A Short Life

By: Phyllis Chubb

The birth of a child usually fills the hearts of parents with joy and awe. The loss of a child fills a parent’s heart with an indescribable pain. The parents of the boy whose chart is the focus of this article experienced both the joy of his birth and the agony of his death.

His parents had become accustomed to people commenting on the beauty of the child, on his eyes and the aura of wisdom that seemed to surround the lad. Little did they know they would have only a few short years to share their love with this boy.

There had been no one around to prepare them for the pain and emptiness they would feel when he left his body. And, maybe that was a good thing. It’s been 18 years since he left and still his parents feel his absence. Knowing his death was not due to something they could have done and that his death was part of his soul’s path brings them some sense of peace. Certainly they would have preferred a different outcome. Today they feel blessed to have had his company for the few short years they did.

What happened? Why would an apparently happy and healthy child suddenly drown on the shores of the very lake he had played in since he could crawl?

Jessie was born October 10, 1978 and drowned August 11, 1985.

What can his chart tell us about his short life? Could anything have been done? Or, was this his karma and the karma of his parents to have suffered this loss?

First Glance:

In each chart there are multiple indices of both good and bad. The focus in the examination of this chart will be very narrow, certainly not addressing all areas of this boy’s life. Since we know the life of this person was so short, the focus will be on identifying factors that may have contributed to this situation. nbbg

The first thing that hits the eye when looking at this chart is Saturn situated in the first house making it a marana karaka planet capable of causing death. Planetary placements forming marana karaka patterns occur when the following positions are formed.

Sun in the 12th house
Moon in the 8th house
Mars or Mercury in the 7th house
Jupiter in the 3rd house
Venus in the 6th house, and
Saturn in the first

The Sun in the chart rules the Lagna lord and falls into Virgo at 23 degree and 13 minutes which places it within 47 minutes of the Sun’s fatal degree. Given the importance of the Sun the second warning of potential disaster has presented itself.

The next step will be to identify the badhak planet for this chart. The badhak planet is that planet which causes obstacles, miseries and sorrows in any chart. The rules for badhak identification are:

For moveable ascendants the lord of the 11th becomes the badhak;
For fixed ascendants the lord of the 9th becomes the badhak; and
For dual ascendants the lord of the 7th becomes the badhak.

In this case the fixed sign Leo being the ascendant sign indicates that Mars the lord of the 9th house, becomes the badhak planet. Mars falling into the 3rd house of the rasi chart makes the 4th aspect to the Moon.

When looking at a child’s chart, especially in terms of longevity, the Moon’s position becomes very important. Parasara tells us “If the Moon is in 6th, 8th or 12 house from the ascendant and is aspected by malefic planets, then the native’s death will occur soon” .

His Moon

Once again we see form in the words of the great Maharishi. Jessie’s Moon sat in the 6th , a Trik house and received aspects from no less than three malefics. Saturn gave both a sign and planetary aspect along with aspects from Rahu and the 4th aspect from Mars. The power of these malefic aspects could not be neutralized by the mere presence of Jupiter aspecting the Moon from the 12th house, even though Jupiter was exalted.

Sharma, the translator of Parasara’s words, summarized the situation very clearly by stating the following: “The placement of the Moon in these houses and the aspect of the malefic planets on her clearly indicate(s) that the child’s death will occur in childhood.”

Other planets to look at will be the 22nd Drekkana and the 64th Drekkana. The 22nd drekkana is that planet which is lord of the 8th house from the D-3 Lagna, which in this case is the Moon. The lord of the 22nd drekkana and the planets in it prove malefic.

The 64th drekkana is that planet ruling the 8th sign from the D-9 Moon. Therefore, in this case the 64th drekkana becomes Venus. Like the 22nd drekkana this planet and its associates, or planets falling into this house, become evil.

The Rudra:

There are 11 different forms of Lord Shiva in each chart; the one that brings suffering and destruction to the native is simply called Rudra. In order to find the Rudra “consider the lord of the 8th and 7th houses from the Lagna using the following chart. To find the 8th house lord use the chart form below. The strongest planet becomes the Rudra.

 

The ruler of the 7th house in this case is Aquarius and according to the above chart, Cancer becomes the ruler of the 8th house and Jupiter is situated in Cancer making this the Rudra.

In the same category of the forms of Shiva there is another one called the Maheswara. The planet representing the Maheswara can be found by looking at the lord of the 8th house from the Atmakaraka in the rasi chart. This planet “represents the channels through which one’s soul strives for liberation”.

It’s tempting to stop here. However, Narasimha Rao tells us that if the 8th lord from (the) Atmakaraka is in own rasi or exaltation rasi, then we are to take the stronger of the 8th and 12th lords from him. Such is the case here where the 8th from the Atmakaraka Venus becomes Venus and Venus is situated in its own sign demanding then that we look further.

Following Rao’s advice of looking to both the 8th house from the 8th house and the 12th house from the 8th we find Mars and Venus rules these signs. Although these planets are placed in the same house, Venus is the stronger of the two therefore Venus becomes the Maheswara and will lead his soul to liberation.

Summary of Planetary Powers to Date:

We know:
The Sun, which is the lagna lord is sitting on a fatal degree.
Saturn, a Marana planet in this case, powerfully placed in his first house.
Mars is the Bahak creating obstacles, misery and suffering.
The Moon poorly placed in the 6th house with no positive support is the 22nd drekkana.
Jupiter is the Rudra that will bring suffering and destruction
Venus, the 64th drekkana, will also lead his soul to liberation.

Now that the role of these planets has been identified it is time to look at different dasa periods to see what they were showing on the date of his death.

The Dasa Periods:

The Vimshottari Dasa:

On the day of his death the Vimshottari dasa pattern is listed below.

Moon MD: 1980-02-21 – 1990-02-21
Sat AD: 1984-05-23 – 1985-12-24
Rah PD: 1985-07-13 – 1985-10-09

Here the mahadasa of his sorely afflicted Moon is running. In addition the Moon receives both a sign and planetary aspect from the first house Saturn which has been identified as a marana, or death-inflicting planet. If this isn’t enough Rahu aspects both the Moon and Saturn by it’s 2nd house aspect.

It’s never wise to be satisfied with only one indication, in any situation, least of all when looking for something as serious as the death of a child. Because the Vimshottari dasa focuses primarily on the mind it will be wise to also check the Narayana dasa which deals more with what is actually going on.

Narayana Dasa:

Le MD: 1978-10-10 – 1989-10-09
Ar AD: 1985-03-07 – 1986-02-05
Pi PD 1985-07-27 – 1985-08-24

Here the mahadasa of the Lagna is emphasized. It has been shown that the Lagna, which is one of the representations of the body, is severely afflicted by the presence of Saturn and the 2nd house aspect made by Rahu. In addition the mahadasa lord being the deha, also represents the body.

The life force, called the Jeeva, falls as many signs away from the Deha as the Deha has gained from the Lagna. Given this rule, the Jeeva gains only one sign and therefore becomes Virgo housing both the Sun and Rahu. Once again we see weakness and potential difficulty as a result of Rahu’s placement in the sign and on the Sun which is the dispositor of the Lagna.

Next comes the Paka Lagna which is the lord of the mahadasa rasi. The Paka rasi has the task of being the ripening the karma promised. Here we see the Paka Lagna is the Sun, and the Sun, as described above is poorly placed.

For a final examination of the Narayana dasa the Bhoga, or Arudha of the mahadasa rasi needs to be examined. Here we find the Bhoga to be Libra, which houses Venus, the Maheshwara and the 64th drekkana as well as Mars the Badhak planet.

It has been said that if Rahu, Mars, Saturn or the Sun are in the Deha and the Jeeva death or suffering occurs. If one of these planets fall only in the Jeeva, misfortune occurs and life may lose it’s meaning and direction.

Here we see this prophecy fulfilled with Rahu and Sun sitting in the place of the Jeeva and the marana planet, Saturn, siting in the Deha.

It is unlikely that more confirmation pointing to the timing of this lad’s death need be explored. However, for learning purposes, continued exploration will hopefully prove to be valuable.

Shoola Dasa

The Shoola dasa shows times of troubles and death. The periods listed below cover the period of his drowning.

MA LE 1978-10-10 – 1987-10-10
AD TA 1985-7-08 – 1986-04-06

Once again the Mahadasa of the Ascendant is highlighted adding strength to it’s dispositor the Sun which is also sitting in a critical degree. The lord of the antardasa Venus has the role of leading the soul to liberation.

Moola Dasa

The Moola dasa shows the roots of events and past karma. The order of the Moola dasa on the date of his soul’s departure were as follows:

RA 1978-10-10 – 1991-10-10
VE 1984-04-23 – 1987-10-15
JU 1985-7-25 – 1986-01-09
JU 1985-7-25 – 1985-8-17

Rahu made the second aspect onto his already afflicted Lagna, Venus in the 3rd house of travel played her role while Jupiter, the Rudra for this chart, brought the suffering and destruction.

In Conclusion:

There can be no doubt that Jessie’s life unfolded according to a master plan. Although still painful, this knowledge does bring peace to the hearts of the parents and other’s who loved this boy

References: Brihat Parasara Hora Shastra. Girlish Chand Sharma Sagar Publications, New Delhi, India. 1995 p. 172
ibid p. 172
Vedic Astrology: An Integrated Approach. P.V.R. Narasimha Rao. Sagar Publicaions, New Delhi, Inida. 2001. P.156
ibid p. 157