You may have seen several Ashtakavarga charts. Usually there is one for every planet. The chief amongst them is called the Sarva-ashtakavarga and is always the biggest chart when compared to the other Ashtakavarga charts. Sarva means a sum total of all others. Rahu and Ketu do not have separate Ashtakavarga charts as they are shadow planets. So you will have 7 plus 1 and that makes it 8.
Most people have no idea it is one of the very useful information available in their horoscope. Many Astrologers ignore these valuable charts mainly because they do not have proper understanding of what they mean. For thousands of years the horoscope was cast manually and preparing these charts is tedious and hence the Astrologers did not have the patience to work out the Ashtakavarga charts. Since the Astrologer rarely uses them the clients may think that they are less important.
What do these numbers represent? The aim of this article is to let you know in how many ways you can use the Ashtakavarga chart. Believe me; I am going to discuss only the simple methods that even a novice in Astrology can easily understand.
First thing that you got to do is put the Ascendant (Lagna) mark on the Sarva-Ashtakavarga chart. Some computer printouts have the houses numbered already. In case it is not, you will have to number the Lagna as 1, and the next house as 2 and so on until you reach 12. You will have number them in clock-wise direction as we normally do in all the charts
The 2nd thing that you need to do is note down the highest and the lowest number in the Sarva-Ashtakavarga. Note down the house number it corresponds to. If the lowest number is in the 5th house the ancient masters have advised us to start investigating the 5th house. The 5th house primarily deals with children. Perhaps there is something wrong with regard to children.
It does not mean that there are heavy problems in matters pertaining to children. It is a pointer to you for further research on the house of children. If you find many other reasons then you should know that there is a great concern pertaining to children.
In the following horoscope we see the 9th house has the lowest score. That means the weakest area is more likely to be the 9th house and its matters. From the 9th house several important things pertaining to luck can be known but the 9th house primarily deals with father, the head of the family.
This person lost his father when he was just about 8 years old and had to be taken care by others.
Does this mean that we have found a simple way of understanding Astrology? No.
Other planetary positions and influence must also indicate problems related to father.
However the Sarva-ashtakavarga is the 1st pointer. Once that is understood you need to further investigate the house under question from several other angles. One sparrow does not make summer is the golden advice in Astrology. A beginner in Astrology will hastily conclude as soon as he or she notes down just 1 combination supporting a clue.
In the above horoscope you will note that Ketu the abortive planet is occupying the 9th house the house that deals with his father. Whichever houses (2 of them) falls on the RAHU-KETU axis the clue is that there is something negative or challenging in matters pertaining to the 2 houses. In this chart that axis falls on the 9th house. Rahu and Ketu generally work against Sun the planet that is related to Father. So Rahu or Ketu in the 9th house indicates usually some serious issues concerning father. Ketu in the 9th house is more harmful to father when compared to Rahu in the 9th.
Also according to Maharshi Parasara Ketu rules Scorpio. So in the above horoscope, Ketu becomes the lord of the 8th house (bad house) occupying the 9th house (father). A house that is occupied by the lord of the 6th, or 8th or 12th house become weak.
The 9th house lord Jupiter is placed in the 7th house from where Jupiter looks at the Lagna (Ascendant). So the person was taken good care of by another father-like person and hence found relief from the problem to a great extent.
What else can be known from the Sarva-Ashtakavarga?
In the Sarva-Ashtakavarga we need to first understand the following:
Weakest house - The house that has the lowest score is weak.
Weak houses - Less than 25 points.
Medium houses - 25-28 points
Strong - Greater than 28 points.
Strongest house - The house that has the strongest score is strong
Please bear in mind that if you total all the points in the 12 houses you will get 337. If you get anything more or less than that, it means that there is something wrong with the calculations.
If the number in the 1st house has a low score and if it is less than 25 then it means that the person cannot do his work or karma (purpose of life) without the support of others. He needs somebody to be with him all the time. These are the people who need partners. They need to wear the proper gems, do the remedies, and use the knowledge available through scientific Astrology.
If the Lagna (1st house) has a very high score then such a person will love to work alone. If it is very high the person is likely to have high ego levels and yet ideally capable of working without any support. Most of these people are successful provided other planetary positions are promising.
Similarly if the 12th house has a low score it is considered good because opportunities for loss or expense is likely to be fewer than it is for others around them. If the 12th house has the lowest number then it means that the person may be a miser or does not have the mind and opportunity to spend money.
If in your Sarva-Ashtakavarga the points in the 11th house (the house of gains) is greater than 12th house (the house of loss) it is considered good as you have more gains than loss.
If the points in the 12th house are greater than what is there on the 11th house then it means you spend more than you earn and this may lead you into a debt trap if a good Astrologer does not warn you of this possibility. Many people uselessly argue that only if they have the money they can spend. In today’s world of borrowing from banks and other people even without real income you can spend and soon into trouble.
With regard to wealth the Sarva-ashtakavarga should be used in the following manner. If the following 4 conditions are met with in any horoscope then such a person will easily accumulate wealth. Before you begin to check out your horoscope first note down the values in 1st, 10th, 11th and 12th houses.
Are you going to be permanently wealthy?
The rules are:
- 1st house should have more than 28 points
- 12th house should have least of the 4 houses under consideration
- 11th house of gains should have more points than what is there in the 12th house.
- 10th house should have a score greater than 28 but less than what is there in the 11th house.
The 1st house shows the level of confidence and also the health that is needed to make money. More the points here greater are the chances for getting rich or bouncing back to good times in case there has been a slip or a fall.
The 12th house is called the house of loss. We need to know the score here to know the opportunities for losing money.
If the 11th house is the house of gain. More the points here greater the opportunities for gaining and fulfillment of your desires.
The 10th house is the house of work. We need to get the opportunity to work. If the score in the 10th house is low then it means our karma is not going to allow us the opportunity to work in the place that we like or want to. That is sure to bring down our wealth due to lack of job satisfaction.
In the above chart that we first used, we find that the points in the Lagna is lower than 28. This person needs a partner and may not be able to work alone.
The 10th house has 36 points and is lesser than that of the 11th house which has only 33 points. So the person has to work hard and get less money in return for the hard work. Such people should not try any short cuts and simply choose to live a life in which they work hard. However of all the 4 houses that we consider for determining the wealth level of a person (the 1st, 10th, 11th and 12th houses) we find that the lowest score is in the 12th house. That is a fortunate condition. So once the money is earned there are possibilities of retaining it and accumulation of wealth through hard work by taking the support of a partner is indicated.
There are more than 100 ways of using the Ashtakavarga effectively but that is not discussed here because of limited space.
More information from the Ashtakavarga charts of all the 7 planets.
Look at the individual ashtakavarga chart of Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn.
Example: Note which sign Sun occupies. Note the points scored in the sign that is occupied by Sun in the Ashtakavarga of Sun. If the point scored is high then the positive influences and traits that are associated with Sun will be more such a person. If the said planet is powerfully placed then the high score will amplify the result. If Sun is strong in the 10th house and also has a high score in ashtakavarga then the person will be a great politician because Sun is associated with politics. Or he will be some a VIP who commands a great deal of respect like the Sun because when the Sun appears other heavenly bodies in the sky disappear.
In the example chart, the politician A has Sun in Capricorn with 7 points therein. In Sun Ashtakavarga, total points is always 48 points.
| 5 | 3 Lagna | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | Sun Ashtakavarga (Politician) | 4 | |
| 6 Sun | 6 | ||
| 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
If a strong Moon is associated with a high score in the ashtakavarga of Moon then such a person will have a strong mind and will be known for that
If Mars is similarly placed then the person will be great leader, commander or CEO.
If the planet is Mercury then the person will write or talk so well that he will be known for such a capacity to communicate.
If the planet is Jupiter then he will be known as a great consultant or teacher or Guru.
If the planet is Venus the person will have the best of vehicles and live in a palace and be surrounded by beauty, women, perfume and expensive things all through his life.
If the planet is Saturn then person will be a head of a large mass of people, an industrialist or own 100 acres of land etc.
Example: First find out which sign Venus occupies in your basic horoscope (natal chart). Lets say it is Libra (Thula). Find out the score that Venus has obtained in Libra in the Ashtakavarga of Venus. If the score is 8, the person will live like a king, driving the best cars, always with the most beautiful women, and live in palace like property. Check this out, these rules never go wrong.
Another approach is to find out using the 7 charts which planet has got the highest score in its Ashtakavarga. If that planet is Sun he will is likely to be a Sun dominated planet. That means he will be like a Sun, once he appears others fade away.
If Venus is the planet such a person will be handsome, charming and be a natural cinema star. Such people will love music, dance and entertainment and spend a lot of time, money and energy on such things that are related to art and beauty.
Use this approach for all the 7 planets and you will get to know more about the person and his luck areas.
Can Ashtakavarga be related to Transit of Planets?
Yes of course. Whenever a Transit of a major planet happens (Jupiter or Saturn) the first thing that you need to do is look into the relevant Ashtakavarga.
If the score is low and position-wise the transit is unfavourable then surely the said transit will affect the person adversely.
Following is the Ashtakvaraga of Saturn for person born in Virgo Moon Sign (Kanya Rasi). This means that the person will have Moon (Chandra) in Virgo which is the bottom right corner in any horoscope.
| | | | |
| | Saturn Ashtakavarga | | |
| | 3 Leo | ||
| | | 5 Libra | 0 Virgo |
You may be aware that currently Saturn occupies Virgo (Kanya). So all the people born in the moon sign of Virgo is undergoing Sade-Sati (the popular 7 ½ years Sani). Will such a Saturn give the same level of difficulty for all the millions of people born in Virgo? No and that is because the Ashtakavarga scores are all different for all the people.
In the above chart we find that in Virgo the score is 0. That means this person is going to have a tough time due to the transit of Saturn. In the next chart we see the Saturn Ashtakavarga for another person.
| | | | |
| | Saturn Ashtakavarga | | |
| | 1 Leo | ||
| | | 3 Libra | 5 Virgo Moon |
For such a person, the current transit of Saturn will not cause the adverse results because this person has obtained 5 points in the sign of Virgo. Whereas the same person may have gone through much suffering during the previous transit of Saturn when Saturn occupied Leo (Simha).
The score in the Saturn Ashtakavarga chart may vary from 0 to 7. So there are 8 scores possible in any house. If we consider all the millions of people born in the sign of Virgo we know that all of them are under the general challenging effects of Sade-Sati. But the Ashtakavarga scores will vary for all of them.
The possibilities are 8 x 8 x 8 patterns and that is equal to 512. So there are 512 different groups within the millions of people born with Virgo as their Moon sign. That is why for some people the trouble starts as soon as Sade-Sati begins, for some it is in the middle part of the 7 ½ years phase and for some the challenges increase in the last part. Each part is approximately 2 ½ years. For some there will be no trouble because the 3 signs have points greater than 5. Such a person is likely to tell others that there is no such thing as Saturn effect or Sade-Sati not knowing that their own karma carried forward from past life actions has protected them.
So here is the method. First determine if a transit is expected to be favourable or not. For example when the Transit of Jupiter happens on the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 9th or the 11th house it is said that such a transit is favorable. Once that is known check out from the Ashtakavarga of Jupiter and note down the score obtained in the sign that Jupiter has moved into. If the score is higher than 4 then the good transit of Jupiter will surely give good results. If the score is less than 4 then the promised good result may not happen.
This approach can be used for any planet. However since the Transit of Jupiter and Saturn is the most often discussed transit at least you should have the Ashtakavarga of these 2 mighty planets.
So the next time you study the effects of Transit of Saturn or Jupiter keep the Ashtakavarga charts in front of you or your Astrologer.
