While delineating a horoscope, one of the hardest spots to crack happens to be planetary conjunctions. It becomes tighter when the going gets tougher with planets being closely aligned with one another and it's quite an onerous task to see who influences whom more and which planet has a far reaching impact when they are all congregated nearby each other. When it's a single planet sitting in a sign, results are always easier to decipher whereas when 2 of them combine it gets murkier and in situations where you have 3 or more planets close by the intricacies really start sizing up.
There is also a notion of conjunctions to be taking place only when planets are placed within the same zodiac sign. This is not entirely true as planets are ever revolving and we cannot really attribute it to the zodiac sign or house concept which is fixed in nature. For instance if Planet A is at 2° and Planet B is at 26° in the same sign say Capricorn, we tend to brand it as a conjunction whereas let's say there is a Planet C placed in the previous sign of Sagittarius at 29° we don't really always take Planet A & C to be conjunct despite them being just 3 degrees apart. To explain this with a simple illustration, we can consider a horoscope to be equivalent of a large building consisting of 12 storeys or compartments. These compartments are fixed in nature like the zodiac signs in the sky whereas these compartments will consist of a number of objects which get moved from one part of the building to another part. These objects correspond to the Planets which are always movable in nature from one place to another. Hence we cannot really categorize conjunctions only when planets fall in the same sign and in essence the distance between the planets matter a lot irrespective of the zodiac sign in which they are placed.
Now coming to the real deal, so how do we then evaluate planetary conjunctions? One factor to always keep in the back of the mind is the planetary table of friendship to know which of the planets maintain a friendly, inimical or neutral relationship with their respective counterparts. Secondly the difference in the degrees also matter a lot. Like in the above example of 2 planets sitting in the same sign but being well over 20 degrees from each other certainly doesn't suggest a conjunction since they happen to be too far and don't necessarily warrant an influence over one another. Additionally also it would be prudent to see the direction in which the planets are moving whether in forward mode or undergoing a retrogression movement. Let's now look at some key characteristics at play to understand planetary influence in conjunctions.
Strength of Planets:
This is absolutely essential to consider for evaluating planetary influence. The strongest to weakest planets of the Navagrahas are given as under:
Ketu -> Rahu -> Sun -> Moon -> Venus -> Jupiter -> Mercury -> Mars -> Saturn
This is backed by a verse from 'Hora Sara' that states "The strength of Mars is double of Saturn's. Mercury is four times stronger than Mars. Jupiter is eight times stronger than Mercury. Venus has eight times more strength than that of Jupiter. The Moon is sixteen times stronger than Venus, the Sun twice of the Moon and Rahu's strength is twice of the Sun's and hence Rahu is the strongest of the planets". This is also corroborated in Uttara Kalamrita which assigns points to the planets for Indu Lagna Calculation as such; Sun - 30, Moon - 16, Venus - 12, Jupiter - 10, Mercury - 8, Mars - 6 and Saturn - 1. The Indu Lagna calculations doesn't include Rahu & Ketu whereas in the verse above it's clearly stated that Rahu is more powerful than Sun. It clearly makes sense because as per mythology and also astronomy, it's mentioned that Rahu & Ketu are capable of swallowing both the Sun & Moon and it's only due to the phenomenon of the Nodes that eclipses even get formed. Between Rahu and Ketu however they are one and the same with the head portion denoting Rahu and body portion depicting Ketu. In astrological parlance however Ketu is said to be the strongest of them because it is said to be associated with a 5 faced snake and hence more powerful than Rahu but however this information as to which of the nodes is stronger isn't really relevant as they are always 180° apart and the major essence to take away is that the Nodes happen to be the strongest among the Navagrahas. Also to be kept in mind is that this is only planetary strength and there is no mention of degrees which have an important bearing with respect to planetary influence.
Asthanga and Samagama - Solar and Lunar Combustion:
When planets are within a particular distance of the Sun, they are said to lose their power and said to be in a combust or Ashtanga state. The planets are said to be obscured by the Sun and their rays don't fully land on the earth. It has been clearly defined also in texts about the degrees in which they are said to be combust. Solar Combustion takes place only when the planets Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn are involved. Since Moon is always closer to the Earth, combustion doesn't apply and likewise Nodes are only shadow points and do not possess rays of any kind. Listed below are the degrees in which planets gets combust when they are close to Sun:
Mars 17°
Mercury 14°, 12° when retrograde
Jupiter 11°
Venus 10°, 8° when retrograde
Saturn 15°
Similar to Ashtanga, when the planets get closer to the Moon it is said to cause a phenomenon called 'Samagama' or Lunar Combustion. Since the Moon is always closer to earth, when any planet comes close to the Moon, it automatically means these planets in essence are also very close to the Earth. There is however no defined degrees of Lunar Combustion when planets get close to the Moon but however it re-iterates the theory that Moon is stronger than all the other planets when in a state of conjunction. Similar to Ashtanga, Samagama does not include Sun, Rahu & Ketu.
Planetary War or Graha Yuddha:
When 5 planets barring the luminaries and nodes viz Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn come within 1ยบ distance from each other it is said to cause 'Planetary War' or 'Graha Yudha'. This concept doesn't utilizes the Sun, Moon, Rahu & Ketu and this only occurs when the 5 planets get extremely close ie within a degree distance of each other. Here again, it is stated that Venus never loses in a planetary war when associated with the other 4 planets again harping on the strength order of planets that Venus happens to be the strongest planet after the Nodes and the Luminaries. The victor in Planetary War sans Venus who always wins is decided based on the Latitude of the planets with the planet having more Northern Latitude said to come out on top and be the winner.
Yoga Formation within 12°:
This is a very important principle. It is stated in Uttara Kalamritam that when any 2 planets cause a yoga whether good or bad, it should be seen only when they are within 12° from each other. 12° can also be interpreted as One Tithi and this number is extremely pivotal in ascertaining results. It has also been stated that for effects to fructify, it is quite essential that planet slower in motion is ahead of the planet which is faster in motion. The slowest to fastest motion of the planets are as below:
Saturn -> Rahu/Ketu -> Jupiter -> Mars -> Sun -> Venus -> Mercury -> Moon
Thus we can witness during conjunction of planets which are within 12°, the faster planet should be behind and the slower planet should be ahead for it to be effective. This is also termed as an 'lthasala Yoga' and said to be benefic in general when a faster planet with less longitude is behind a slower planet with higher longitude. On the other hand there is also something called 'Easarapha Yoga' which in general is said to be inauspicious when a faster planet with greater longitude is ahead of a slower planet with lesser longitude.
Through this concept, it can be clearly understood that Mercury + Sun conjunction known as Buddha Aditya Yoga where Mercury the faster motion planet being in lesser degree than Sun the slower motion planet is more effective as compared to the other way round where Mercury is higher in degree than Sun. One exception to this rule however is when ascertaining Sun and Moon. If the Moon being the faster planet is behind the Sun within 12 degrees, it happens to be cudgeled by the Sun which is known as Ammavasya Tithi and also said to be a natural malefic as it's in Krishna Paksha or waning state. On the other hand when it is ahead of Sun but within 12 degrees, it is said to form Pratipada Tithi and attains waxing status of Shukla Paksha which also indicates natural benefic state of Moon. Though in both cases Moon happens to be in a dark state because of being close to the Sun, the latter is more auspicious as it enjoys the status of a natural benefic. One more point worth pondering is whether the planets are approaching each other or going away. For instance in a Venus + Jupiter conjunction where both are in forward motion with Venus the faster planet approaching Jupiter the slower planet could cause an auspicious yoga but just twisting the ratio and let's say Jupiter happens to be retrograde in which case both planets face each other to form a collision, it could indicate a far greater impact, be it good or bad.
Nadi Planetary Rule:
This is a specific Nadi rule with respect to Planetary influence when 2 or more planets are conjunct. It is said that the planet lower in degree is the one who is going to be influenced by the planet ahead in degree. This is based on a simple reasoning that the planets are always moving and the planet which is behind in degree is the one who will touch the forward planet and gather most of the significations of the higher degree planet and not the other way around. However if the planet ahead in degree happens to be in a retrograde state then both planets tend to influence each other a lot. A good way of understanding is through an example and let's say Venus in normal motion is behind Rahu which always travels backwards. In this case the influence is potent as both are coming towards each other. However reversing the equation and let's say Rahu is behind in degree than Venus, here the influence is relatively marginal as Rahu travels in a different direction as compared to Venus which goes in another direction with their paths not crossing one another.
Deeptamsa or Planetary Orbs of Influence:
This works on the theory of the span of degrees in which one planet has an orbital influence over the other. There is list of degrees given for each of the planets and they influence to this extent irrespective of whether a planet is behind or ahead of it. The planetary orbs are as follows:
Sun - 7°30'
Moon - 6°
Mars - 4°
Mercury - 3°30’
Jupiter - 4°30'
Venus - 3°30’
Saturn - 4°30'
Rahu - 6°
Ketu - 6°
This is semi arc degree of influence. For eg. if let's say Sun is placed in 16° in a sign. Since Sun's Deeptamsa range is 7°30', we would have to both add and subtract from the degree in which Sun is placed. Hence Sun's influence will be on any planet which is between 8°30' to 23°30' which in essence is +/- 7°30' from degree of the Sun.
Hence, these are the different theories at play when ascertaining Planetary conjunctions. It looks like there is much more than what meets the eyes with so many staggering combinations coming into the fray. But looking at things from a logical perspective will help in establishing the impact and influence which Planets instill on one another.
Summary:
- For conjunctions to take place Planets should be within 12° of each other irrespective of sign
- If conjunction test is met, then strength of planets should be ascertained from the order of Ketu -> Rahu -> Sun -> Moon -> Venus -> Jupiter -> Mercury -> Mars -> Saturn with nodes being strongest and Saturn being the weakest
- Always ascertain the degree of distance between the planets in conjunction and also check the relationship among planets in conjunction whether they are Friend/Enemy/Neutral
- In general planets in lower degree have a higher influence on planets ahead of it. This is however subject to planetary average motion speed and also factoring in effects of Retrograde planets
- Check the orbital influence which a planet has on another. Sometimes both could be influencing each other whereas in some cases one will have influence on the other and not the other way around which again will give clues as to which planet is the primary driver and which plays second fiddle
There is also a notion of conjunctions to be taking place only when planets are placed within the same zodiac sign. This is not entirely true as planets are ever revolving and we cannot really attribute it to the zodiac sign or house concept which is fixed in nature. For instance if Planet A is at 2° and Planet B is at 26° in the same sign say Capricorn, we tend to brand it as a conjunction whereas let's say there is a Planet C placed in the previous sign of Sagittarius at 29° we don't really always take Planet A & C to be conjunct despite them being just 3 degrees apart. To explain this with a simple illustration, we can consider a horoscope to be equivalent of a large building consisting of 12 storeys or compartments. These compartments are fixed in nature like the zodiac signs in the sky whereas these compartments will consist of a number of objects which get moved from one part of the building to another part. These objects correspond to the Planets which are always movable in nature from one place to another. Hence we cannot really categorize conjunctions only when planets fall in the same sign and in essence the distance between the planets matter a lot irrespective of the zodiac sign in which they are placed.
Now coming to the real deal, so how do we then evaluate planetary conjunctions? One factor to always keep in the back of the mind is the planetary table of friendship to know which of the planets maintain a friendly, inimical or neutral relationship with their respective counterparts. Secondly the difference in the degrees also matter a lot. Like in the above example of 2 planets sitting in the same sign but being well over 20 degrees from each other certainly doesn't suggest a conjunction since they happen to be too far and don't necessarily warrant an influence over one another. Additionally also it would be prudent to see the direction in which the planets are moving whether in forward mode or undergoing a retrogression movement. Let's now look at some key characteristics at play to understand planetary influence in conjunctions.
Strength of Planets:
This is absolutely essential to consider for evaluating planetary influence. The strongest to weakest planets of the Navagrahas are given as under:
Ketu -> Rahu -> Sun -> Moon -> Venus -> Jupiter -> Mercury -> Mars -> Saturn
This is backed by a verse from 'Hora Sara' that states "The strength of Mars is double of Saturn's. Mercury is four times stronger than Mars. Jupiter is eight times stronger than Mercury. Venus has eight times more strength than that of Jupiter. The Moon is sixteen times stronger than Venus, the Sun twice of the Moon and Rahu's strength is twice of the Sun's and hence Rahu is the strongest of the planets". This is also corroborated in Uttara Kalamrita which assigns points to the planets for Indu Lagna Calculation as such; Sun - 30, Moon - 16, Venus - 12, Jupiter - 10, Mercury - 8, Mars - 6 and Saturn - 1. The Indu Lagna calculations doesn't include Rahu & Ketu whereas in the verse above it's clearly stated that Rahu is more powerful than Sun. It clearly makes sense because as per mythology and also astronomy, it's mentioned that Rahu & Ketu are capable of swallowing both the Sun & Moon and it's only due to the phenomenon of the Nodes that eclipses even get formed. Between Rahu and Ketu however they are one and the same with the head portion denoting Rahu and body portion depicting Ketu. In astrological parlance however Ketu is said to be the strongest of them because it is said to be associated with a 5 faced snake and hence more powerful than Rahu but however this information as to which of the nodes is stronger isn't really relevant as they are always 180° apart and the major essence to take away is that the Nodes happen to be the strongest among the Navagrahas. Also to be kept in mind is that this is only planetary strength and there is no mention of degrees which have an important bearing with respect to planetary influence.
Asthanga and Samagama - Solar and Lunar Combustion:
When planets are within a particular distance of the Sun, they are said to lose their power and said to be in a combust or Ashtanga state. The planets are said to be obscured by the Sun and their rays don't fully land on the earth. It has been clearly defined also in texts about the degrees in which they are said to be combust. Solar Combustion takes place only when the planets Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn are involved. Since Moon is always closer to the Earth, combustion doesn't apply and likewise Nodes are only shadow points and do not possess rays of any kind. Listed below are the degrees in which planets gets combust when they are close to Sun:
Mars 17°
Mercury 14°, 12° when retrograde
Jupiter 11°
Venus 10°, 8° when retrograde
Saturn 15°
Similar to Ashtanga, when the planets get closer to the Moon it is said to cause a phenomenon called 'Samagama' or Lunar Combustion. Since the Moon is always closer to earth, when any planet comes close to the Moon, it automatically means these planets in essence are also very close to the Earth. There is however no defined degrees of Lunar Combustion when planets get close to the Moon but however it re-iterates the theory that Moon is stronger than all the other planets when in a state of conjunction. Similar to Ashtanga, Samagama does not include Sun, Rahu & Ketu.
Planetary War or Graha Yuddha:
When 5 planets barring the luminaries and nodes viz Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn come within 1ยบ distance from each other it is said to cause 'Planetary War' or 'Graha Yudha'. This concept doesn't utilizes the Sun, Moon, Rahu & Ketu and this only occurs when the 5 planets get extremely close ie within a degree distance of each other. Here again, it is stated that Venus never loses in a planetary war when associated with the other 4 planets again harping on the strength order of planets that Venus happens to be the strongest planet after the Nodes and the Luminaries. The victor in Planetary War sans Venus who always wins is decided based on the Latitude of the planets with the planet having more Northern Latitude said to come out on top and be the winner.
Yoga Formation within 12°:
This is a very important principle. It is stated in Uttara Kalamritam that when any 2 planets cause a yoga whether good or bad, it should be seen only when they are within 12° from each other. 12° can also be interpreted as One Tithi and this number is extremely pivotal in ascertaining results. It has also been stated that for effects to fructify, it is quite essential that planet slower in motion is ahead of the planet which is faster in motion. The slowest to fastest motion of the planets are as below:
Saturn -> Rahu/Ketu -> Jupiter -> Mars -> Sun -> Venus -> Mercury -> Moon
Thus we can witness during conjunction of planets which are within 12°, the faster planet should be behind and the slower planet should be ahead for it to be effective. This is also termed as an 'lthasala Yoga' and said to be benefic in general when a faster planet with less longitude is behind a slower planet with higher longitude. On the other hand there is also something called 'Easarapha Yoga' which in general is said to be inauspicious when a faster planet with greater longitude is ahead of a slower planet with lesser longitude.
Through this concept, it can be clearly understood that Mercury + Sun conjunction known as Buddha Aditya Yoga where Mercury the faster motion planet being in lesser degree than Sun the slower motion planet is more effective as compared to the other way round where Mercury is higher in degree than Sun. One exception to this rule however is when ascertaining Sun and Moon. If the Moon being the faster planet is behind the Sun within 12 degrees, it happens to be cudgeled by the Sun which is known as Ammavasya Tithi and also said to be a natural malefic as it's in Krishna Paksha or waning state. On the other hand when it is ahead of Sun but within 12 degrees, it is said to form Pratipada Tithi and attains waxing status of Shukla Paksha which also indicates natural benefic state of Moon. Though in both cases Moon happens to be in a dark state because of being close to the Sun, the latter is more auspicious as it enjoys the status of a natural benefic. One more point worth pondering is whether the planets are approaching each other or going away. For instance in a Venus + Jupiter conjunction where both are in forward motion with Venus the faster planet approaching Jupiter the slower planet could cause an auspicious yoga but just twisting the ratio and let's say Jupiter happens to be retrograde in which case both planets face each other to form a collision, it could indicate a far greater impact, be it good or bad.
Nadi Planetary Rule:
This is a specific Nadi rule with respect to Planetary influence when 2 or more planets are conjunct. It is said that the planet lower in degree is the one who is going to be influenced by the planet ahead in degree. This is based on a simple reasoning that the planets are always moving and the planet which is behind in degree is the one who will touch the forward planet and gather most of the significations of the higher degree planet and not the other way around. However if the planet ahead in degree happens to be in a retrograde state then both planets tend to influence each other a lot. A good way of understanding is through an example and let's say Venus in normal motion is behind Rahu which always travels backwards. In this case the influence is potent as both are coming towards each other. However reversing the equation and let's say Rahu is behind in degree than Venus, here the influence is relatively marginal as Rahu travels in a different direction as compared to Venus which goes in another direction with their paths not crossing one another.
Deeptamsa or Planetary Orbs of Influence:
This works on the theory of the span of degrees in which one planet has an orbital influence over the other. There is list of degrees given for each of the planets and they influence to this extent irrespective of whether a planet is behind or ahead of it. The planetary orbs are as follows:
Sun - 7°30'
Moon - 6°
Mars - 4°
Mercury - 3°30’
Jupiter - 4°30'
Venus - 3°30’
Saturn - 4°30'
Rahu - 6°
Ketu - 6°
This is semi arc degree of influence. For eg. if let's say Sun is placed in 16° in a sign. Since Sun's Deeptamsa range is 7°30', we would have to both add and subtract from the degree in which Sun is placed. Hence Sun's influence will be on any planet which is between 8°30' to 23°30' which in essence is +/- 7°30' from degree of the Sun.
Hence, these are the different theories at play when ascertaining Planetary conjunctions. It looks like there is much more than what meets the eyes with so many staggering combinations coming into the fray. But looking at things from a logical perspective will help in establishing the impact and influence which Planets instill on one another.
Summary:
- For conjunctions to take place Planets should be within 12° of each other irrespective of sign
- If conjunction test is met, then strength of planets should be ascertained from the order of Ketu -> Rahu -> Sun -> Moon -> Venus -> Jupiter -> Mercury -> Mars -> Saturn with nodes being strongest and Saturn being the weakest
- Always ascertain the degree of distance between the planets in conjunction and also check the relationship among planets in conjunction whether they are Friend/Enemy/Neutral
- In general planets in lower degree have a higher influence on planets ahead of it. This is however subject to planetary average motion speed and also factoring in effects of Retrograde planets
- Check the orbital influence which a planet has on another. Sometimes both could be influencing each other whereas in some cases one will have influence on the other and not the other way around which again will give clues as to which planet is the primary driver and which plays second fiddle
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