According to Dr. B. V. Raman's book
"Studies in Jaimini Astrology" from 1950, considerable importance
is given to Niryana Shoola Dasa
by Jaimini-Scholars. However, the explanations by commentators regarding the
method and scope of calculating were vague, and Dr. B. V. Raman therefore
decided to give the most popular method:
Quote:
"If the Lagna is an odd sign, the Dasa must start
from the Lagna. If the Lagna is an even sign, the Dasa starts from the 7th
house. The order is direct or converse according as the Lagna is odd or even.
The duration of each Dasa is 9 years".
I used this method of calculating Niryana
Shoola Dasa for many years, and I got some good results from it. Also I observed
that this Dasa-system can be profitably used for all kinds of predictions
both good and bad, and since it was also very easy and fast to use I soon
became very fond of it.
There was however a little doubt in
my mind that something important was missing somewhere, and this feeling motivated
me to take a close look into the Jaimini-Sutras
myself to see if perhaps I could find out something more about this.
I found out that there are really many
sutras dealing with different kinds of Shoola
Dasas in Jaimini-Sutras. In some cases they were calculated from the different
Maraka-places and sometimes from the Karaka-planets. But they all had two
things in common:
1) They were of the duration of 9 years
each.
2) They moved forewards and backwards
in case of odd and even signs.
Up to this point my findings very much
confirmed the method given by the late Dr. B. V. Raman. It was only when I
found two sutras one-by-one dealing exclusively with Niryana Shoola Dasa that
all my doubts were cleared.
Suddenly I realized how Niryana Shoola
Dasa should be calculated and not only that. There was also an important hint
about a peculiar way of using it for predictive purpose.
Adhyaya 2, pada 4:
Sutra 16: Niryanalabhadishooladasaphale.
"In predicting results, the 7th
from the Niryana Shoola Dasa should be taken first into account".
Sutra 17: Purushesamahsamanyatah.
"If the Arambha or commencing [Niryana Shoola] Dasa falls in a masculine sign,
then the subsequent Rasi Dasas will be counted regularly and each Dasa gets
9 years only".
MY NOTES:
In sutra 17 we are being told that
in case of odd signs the dasas are direct and each dasa gets 9 years. But
we are not being told anything about counting the dasas from the 7th house
in case of even signs. Only in the translators own personal notes on this
sutra we are being told to do so:
Quote:
If the commencing Dasa falls in a feminine sign then
the Dasas have to be counted from the 7th sign from it. In masculine horoscopes
the Arambha Dasa commences from Lagna. In feminine horoscopes it commences
from the 7th.
MY NOTES:
This may be either the translators
own opinion or it may perhaps come from some oral tradition that he knows
about. I don't know about that. I am however not convinced that it has anything
to do with Jaimini.
Then sutra 16 informs us that the 7th
house should be taken first into account in case of Niryana Shoola Dasa. But
still nothing special has been said about the 7th house in relation to the
even signs.
Turning the table
Perhaps there is a much simpler solution
to these two sutras. What if this 7th-house-business has nothing to do with
odd and even signs? Could it be, that Jaimini is really suggesting the possibility
of turning the table, so to speak, by judging the horoscope from both the
Lagna and from the 7th in case of Niryana Shoola Dasa?
Could it be a speciality of Niryana
Shoola Dasa to judge the effect of the dasa not only from the Dwara Rasi or running Dasa itself, but
also from the 7th house therefrom to get a qualified second opinion?
I think this is a very logical solution,
and I have sometimes by mistake calculated the Niryana Shoola Dasa "wrongly"
in case of even signs by starting from the Lagna itself. I got very nice results
from this anyway. Then I have also seen some cases of the Ascendant being
in an odd sign, where the picture
became even clearer when judged from the 7th house.
Calculating Niryana Shoola Dasa
Based on this interpretation of sutra
16 and 17 and by ignoring the idea of counting the dasas from the 7th house
in case of even signs, I have concluded the following two simple rules about
Niryana Shoola Dasa:
1) Niryana Shoola Dasa always starts from the Ascendant running
forewards in case the Ascendant is an odd sign and backwards in case of an
even sign.
2) Each dasa-period runs for 9 years only.
No sub-periods
I have never seen anything indicating
Jaimini using sub-periods for the Dasa-systems having fixed periods like Sthira
Dasa and Niryana Shoola Dasa. I think sub-periods were only calculated in
case of Chara Dasa and the other
Dasa-systems based on that particular method of counting the years.
In connection to Sthira Dasa and Niryana
Shoola Dasa I am of the impression that Jaimini used Navamsa-Dasa for precise timings. I think
the very word Navamsa has a double meaning here by indicating the dividing
of not only the Rashi but also its Shoola-dasa-period by 9. Therefore the
period of each Navamsa-dasa will be ONE YEAR only.
However, the Sthira Dasa starts from the SIGN occupied by the Brahma-planet, and
when used in connection to Sthira Dasa the Navamsa Dasa should start from
the NAVAMSA occupied by the Brahma-planet.
Navamsa Dasa
In case of Niryana Shoola Dasa on the
other hand I believe there may be an additional solution. It seems logical
to assume that the Navamsa Dasa could also start from the Navamsa occupied by the Ascendant itself. This means we get two different
kinds of Navamsa Dasa. But then of course this whole thing becomes a very
delicate matter, since a minor error in the birthtime of only a few minutes
may give a completely different Navamsa-Lagna.
Anyway, this opens a very interesting
area of research regarding rectification of the birthtime, since Navamsa-Dasa
seems to be a very effective tool. It is however a diffecult subject for research,
since much depends on very accurate birth-data. It is very easy to go wrong,
and it can be very time-consuming if one has to verify not only the sign of
the Ascendant itself but also each one of the nine possible navamsas of the
ascending sign.
In case of doubt it may be a good idea
to play it safe by counting the Navamsa Dasas from the Navamsa occupied by
the Brahma-planet, as I have described earlier in connection to Sthira Dasa.
Transit Saturn
There seems to be a very interesting
relationship between transit Saturn and the Niryana Shoola Dasa. At first
I didn't believe this, but then little by little I came to realize the obviousness
of the truth in this. Please observe the following sutra very closely:
(Adhyaya 2, pada 4)
Sutra 33: Thathatsanavapiveditavyamityekeacharyavadanti.
"Some Acharyas say that all the
results which have been ascribed to planets and signs in the previous sutras
[Adh. 2, pada 4] may also be predicted with reference to Sani and his position".
MY NOTES:
I far as I have seen, nobody has ever
given any kind of serious consideration to the importance of this sutra. It
is one of the very last sutras in a chapter exclusively dealing with different
Dasa-systems including the Niryana Shoola Dasa.
I think this sutra is about transit
Saturn, and I think Jaimini is hinting at the possibility of using transit
Saturn in connection to at least one of the Dasa-Systems in particular mentioned
in that chapter. I believe the Niryana Shoola Dasa to be exactly that Dasa-system,
and I have got some very nice results from this.
Rules of judgment
When dealing with Niryana Shoola Dasa
one has to be aware of a few peculiar rules of Jaimini regarding the planets
(and transit-Saturn) and their relation to the 12 houses from the running
Niryana Shoola Dasa:
1) It either works in trines, meaning
when the planet is 1st-5th-9th from a given house.
2) Or it works by the special Jaimini-aspects,
which I have already described earlier.
Predicting marriage and children
I like to illustrate the sophisticated
use of transit Saturn in combination with Niryana Shoola Dasa by way of an
example, and I like to employ the same example-horoscope as I have used earlier
in case of Chara Dasa, Sthira Dasa and Navamsa Dasa.
Male Person, born December 31st, 1957,
Time: 04:00PM, Zone: 1:00
Copenhagen, longitude: 12E35, Latitude:
55N42, Lahiri Ayanamsa.
Asc
20:55 Gem
Sun
16:24 Sgt
Moon
13:01 Ari
Mars
12:40 Sco
Merc
03:46 Sgt R
Jup
05:16 Lib
Ven
21:54 Cap
Sat
26:07 Sco
Rahu
15:25 Lib
Ketu
15:25 Ari
This man was married and got his first
child (a daughter) at the age of 25 when Saturn was transitting in Libra.
Leo-Dasa
The person was born in the Gemini-Ascendant
(odd sign) and counting forewards the period of 9 years for each sign we get
the running Niryana Shoola Dasa at
that time as Leo.
When people are being married or starting
important relationships then I have often observed transit Saturn being trinal
(1st-5th-9th) from either the 1st or the 7th house from the running Niryana
Shoola Dasa. Please observe that in this horoscope Saturn by transitting in
Libra is actually trinal from the 7th house of Aquarius.
Indications like this should however
always be double-checked by other methods such as Chara Dasa and its sub-periods
or combined Sthira Dasa and Navamsa Dasa. Also please remember never to go
against the indication of the natal chart. If it is clearly the chart of a
bachelor then perhaps one should not be too entusiastic about predicting marriage!
In case of childbirth I have often
observed Saturn to be either transiting the 5th-lord or aspecting the 5th-lord
from the running Niryana Shoola Dasa by the special Jaimini-aspects. Please
observe that in this case Saturn is transitting in Libra occupied by Jupiter,
being the 5th-lord from Leo, the running Niryana
Shoola Dasa.
The predictions about children should
also be double-checked with the other Dasa-systems, and here again one should
not go against the indication of the natal chart.