This article is not about lecturing on the philosophical or spiritual context of happiness in vedic astrology. Real happiness seems to have lost the race to material success. I have written/spoken a lot about using horoscope to fix the gaps in achieving material gains.
We have confused happiness with success in career, fame, money, relationship and other tangible gains.
Unhappiness is a negative emotional state which can also impact material life.
The fact however is that happiness hasn't been proven to be dependent upon these factors.
There are people who have the "ability" to be real happy without material riches OR they have relinquished riches to find happiness in life. If success, fame and money defined happiness then no rich businessman, politician or movie star would have pains in life.
Real happiness operates outside the scope of tangible gains. So let's jump in to the techniques to see the promise of happiness in life using the horoscope.
Technique #1 - Lagna lord and navamsa in chart
(Based upon Phaladeepika chap 3 verse 11)Lagna (ascendant) lord represents the native in chart. The strength of ascendant lord in the chart shows the ability to tackle challenging situations and hardships. The extent and severity of challenges in life is shown by the rising navamsa lord in the chart.
Let me explain with an example. Let's say you have Aquarius ascendant in D1 and so Saturn is your ascendant lord. The strength of Saturn in your D1 i.e. it's strong placement in kendra (quadrant) or trikona (trine) in it's favourable signs e.g. own sign, mooltrikona, exaltation of friend's sign, not combust due to proximity with Sun, aspected by natural benefics or retrograde at birth will make Saturn strong.
On the contrary, the placement of Saturn in 6, 8 or 12th house, in sign of it's debilitation or enemy, combust by Sun and aspected/conjunct natural malefics will make it weak. In other situations, it's strength can be called average. A strong ascendant lord makes the person strong to handle challenges in life.
Next, please check the lord of navamsa sign that was rising at birth i.e. in D9 of birth chart, check which planet is ascendant lord. That planet is lord of navamsa rising.
Now check the strength of this planet in D1 as per the criteria mentioned in above example (of Saturn). Next, please check the ascendant lord in D1 and look in which sign it's placed in D9. The lord of that sign (in D9) is the navamsa sign lord of ascendant lord (of D1). The strength of this planet in D1 is the key to receiving necessary comforts and happiness in life.
So this technique identifies 3 key planets for happiness - ascendant lord (for obvious strength of character), the lord of navamsa rising (for extent of favourable/unfavourable circumstances in life) and lord of navamsa occupied by ascendant lord (for overall happiness and basic comforts in life). The energies of the weakest among these 3 planets require attention in matters of happiness in life.
Technique #2 - Pranpada in horoscope and happiness
Just like ascendant is a point in the zodiac at the time of birth, there is another point in the sky called pranpada. It's very important concept and I find it unfortunate that pranpada is hardly spoken about. I suspect majority of Youtube and social media astrologers do not know about it or it's application.
It's directly connected with breathing pattern of the native. It's about the quality of parana vayu as utilized by the native, which eventually decides the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health of the individual. In fact, the whole purpose of yogic practice called 'pranayam' is to balance the breathing pattern to improve the quality of life.
The pranpada at the time of birth is about the breathing pattern of the native and the happiness that's connected with it. All serious astrology softwares calculate the pranpada so you don't have to worry about the technicalities and mathematical calculations. For those interested, I give the calculation method, nevertheless.
Calculation of Pranpada
(BPHS Chap 3 verse 77/78)Convert the ghatika elapsed since sunrise to seconds (vighati) then divide by 15. If greater than 12, divide by 12 and take the remainder. This gives the signs, degree, minutes and seconds. Let's call this point as A.
Now add Sun's longitude to A and let's call the sum as B.
If Sun is in movable sign, then B is the pranpada. If Sun is in fixed sign, add 8 signs to B which gives the pranpada. If Sun is in dual sign then add 4 signs to B which gives us the pranpada.
Pranpada at 2nd, 4th, 5th, 9th, 10th or 11th house from ascendant is auspicious. This can be seen in the software or manually calculated using the above method.
Application of Pranpada
(BPHS Chapter 6, verse 73-82, Tarachand Shastri page 76)Pranpada at 2nd, 4th, 5th, 9th, 10th or 11th house from ascendant is auspicious. The auspicious house where pranpada falls, it gives the good human values and qualities to the native. For example, in 4th house, it gives matri bhakti (love and respect for mother, respectful/caring for women at large, overall not unhappy in life.
If it's in inauspicious houses (i.e. other than the above list of houses), it gives negative human qualities of the house pranpad falls e.g. in 1st house, physical/mental issues, in 3rd house mentally aggressive/violent, not loving of mother, arrogant, not good intentioned etc. Such a negative human trait becomes a source of unhappiness.
Inauspicious pranpada i.e. when it falls in houses 1st, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 8th, or 12th indicate problems in life (and unhappiness) due to defects in breathing. The specific house pranpada falls shows the area of life that requires attention. This house is the one that native damages by improper breathing. This is the area of life that requires fixing by using proper breathing.
Once addressed properly, it generally has cascading positive effect in other areas of life and contributes immensely towards overall happiness. Pranayam though beneficial for everybody, is more critically required by people with inauspicious pranpada in horoscope. That is the bottom-line.
Technique #3 - Ashtakavarga of Moon (Bhinnashtakavarga) and Happiness
This is the easiest technique in which the ashtakavarga points in Moon's bhinnashtakavarga are used. Ashtakavarga, as you would probably know that are benefic numbers that each planet gives to every other planet including the ascendant degree. For details please refer to a good astrology book, it's an important topic in Jyotish.
Thankfully, all astrology softwares calculate the ashtakavarga points. In this technique, we have to use the specific ashtakavarga of Moon in various signs. Typically you see numbers like 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, etc. The possible range of numbers is 0 to 8 both inclusive.
All you have to do is check the sign Moon is placed in D1 chart. Let's say Moon is placed in Sagittarius in D1. Now look in Moon's ashtakavarga (bhinnashtakavarga) and check the benefic numbers mentioned for Sagittarius (in our example). If the number is greater than 4, it's good. The higher number, the merrier. The lower numbers than 4 in Moon's sign of placement indicate poorer happiness potential. The number 4 there indicate average happiness.
Moon's bhinnashtakavarga shows the ability of conscious mind to enjoy happiness and mental peace.
So all these techniques highlight different shades and sources of happiness in life.
I have done a video on YouTube to further explain the above techniques ...
Author : Partho Banerjee
