Questions About Lajjitaadi Avashtas

astrological aspects

By Ryan Kurczak on February 11, 2013 • ( 1 Comment )

The following Q&A is from a currently running Lajjitaadi Avashtas Introduction Tele-Course.  If you’d like to be updated about future courses, please email Ryan to be put on the next announcement email, or follow this blog.   Future courses that are planned for Spring and Summer will explore the specific effects of planets in houses, the effects of Rahu and Ketu, and determining the state of karmic fruition (new, expressing, or old and passing) as indicated by the planets in one’s chart.

Question: Ryan, I watched the videos several times and I still don’t understand how my Moon and Jupiter or my Moon and Venus aspect each other and create an Avashta, starved or delighted.  Besides looking at the table and seeing the numbers with each of the two planets…my moon can only aspect conjunction or opposition (7)…according to the video….I went through and found what I thought all my avashtas were after the first class….are you saying the only way to see the avashtas is to have this program that shows the table?

Answer: No.  You can get a general idea of the avashtas using the standard opposition, conjunction and special aspect techniques most astrologers know. However, Kala is the only one that calculates these more precise aspects..  This is why you will probably need to stick to the basic aspects.  You will get good information that way, but to be very specific requires precise calculation of the aspects. The point system we used calculates the power of the aspects in relationship from their distance away from EXACT degrees as indicated by oppositions and special aspects.  More specific tables and charts on this can be found in Ernst Wilhelm’s book Graha Sutras.  That is the information used to calculate these precise aspects.

The following, to give you an idea of how to determine these your self,  is from page 94 of The Art and Science of Vedic Astrology:

“We have spoken above of full aspects. And in most cases this is quite
adequate for judging the planetary influences of a birth chart. Yet if we
go back to the very early texts from which jyotish originated it will be
found that every planet is considered to possess all of the above mentioned
aspects to some extent. Thus it may be said that:

• Every planet aspects its opposite (7th or 180º) house 100%.
• All planets have 75% aspect strength on the houses which are 4th (90º)
and 8th (210º) from them except Mars, which has 100% strength
aspect on these positions.
• All planets have 50% aspect strength on the houses which are 5th
(120º) and 9th (240º) from them except Jupiter, which has 100%
strength aspect on these positions.
• All planets have 25% aspect strength on the houses which are 3rd (60º)
and 10th (270º) from them except Saturn, which has 100% strength
aspect on these positions.”

Question: I am also confused because the table shows my dignity of Venus being in Leo as neutral, but I understand Venus is an enemy of the Sun. Saturn on that table is shown as neutral, but it is friends with Mercury, so it should be delighted? Is Gemini considered a secondary sign for mercury therefor it is neutral?

Answer: Again, as mentioned in the video, the dignity is a combination of the Natural Friendships, which we are learning in the Lajjitaadi Avasthas class AND the temporal relationships between planets.  These are not the same. The temporal relationship is based on the positions of the planets in your actual birth chart in relationship to each other.  Most Vedic Astrology books I have read, cover this as general information.  It can be found in the chapter on Planetary Conditions in the Art and Science of Vedic Astrology.

Question: I have been teaching myself  Vedic astrology for several years and I know there is so much to understand that I don’t know yet, including partial aspects I haven’t grasped yet.  I thought I understood the asvashta concepts but I’m feeling like I’ve missed something. I am really excited for this system.

Answer: For this Lajjitaadi Avashtas class, don’t stress about knowing everything yet.  Just learn what happens when the planets combined as outlined in this course.  Then once you catch up on understanding dignity, and aspects, it will all click into place.  There is a lot to put together.  I do plan on doing some basic tele-courses in the Spring to start from the very beginning!

Question: Reading the article by Wilhem, he says the rasis should be considered tropically, but the nakshatras shouls be considered sidereally…Could you explain this?

Answer: Yes, the nakshatras are used to figure out the dasha system, or the system of planetary timing used in Vedic Astrology.  So the nakshatras in sidereal Vedic Astrology, are exactly the same as what I am currently using.  The stars do move backwards, therefore the nakshtras move backwards because they are the stars.  The Nakshatras are named after Gods and Goddesses and are related to the stars out in space.  They show karmic fruition and consciousness before it takes shape in the unconscious realm of matter indicated by the zodiac signs, which are named after animals or humans, if you’ll notice.  The placement of the Sun in the sky and its particular movement throughout the year, is how we determine the zodiac signs, because the Sun’s relation to earth shows our more “mundane” experiences.  The stars and names we attribute to the zodiac are not accurate and were made popular by philosopher about 2000 years ago.

Question: Can planets be simutaneously starved, agitated, and delighted. If so, how does this play out? Which avashtas are considered stronger than others? Is this where the table comes in?

Answer: Yes!  You can have multiple avasthas in effect, which we will address when we get into exploring participants specific charts.  So you can have a Moon starving Venus, making one feel like every little aspect of relationship is important, and make a person so focused on getting EVERY need met through that relationship, that the relationship suffers.  Yet, you can also have Mercury delighting Venus, which even though the person would be difficult in relationship, they would still have the capacity to meet a lot of people and make a lot of love.  It’s like the complexity of people.  When you get all the avashtas in your head, you’ll really be able to see how so many idiosyncrasies can exist in one person!

Yes, the dignities are important.  In the example above, if the Moon was in Great Enemies Sign or Debilitated, it’s capacity to starve Venus would be very low, especially if Venus was in a good dignity.  If Venus was in a bad dignity, and the Moon was Exalted or in a Great Friends Sign, and Mercury was also in a good dignity, then the Moon can severely hurt Venus, but Mercury would be there as a friend to help Venus from getting totally destroyed.  Just like you can get in a fight with someone bigger than you, and lose, and then your friends can carry you home and tend your bruises, or they can get together and go beat up the bully!  But it it’s just you against someone stronger, and have no help, your in a more difficult position.

Question: What if the Sun is a friend, and it is agitating as well?

Answer: If the Sun is in the same sign, it ALWAYS agitates the planet it is in the same sign with.  That one takes precedence.  This is the same with Saturn.  Saturn ALWAYS starves a planet he is conjunct, even if the other planet is a friend.

Question: If the the planet aspecting is a friend and a malefic, say saturn aspecting my venus, does this give mixed results?

Answer: Not in relation to the Lajjitaadi Avashtas.  Saturn aspecting helps Venus.

Question: I am interested in how to apply the nakshatras to the dasas like you touched on with my general question last Sunday, and am looking for more information on applying nakshatras in general. I am reading all sorts of mixed information about this.

Answer: You are jumping very far ahead.  If you don’t have the basics down yet, the Nakshatras would just make your head spin even more.  First learn what the planets represent.  Then learn what the houses and signs represent.  Then learn what happens when a planet is in a sign or house.  Then learn what happens when a house lord goes into another house.  Understand your natural friendships.  Learn how combined friendships work.  The Natural Friendships are for understanding the Lajjitaadi Avasthas.  The Combined Friendships are what help us figure out a planets dignity.  That dignity lets us see the power of the planets within an Avashta.  The dignity also lets us see if that planet has good or bad karma to deliver to us. After this we can explore other Avashtas such as the Balaadi Avashtas and then Dashas and then transits.  Then we learn to apply this to the 16 divisional charts.

Most people want to immediately understand how to do very good astrology from the beginning.  What they don’t realize is that it is a very old science.  Just like we need to know how to add, subtract, divide, multiply etc, before we move into higher math, we need to know how to write, spell, create proper sentences, and the mechanics behind paragraphs and chapters before we can write a book!  The same applies for Astrology.  Good astrologers take years to learn their craft.  And there is A LOT to learn.  The reason astrology is treated as hokie, is because most people rely on their intuition, rather than doing all that it takes to thoroughly analyze a chart.  This makes sense, because a lot of people don’t have clients that are going to pay them thousands of dollars to spend the months and years on analyzing the chart, to do it properly.  However, it is a catch-22.  Because if we spent the time to really learn all the specifics (which takes years), we’d not need the fluctuating intuition, and we’d be so good that people would gladly pay for the time to get accurate and correct information from an astrologer.

Question: Do your books cover lajjitaadi or use the lajjitaddi system? You said you switched over recently. Are there other books you recommend? What does it cost for a full intensive type of learning situation with you? I feel like I am supposed to find a teacher.

Answer: There are no books yet that I recommend on this. I am working on a book that will begin this process, and I aim to have it available by September of this year.  Ideally, this will speak to many of the techniques that require the tropical zodiac, and proper astronomical understanding of the vargas.  Also, the Lajjitaadi Avashtas are not a separate system.  They are one-quarter of the full system of Vedic Astrology as I see it.  They are spoken of in Brihata Parasara Hora Sastra.  However, as you can imagine, like many of the techniques in these old astrological texts, the correct zodiac is needed for them to give accurate information.

A good start, is the book that was published last year, “The Art and Science of Vedic Astrology”.  I do personal tutorials.  Please see the Learn Astrology page for that.

Question: Can a planet be both starved and thirsting  or is starving just downgraded to thirsting when the planet in ? is in a water sign? Or are they separate afflictions?

Answer: If a planet is starving in a water sign, it is really only Thirsty.  It can’t be both. Thirsty wins out.

Question: In the varga charts do we use temporal friendships as we do in the rasi charts? For example in my navamsha chart Saturn is in Sagittarius and Mars is in Aquarius.  Will Saturn be able to help Mars/ Aquarius because he is in the 11th rasi from mars/Aquarius and strong?

Answer:  In the Varga charts we use the combined relationships to determine if the planet is sleeping, sleepy or awake.  We don’t look for Lajjitaadi Avashtas specifically in the vargas.  The Lajjitaadi Avashtas are only in the Main Birth Chart.  If they are in the main birth chart, then they are ALSO in every Varga.  However, the dignities of planets often change in Vargas.  For example, Saturn and Mars are starving each other in your Main Chart.  That is there Lajjitaadi Avashta.  They are both “sleepy” because of being in a “friends sign” dignity.  So they are conscious enough to Starve each other.  However, In your Navamsha, Saturn is in an enemies sign and Mars is in a friends sign, by way of their dignity (which is a combination of the natural and temporal relationships).  So the starvation only goes one way.  That means that Saturn cannot starve Mars, because he’s asleep in the Navamsha.  However, Mars still starves Saturn, because he is conscious, and Saturn is not in this particular Varga.

This is a good question, but one a little ahead of where we currently are in this study.  I do want to do a Lajjitaadi Avashtas class as they translate to the Vargas, but we have to get our head around them in the birth chart first.  I might actually simply do a varga class first, as understanding them at all can be difficult, let alone adding the Avashtas!

Question: When do we use house cusps vs rasis say in my navamsa chart which is a Aries lagna leo rules the 8th house cusp but it is the 5th rasis from the aries ascendent.  How does that work?  what is the significance?

Answer: Just like your Rasi D-1 is an indicator of your life path, and for example, the 1st house of the D-1 represents your personality, and the 8th represents your longevity, and the 11th represents your networks for your life, in each Varga, that Varga is the specific incarnation of that area of your life.

So the D-9 or Navamsha is an incarnation of your Dharma or your marriage.  The 1st house will represent the “personality” of that dharma.  It will give the flavor to how it expresses. The 2nd will show the responsibilities within that dharma or marriage.  The 11th can show the “networks” and also your “personal desires” within that dharma or marriage.   So the 5th house or Rasi, would indicate your ability to learn and grow in that dharma or marriage, and also your creativity and creative expression in that area as indicated by the varga.

It’s a great question, one I would definitely like to address in a varga specific class.  We WILL TRY to touch on it, before class is over, because I think it is important, but it is not going to be a main topic.

Question: When to use rasi aspects and when to use planetary aspects? What is the significance?

Answer: We use Planetary aspects to assess specific planetary influences on a bhava cusp or in determining if a Lajjitaadi Avashta exists between planets.  We use Rasi Aspects to determine the state of a house (or area of life indicated by the house).  Planets rasi aspecting a certain house, will color or flavor that houses expression.  Rasi aspects are also very important for Jaimini techniques.  We will not be using Rasi aspects in this course.

Categories: astrological aspects, lajjitaadi avasthas, Vedic Astrology Lessons

Tagged as: lajjitaadi avasthas, tropical zodiac, Vedic Astrology