Rahu/Ketu and Illusions!

There are way too many illusions with regard to Rahu/Ketu and respected authorities tend to disagree with regard to Rahu Ketu aspects, own house, Mool Trikona (office of responsibility) and exaltation/debilitation sign. Attached below is a compendium of the different view points which exist with the respect to Rahu and Ketu.

Rahu/Ketu Aspects:
A) No aspect (Shadow planet and hence said not to have aspect)
B) 5,7,9 (Most commonly held view)
C) 5,7,9,12 (Some believe it has 12th also)
D) 3,7,11 (Tamil scriptures especially)
E) 3,7,10 (Similar to Saturn's aspect)
Note : There are also some beliefs that Rahu alone aspects and Ketu does not aspect. Also since Rahu and Ketu are generally believed to be one and the same and always 180 degrees apart, 7th aspect is not considered.

Rahu/Ketu Own House:
A) Rahu Aquarius, Ketu Scorpio (Most popular view)
B) Rahu Virgo, Ketu Pisces (Supported by few texts)
C) Rahu Aquarius, Ketu Aries (Based on Saturn and Mars Mooltrikona placement)
D) Rahu Capricorn, Ketu Cancer (Apparently in few Tamil texts)
E) Rahu and Ketu both don't own any houses (Believed to be just nodal points and hence considered not to have any ownership)

Rahu/Ketu Mool Trikona Sign:
A) Rahu Virgo Ketu Pisces (Most popular view)
B) Rahu Gemini Ketu Sagittarius (Supported by a Parashara Hora version)
C) Rahu Aquarius Ketu Aries (Shanivat Rahu Kujavat Ketu hence follows similar to Saturn & Mars)
D) Rahu and Ketu both don't a Mool Trikona sign (This is based on the inference that they don't rule any of the signs in the zodiac)

Rahu/Ketu Exaltation and Debilitation:
A) Rahu Exalted in Taurus and Debilitated in Scorpio, Ketu Exalted in Scorpio and Debilitated in Taurus (Most popular view)
B) Rahu Exalted in Gemini and Debilitated in Sagittarius, Ketu Exalted in Sagittarius and Debilitated in Gemini (Another popular view supported especially in Jaimini)
C) Rahu Exalted in Virgo and Debilitated in Pisces, Ketu Exalted in Pisces and Debilitated in Virgo (Not very popular but believed as another view)
D) Rahu Exalted in Scorpio and Debilitated in Taurus, Ketu Exalted in Taurus and Debilitated in Scorpio (Not popular but this view is based on the headless theory as they are believed to exert full influence on the opposite house from which they are placed)
E) Rahu and Ketu both are Exalted in Scorpio (opposite of Moon exaltation sign Taurus) and both are Debilitated in Taurus (Moon exaltation sign)
F) Rahu and Ketu both don't have exaltation and debilitation signs. Result depends on their despositors.

Ascertaining Gulika and Mandi in Horoscope

Before getting into the computation of these 2 Saturnian Upagrahas Gulika and Mandi, it is good to know a few basics. There are 7 weekdays beginning from Sunday and ending with Saturday. Each of these weekdays are further divided into 2 halves viz Day time (Sunrise) and Night time (Sunset). The day time and night time portion get further sub divided into 8 equal parts and each of these 8 parts are ruled by 7 planets and the remaining part is governed by Rahu.

The order of day time starts from the ruling planet of the particular weekday. For eg if it's a Sunday first part is always given to Sun since it lords Sunday and the second part is Moon, third is Mars, fourth Mercury, fifth Jupiter, sixth Venus, seventh Saturn and 8th portion will be blank and given to Rahu. For night time, the first part happens to be ruled by the 5th planet from the lord of the weekday. Taking same Sunday as eg, night time starts from the 5th planet of the lord of the weekday which in this case is Jupiter followed by Venus, then Saturn, blank (Rahu) followed by Sun, Moon, Mars and Mercury respectively.

Computation of Gulika and Mandi in a Horoscope Chart:

1) Ascertain whether a person was born during day time (sun rise to sun set) or during night time (sun set to next day sun rise)

2) If day time born, note the sun rise and sun set time of the day and if born in night time, note the sun set time and next day sun rise time.

3) Next check the week day in which the native was born which could be any day between Sunday to Saturday.

4) See the portion ruled by Saturn which will be one among 8 equal parts (Saturn never rules 8th part)

Sunday - Day Time 7th part, Night Time 3rd part

Monday - Day Time 6th part, Night Time 2nd part

Tuesday - Day Time 5th part, Night Time 1st part

Wednesday - Day Time 4th part, Night Time 7th part 

Thursday - Day Time 3rd part, Night Time 6th part

Friday - Day Time 2nd part, Night Time 5th part

Saturday - Day Time 1st part, Night Time 4th part

5) Figure out the time frame period ruled by Saturn which will be an average approx 90 minute time period.

6) Mark the start time, middle time and end time of this time slot ruled by Saturn.

7) Cast the horoscope for all these 3 time slots and note where the Ascendant (Lagna) falls.

8) Gulika rises at the beginning of Saturn's portion and Mandi at the middle of Saturn's portion.

P.S : There are different opinions with regard to Gulika and Mandi. Some opine that they both are one and the same. Another belief is that they happen to be 2 different son's of Shani Devata (Planet Saturn). Also, opinions are divided on when Gulika and Mandi rise and there are varied views supporting beginning, middle and end point of Saturn's ruling time period.

Illustration 1 : Day time birth

Native born on Sep 13th 2018 in Chennai, India at 9.30 AM. Find position of Gulika and Mandi

1) Person born time : Day time

2) Since day time born : Sun rise time 6:01 AM and Sun set time 6:08 PM

3) Check weekday : Thursday

4) Part ruled by Saturn : 3rd part

5) Figure time period ruled by Saturn : 9:10 AM to 10:41 AM

6) Mark start time, middle time and end time : Start time 9:10 AM, Middle time 9:56 AM, End time 10:41 AM

7) Check Ascendant for all three times : Start time - Libra 12 degrees, Middle time - Libra 23 degrees, End time - Scorpio 3 degrees

8) Establish Gulika and Mandi position : Gulika in Libra 12 degrees and Mandi in Libra 23 degrees

Computation Notes:

Time between sun rise to sun set = 12 hours and 7 mins = 727 Mins

Divide 727 into 8 parts = 90.875 mins rounded to 91 mins per part

Time of Saturn is 3rd part and computed as below;

First part = 6:08 AM + 91 MINS = 7:39 AM

Second part = 7:39 AM + 91 MINS = 9:10 AM

Third part = 9:10 AM + 91 MINS = 10:41 AM

Alternatively since we know 3rd part is end of 2nd part to end of 3rd part, start point is 6:08 AM + 182 mins (91 mins * 2 parts) = 9:10 AM and end point is 6:08 AM + 273 mins (91 mins * 3 parts) = 10:41 AM.

Start time = 9:10 AM

End time = 10:41 AM

Middle time = Start time 9:10 AM + 46 mins (Part of 91 mins divided by 2 = 45.5 rounded to 46) = 9:56 AM or End time 10:41 AM - 45 mins = 9:56 AM

Illustration 2 : Night time birth

Native born on Sep 11th 2018 in Bangalore, India at 8.45 PM. Find position of Gulika and Mandi

1) Person born time : Night time

2) Since night time born : Sun set time 6:20 PM and next day Sun rise time 6:12 AM

3) Check weekday : Tuesday

4) Part ruled by Saturn : 1st part

5) Figure time period ruled by Saturn : 6:20 PM to 7:49 PM

6) Mark start time, middle time and end time : Start time 6:20 PM, Middle time 7:05 PM, End time 7:49 PM

7) Check Ascendant for all three times : Start time - Aquarius 24 degrees, Middle time - Pisces 8 degrees, End time - Pisces 21 degrees

8) Establish Gulika and Mandi position : Gulika in Aquarius 24 degrees and Mandi in Pisces 8 degrees

Computation Notes:

Time between sun set to sun rise = 11 hours and 52 mins = 712 Mins

Divide 712 into 8 parts = 89 mins per part

Time of Saturn is 1st part and computed as below

First part = 6:20 PM + 89 MINS = 7:49 PM

Start time = 6:20 PM

End time = 7:49 PM

Middle time = Start time 6:20 PM + 45 mins (Part of 89 mins divided by 2 = 44.5 rounded to 45) = 7:05 PM or End time 7:49 PM - 44 mins = 7:05 PM

Note: It should be noted from this that at no point exact time of birth is taken for computation of Gulika and Mandi. In essence, any person born on a particular day and place at whatever time but within the day time portion or night time portion will end up having Gulika and Mandi in the same position in the horoscope chart.

Also, for Mandi computation, the classics opine a method based on Ghatika's (1 Ghatika=24 minutes) elapsed from sun rise/sun set time to arrive at the Mandi time for which the corresponding Lagna degree should be ascertained. This method will tally almost exactly to what has been computed above. The order given is as above:

Sunday - 26 Ghatikas after sun rise, 10 Ghatikas after sun set

Monday - 22 Ghatikas after sun rise, 6 Ghatikas after sun set

Tuesday - 18 Ghatikas after sun rise, 2 Ghatikas after sun set

Wednesday - 14 Ghatikas after sun rise, 26 Ghatikas after sun set

Thursday - 10 Ghatikas after sun rise, 22 Ghatikas after sun set

Friday - 6 Ghatikas after sun rise, 18 Ghatikas after sun set

Saturday - 2 Ghatikas after sun rise, 14 Ghatikas after sun set

Explaining this method with the same illustrations as listed earlier, for Illustration 1 we find that for day birth Thursday, Mandi is 10 Ghatikas after Sun rise. 10 Ghatikas = 240 minutes (10 Ghatika*24 minutes per Ghatika). Sun rise time is 6:01 AM. Adding 240 minutes to it, we get 10:01 AM which will fall in around 23-24 degrees of Libra similar to what we have witnessed above. In Illustration 2, for night birth Tuesday, Mandi happens to be 2 Ghatikas after Sun set. 2 Ghatikas = 48 minutes (2 Ghatika*24 minutes per Ghatika). Sun set time is 6:20 PM. Adding 48 minutes to it, we get 7:08 PM which will fall around 8 degrees in Pisces as seen above as well.

This working is only for Mandi and does not hold good for Gulika unless of course they both are reckoned as one and the same. Whether we employ the method 1 or method 2, the most sensitive point happens to be at the mid point of time frame ruled by Saturn or the respective end Ghatika time marked after Sun rise or Sun set as the case maybe. 

Inauspicious Time Period Computation!

Many of us would have been alerted about un-favourable time periods during a day and not to perform any auspicious activities during these time periods. The time frames commonly highlighted happen to be the Yama Ghanta, Gulika Kaala and Rahu Kaala. All these stem from the panchang and attributed to specific planets assigned.

The Panchang element that needs to be seen is the 'Vara'. The Vara is basically the solar day transiting which starts at sun rise time and ends when the next day sun rise commences. There are 7 Vara's obtained from the 7 week days and each of them are represented by a particular planet as seen below:
Sunday - Sun
Monday - Moon
Tuesday - Mars
Wednesday - Mercury
Thursday - Jupiter
Friday - Venus
Saturday - Saturn

Now, every day of week comprises of two parts viz sun rise (day time) and sun set (night time). It is generally presumed that most important activities take place only during the day and hence only sun rise viz day time portion is considered for computing inauspicious time period.

Hence let us take the sun rise portion of the day which runs from when the sun rises till the time it begins to set. This portion is divided into 8 equal parts and it is believed that one of the parts is headless. Remember there are 7 weekdays and 8 parts, hence 7 of these parts will be assigned to a particular planet with the 8th given to Rahu.

The order starts from the ruling planet of the particular Vara (weekday). For eg if it's a Sunday first part is always given to Sun since it lords Sunday and the second part is Moon, third is Mars, fourth Mercury, fifth Jupiter, sixth Venus, seventh Saturn and 8th portion will be blank and given to Rahu. In case it's a Thursday it starts from Jupiter, second part will be Venus, third will be Saturn and 4th will be Rahu. 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th will be Sun, Moon, Mars and Mercury respectively.

One disclaimer I would like to mention here is that it is generally presumed in most panchangs and calendars that sun rise always starts at 6 AM and the sun set begins at 6 PM. Hence the day time comprises of 12 hours divided into 8 parts with each part occupying a space of 1 hour and 30 minutes (1.5 hours). But in reality in many places sun rise can be much later or earlier causing the calculations to go for a toss.

However for convenience sake, the respective times of Yama Ghanta, Gulika Kaala and Rahu Kaal is explained with reference to the sun rise day time comprising of 12 hours in the range of 6 AM to 6 PM.

Yama Ghanta:
This is represented by planet Jupiter. For every day of the week, check the part that is owned by Jupiter and this will be the time frame occupied by Yama Ghanta. For eg on Wednesday Jupiter rules the 2nd part from 7.30 AM to 9 AM and that is the Yama Ghanta time and likewise on Friday it'll be 4.30 PM to 6 PM which is the time represented by Jupiter. For easy reference, all of the Yama Ghanta time parts owned by Jupiter is coloured in Yellow in order to quickly spot it. Also some food for thought, if you closely check Jupiter rules all parts in different days except for the 6th part from 1.30 PM to 3 PM.

Gulika Kaala:
This is represented by planet Saturn. For every day of the week, check the part that is owned by Saturn and this will be the time frame occupied by Gulika. For eg on Thursday Saturn rules the 3rd part from 9 AM to 10.30 AM and that is the Gulika time and likewise on Saturday it'll be 6 AM to 7.30 AM which is the time represented by Saturn. For easy reference, all of the Gulika time parts owned by Saturn is coloured in Blue for quick navigation. Also like Jupiter, Saturn rules all parts except for the 8th part spanning from 4.30 PM to 6 PM.

P.S : For horoscope purposes, even sunset time will be taken and this also has a say in determining as to where Gulika will be placed in the vedic rasi chart.

Rahu Kaala:
This is represented by planet Rahu but the computation differs. Here time slots are put forth for each day of the week and Rahu Kaala is obtained based on the same. It must be remembered however that the first part of the day can never be Rahu Kaala. Also in addition to Rahu, other planets such as Sun, Moon and Mars also have a say in determining the Rahu kaal portion. They are marked in Red in the table to quickly catch attention. Listed below are the time parts assigned for Rahu Kaala in each of the days.
Day 1 Sunday - 8th part - Rahu
Day 2 Monday - 2nd part - Mars
Day 3 Tuesday - 7th part - Sun
Day 4 Wednesday - 5th part - Rahu
Day 5 Thursday - 6th part - Moon
Day 6 Friday - 4th part - Sun
Day 7 Saturday 3rd part - Sun

Colour Code:
YAMA GHANTA - YELLOW - JUPITER
GULIKA KAALA - BLUE - SATURN
RAHU KAALA - RED - RAHU, SUN, MOON, MARS

Note: You might be wondering as to why other planets also come into the equation when deducing Rahu Kaala. This is because Rahu Kaala is propounded based on the theory of ultraviolet rays falling on earth during specific time intervals on each day of every weekday which is considered to be highly inauspicious. This also ends up scrambling the usual week day order and hence you find other planets also coming in the fray when figuring out the Rahu Kaala time period. This can however be avoided if the Kaala order is followed which is practised especially in Kerala. Here planets are assigned numbers and they follow the same order with the first part beginning from the weekday lord. The order given is as below:
Sun - 1
Mars - 2
Jupiter - 3
Mercury - 4
Venus - 5
Saturn - 6
Moon - 7
Rahu - 8

Adopting this order based on the running weekday, you'll always end up with Rahu falling in the 8th part if it's a Sunday, 2nd if Monday, 7th if Tuesday, 5th if Wednesday, 6th if Thursday, 4th if Friday and 3rd if it's Saturday. However I wouldn't advise to follow this order as this methodology can get jumbled and would not work when finding out Yama Ghanta and Gulika Kaala. However it would make sense to just remember the number coding 8275643 as each of the digits signify the parts during which Rahu Kaala takes place from Sunday to Saturday.

Do you know your Panchanga Planet Lord?

All you have to know in order to know the planets ruling your Panchanga viz the 5 limbs of time are the following;

i) The Day of your birth
ii) The Nakshatra (star) of your moon at birth
iii) The degrees of Sun and Moon during birth

P.S : The zodiac spans 360 degrees and is divided into 12 equal signs of 30 degrees each. It starts at Aries (Mesha) and ends at Pisces (Meena). For eg if you're Sun is at 12 degrees in Cancer, you need to take the degrees as 102 since Cancer is the 4th sign and there have been 3 signs of 30 degrees which is 90 plus 12 degrees in Cancer. Similarly, say your Moon is in Libra at 15 degrees, you need to consider it as 195 degrees since Libra is the 7th sign and 6 signs have passed making a total of 30*6=180 plus 15 degrees in Libra.

I have made a ready reckoner which will enable you to find which of the planets are ruling your 5 panchanga elements viz Vara, Nakshatra, Tithi, Karana and Yoga. Some softwares do provide the data but nothing like knowing it on your own which can be pretty useful.

1) Vara:
This is the solar day transiting during your birth which in essence is the day you were born.
Total Varas : 7
Total Duration : Sun rise start time till next day sun rise start time
Total Planets : 7 (Rahu and Ketu are excluded)
Connection : Sun
Information : Please note that the vedic weekday starts from sun rise time and ends when the next day sun rise starts. For instance if one were born at 2:15 AM on the English Day of Tuesday and the sun rise started at 6:35AM on Monday and next day sun rise was at 6:40 AM on Tuesday, Vara day will be Monday ruled by Moon and not Tuesday ruled by Mars.

Illustration: Native born at 4.20 PM on a Thursday. The Day Thursday is ruled by Jupiter and hence your Vara Lord happens to be Jupiter.

2) Nakshatra:
This reflects the transit of moon during your birth which is basically the constellation of stars that were rising when you were born.
Total Nakshatras : 27
Total Duration : 13 degrees 20 minutes (360 degree zodiac divided by 27 Nakshatras)
Total Planets : 9 (Rahu and Ketu included)
Connection : Moon
Information : There are 27 stars divided into trines of 9 each which are represented by a particular planet. Eg Star No. 1, 10 and 19 are Ketu stars whereas 2,11 and 20 are Venus stars. Each star basically comprises of 13 degrees 20 minutes which is 360 degrees divided by 27 Nakshatras.

Illustration: Native is born on Hastha star, hence Nakshatra lord is Moon. Likewise if a native was born during the constellation of Revathi, then the Nakshatra Lord happens to be Mercury.

3) Tithi:
The zodiac is divided into 360 degrees and every 12 degrees of angular distance at which the moon moves away from the sun is considered as a Tithi.
Total Tithis : 30
Total Duration : 12 degrees (360 degree zodiac divided by 30 Tithis)
Total Planets : 8 (Rahu included but Ketu excluded)
Connection : Sun & Moon
Information : There are a total of 30 tithis (360 degrees divided by 12). The Tithis are split up into 2 parts of 15 each based on the brighter half (Sukla - Waxing) and darker half (Krishna - Waning) of the moon. The planet ruling the brighter half Sukla or darker half Krishna will remain the same for all except for Purnima which is ruled by Saturn and Amma Vasya lorded by Rahu.

Illustration: Native's Sun is in Leo at 20 degrees and Moon is in Capricorn at 12 degrees. Total degrees of Sun as per 360 degrees zodiac is 140 (30*4 signs from Aries to Cancer + 20 degrees in Leo) and degrees of Moon is 282 (30*9 signs from Aries to Sagittarius + 12 degrees in Capricorn). The degrees of which Moon has passed Sun = 142 (282 less 140) which becomes Sukla Dwadashi Tithi ruled by Moon. In case there is a role reversal and Sun is at 282 degrees and Moon is at 140 degrees, then distance is 218 degrees (360 less 282 of Sun=78 plus 140 degrees of Moon) which happens to be Krishna Chaturthi Tithi also ruled by Moon. Always remember base point is Sun (slower planet) and we need to check how many degrees Moon (faster planet) has gone beyond Sun

4) Karana:
The zodiac is divided into 360 degrees and every 6 degrees of angular distance at which the moon moves away from the sun is referred to as a Karana. In essence, half of a Tithi constitutes a Karana.
Total Karanas : 60 comprising of 11 sub divisions
Total Duration : 6 degrees (360 degree zodiac divided by 60 Karanas)
Total Planets : 9 (Rahu and Ketu included)
Connection : Sun & Moon
Information : There are a total of 60 karanas (360 divided by 6) but classified under 11 categories with 7 of the Karanas being movable and repeating itself 8 times (56 = 7*8) and the other 4 karanas being fixed (4).

Illustration: Native's Sun is in Virgo at 24 degrees and Moon in Scorpio at 21 degrees. Total degrees of Sun as per 360 degrees zodiac is 174 (30*5 signs from Aries to Leo + 24 degrees in Virgo) and degrees of Moon is 231 (30*7 signs from Aries to Libra + 21 degrees in Scorpio). The degrees of Moon passing the Sun = 57 (231 less 174) which happens to be Balava Karana ruled by Rahu. In case let's say Sun is at 209 degrees and Moon at 194 degrees, then distance is 345 degrees (360 less 209 of Sun=151 plus 194 degrees of Moon) which happens to be Shakuni Karana ruled by Saturn. The computation is similar to Tithi and we need to know how many degrees moon has gone past the Sun.

5) Yoga:
This takes the combined sum of degrees of Sun + Moon and each total amounting to 13 degrees 20 minutes comprises a Yoga.
Total Yogas : 27
Total Duration : 13 degrees 20 minutes (360 degree zodiac divided by 27 Yogas)
Total Planets : 9 (Rahu and Ketu included)
Connection : Sun & Moon
Information : There are a total of 27 yogas split into 3 parts of 9 each which are ruled by a particular planet. It is computed based on the total longitude of the Sun and Moon with reference point as 360. If the addition of Sun's degree and Moon's degree go beyond 360, then the extra portion above 360 needs to be considered. For eg. Sun + Moon combined degrees lets say comes to 418 degrees, then in this case the extra portion of 58 (418 less 360) will be the degree of Yoga.

Illustration: Native's Sun is in Taurus at 27 degrees and Moon in Gemini at 12 degrees. Total degrees of Sun as per 360 degree zodiac is 57 (30*1 sign Aries + 27 degrees in Taurus) and degrees of Moon is 72 (30*2 signs from Aries to Taurus plus 12 degrees in Gemini). The total sum comes up to 129 (57+72). This will give rise to Ganda Yoga ruled by Saturn. Another eg, lets say Sun is 324 degrees and Moon is 358 degrees. Here adding the two yields 682 (324+358) which is more than 360. Hence the extra portion needs to be taken which is 322 (682 less 360) and that happens to be Brahma Yoga whose planetary lord is Mars.

Zodiac Sun Signs Misrepresented!

World over, people follow the sun sign dates blindly based on a template format which has been permeated since times immemorial. People even use this as a tool for starting communications and feverishly check newspapers and bulletins to see if the traits mentioned are matching their personality. Not only this, even memes are depicted and categorizations are made about people belonging to different sun signs such as which zodiacs reflect the best lover, depiction of signs getting drunk the most, weird quotient et al.

All this is fine if you are clear about the dates belonging to a particular sun sign. This is where the trouble lies as almost 80–90% of the time, the sun sign which you actually thought to be could be actually wrong. The real sun sign date is off by about 24 days from what you have been wondering all this while. Let me explain it with this diagrammatic date representation.

This may appear to be a simple thing but I feel most people get confused about these dates and hence I felt it's good to clarify in a lucid manner without going too much into the specifics. There is a lot of misinterpretation with regard to dates between Western and Vedic. It's different between tropical zodiac and sidereal zodiac and the western system follows the former but whereas the Vedic way of doing a horoscope chart adopts the latter. The difference between the two accounts to about 24 degrees. (22 to 24 based on ayanamsa) The tropical is always forward. For instance if you're 20 degrees Gemini Ascendant in sidereal chart, you're most likely to be 14 degrees Cancer (20 plus 24) in the Tropical chart.

For eg, if you were born on lets say May 8th, you would have all this while thought that you were a Taurus sun-sign, but as per Vedic you belong to the Aries zodiac. However if you were born on May 18th, you’ll still be a Taurus. There is an overlapping of almost a month between the tropical and sidereal date frame which is quite a reality check. There could be a slight difference on the cusp ie based on whether you were born on the 14th or 15th based on the timing of rising of the sun, but mostly the list works like a charm. If you know this simple funda, the confusion is less likely to occur.