Rahu - The Outsider

Rahu is a very mysterious character, to say the least. In principle, no graha is inherently good or otherwise, and merely reflects certain facets of the karma that the Atma accepted while incarnating. However, I have never heard much good being said about Rahu. Let me expound my views on Rahu, given the understanding that I have developed over the past year of the Rahu antardasha in my Lagnesh (Chandra) mahadasha.

To understand Rahu, one must understand the story about how he became immortal / died - at the very same time :) Both the devas and the rakshasas had worked equally hard to churn the ocean of milk. And many bounties came forth from that effort. Vishnu wedded Lakshmi and Shiva was implored to contain the poison! Finally, when the nectar emerged, Vishnu disguised himself as Mohini to deny the rakshasas their share.

Rahu recognized the fact that while Mohini was keeping them at bay with sweet smiles, the nectar was going to be finished before any Rakshas got his share. He was no fool. He decided to trick Vishnu, who was engaged in the process of sidestepping the rakshasas. Rahu, disguised himself as a deva and joined their ranks to drink the nectar that he so keenly desired. Vishnu recognized him, but was willing to play along, conceding that Rahu had seen through his ploy. Surya and Chandra however, exposed Rahu for what he was and Vishnu had to act quickly to slice off Rahu's head with the Sudarshan chakra. But the nectar had touched his throat and so he became immortal. He had met his end at the hands of Vishnu and so he also achieved Moksha (ketu) !!

Only the devas have the right to immortality and only humans have the right to moksha - but Rahu achieved both!! So think again before labelling him whatever you will :)

That is why I choose to think of Rahu as the quintessential outsider. He was a rakshas but lined up with the devas to get a share of the amrit. Why to people risk migrating to distant lands where they are treated as foreigners/outsiders? In some cases, to earn $$$ :) the modern day equivalent of amrit. It is a strong desire - whether for wealth, for knowledge, marriage, whatever that takes you away from "your" people and makes you an outsider in a different setting, group of people, foreign land or whatever. In order to get a promotion, you might switch companies and go through a period of being an outsider in a new employment setting - the net effect is the same - pure Rahu - Desire, hard work and risk!

It is important to know if you are in character as Rahu because of either your mahadasha/ antardasha or natal placement that people's reactions to you are not personal. Its because of your outsider status. As soon as they get to know you (you become an insider), the equation changes. With a natal placement, things are more challenging. Again, its because of fear of the unknown, lack of willingness to go beyond the comfort zone. On the flip side, you will probably bump into people who have a natal/gochar Venus conjunct Rahu who will co-operate with you, so you will have support!!

Rahu works on the principle stated by Jack Nicholson's character in The Departed - "No one's gonna give it to you, you gotta take it!" Vishnu wont give you the amrit, not unless you are a deva anyway. Rahu works very hard to get what he wants. It is very important to note that the area of the chart where Rahu resides - the effort is put in without protest. Because Rahu is desire, and no one complains about working - however hard it might be - to achieve their desires. The complains are reserved for houses occupied and aspected by Shani - where service is provided. Rahu is what you like, what you want - in some cases, desperately :)

I have read in many places that Rahu creates luck - I beg to differ. Rahu is lucky only becuase he puts in hard work and takes risks. Its just that the work doesnt seem that much of a burden. You are tirelessly churning the ocean of milk in the expectation of amrit. You mingle with your enemies - again for the amrit. Unfortunately, when you get the amrit, your head is sliced off :) !! Now there simply MUST be mitigation strategies for this!! Watch this space - there are still 5 months left in my Rahu antardasha. One thought that I must express here - Is it better to be beheaded after getting what you want, or have to come back for another incarnation because of unfulfilled desires? That is the question........

Rahu, as we know, is the great amplifier. He increases the power of the lord of the house where he sits, as well as the power of any grahas that conjoin him. When in conjunction who, among Rahu or the accompanying graha, dominates depends on whose degrees are higher. I have listed some yogas formed of Rahu conjunctions - dont get too wound up by the sanskrit names - Remember, overall effects depend on house, rashi, as well as house lordships :).

Surya-Rahu: Aditya Chandala yoga - (False) Ego identification with desire

Chandra-Rahu: Strong desire for the nakshatra significations of needy chandra

Mangal-Rahu: Vijay yoga - Desire for victory at any cost

Shukra-Rahu: The Asura, accompanied by his Guru - will inevitably desire/possess finer things in life

Shani-Rahu: Desire to restrict (self and/or others)

Guru-Rahu: Guru Chandala yoga - Use knowledge to release desires or misuse knowledge to expand desires.......

Budha-Rahu: Desire to reason/rationalize

With Rahu conjunct more than one graha, too complex to generalize :)

Shani - The Service Principle

Of all the grahas to talk about in jyotish, Shani is probably the least pleasant. However, with a stationary karka shani in lagna, I have borne his burdens (not uncomplainingly) more heavily than most. I am sure there is more to come. Supposedly however, his harshest effects are manifested by the completion of the first Saturn return. Shani has taught me many painful lessons and this is what I have to charitably say about him.

Surya represents the Atma which has agreed to incarnate in order to fulfill any remaining desires (Rahu) before it can attain moksha (ketu). While the Atma is essentially selfish in his objective for attaining moksha, he still needs to interact with other souls on this Earth. And Shani represents the interactions where the Atma provides service. Shani in Makar represents work done in service to one's ambition for public standing/or one's own clan, while Shani in Kumbh represents work done in the interest of service to humanity at large. Thus we can see that Shani has both extremely practical facets (earth sign) as well as high intellectual pretentions (air sign).

The sign and house that Shani occupies in the natal chart dictate the nature of service that the Atma has agreed to provide in the given lifetime. This comes with a caveat though - Shani represents detached, neutral service, free of guilt or any other emotion. So a karka Shani needs to put his emotions aside and focus on being detached while providing service. Another thing to note is that Chandra "is" (the ruler of karka rashi) and Shani "does". Shani is detached because it helps him to be prolific. By not getting emotionally involved, Shani in Kumbh can serve a 100 people in the same time that a messy, emotional Karka Shani spends in "being" the 3 people he is trying to serve. Similarly a Shani in Mangal's rashi can get confused as he tries to do Mangal's bidding (promoting Surya's svarth), which is at odds with his own innately humanitarian goals. Notice however, that there is no inherent difference in the action oriented nature of Shani and Mangal - Shani "does" and Mangal also "does". In Mesha rashi, Shani does selfish things under Mangal's command and hence he is debilitated - his self loathing knows no bounds!! The difference between a Makar shani is work done in service of one's karma (Makar is the 10th house of the cosmic Kalpurusha) whereas Mesha shani works in service of the ego (Mesha is the 1st house of the cosmic Kalpurusha).

Grahas too, can get tied up in knots depending on the sign they occupy!! The Atma, with help from Guru (dhi shakti) needs to attain the level of consciousness in order to fine tune the output. Once the Atma experiences a realization, the manas - chandra (which bathes in the reflected light of the atma) can be instructed to make the necessary changes.

Shani's drishti's - 3rd, 7th and 10th represent the areas of the chart where the service will be applied.

Shree Ganeshaya namah!

Jupiter is finally moving forward from his retrograde/stationary motion in Dhanu rashi - so as good a time as any to finally get started on my much (self) awaited jyotish blog.

I have been a student of Jyotish for about 12 years now - yes, Jupiter has come a full circle and now I feel compelled to actually start posting my thoughts/insights. And while we are talking about Gurus, a virtual namaskar to my father, who has successfully passed on his interest and knowledge in jyotish to both his sons, without any ostensible effort on his part.

The purpose of this blog is to record my observations and you the reader are welcome to provide feedback.