KarMA Theory

The Karma theory, which has deep roots in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain religious philosophies, is based on cause-and-effect principles and ties in deeply to explain the laws of existence. It loosely means “action”. The word karma is often misinterpreted in the western world as ‘divine reward’ or ‘retribution of one’s bad actions’, which is a very shallow interpretation of this much deeper philosophy.

We are constantly performing actions through our bodies and minds and these actions produce effects (like ripples in a pond) which collect in a larger karma repository. These actions can be wholesome (punya) or unwholesome (paap). According to the karma theory, this process goes on lifetime from lifetime. This huge repository of accumulated or earned karma is called “sanchita karma”.

At the end of a bodily life cycle, but prior to the beginning of a new life cycle, a subset of “sanchita karma” which has matured and is ready for fruition becomes the cause of a new life cycle. This subset of karma is called “ prarabdha karma”. The ripened wholesome deeds (punya) in the mix of prarabhdha helps experience “sukha” or happiness, and the ripened unwholesome deeds (paap) causes the experience of “dukha” or misery.

The actions or karmas performed in reaction to the experience of “sukha” and “dukha” either resolves or recreates new karmas. The process of accumulation and resolution of karmas will continue to eternity until we effectively exhaust all of our stock. Since the karma cycle drives the life cycle— the cycle of life and death —happiness and misery also continues with it. The net zeroing of this repository is the ultimate state of bliss known as “nirvana”.

Vedic Astrology (jyotish) peers into the prarabdha to gain insights into the karmic destiny of a person.

HOROSCOPE AND ASTRONOMY

So how do we peer into the Prarabdha ? We need a medium. The vedic sages tell us that the observable cosmos become that medium. The position and movement of planets in the backdrop of fixed stars at the time of a person’s birth is the window to one’s Prarabdha karma. The snapshot of the heavens from the latitude and longitude of the place of birth at the time of birth is then represented in the horoscope or birth chart of an individual.

The picture above of a horoscope shows how a three dimensional view of the heavens is represented in the two dimensions of a north Indian chart/horoscope. Each of the triangles/diamonds representing 30 degrees of the heavens. The chart is divided into 12 equal divisions to cover the 360 degree of space. Each division is unique and is representative of certain themes of life. The 9 planets in this 360 degree space are mapped into the horoscope. The birth time and place is unique to every individual and hence most people will have a completely unique birth chart with the planets in certain divisions of the horoscope.

The skill and knowledge of an astrologer is in their ability to read the codified karmic patterns in an individual’s horoscope.

Building Blocks of Jyotish

They say it can take several lifetimes to master the science and art of Jyotish. It is only possible to gain precision when someone has a pure and creative mind, the guidance of an established teacher, and is willing to persevere to truly understand this knowledge with sincere effort. It is not surprising that it is not easy to see the unseeable flow of karma in the fine tapestry of a human life. However, for beginners, the building blocks of Jyotish can be categorized as the grahas (planets), bhavas (houses), and rashis (signs).

GRAHAS

Loosely and symbolically understood to be the Planets, the word literally means “seizers” or something that seizes (takes over). There are 9 grahas in Jyotish, which are comprised of the luminaries, Sun and Moon, the 5 visible planets, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, and two nodes, Rahu and Ketu.

The grahas have qualities attributed to them which symbolize personality traits, relationships, mundane world objects, as well as all living things. All inanimate objects and creatures in our world can be categorized or attributed with the symbolism of a graha.

For example, the Sun represents leadership, the father, rules magnificent buildings, controls professions related to metals, rules the summer season, rules fire, red lotus and tall trees like pine, etc. Similarly there are hundreds of meanings of each graha and they need to be memorized for connecting the dots during interpretation of a chart.

BHAVAS

The bhavas are the divisions or houses which represent life themes and the space where the planetary energies act on. As mentioned previously, the 360 degree space of the heavens can be divided into 12 zones— also called the 12 houses or bhavas.

The bhavas also have inherent energies in their spaces and these energies usually tie into the themes of life that they represent. There are positive bhavas and negative bhavas. For example, the 9th house, or 9th bhava, represents positive themes like fortune, travel, father or guru, and is the most important house for Dharma (natural law). On the other hand, the 8th house, or 8th bhava, represents not-so-pleasant themes of scandal, litigation, bankruptcy, chronic disease and accidents.

Nothing is absolute in Jyotish, therefore it is important to remember that these themes are broadly subjective. Disease might sound all negative but to a doctor it is their profession—the 8th house produces some deep researchers and thinkers.

RASHIS

Rashis are the signs or the zodiacal constellations. They further flavor the energies of the planets. Rashis overap with the Bhavas as they are also about 30 degrees each and pretty much each bhava holds one rashi. For example, in a person’s horoscope the first house could be Capricorn followed by the second house, which would be the next zodiacal constellation, Aquarius.

The grahas or planets will act differently depending on which rashi they are in. Since there are lordships/ownerships of planets which are rashi based, this becomes an important concept. For example, Aries is ruled by Mars and hence when Mars occupies Aries it is in its own space and will act stronger, bringing in Arian qualities of Mars.

Rashis are categorized by elements of fire, air, water and earth. They can also be categorized based on movements like fixed, moveable or dual.