Earth, eclipses are possible if Sun and Moon are positioned on the axis

defined by lunar nodes. When seen from the Sun, such a situation is possible if a line

parallel to the axis of lunar nodes is drawn through the Sun, and Moon and Earth are

present on it. In fact eclipses are possible only when both these lines coincide. This

axis spins around the Sun with retrograde motion and orbital period of 18.6 years. The

nodes Rahu and Ketu could alternatively be defined on this line, say, at points where

this line intersects the orbit of asteroids. Then, the synodic period of Mars with this

Rahu is 1.708 years (1.881*18.6 / (1.881+18.6) = 1.708 years). 17 years corresponds to 10

such synodic periods.

b. 17 years is also almost 8 times the synodic period of Mars with Sun (2.135 * 8 = 17.08)

and at the same time 9 times the orbital period of Mars (1.881 * 9 = 16.93).

c. This period is also equal to the perihelion opposition of Mars or the period after which

Mars is closest to Earth.

d. 17 years is also almost 1/10 of the synodic period of Uranus and Neptune (171.1 years).

Uranus is considered to be the higher octave of Mercury.

e. The Moon is an enemy of Mercury. 17 years is also the interval after which the Moon's

following phase is repeated.

Saturn - 10 years

a. This is the time needed by Sun (or the Earth-Moon system), an enemy of Saturn, to

go around the Earth (Sun) 10 times.

b. This is also approximately the time taken by Mars to complete 5 orbits (1.881 * 5 =

9.405). Mars is a rival of Saturn.

c. The orbital period of Mars is supposed to be exactly 2 years during the catastrophic

era. Thus, 10 years corresponds to 5 ancient orbital periods of Mars.

d. The synodic period of Saturn and Jupiter is almost 20 years (11.86*29.4 / (29.4-11.86) =

19.88 years). Assuming Jupiter is one of the enemies of all the planets, 10 years is

approximately one half this synodic period. The ancient synodic period would be

exactly 20 years with 30 years and 12 years as the ancient orbital periods of Saturn and

Jupiter, respectively.

Jupiter - 19 years

a. 19 years is approximately the time taken by Rahu (18.6 years) for making one orbit

around the Earth. Rahu, as discussed earlier, is a rival of Jupiter.

b. Mars, probably another planet considering Jupiter as its enemy, completes 10

revolutions around the Sun during this period. The orbital period of Mars is 1.881

years, very close to 1.9 years. (1.881 * 10 = 18.81 years).

c. This is also the period of Metonic cycle of Moon. As postulated earlier, perhaps Jupiter

is considered to be a villain by the planets because of its role in initiating the

catastrophic era. Moon repeats the same phase and is at the same position in zodiac

after this period corresponding to 235 synodic months. This leads to lunar eclipses

occurring on about the same calendar day and at almost the same time (within a few

hours) separated by 19 years.

Rahu - 12 years

a. 12 years is the orbital period of Jupiter, one of the enemies of Rahu and responsible for

its disintegration during the catastrophic era. As discussed earlier, Jupiter is listed as

an enemy of Rahu in many of the modern texts on astrology too.

Venus - 21 years

a. The synodic period of Mars is 2.135 years. Mars is not a friend of Venus, but it is a

sama (neutral) planet to Venus. However, the houses owned by Mars (1st and 8th) are

exactly opposite towards those owned by Venus (2nd and 7th) making these planets of

opposite polarities and rivals as discussed earlier. Also, Mars is an enemy of Venus

because of its dangerous eccentricity during the catastrophic era. 21 years corresponds

to approximately 10 cycles of the synodic period of Mars.

b. The planet Pluto, considered the higher octave of Mars, has a mean motion of

approximately 21 years in one sign (248 / 12 = 20.67 years). Given the long orbital period

and eccentricity of Pluto's orbit, 21 years is a fair estimate for the mean period of stay

in one sign. If we remember that the internal motion of the microcosm directly

affecting us and mirroring the macrocosm need not have the same orbital eccentricity

as the planets in macrocosm, the mean motions may very well be taken for dasha

calculations.

Inferences Drawn From Observations

1. The dasha periods are seen to correspond with either 1 or 10 synodic periods or orbital

revolutions of rival planets, or one half of this period for certain planets involved

closely in the planetary catastrophe hypothesis.

2. A high degree of symmetry is observed in the determination of dasha periods (e.g. the

dasha period of Rahu depends upon Jupiter and that of Jupiter depends upon Rahu).

The other pairs are Venus/Mars and Saturn/Sun-Moon.

3. The dasha periods of all the planets have been observed to be dependent upon the

orbital or synodic periods of either Mars or Jupiter, in some way. It is possible that all

the planets consider Mars and Jupiter as their enemies in this dasha system. This

appears to be a concept where more research is warranted.

4. The dasha period of Sun and Moon together (21 years) is around one half of Jupiter

and Saturn's orbital periods (11.8 + 29.4 = 42.2) and about 10 times the synodic period of

Mars (2.135 * 10 = 21.35). In an interesting parallel, for Vimshottari dasha, as shown in

an earlier article, the combined period of Sun and Moon (16 years) is 1/3 of Rahus and

Saturn's orbital periods and 10 times the synodic period of Venus. There, the theme

was either 1/3 or 10 times, here it is 1/2 or 10 times. Corresponding planets in the two

dashas (viz. Jupiter and Rahu or Mars and Venus) are rivals, with Saturn being

common to both dasha systems.

5. If a year of 360 days is taken, most of the dasha periods remain almost the same.

However, 19 year dasha period of Jupiter corresponding to 6840 days is almost equal to

59 synodic periods of Mercury. Mercury is an enemy of Jupiter. The 10 year dasha

period of Saturn would then correspond to almost exact multiple of lunations of 29.5

days each, with perhaps one intercalary day per 10 years. The orbital period of Saturn

is also 29.8 of such years and one half is closer to 15 years dasha period of Moon.

Similarly, Jupiter's period is 12.03 of such years. Thus, one half of this or equivalent

ayan is 6 years for Sun's period. The period of Mars is 1.9085 of such years and ten

times is 19.085 for Jupiter's period.

t has been shown in this article that the theme developed in the earlier article on

Vimshottari dasha holds in the case of Ashtottari dasha too, thereby reinforcing

our confidence in the observations and inferences noted for each system. It has

been shown that the dasha periods of planets in Ashtottari dasha system, too, may

very well be derived from the orbital properties of rival planets as defined in an earlier

article on Vimshottari dasha. It was consistently observed that the Mahadasha period

of planets is either equal to 10 synodic periods (orbital revolution periods) of their rival

planets or 1 synodic period. It has been speculated that the Ashtottari dasha system

could be more relevant during or inspired from the planetary catastrophic era, and the

conditions of applicability of this dasha system could be evolved from the planetary

conditions existing then. The dasha sequence also serves to strengthen this belief. As

the Ashtottari dasha system is a conditional dasha system, certain planets actively

involved in the catastrophe are shown to have the duration of their dasha period one

half of the normally expected period (i.e. 5 orbital or synodic periods or 1/2 orbital or

synodic period). A high degree of symmetry was also observed in the calculations

leading to pairs of planets with interdependent dasha periods. The planets Jupiter and

Mars have been observed to have some co-relation with the dasha periods of all the

planets. It has been proposed that this could be due to the role played by these two

planets in the planetary catastrophic events, thereby requiring a more thorough

assessment of their dasha and antar dasha results.

It is sincerely hoped that this article will inspire other learned workers in this field to

modify and improve upon this work and extend it to other dasha systems.

I