Rajesh; b2c IT books

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Reply to post of June 11th - sorry, can't find the original!

Dear Rajesh Vaswani,

Your primary questions are regarding 1) the success of your

new business venture and 2) whether a topaz/ citrine/ yellow

sapphire would be a beneficial influence on your life/ profession.

You have given your birth data as May 31st, 1977 at 0430 in

Bangalore.

As I'm sure you realise, a Jupiter gem would not be the

conventional recommendation for a Libra lagna. Generally

speaking, gems are considered to `strengthen' a graha – in a

sense, to `amplify' its intrinsic character. Tho' Jupiter is a natural

benefic, in this instance it is lord of the 3rd & 6th; it is customary

not to disadvantage the lagna and its lord by strengthening its

enemies and obstacles. For the purposes of your chart, Jupiter

can have some good outcomes, especially because the 6th lord

is relatively well-placed in the 8th, however with regard to the

issue of gems, a Jupiter gem is hard to justify.

The usual contenders would be Venus/ diamond, Saturn/ blue

sapphire and Mercury/ emerald. You can also consider Moon/

pearl tho' this is more complicated. How to choose? Venus is

your lagna lord. Yes, it also rules the 8th, but most importantly, it

is your lagna lord. In this instance, it is also the dispositor of

your Moon. The lagna lord and the Moon's dispositor are

fundamental. Unless there is powerful evidence to the contrary,

they will have your best interests at heart.

Even still, are they of `good character' and sufficiently

empowered to do good, if further strengthened by a gem? This

Venus is posited in a kendra, the seventh, looking at its own

home, Libra. So far – good. It is vargottama – a deep strength.

Some may question its proximity to 0° Aries – I don't think its a

problem here. Okay, the yuddha... Venus is at war with Mars,

lord of the 7th (& 2nd – maraka qualities). By longitude, Mars

wins; by latitude? I have no idea – that data is not available to

me at this moment. Also, Venus generally moves more quickly

than Mars, so it will soon gain the longitude. It is worth noting

that these grahas are not combust, ie they are quite bright/

visible. This assists both of them. However, both are also

conjunct Ketu – an intensifying factor. In spite of this dosha, the

Venus has a lot of fine qualities in this chart that could be

beneficially further honoured. Thus, it remains an option.

The Saturn? A yogakaraka posited in the tenth? Of course it has

potential. Also, it is the dasa lord. On the other hand, you are

approaching the fag end of the dasa. A Sani gem is possible but

I'm not sure that it would really help all that much. Some

reasoning goes this way, some that; overall, neutrality rather

than assistance seems a more likely outcome. In summary, it

would probably be a waste of money. Better value is likely to

come from mantras in this instance – let's face it, Sani values

work and effort over quick fixes.

The Mercury? Yeah, it too is possible. Again it's the usual story

of pluses and minuses; my feeling is that you may want to

reconsider an emerald closer to the commencement of the

Buddha dasa however for now, it's more likely a relatively neutral

outcome.

The Moon? A more left-field option. Moon is posited in lagna, ie

lagna and chandra lagna are both Tula. Specifically, Moon is in

Vishakha. For Tula, Moon lords 10th house. Lord of 10th

posited in 1st – a strong placement. Additional considerations:

this Moon has a lot of light – 13th tithi of shukla paksha. A strong

Moon can give great inner strength and the capacity to replenish

one's deeper reserves. Also, its light is cooling. In this chart, it

is aspected by several (quite strong) grahas and equally, it looks

upon them. Intuitively, I am drawn to honouring this Moon at this

particular point in the life however the final judgement should be

deferred to one of the gurus because there are good arguments

against this choice. In particular, for Venus the Moon is not a

friend.

In summary, it is a choice between Venus & Moon. I feel that the

Moon has a lot to offer at this point in time however Venus may

still be a better choice.

Now back to your key question – the success or otherwise of

your business venture...

You are approaching the fag end of Sani dasa. This is not a

conventionally ideal time for a major new venture and let's face it,

this last year has been very demanding of you. On the other

hand, you are keen to run your own business, be independent,

operate autonomously. Perhaps you should be strategising a

two phase approach...

Start off with the conventional analysis – strengths and

weaknesses, opportunities and obstacles. This chart has

strong kendra placements – all but two grahas are in kendras.

Willfulness is to be expected - it will be difficult for you to accept

advice. (This raises an obvious paradox wrt seeking and giving

astrological advice – oh well!) The chart reeks of determination,

intensity and stubbornness. Libra lagna, Moon in lagna, Venus

in 7th with Mars and Ketu – most likely both very charismatic but

simultaneously intimidating to others. People like you and have

a high regard for the quality of your work but they may also find

you `heavy going' in some instances because you are more

driven than most. The consequence is that you do not

experience quite the professional success that may be expected

– a less able but more social colleague may be promoted/

praised rather than you.

This experience is further presaged by Sani in the 10th – karaka

in the house that it signifies. This placement is often frustrating

and thwarting, especially in the earlier years. !!!Don't slump into

a slough of self-criticism and despair at this point – Moon in

lagna, amplified by Rahu, can make one especially sensitive;

jyotish may seem like a harsh and unflattering spotlight but it can

also nurture great pragmatism and hopefully, eventually, the

wisdom of non-attachment vitalised with compassion.

In this chart, the kendras are moveable signs – chara rasis.

Given the graha placements, a strong disposition to movement,

change, new starts. The potential downside is insufficient ability

to consolidate, to do the slow work of building foundations.

There may be a constant seeking for quick results/ `instant

gratification'. So you'll need to find some way of turning this

innate tendency into a `competitive advantage'. (Fortunately, IT is

the ultimate in fast-moving, insubstantial chimeras!)

Other business realities: it is extremely rare for successful

business owners/ entrepreneurs to be entirely `solo'. They

(virtually) always have very supportive spouses, and/ or business

partners, and/ or extremely loyal staff. These relationships are

often based on charisma/ personal magnetism, often joined with

a particular technical/ professional area of brilliance.

Simultaneously, other management skills may be weak, which

is why success comes only when a complementary support

structure is in place.

So back to the two phase strategy... The fag end of Sani dasa is,

superficially, a less than ideal time for igniting a new business.

On the other hand, you're strongly motivated (for all sorts of

reasons) to establish an independent business and let's face it,

willpower can move mountains, or at least, drill great tunnels

through them. So by all means commence the business (you

already have!) but schedule the first one to two years to be a time

of new starts in terms of ideas, options, structures, associates

but do this against a background of contained financial

investment. Dollars/ rupees spent at this point may not yield as

effectively as those spent further down the track.

Buddha dasa begins 10/04 – it's a significantly new phase in

your life. Buddha rules the 9th (and 12th); it is posited in the 7th

(kendra) with full aspect to Moon, lord of 10th. Etcetera, etcetera.

There is great value in preparing the ground so that the seeds

may flourish in their due time. Do the hard work, `pay your dues'.

Earn the success. Nevertheless, the way in which you do this

will have to be consonant with your basic character, strengths

and weaknesses.

Clarify (in your own mind) the nature of your intended business

(beyond the one-liner); anticipate/ predict the elements that will

change, and the manner and direction of those changes.

Obviously, this is a difficult exercise so the art is to create

structures which can rapidly identify and effectively respond to

changing realities. Work out which of your resources are

inadequate/ insufficient/ underdeveloped and find ways to

improve the quality of those resources, so that they will become

assets rather than liabilities when the time comes to do things

on a grander scale. Most likely, this will involve developing and

nurturing relationships. Relationships thrive and better nourish

us all when they are based on shared interests and respect.

Opportunism is a bit like junk food – initially satiating but its long

term consequences are undesirable.

This brings us back to a choice of gems – Venus or Moon?

Venus is your lagna lord; he is rajasic and signifies the desires.

He is also acknowledged as friendly and accommodating. So

he has a lot to offer. Moon is quite strong in your chart for all

sorts of reasons. However given that his light is cooling, and

that your chart is quite hot and rajasic, in spite of Sani's dasa, I

think that Moon may be more suitable at this stage of the Sani

dasa. But this is not a conventional suggestion and you should

discuss it with a more experienced astrologer. Also,

Varahamihira does not give name pearl as Moon's gem, actually

he names pearl as Venus' gem. For Moon, it is `gems'.

???navaratna??? So perhaps pearl covers all bases. At the end

of the day, it has to feel right for you – if your intuition feels badly

about a particular gem, you should avoid it and stick with a clean,

unadulterated metal. Also, I would think that you probably have

an innate empathy for mantra (Sani Kuja mutual aspect), so you

might want to check with a guru on a mantra for Sani (to

consolidate the lessons of his dasa).

For the remainder of Sani's dasa, concentrate on building an

adequate cashflow but do not make large, impulsive financial

investments. By the time Buddha dasa comes around, you may

want to `re-engineer' your business concept substantially, so it is

better if the financial resources are not totally depleted. On the

other hand it is common sense to expect relatively low net

returns in the early days of a venture. So cashflow and breaking

even is very desirable.

Good luck,

Kriya