Important Terminologies pertaining to Tamil Astrology

There are certain terminologies used in Tamil Astrology which are bit peculiar and considered to be of slight variation when compared with the traditional usage. A few of these do find favor in general horoscopic analysis but in the Tamil equivalent, they are used a bit more widely than usual. Let us look at some of the concepts that add an extra flavour while interpreting a horoscope.

⇒ Badhaka Sthana - The Obstacle Houses
These are the houses that can cause hurdles and be a barrier in a horoscope. It differs for each sign based on whether it is a Movable, Fixed or Dual rasi. This concept has found much footing in recent times and used a lot when interpreting horoscopes. Based on the Kala Purusha, the 11th house is the default Badhaka sign but it differs for each sign based on the type. The planets situated in Badhak can create impediments and the lord of the sign also needs to be analyzed. Contrary to popular opinion that Badhak Lord placed in a negative bhava like 6,8,12 yields good result, the actuality is that as stated in Pulipani Jothidam, Badhak Lord being placed in a Trikona especially 5,9 houses only ends up being favorable. To explain this theory, the Sage specifically explains that for a Fixed Sign Ascendant, the 9th house Badhak lord being seated in own 9th house itself ends up actually being favorable to negate the ill effects of Badhak Bhava.

The Badhaka Sthana for different signs are as follows:
Movable Sign - 11th House
Fixed Sign - 9th House
Dual Sign - 7th House

⇒ Maraka Sthana - The Killer Houses
Maragathipathi or Maraka refers to those houses that can cause a killing effect to the native. In general parlance and as advocated by most texts, the 2nd and 7th houses always end up being the Maraka houses. This is based on the Bhavat Bhavam principle of 8th house being the house of longevity. The 3rd being the 8th from the 8th extends this logic. The 12th house from any house is said to be a negater and hence the 12th from the 3rd and 8th house yields the 2nd and 7th house thus forming the concept of Maraka houses. However in Tamil Astrology, similar to Badhak the concept operates differently based on the type of sign depending on whether it is movable, fixed or dual.

The Maraka Sthana for different signs are as follows:
Movable Sign - 2nd & 7th House
Fixed Sign - 3rd & 8th House
Dual Sign - 7th & 11th House

⇒ Maraivu Sthana - The Hidden Houses
Maraivu Sthana are known as the hidden houses where planets are said to generally lose their power and become ineffective. The 3rd, 6th, 8th and 12th houses form the crux of the Maraivu houses. In this it's said that the 3rd is only about 1/4th hidden and the 12th about 1/2 hidden and only 6th and 8th being the combative hidden houses with 8th being the most malicious. However though the general hidden houses happen to be 3rd, 6th, 8th and 12th it happens to differ for the planets in question. Since the natural malefics are said to be effective in Upachaya Sthana which are the 3rd, 6th, 10th and 11th houses and two of these houses namely the 3rd and 6th also come under list of Maraivu Bhava these places get eliminated. For Venus the 6th and 12th houses are eliminated on account of it forming Lakshmi Yoga.

Hence the Maraivu Sthana for different planets are as follows:
Sun - 8th House, 12th House
Moon - 3rd House, 6th House, 8th House, 12th House
Mars - 8th House, 12th House
Mercury - 3rd House, 6th House, 8th House, 12th House
Jupiter - 3rd House, 6th House, 8th House, 12th House
Venus - 3rd House, 8th House
Saturn - 8th House, 12th House
Rahu - 8th House, 12th House
Ketu - 8th House, 12th House

⇒ Poojya Pada - Zero Point
There are selective Nakshatra Padas in each of the 12 rasis where planets are said to lose their potency and become ineffective when seated in that designated spot of 3°20'. This is said to be called as zero point and hence if any of the planets falls in this area, it can attract negative vibrations. Out of the 12 rasis, 4 of them happen to be on the 1st pada, another 4 happen on the 5th pada and other 4 happen on the last 9th pada of the rasi.

The Poojya Pada for each rasi is as follows:
Mesha - Ashwini 1 - 0°0' - 3°20' - 1st Pada of 9 Padas
Rishaba - Krithika 2 - 0°0' - 3°20' - 1st Pada of 9 Padas
Mithuna - Arudra 3 - 13°20' - 16°40' - 5th Pada of 9 Padas 
Karka - Ashlesha 4 - 26°40' - 30°0' - 9th Pada of 9 Padas
Simha - Poorva Phalguni 1 - 13°20' - 16°40' - 5th Pada of 9 Padas
Kanya - Uttara Phalguni 2 - 0°0' - 3°20' - 1st Pada of 9 Padas
Thula - Swati 3 - 13°20' - 16°40' - 5th Pada of 9 Padas
Vrischika - Jyeshta 4 - 26°40' - 30°0' - 9th Pada of 9 Padas
Dhanu - Moola 1 -  0°0' - 3°20' - 1st Pada of 9 Padas
Makara - Dhanishta 2 - 26°40' - 30°0' - 9th Pada of 9 Padas
Kumbha - Satabisha 3 - 13°20' - 16°40' - 5th Pada of 9 Padas
Meena - 26°40' - 30°0' - 9th Pada of 9 Padas

⇒ Graha Natpu, Pagai and Samam - Planetary Friendship, Enmity and Neutrality
This concept works largely on the traditional Parashara methodology of finding out if a planet is friendly or not to another taking the Moola Trikona sign into question and evaluating the same. However additionally in most of the Panchangas, Rahu and Ketu are also assigned friendship levels with other planets. In Tamil astrological parlance, Rahu & Ketu do not own any sign of their own but they have their own treatment with respect to other planets,

The planetary relationship for the 9 planets work in the following manner:

Sun:
Friends - Moon, Mars, Jupiter
Enemies - Venus, Saturn, Rahu, Ketu
Neutral - Mercury

Moon:
Friends - Sun, Mercury
Enemies - Rahu, Ketu
Neutral - Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn

Mars:
Friends - Sun, Moon, Jupiter
Enemies - Mercury, Rahu, Ketu,
Neutral - Venus, Saturn

Mercury:
Friends - Sun, Venus
Enemies - Moon
Neutral -  Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu, Ketu

Jupiter:
Friends - Sun, Moon, Mars
Enemies - Mercury, Venus
Neutral - Saturn, Rahu, Ketu 

Venus:
Friends - Mercury, Saturn, Rahu, Ketu
Enemies - Sun, Moon,
Neutral - Mars, Jupiter

Saturn:
Friends - Mercury, Venus, Rahu, Ketu
Enemies - Sun, Moon, Mars
Neutral - Jupiter 

Rahu:
Friends - Venus, Saturn, Ketu
Enemies - Sun, Moon, Mars
Neutral - Mercury, Jupiter 

Ketu:
Friends - Venus, Saturn, Rahu
Enemies - Sun, Moon, Mars
Neutral - Mercury, Jupiter 

⇒ Graha Rasi Thanmai - Planetary Relationship in Different Rasis
This is with respect to according the different relationship assigned to planets when they are placed in different signs. With respect to Rahu & Ketu, here again there are plenty of confusions at play. There is no clear cut basis as to which of the signs they happen to be exalted. One of the most popular views is that Rahu gets exalted in Taurus and Ketu in Scorpio. However there are certain Tamil Panchangams which advocate that both Rahu & Ketu being one and the same get exalted in the sign in which Moon gets debilitated which is Scorpio and get debilitated in the exalted sign of Moon which happens to be Taurus. This has a validity as in effect the nodes are derived based on the Moons orbital path and is also said to maintain an inimical relationship with it. Rahu & Ketu are said to be friends with Venus & Saturn whereas maintain a neutral relationship with Mercury & Jupiter but strangely they are said to be friendly in both the signs of Mercury & Jupiter respectively. There is also a generic contrarian view which says that Rahu is favorable when placed in the signs of Aries, Taurus, Cancer, Virgo and Capricorn whereas Ketu is beneficial in the signs of Virgo, Scorpio and Aquarius. There is no real consensus at all whenever it comes to the nodes but however listed below is the most well known relationships that planets exhibit when placed in various rasis. 

The relationship exhibited by the 9 planets when placed in different rasis work in the following way:
                         

⇒ Pasagan, Bodhakan, Karakan, Vedhagan - Digestor, Informer, Doer, Obstructor
This concept is largely used when analyzing Dasha result. It is believed that the Antar Dasa Lord gives its result to the Dasha Lord based on any of the 4 portfolio that it obtains. The results of these are given in the Tamil texts "Jathaka Alankaram" and "Chandra Kaviyam". Explained below briefly is about the meaning of the 4 different terms.

Pasagan - The Pasagan is the one that instructs to give results in abundance and in a complete manner

Bodhakan - The Bodhakan is the one that intends to give results in a quick fashion and in proper way 

Karakan - The Karakan is the one that acts as helper and providing assistance in completing a task

Vedhagan - The Vedhagan is the one that acts as a hurdle and obstructs the path in giving the fulfilled results

Listed below are the Pasagan, Bodhakan, Karakan and Vedhagan for all the 9 planets
Sun : Pasagan - Saturn, Bodhakan - Mars, Karakan - Jupiter, Vedhagan - Venus
Moon : Pasagan - Venus, Bodhakan - Mars, Karakan - Saturn, Vedhagan - Sun
Mars : Pasagan - Sun, Bodhakan - Moon, Karakan - Saturn, Vedhagan - Mercury
Mercury : Pasagan - Moon, Bodhakan - Jupiter, Karakan - Venus, Vedhagan - Mars
Jupiter : Pasagan - Saturn, Bodhakan - Mars, Karakan - Moon, Vedhagan - Sun
Venus : Pasagan - Mercury, Bodhakan - Jupiter, Karakan - Sun, Vedhagan - Saturn
Saturn : Pasagan - Venus, Bodhakan - Moon, Karakan - Jupiter, Vedhagan - Mars
Rahu : Pasagan - Mercury, Bodhakan - Jupiter, Karakan - Mars, Vedhagan - Sun
Ketu : Pasagan - Venus, Bodhakan - Mercury, Karakan - Saturn, Vedhagan - Moon
                  
Notes: The classics largely advocate the results only for the 7 planets and not the nodes Rahu / Ketu. However in a few rare places they have been mentioned indirectly and hence been added in the list. Apart from Dasa results, these are sometimes also used as general placement results within a horoscope. For instance taking Sun, it's Pasagan is said to be Saturn which is said to be it's enemy but Sun sitting in the rasi of Saturn which could be Capricorn or Aquarius can enable Sun to get results in abundance on account of Saturn being it's Pasagan. Likewise Moon sitting in a rasi of Mars that could be Aries or Scorpio can help Moon to get it's desired results in quick time due to Mars being it's Bodhakan. Similar way Jupiter acts as the Karaka for Saturn. Hence Saturn being placed in a rasi of Jupiter which is either of Sagittarius or Pisces will help Saturn get the required assistance in completing it's work. Vedhagan on the other hand obstructs proceedings and as an illustration Jupiter sitting in the rasi of Sun which is Leo can act as a hurdle and prevent Jupiter from getting it's results fulfilled.

⇒ Kala Pagai Dasa - Planetary Time Periods based on Life
There are certain planetary Dasa's which are said to create problems when they come within a certain age. There are also some sub periods which are said to be troublesome portions when a Dasa is operating. Lets look at the Dasa's which create problems when they occur during a particular lifespan

0 years to 2 years - Saturn Dasa
2 years to 11 years - Rahu Dasa
11 years to 18 years - Sun Dasa
18 years to 34 years - Moon Dasa
34 years to 52 years - Venus Dasa
52 years to 68 years - Ketu Dasa
68 years to 100 years - Mercury Dasa

We will now see the Antar Dasa's which magnify the issues when a particular Dasa is operating. In general it is said that the first sub period is not expected to produce favorable results but there are also specific other periods within a Dasa causing unfavorable time span on account of Kala Pagai which is planetary enmity.

Sun Dasa - Venus Antar Dasa
Moon Dasa - Jupiter Antar Dasa
Mars Dasa - Saturn Antar Dasa
Mercury Dasa - Rahu Antar Dasa
Jupiter Dasa - Mercury Antar Dasa
Venus Dasa - Sun Antar Dasa
Saturn Dasa - Mars Antar Dasa
Rahu Dasa - Mercury Antar Dasa
Ketu Dasa - Saturn Antar Dasa

There is also a concept of Maraka Dasa which can cause a killing impact on the native based on the sequence of Dasa. Listed briefly are the Dasa planets causing this effect based on the sequence.
4th Dasa - Saturn
5th Dasa - Mars
6th Dasa - Jupiter
7th Dasa - Rahu

All these are supposed to create problematic effects to the native based on the operation and sequence. It's not specifically mentioned to which Dasa this applies but this should be taken into account only with respect to the Vimshottari Dasa scheme of things.

⇒ Graha Bala - Planetary Strength
As per this concept, Ketu is said to be the strongest planet of all followed by its opposite nodal point Rahu. Then follows the luminaries Sun, Moon followed by the 5 planets Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Saturn

The planetary strength for the 9 planets work in the following order:
Ketu -> Rahu -> Sun -> Moon -> Venus -> Jupiter -> Mercury -> Mars -> Saturn

⇒ Graha Paarvai - Planetary Aspect
In common parlance, the outer planets Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are said to possess extra aspects apart from the default 7th aspect whereas the inner planets namely Venus, Mercury, Moon and Sun are said to obtain only the 7th aspect. With regard to Rahu & Ketu however there is a major consensual debate with Tamil Astrology alone adopting 3rd & 11th aspect whereas significant mention of aspects for the nodes have been said that they either possess no aspect or hold aspect similar to Jupiter in the sense of owning the 5th and 9th view. There is also a mention in an old Tamil classic called "Jothida Arichuvadai" translated as System of Jyotish that exhibits a sloka interpreting Grahas to have special (Vichitra) aspects for certain planets apart from the default 7th aspect. Here even Mandi the son of Saturn is said to be possessing a forward and backward sight viz 2nd and 12th aspect.

The planetary aspects for the 9 planets work in the following way:

Sun - 3rd, 7th and 10th Aspect
Moon - 7th Aspect
Mars - 4th, 7th and 8th Aspect
Mercury - 7th Aspect
Jupiter - 5th, 7th and 9th Aspect
Venus - 6th, 7th and 8th Aspect
Saturn - 3rd, 7th and 10th Aspect
Rahu - 3rd, 7th and 11th Aspect
Ketu - 3rd, 7th and 11th Aspect

Ascertaining Influence in Planetary Conjunctions!

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 1º 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