Shadbala and its Conceptual details Part III

2. DIG BALA
This principle has similarities with the principle of Oocha Bala. Now the decisive factor is not the location of the planet in a certain sign, but in a certain house. Each planet is powerful when it is located in a certain direction. Dig Bala means directional strength. The Sun and Mars are powerful in the South. These are planets which function especially well in the tenth house (the tenth house is the portion of the sky directly above the head). Saturn is given maximum Dig Bala when it is in the West, the seventh house. Moon and Venus get maximum Dig Bala when the are in the North (fourth house). Mercury and Jupiter function well in the first house (the East). A reason for this is that the morning is a great time for studying and learning. That is why Mercury and Jupiter, planets which have to do with studying and learning, are strong during that time of day (at that time the Sun is near the ascendant). The Sun and Mars are energetic planets which need the energy that is available around noon (at that time the Sun is in the tenth house). Saturn is the planet of shades, which are at its maximum during the evening (when the Sun is opposite the ascendant). Moon and Venus are soft planets which function good during the time that is meaned for sleeping and making love (at midnight the Sun is in the fourth house). A planet gets maximum Dig Bala when it is in middle of the bhava (house) where it functions especially well. If for example the Moon is located right in the middle of the fourth house he gets maximum Dig Bala and is given 60 Shashtiamsas. If the Moon is
in the middle of the tenth house it is given 0 Shashtiamsas. A slight complication is that for determining this BV Raman works with the bhava chart and not with the rashi chart. The midpoint of the houses in the bhava chart may differ from the midpoint of the
houses in the rashi chart (which is always 15 degrees of a certain sign). The Bhava Chart is a chart which has unequal houses. It is comparable to the way we work with houses in Western Astrology (and in particular the Porphyry house system). The Bhava Chart is
explained later. Dig bala gives a good indication for how strong a planet is in its
house.

3. KALA BALA
This has to do with the strength which a planet has because of the time of the day. It is strength of time. It consists of the following:

1. Divaratri Bala According to this system the Moon, Saturn and Mars are powerful during midnight. At noon they are powerless. These are the natural malefics + the Moon. The Sun, Jupiter and Venus are powerful during noon and are powerless during midnight. These are the natural benefics AND the Sun. Adaptable Mercury is
considered to be always powerful. This means that in every chart Mercury gets the
maximum of 60 Shashtiamsas which can be gained by this factor. The Moon, Saturn and Mars are given 60 Shashtiamsas only if the person is born at midnight and 0 if the person is born at noon. Sun, Jupiter and Venus get 60 Shastiamsas if the person is born at noon
and zero if he is born at midnight.

2. Paksha Bala A Paksha is equal to 15 lunar days. When the Moon is increasing it is Sukla Paksha. When the Moon is decreasing it is Krishna Paksha .The benefics are Jupiter, Venus, Moon (from the 8th day of the bright half of the lunar month to the 8th day of the dark half of the lunar month) and good influenced Mercury. These beneficial planets are powerful during Sukla Paksha. The malefics are Sun, Mars, Saturn, badly influenced Mercury and the Moon (from the 8th day of the dark half of the lunar month to the 8th day of the bright half of the lunar month). They are powerful during Krishna Paksha. The benefics get more Shastiamsas if a person is born on Sukla Paksha and the malefics less. If a person is born during Krishna Paksha the malefics get more points.
The maximum amount of Shashtiamsas to be gained is 60. The value of the Shastiamsas of the malefics AND the value of the Shastiamsas of the benefics is always 60. The Shastiamsas of the Moon are always doubled.

3. Thribhaga Bala The day (that means the period of daylight) is divided into three equal parts and the night (the period without daylight) is divided into three equal parts. In this system Jupiter is always given 60 Shastiamsas. In addition, if someone is born during the first part of the day Mercury gets 60 Shashtiamsas. If someone is born during the second part of the day the Sun gets 60 Shashtiamsas. If born during the last part of the day Saturn gets 60 Shashtiamsas. If born during the first part of the night the Moon is given 60 Shashtiamsas. If born during the second part of the night Venus gets 60 Shashtiamsas. If born during the last part of the night Mars gets 60 Shashtiamsas. I see some connection between this system and the system of Dig Bala. In the reasoning behind Dig Bala the first part of the day is seen as particularly good for Mercurial activities. Noon is seen as good for activities which have to do with the Sun. Saturn is
strong when he is opposite the ascendant (at the place of the evening Sun). Also the Moon and Venus are strong during nighttime. However, the value attached to the late night Mars is something which cannot be found in Dig Bala.

4. Abda Bala The planet which is the lord of the year will get 15 Shahtiamsas. The lord of the year is the planet which belongs to the first day of the year. For example if the first day of a certain year is Sunday the year is ruled by the Sun, which receives 15
Shashtiamsas according to this method.

5. Masa Bala The planet which is the lord of the first day of the month in which a person is born receives 30 Shashtiamsas.

6. Vara Bala The planet which rules the day at which the person is born receives 45 Shashtiamsas.

7. Hora Bala A day is divided into 24 hours or horas. Each hora(1 Hour period)
is ruled by a planet. The first hora is ruled by the planet which rules the day. For example at Monday the first hora is ruled by the Moon. Then the order is according to the days of the week (next hora will be of Mars then of Mercury and so on). If you are born at some
distance from the equator the horas are not of equal length. The period of daylight contains 12 horas and the period without daylight contains 12 horas. The ruler of the hora when you were born gets 60 Shashtiamsas.

8. Ayana Bala. The value a planet gets according to Ayana Bala has to do with the declination it has from the equator. If a planet has 0 declination the ayana bala is 30. For Venus, the Sun, Mars and Jupiter the Northern declinations are added to his value and the Southern declinations subtracted (the consequence of this is that a planet has a low ayana bala if the planet has a Southern declination and a high ayana bala if the
planet has a Northern declination) . For Saturn and the Moon it is the other way around. For Mercury declinations are always added. The maximum amount of Shashtiamsas to be gained is 60. The ayana bala of the Sun is always doubled.

9. Yuddha Bala This concept has to do with planets which are in war. Therefore we only encounter Yuddha bala values if there are planets at war in the chart. First we have to calculate the total Sthana bala value AND Dig Bala AND Kala Bala till Hora Bala of the two fighting planets. Then calculate the difference between these two values. This difference must be divided by the difference between the diameters of the two planets as seen in the sky. The result of this calculation is the Yuddhabala. This must be added to the Kala Bala total of the winning planet and subtracted to the Kala Bala of the loosing planet.. Readers are requested to further study from other sources as well.

To be Contd/-

Shadbala and Its Conceptual Details Part II

(b). The second one is called Saptavargaja Bala. To calculate this we will have to look at the following seven divisional charts: Rasi, Hora, Drekkana, Saptamsa, Navamsa, Dwadasamsa and Trimsamsa. In all these charts we look at what kind of sign a certain planet is located. If a planet occupies in the rashi chart its Moolatrikona sign it gets 45 Shashtiamsas (this is a special rule for the rashi chart only), if it is in its own sign (of whatever varga or division) it gets 30 Shashtiamsas, in the sign of a great friend 22.5 Shashtiamsas, in the sign of a friend 15 Shashtiamsas, in a neutral sign 7.5 Shashtiamsas, in the sign of an enemy 3.75 Shashtiamsas and in the sign of a great enemy 1.875 Shashtiamsas. The concept of friends and enemies is taken from the basic vedic astrological system. This is one of the most important parts of Shadbala because Saptavargaja( Seven Types of Divisional details) bala can give a lot of Shashtiamsas.

(c). Ojayyugma Bala The idea behind this concept is that a planet gains strength because it is in an even or odd sign or navamsa. The Moon and Venus get 15 Shashtiamsas when they are in an even sign. These planets also get 15 Shastiamsas when they are in an even navamsa. In totality the Moon or Venus may gain 30 Shashtiamsas if they are located in an even sign AND even navamsa. The reason behind this is that the Moon and Venus are female planets and are strong when they are in female (even) signs or navamsas. Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury and Saturn get 15 Shastiamsas when they are in an odd sign. They also can get 15 Shashtiamsas when they are in an odd navamsa. These planets are male or neutral and are strong in male (odd) signs.

(d). Kendra Bala A planet in a kendra house (1,4,7 and 10) gets 60 Shashtiamsas, a planet in the house 2,5,8 or 11 gets 30 Shashtiamsas, a planet in the house 3,6,9 or 12 gets 15 Shashtiamsas. The reasoning is that planets in Kendra houses can easily express themselves and are therefore strong.

(e) Drekkena Bala (Drekkana means third divisional part) To calculate this the planets are divided into masculine planets (Sun, Jupiter and Mars), neutral planets (Saturn and Mercury) and female planets (Venus and the Moon). If a male planet is in the first drekkana (0-10 degrees) of whatever sign it gets 15 Shashtiamsas. If a neutral planet is in the middle drekkana of whatever sign (that means it is located between 10-20 degrees of whatever sign) it gets 15 Shashtiamsas. If a female planet is located in the last drekkana (the last 10 degrees) of whatever sign it gets 15 Shashtiamsas. The reasoning is that the first drekkana of each sign is good for male planets, the middle drekkana for neutral planets and the last drekkana for female planets. Now we have to add up all the Shashtiamsa values. The result is the total Sthana Bala. You are in the priviliged position that you do not have to calculate all this by hand. You can see it on the computer printout. When you know what the different strengths and weaknesses mean you can easily assess the strengths and weaknesses of your chart just by looking at the Shadbala printout.

To Be Contd/-....

ShadBala and its Conceptual Details

SHADBALA
In Vedic astrology there are methods which especially in this age of computers can give a quick insight in the state of planets and houses. One such method is explained here. This is the method of Shadbala. It gives a value to each planet. The more points a planet gets in Shadbala the stronger it is. It is important to have some insight in how the Shadbala value is calculated. The understanding of the concept of “Shadbala” is obviously more important than actually calculating it. Further you can employ some methods to calculate the values of “Shadbalas”.Only if you know the method followed by this system of calculation you can have an opinion about the value of it. There are slight variances on how Shadbala is calculated. The method of the late B.V. Raman as explained in his book `graha and bhava balas', is by far the most accurate.
It is possible that other astrologers in the future will develop their own version of Shadbala. New and innovative approaches are always welcome. However, before we can develop something new we should exactly know What are the Basics and how the traditional system works.

The word “SHAD” means Six and, “BALA” means Energy. Thus “ShadBala” means Six types of Energies of Planets. Most of the energies of Planets are found by this method, for example Positional Strength, Exaltation Strength, Debilitation Strength, Divisional Strength etc. Numerical values are given to the “Energies” found, by a Point Rating system. For finding out the Energies one need to have a prior knowledge of Planetary Energy States like their Exaltation, Debilitation, Combust, Mool Trikon (75% Enegy State) and Neutral, as laid out in Standard Vedic Sripts

1. STHANA BALA
Sthana means place or position. We start with calculating the sthana bala of a planet. This is the positional strength of a planet. Sthana Bala consists of five components: Under “Sthana Bala” there are further 4 types of “Balas’

(a) The first one is called Oocha Bala. “Oocha” means Exaltation.All planets have exact degrees of exaltation. Like the Moon is exalted at 3 degrees Taurus. When a planet occupies it exact degree of exaltation the planet gets 60 Shashtiamsas (Shashtiamsas are points). When it occupies the opposite point, its exact point of fall, it does not get any Shashtiamsas. Of course most of the time a planet will occupy a position somewhere in between these points. In that case the points that it will get will be calculated according to its position from the point of exaltation and fall.

Example: The Moon at 3 degrees Scorpio will get 0 Shashtiamsas. The Moon at 3 degrees Leo will get 30 Shashtiamsas (this is exactly between 3 degrees Scorpio and 3 degrees Taurus).

To be Contd/...

Meaning of Argala (Continued)

Virodhargala (Obstruction) Virodhargala shows the obstruction of argala. Planets and houses in the 12th, 10th, 3rd and 9th houses from a house or planet cause virodhargala and obstruct the argala on it from the 2nd, 4th, 11th and 5th houses from it (respectively). For example, let us say Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn are in Ge, Pi, Ar and Vi respectively. Saturn is in the 4th from Mercury and Ge and he causes argala on them. With Saturn being a malefic, this is a paapaargala (malefic intervention). But Jupiter is in the 10th from Mercury and Ge. So he obstructs Saturn’s argala and averts the troubles. Venus is in the 11th from Mercury and Ge and so he causes argala on them. With Venus being a benefic, it is a subhaargala (benefic intervention). If Le (3rd from Ge) is empty, this argala is unobstructed. NOTE: If a sign contains Ketu, argalas and virodhargalas on it are counted anti-zodiacally. For example, let us say Ketu is in Vi. Then Le, Ge, Sc and Ta are the 2nd, 4th, 11th and 5th from Vi (counted anti-zodiacally) and planets in those signs cause argala on Vi and on the planets in Vi. Virodhargala is also counted similarly. Use of Argala Depending on the matter of interest, take the relevant house or the relevant karaka. Find argalas and virodhargalas on it. If there are both, see if more planets cause argala or virodhargala. If they are caused by the same number of planets, compare the strengths and decide whether argala dominates or virodhargala. Based on the signs, houses and planets involved, guess the meaning of the argala or virodhargala. Argala from the 2nd house shows the basic ingredient for the sustenance of a matter. For example, the 2nd house shows food and it is a basic ingredient for the sustenance of self (1st). The 5th house shows intelligence and it is a basic ingredient for the sustenance of learning (4th). Argala from the 4th house shows the basic factor that drives the mood, state and progress of a matter. For example, the 4th house shows comfort and it drives the mood and state of self (1st). The 7th house shows interaction and that drives one’s learning (4th). Argala from the 11th house shows the catalyst that can result in gains for a matter. For example, the 2nd house shows character, grooming and samskara and it is a catalyst in the process of learning (4th). Secondary argala from the 5th house shows the additional contributing factors. For example, the 5th house shows emotional situation and that contributes to the state of self (1st). The 8th house shows hard work and that contributes to one’s learning (4th). Using the above guidelines, we can understand the meaning of argalas on houses and karakas.