Grahas and Nakṣatras in the Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa

Jyotiṣa is the traditional Indian science of the lights of the sky: the grahas (planets) and the nakṣatras (lunar mansions, the 27 or 28 star groups the Moon passes through). The Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa has a long section on it, in which Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi teaches King Vajra.

The teaching covers the sixty-year cycle of years (saṃvatsara) with its five-year groups (khaṇḍa-yugas) and their ruling devatās; the devatās who preside over every unit of time (the seasons, months, fortnights, tithis, nakṣatras, grahas and muhūrtas); the six-fold division of the lagna (horā, drekkāṇa, navāṃśa, dvādaśāṃśa and triṃśāṃśa); how Jupiter’s passage through the nakṣatras affects the results of each year; how the positions of the planets affect directions and countries; and the reading of a person’s life through the birth nakṣatra and the nakṣatras linked to it. The section then leads into graha-śānti pūjā, when Vajra asks how the pīḍā (trouble) caused by grahas and nakṣatras can be removed through pūjā.

The Sixty-Year Cycle of Years

Each of the four great yugas (ages) has a presiding devatā: Vāsudeva for the Kṛta Yuga, Saṅkarṣaṇa for the Tretā Yuga, Pradyumna for the Dvāpara Yuga and Aniruddha for the Kali Yuga. Within the Kali Yuga in which we now live, time is also counted in a cycle of sixty years (ṣaṣṭi-saṃvatsara-cakra). Five saṃvatsaras (years) make one khaṇḍa-yuga, and twelve khaṇḍa-yugas of five years each make the full sixty-year cycle.

The twelve khaṇḍa-yugas and their presiding devatās:

1. Viṣṇu-khaṇḍa: Prabhava, Vibhava, Śukla, Pramoda, Prajāpati. All are auspicious.
2. Bṛhaspati-khaṇḍa: Āṅgirasa (Śrīmukha), Bhāva, Yuva, Dhātā. The first three are auspicious.
3. Śakra-khaṇḍa: Īśvara, Bahudhānya, Pramāthin, Vikrama, Vṛṣa. The first two are auspicious.
4. Vahni-khaṇḍa: Citrabhānu, Svabhānu, Tāraṇa, Vārida, Avyaya. The second is inauspicious.
5. Tvaṣṭṛ-khaṇḍa: Sarvajit, Sarvadhārin, Virodhī, Vikṛti, Khara. The second is auspicious.
6. Ahirbudhnya-khaṇḍa: Nandana, Vijaya, Jaya, Manmatha (Kāma), Durmukha. The first three bring benefit.
7. Pitṛ-khaṇḍa: Hemalambin, Vilambi, Vikārin, Śārvarī, Plava. The fifth is auspicious.
8. Viśvedeva-khaṇḍa: Śobhavat, Śubhakṛt, Krodhī, Viśvāvasu, Parāvasu. The second and fifth are auspicious.
9. Candra-khaṇḍa: Plavaṅga, Kīlaka, Saumya, Soma, Rodhakṛt. The first and second are auspicious.
10. Indrāgni-khaṇḍa: Dhanavat, Mathana, Vīra, Rākṣasa, Anala. All are auspicious.
11. Aśvinī-khaṇḍa: Piṅgala, Kālayukta, Siddhārtha, Raudra, Durmati. The fourth is auspicious.
12. Bhaga-khaṇḍa: Dundubhi, Aṅgāraka, Rakta, Krodhana, Kṣaya. All are auspicious, the fifth especially so.

The sixty-year cycle begins in the bright fortnight (śukla pakṣa) of Māgha, when Sūrya (the Sun) and Candra (the Moon) are in the nakṣatra Jyeṣṭhā together with Guru (Jupiter). The remainder when sixty is divided by seven decides the lord of the weekday. After that, each year takes a yearly lord in turn from the sequence Sūrya, Śukra, Budha, Candra, Śani, Guru, Kuja. Each year’s lord comes with a companion nāga (serpent being), a yakṣa and a gandharva.

The Devatās of the Divisions of Time

Seasons and Months

The uttarāyaṇa (the Sun’s northward half-year) belongs to the devas. The dakṣiṇāyana (the southward half-year) belongs to the pitṛ-devatās (the honoured ancestors). The six ṛtus (seasons) and their presiding devatās are: Vasanta (spring) – Agni; Grīṣma (summer) – Śakra (Indra); Varṣā (rains) – the Viśvedevas; Śarat (autumn) – Prajāpati; Hemanta (early winter) – Viṣṇu; Śiśira (late winter) – Vāyu.

Each month has one presiding devatā for its bright fortnight (śukla pakṣa) and another for its dark fortnight (kṛṣṇa pakṣa):

Grahas and Nakṣatras

Each graha has a presiding devatā: Sūrya – Agni; Candra – Varuṇa; Kuja (Mars) – Kumārasvāmī; Budha (Mercury) – Hari; Guru (Jupiter) – Śakra; Śukra (Venus) – Pārvatī Devī; Śani (Saturn) – Prajāpati; Rāhu – Gaṇādhipati; Ketu – Viśvakarmā.

The devatās of the nakṣatras:

Tithis and Their Devatās

A tithi is a day of the lunar calendar. From Pratipad (the first tithi) through Pūrṇimā (full moon) and on into the dark fortnight, the presiding devatās are: Brahmā, Prajāpati, Viṣṇu, Yama, Soma, Kumāra, the Seven Ṛṣis (Kaśyapa, Atri, Bharadvāja, Viśvāmitra, Gautama, Jamadagni and Vasiṣṭha), the Eight Manus, Piśācadharma, the Eleven Rudras, the Twelve Ādityas, Kāmadeva, the Yakṣas and the Pitṛs.

Karaṇas

A karaṇa is half a tithi. The eleven karaṇas are Bava, Bālava, Kaulava, Taitila, Gara (Garaja), Vaṇij, Viṣṭi, Śakuni, Catuṣpāt, Nāga and Kiṃstughna. The last four, from the second half of the dark-fortnight Caturdaśī (fourteenth tithi) onward, are the sthira-karaṇas (fixed karaṇas). The other seven are the cara-karaṇas (moving karaṇas). Viṣṭi karaṇa, also called Bhadrā, is to be avoided for all auspicious work.

Horās and Muhūrtas

One ahorātra (a full day and night) has twenty-four horās, each lasting two and a half ghaṭikās (a ghaṭikā is 24 minutes). The first horā of Sunday is ruled by Sūrya. The other lords follow in the order Sūrya, Śukra, Budha, Candra, Śani, Guru, Kuja. The Kulikā period within each horā is inauspicious for every kind of act.

Each ahorātra also has thirty muhūrtas: fifteen by day and fifteen by night.

• Devatās of the day muhūrtas: the Rudras, the Sarpas, Mitra, the Pitṛs, the Vasus, Jala, the Viśvedevas, Abhijit, Brahmā, Varuṇa, Indra, Indrāgni, Nirṛti, Varuṇa, Aryamā-Bhaga.
• Devatās of the night muhūrtas: Śiva, Ajaikapāt, Ahirbudhnya, Śūṣa, the Aśvins, Yama, Agni, Brahmā, Soma, Āditya, Bṛhaspati, Viṣṇu, Sūrya, Tvaṣṭā, Vāyu.

The Six Divisions of the Lagna

In every ahorātra all twelve rāśis (signs of the zodiac) rise in turn on the eastern horizon. The rising sign at any moment is called the lagna, and each lagna lasts about five ghaṭikās. Six kinds of division are used to judge whether a time is auspicious or not (śubhāśubha):

1. Lagna: the rāśi rising on the eastern horizon at a given moment. The lords are Kuja (Meṣa), Śukra (Vṛṣabha), Budha (Mithuna), Candra (Karkaṭa), Sūrya (Siṃha), Budha (Kanyā), Śukra (Tulā), Kuja (Vṛścika), Guru (Dhanus), Śani (Makara), Śani (Kumbha) and Guru (Mīna).
2. Horā: half the time of a lagna, about two and a half ghaṭikās. In the odd lagnas (Meṣa, Mithuna, Siṃha, Tulā, Dhanus, Kumbha) the first horā belongs to Sūrya and the second to Candra. In the even lagnas, the first belongs to Candra and the second to Sūrya.
3. Drekkāṇa: one-third of a lagna. The first drekkāṇa belongs to the lord of the lagna itself, the second to the lord of the fifth sign from it, and the third to the lord of the ninth sign from it.
4. Navāṃśa: one-ninth of a lagna. It is counted from Meṣa for the fire signs (Meṣa, Siṃha, Dhanus), from Makara for the earth signs (Vṛṣabha, Kanyā, Makara), from Tulā for the air signs (Mithuna, Tulā, Kumbha), and from Karkaṭa for the water signs (Karkaṭa, Vṛścika, Mīna).
5. Dvādaśāṃśa: one-twelfth of a rāśi. Its lord is the same as the lord of that rāśi.
6. Triṃśāṃśa: the thirty degrees of a rāśi, shared among the planets as follows.

Good and Bad Signs from the Grahas

The circle of nakṣatras is divided into three mārgas (paths) according to the Sun’s movement: Airāvata (northern), Vaiśvānara (southern) and Jaratkāva (middle). Each mārga has three vīthīs (lanes). Planets in the northern path are auspicious, and those in the Vaiśvānara path are inauspicious. When planets move through the Nāgavīthī shining brightly, all good things come. When they move through the Vaiśvānara path with dimmed light, every kind of harm follows.

When any graha crosses the Rohiṇī-śakaṭa (the “cart” formed by the five stars of Rohiṇī), especially when it passes more than two degrees south of the ecliptic while moving through the first seventeen degrees of Vṛṣabha, great destruction comes to the people of the land.

The malefic (harmful) grahas are Śani, Aṅgāraka (Kuja), Sūrya, the waning Candra, Budha when joined with malefics, and Rāhu and Ketu. The rest are benefic (helpful). Some nakṣatras bring suffering to people in the west: Rohiṇī, Kṛttikā, Maghā, Śravaṇa and Anurādhā. Planets in the eastern nakṣatras harm the kings of the east; those in the middle nakṣatras harm the kings of the middle lands; and those in the western nakṣatras harm the kings of the west.

Unusual planetary movement is a sign of great disaster for people in the direction where it is seen: moving too fast or too slow, suddenly vanishing from a clear sky, or seeming to give off smoke or flames. When all the grahas sit in alternate nakṣatras, it is called Mālā-yoga, which harms the kings and people of the Madhyadeśa (the central lands). The Śṛṅgāṭaka, Prāsa, Cakra, Dhanus and Vajra yogas in the movement of the grahas each have their own seasonal results.

When eclipses of both the Sun and the Moon happen in the same month, it is auspicious for the common varṇas (social orders) but inauspicious for brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas. When Śani passes through nakṣatras linked to a king’s birth, that king is in danger.

Graha-yuddha (war between planets): Rāhu, Ketu, Kuja, Śukra and Candra are the yāyī (“attacking”) grahas. Budha, Guru, Śani and Sūrya are the nāgara (“city”, or defending) grahas. When an attacking graha defeats a defending graha in planetary war, the kings allied with the attacking graha win. When a defending graha defeats an attacking one, the kings on its side win in the same way.

Nakṣatras in a Person’s Life

For each person, the janma-nakṣatra (the nakṣatra the Moon was in at birth) and several linked nakṣatras carry particular meanings for life:

• Janma-nakṣatra (birth nakṣatra): if afflicted, loss of money
• Mānasa (4th from the birth nakṣatra): if afflicted, trouble of the mind
• Karma (10th from birth): if afflicted, loss of one’s work or calling
• Saṅghātaka (16th): if afflicted, harm to body, wealth and relatives
• Sāmudāyika (20th): if afflicted, friends, servants and wealth decline
• Vaināśika (13th): if afflicted, body and wealth are destroyed
• Ābhiṣeka (the nakṣatra of coronation, for kings only): if afflicted, loss of the kingdom
• Deśa-nakṣatra (nakṣatra of the country): if afflicted, trouble for the country and the city
• Jāti-nakṣatra: if afflicted, the king suffers illness

The nakṣatras are also linked with the four varṇas:

Sources

• Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 82
• Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 83
• Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 84
• Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapters 85–86
• Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 87