Mr N Rao's VAIP- Consolidn

[Guest guest]

Dear Mr Rao & other Gurus & friends

 

I have finally finished skimming thru VAIP completely (cant say I've

finished!). I am consolidating all my comments, queries, etc here. And hope

I will get a reply to my queries, as it wd really help me. I have been

waiting for YEARS to find (& now finish reading) just such a book, so that

I can stop writing notes (I'd prob'ly not have started my extensive

note-writing process, if I had known that such a book wd be published) &

start reading charts.

 

Pros: In my earlier posting, I covered: a) Integrated across astro-schools

for the first time & Extensive (VERY wide coverage, which otherwise wd take

many many books to read) , b) Sequencing of astro-units, c) Drilling of

Concepts with example charts, analogies, etc, to immediately explain

applications instead of regurgitating thous of Rules as most books do, d)

Exceptional clarity in Cleaving of definitions of astro-units.

 

I now add : a) the Last Section on Spl Topics (Birth time rectification,

Rational Thinking, etc) is so necessary & so inadequate in any

astro-literature, & so well written, that the book wd be worth reading just

for these few chapters alone, b) the section on myriad Dasas made so much

clarity available to me, DESPITE my being a List-member for over a year

now, & having tooth-combed the archives repeatedly, c) there are

conceptual-cobweb-brooms thru-out the book, that wd be difficult to specify

out of context, in virtually every chapter I learnt something new, despite

possessing many tomes, d) many little things which matter a lot, eg exact

translations of Sanskrit terms, wherever used, the nuances of various exact

vs approx computations, etc etc.

 

Printing Mistakes: Only 2 real ones: Both due to tabulation problems

(Jumping of rows in tables):

a) Pg 10: Deities ruling Naks slipped by a row from around PPha to around

USha (& 1 missed, obviously).

b) In the lagna-wise table of funcl benefics/ neut/ malefics, in the last

column, ie Functional Malefics : rows have really jumped all over. So I

cant correct it here briefly. But the reader can just eliminate the balance

planets from the other 2 columns, & remember the rule stated just before in

the text, about Mn in dual signs excluded as it depends more on its phase.

 

Where a bit more explanation reqd/ minor corrections reqd/ simple queries/

is it a print-mistk?:

a) Pg 135, 12.7.2 (3): Ekadhipatya Sodhan: If BOTH occupied, & empty signs

owned by the same planet have equal dots, the case is not covered in the

text at all: this should fold into your case "a": make empty= 0, & not your

case "b", ie smaller no. in both.

b) 8th lord method in longevity-spans: CoVA & J'Sutras mention: Rudra (=

stronger of (8 from 1 vs 8 from 7)) in Char/ Sthir/ Dwi signs, while u

mention: 8 from (stronger of 1 vs 7), in C/ S/ D. The two are different

things.

c) Sahams: There are some places where there are differences wrt other

refs. What caught my eye was: your Vyapar & Shatru are same (must be a

printing mistake, with Mc instead of St in Vyapar), BOTH are Ma - St + Lg.

Other differences, just for the record (would be happy if u reconfirm), in

yr book are: i) Mitra: Chugh: Vidya-Punya+Ve/ N: Jp-Punya+Ve, ii) Mrityu:

Chugh: 8-Mn+St/ N: 8-Mn+Lg, iii) Putra: Chugh: Jp-Mc+Lg/ N:Jp-Mn+Lg.

d) In Tajik Yogas: i) Dushfali-Kutta: in the definition, slower & faster is

opposite to what it should be, but correct in the example given immediately

after, ii) Khallasar: Chugh: Ithishal of Lagnesh (L) & Karyesh (K), & Mn is

ShunyaMargi & NOT associated/ Ithishal with L/ K. N: L in sign between Mn &

plnt X without Ithishal to either

e) In Yogas: i) Sharda: Your conditions 1-3 & 4-5 are AND, while BPHS are

OR, as Alternatives. You have thus made it v stringent. Any particular

reason? ii) Kusum: BPHS: Ve in Kendra, & Mn in kon cnj NB, & St in 10, You:

Lg in fxd syn, Plus bphs dfnn, Raman: Ve in fxd syn & kendra, weak Mn in

kon & Sn in 10, Others: Jp in Lg, Mn in 7, & Sn in 8 fm Mn= 2.

f) KC Dasa: I was wondering if you have corrected jhoral s/w, now that u

have finished the book, in terms of moving from one 9-sign sequence to the

next.

 

Only 1 set of Pending Queries: On Disposition of Argalas: disposition of

Argalas are governed by that of the participating planets, not the nature

of the argala (1 exception being the 3rd vipritargala by an NM). 3

clarifications please:

 

a) Natural disposition of Virodh Argalas: (using NB & NM as abbreviations

for natural benefic & malefic respectively). Natural disposition of planets

forming argalas (=arg) provide good vs bad outcome. And the Natural

disposition of virodhargalas (=v'arg) obstruct respective argalas. So, pl

correct my understanding (leave out relative strgths for now):

i) consider an arg by an NB : Does good: NM v'arglg the same will hassle it

(obvious). NB v'arg will ALSO obstruct ???.

ii) consider an arg by an NM : Hassles: NB v'arglg the same will alleviate

this (obvious). NM v'arg will ALSO help hassle by obstructing (unless in 3

= Viprit) ??? OR Alleviate as v'arg.

 

b) Functional disposition in Args & V'args: In your example in the Archives

on MM Joshi's d-10, u have given more importance to functional disposition

than natural one when they conflict. So when they are opposite dispositions

by natural & functional, what to do in terms of disposition of args &

v'args.

 

c) BUT acc to following excerpt from Mr Gaurango's posting: Afflictions to

sign primarily decide disposition of Argalas: Once the above is clarified

to me, please also explain the following of what I understand from the

following excerpt from Mr Gaurango's posting: Both NBs & NMs promote

signications of house argalaed (thru good/ bad means, depending on their

disposition) if the house is unafflicted by aspect & other considerations,

& hassle the fellow if afflicted....

 

Following re-unabbreviated from my version in my notes: "Eg for judging

disease/health of organ/ body part signified by a sign/ plnt: Arg, bn/ ml,

promotes affairs of house it falls on. So shd chk health/ illness of

concerned organ from other sources eg ml asps/ cjn/ Badhak sign. If bn

health indicated, bn Arg protects it, & ml Arg gives possibility to heal

it, even if ml eg poison cd be usd for healing, eg Ra's Arg= heal with

medicine, by Ke/Ma= heal by surgery, by St= by diet. But, bn Args will keep

organ healthy & protect it fm diseases, or altvly may= preventive measures.

BUT, if concerned sign itself afflicd by mls, Arg promotes negative effects

issuing from sign, ie the diseased condition. Then neither bn nor ml Arg

will help, but both harm organ concerned. Bn Args may= disease caused by

over-indulgence/ overload of organ. Eg, Mn's Arg= too much drinking or

water present, Jp= excess eating, Ve= excess sex, & Mc= excess talking. And

ml Args in this case= -ve effects leading to diseases eg poisoning (Ra),

smoking/ drugs (Ke), axidts & injuries (Ma) or work overload (St). Viprit

Arg may give similar effects to subharg in both cases. So Jp's Arg on a

sign will not necrily protect or heal it, rather Jp's asp wd do. So no arg,

ml, bn or Viprit can mk any organ diseased, unless concerned hse itself

afflicd".

[Guest guest]

Dear Nandan,

 

> Dear Mr Rao & other Gurus & friends

>

> I have finally finished skimming thru VAIP completely (cant say I've

> finished!). I am consolidating all my comments, queries, etc here. And

hope

> I will get a reply to my queries, as it wd really help me. I have been

> waiting for YEARS to find (& now finish reading) just such a book, so that

> I can stop writing notes (I'd prob'ly not have started my extensive

> note-writing process, if I had known that such a book wd be published) &

> start reading charts.

>

> Pros: In my earlier posting, I covered: a) Integrated across astro-schools

> for the first time & Extensive (VERY wide coverage, which otherwise wd

take

> many many books to read) , b) Sequencing of astro-units, c) Drilling of

> Concepts with example charts, analogies, etc, to immediately explain

> applications instead of regurgitating thous of Rules as most books do, d)

> Exceptional clarity in Cleaving of definitions of astro-units.

>

> I now add : a) the Last Section on Spl Topics (Birth time rectification,

> Rational Thinking, etc) is so necessary & so inadequate in any

> astro-literature, & so well written, that the book wd be worth reading

just

> for these few chapters alone, b) the section on myriad Dasas made so much

> clarity available to me, DESPITE my being a List-member for over a year

> now, & having tooth-combed the archives repeatedly, c) there are

> conceptual-cobweb-brooms thru-out the book, that wd be difficult to

specify

> out of context, in virtually every chapter I learnt something new, despite

> possessing many tomes, d) many little things which matter a lot, eg exact

> translations of Sanskrit terms, wherever used, the nuances of various

exact

> vs approx computations, etc etc.

>

> Printing Mistakes: Only 2 real ones: Both due to tabulation problems

 

Actually, there are many small typos that are easy to figure out.

 

> (Jumping of rows in tables):

> a) Pg 10: Deities ruling Naks slipped by a row from around PPha to around

> USha (& 1 missed, obviously).

 

I copied from Santhanam's BPHS. It could be wrong.

 

> b) In the lagna-wise table of funcl benefics/ neut/ malefics, in the last

> column, ie Functional Malefics : rows have really jumped all over. So I

> cant correct it here briefly. But the reader can just eliminate the

balance

> planets from the other 2 columns, & remember the rule stated just before

in

> the text, about Mn in dual signs excluded as it depends more on its phase.

 

Yes, I just noted this. The last column has been totally messed up when

Sagar had the file re-typed in pagemaker format (I sent as a Word document).

All the formatting I did in the Word document was wasted.

 

Yes, from the 3rd row (Ge), the whole column has shifted up by half a row

somehow. If you move it down by half a row, things will be right. Some

people not smart enough to figure out that there is a shift are going to be

misled by this. And, this is an important table. Too bad...

 

> Where a bit more explanation reqd/ minor corrections reqd/ simple queries/

> is it a print-mistk?:

> a) Pg 135, 12.7.2 (3): Ekadhipatya Sodhan: If BOTH occupied, & empty signs

> owned by the same planet have equal dots, the case is not covered in the

> text at all: this should fold into your case "a": make empty= 0, & not

your

> case "b", ie smaller no. in both.

 

I am lost. "Occupied, & empty"?? What do you mean by that?

 

If both signs owned by a planet are occupied, no reduction is necessary. If

both are empty, go to rule 4. If one is empty and the other is occupied, use

rule 3. Every case is covered.

 

> b) 8th lord method in longevity-spans: CoVA & J'Sutras mention: Rudra (=

> stronger of (8 from 1 vs 8 from 7)) in Char/ Sthir/ Dwi signs, while u

> mention: 8 from (stronger of 1 vs 7), in C/ S/ D. The two are different

> things.

 

See 2.1.18 on page 148 in J'Sutras: "From (the stronger of) the ascendant

and seventh house, the lord of the eighth placed in..."

 

It is the same I gave.

 

In the case of Rudra, Rudra is the stronger of the lords of 8th from lagna

and seventh. Both Sanjay's J'Sutras and my book give it the same way. I see

no discrepancy between Sanjay and me.

 

Only discrepancy is in Niryana Shoola dasa. I followed Parasara strictly

there.

 

> c) Sahams: There are some places where there are differences wrt other

> refs. What caught my eye was: your Vyapar & Shatru are same (must be a

> printing mistake, with Mc instead of St in Vyapar), BOTH are Ma - St + Lg.

> Other differences, just for the record (would be happy if u reconfirm), in

> yr book are: i) Mitra: Chugh: Vidya-Punya+Ve/ N: Jp-Punya+Ve, ii) Mrityu:

> Chugh: 8-Mn+St/ N: 8-Mn+Lg, iii) Putra: Chugh: Jp-Mc+Lg/ N:Jp-Mn+Lg.

 

I just went by the books of Sanjay and Dr. Raman. I did not do any research

into the discrepancies, nor did I thoroughly study the writings of

Neelakantha. So let me skip this issue for now.

 

> d) In Tajik Yogas: i) Dushfali-Kutta: in the definition, slower & faster

is

> opposite to what it should be, but correct in the example given

immediately

> after, ii) Khallasar: Chugh: Ithishal of Lagnesh (L) & Karyesh (K), & Mn

is

> ShunyaMargi & NOT associated/ Ithishal with L/ K. N: L in sign between Mn

&

> plnt X without Ithishal to either

 

Yes, it's an error. The example was correct, but the first paragraph should

be corrected.

 

> e) In Yogas: i) Sharda: Your conditions 1-3 & 4-5 are AND, while BPHS are

> OR, as Alternatives. You have thus made it v stringent. Any particular

> reason? ii) Kusum: BPHS: Ve in Kendra, & Mn in kon cnj NB, & St in 10,

You:

> Lg in fxd syn, Plus bphs dfnn, Raman: Ve in fxd syn & kendra, weak Mn in

> kon & Sn in 10, Others: Jp in Lg, Mn in 7, & Sn in 8 fm Mn= 2.

 

When you say "while BPHS are OR", you are assuming that the BPHS

translations you have are accurate. Compound sentences in Sanskrit can be

tough to deconstruct. What I gave is simply my interpretation of BPHS.

 

It says "gurou jne vaa" (vaa = or) and gives a "cha" (and) only at the end

of all the clauses. Between all the clauses, there is neither "and" nor "or"

explicitly mentioned. The "cha" at the end of all the clauses tells me that

it applies to all and connects all. The "vaa" (or) after "gurou jne" applies

to that expression alone and translates as "Jupiter or Mercury". This is

ambiguous, but based on what seems the most logical interpretation to me, I

gave it in my book. Of course, other scholars may differ with me.

 

> f) KC Dasa: I was wondering if you have corrected jhoral s/w, now that u

> have finished the book, in terms of moving from one 9-sign sequence to the

> next.

 

I am working on the commercial version to be sold by SJVC and that has the

right calculations.

 

If others at SJVC agree with me, I will offer a downgraded version of this

commercial software as the new JHLite, so that the free and commercial

softwares will have a similar look and feel. If I do it, this new JHLite

will be more stable, more accurate and slightly expanded in abilities. It

will also contain the correct KCD antardasas. If this doesn't happen, I'll

try to release a new version of the existing JHLite with KCD changes.

 

> Only 1 set of Pending Queries: On Disposition of Argalas: disposition of

> Argalas are governed by that of the participating planets, not the nature

> of the argala (1 exception being the 3rd vipritargala by an NM). 3

> clarifications please:

>

> a) Natural disposition of Virodh Argalas: (using NB & NM as abbreviations

> for natural benefic & malefic respectively). Natural disposition of

planets

> forming argalas (=arg) provide good vs bad outcome. And the Natural

> disposition of virodhargalas (=v'arg) obstruct respective argalas. So, pl

> correct my understanding (leave out relative strgths for now):

> i) consider an arg by an NB : Does good: NM v'arglg the same will hassle

it

> (obvious). NB v'arg will ALSO obstruct ???.

> ii) consider an arg by an NM : Hassles: NB v'arglg the same will alleviate

> this (obvious). NM v'arg will ALSO help hassle by obstructing (unless in 3

> = Viprit) ??? OR Alleviate as v'arg.

 

Simplification is a useful step in the learning process, but reality is

usually not too simple.

 

Each planet has positive and negative qualities.

 

Just remember that argalas show the intervening influences and virodha

argalas show the corresponding obstructions. To understand the result of a

particular argala, we have to understand the reference point, its meaning,

the inherent nature of the planet, its nature in the particular chart on

hand, its strength and its state (avastha). Then only a complete picture can

emerge.

 

I will try to answer the rest on argala later.

 

May Jupiter's light shine on us,

Narasimha

[Guest guest]

Dear Narasimha, Nandan & other members,

 

My compliments to Mr Narasimha for bringing out such an excellent

book, which is a great help to serious students of Vedic astrology. I

endorse all that is said by Mr Nandan about the book and many thanks

to him for shouting about the slippery areas.

 

A few more printers' devils, I suspect, are:

 

- On page 398, under stanza & mantra related to Jupiter (34.4.5), the

stanza and mantra related to Mercury is repeated erroneously. I think

mantra for Mercury needs to be repeated 17 000 times (printed as 7 000

times) and one has to check the serial nos. from Mercury to Venus. A

minor irritation in an otherwise very well rendered chapter on

Remedial measures.

 

- On page 414 in Table 79: Muhurta guidelines, Tithis appear twice.

Nothing is apparently missing because all the 4 important things

mentioned viz. Tithis, Weekdays, Lagna and Nakshatras were given

there. Only tithis were repeated.

 

I liked the chapter on Transit analysis most, for its depth. A few

basics that I missed in the book are relating to Planetary war,

combustion and retrogression.

 

The look-up tables on Narayana dasa progression, especially with

Saturn & Ketu exceptions made it very clear. However, it is not clear

who will prevail in case both are present in one rasi together. A

brainteaser, I guess and one should be able to find using the rules

for determining the strength of planets!

 

While explaining the rules related to computation of Narayana Dasa, a

word of caution from the author would have been appropriate to tell

that its efficacy is limited by the incompleteness of 'strength rules'

and about the necessity to learn it directly from a competent Guru.

 

You said you were only repeating the words of great sages, but then

you were very modest I would say. The content of the book comes with a

lot of value addition to the rules given in BPHS, as already pointed

out by Mr Nandan.

 

Avasthas is an interesting topic. It is given that Sayanaadi avasthas

of planets give their results as per the Cheshta, Drishti & Vicheshta,

which in turn depend on the first sound of the first syllable of the

name among other things. Apparently, these values can be changed by

changing the name of the person. How much importance do you attach to

these modifying factors (Cheshta etc.,)? This might interest Mr

Nandan also as he sent a mail asking about naming conventions

recently.

 

Overall, a very good book on Vedic astrology, which I recommend

everyone to buy!

 

I'll look forward to the next book, which I am sure will cover the

subject in greater depth. One last word, which is about the exercises

in the book, they are useful stops to consolidate ones gains so far!

 

Regards

Viswanadham