Chapter 3.

Planetary Characters and Description

1. Maitreya: "O Sage, you have affectionately explained about the planetary incarnations. Now kindly detail their characters and dispositions."

2-3. Parasara: "O Brahmin, listen to the account of placement of the heavenly bodies. Out of the many luminous bodies sighted in the skies, some are stars; yet some are planets (i.e. Grahas). Those that have no movements are the Nakshatras (or asterisms).

4-6. Those are called planets (or Grahas) that move through the Nakshatras (or asterisms) in the zodiac. The said zodiac comprises of 27 asterisms commencing from Aswini. The same area is divided in 12 parts equal to 12 Rasis (or signs) commencing from Aries. The names of the planets commence from the Sun. The sign rising is known as Lagna (or the ascendant). Based on the ascendant and the planets joining and departing from each other, the native's good and bad effects are deduced.

7. Details (of astronomical nature) of stars be understood by general rules while I narrate to you about the effects of planets and signs.

8-9. The positions of the planets for a given time be taken as per Drikganita. And with the help of Rasi durations applicable to the respective places, the ascendant at birth should be known. Now I tell you about the castes, descriptions, and dispositions of the planets.

10. NAME OF PLANETS:
The names of the nine planets respectively are: the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu, and Ketu.

11. BENEFICS AND MALEFICS:
Among these, the Sun, Saturn, Mars, decreasing Moon, Rahu, and Ketu (the ascending and descending nodes of the Moon) are malefics while the rest are benefics. Mercury, however, is a malefic if he joins a malefic.
 
12-13. PLANETARY GOVERNANCES:
The Sun is the soul of all. The Moon is the mind. Mars is one's strength. Mercury is speech-giver while Jupiter confers Knowledge and happiness. Venus governs semen (potency) while Saturn denotes grief.

14-15. PLANETARY CABINET:
Of royal status are the Sun and the Moon while Mars is the army chief. Prince-apparent is Mercury. The ministerial planets are Jupiter and Venus. Saturn is a servant. Rahu and Ketu form the planetary army.

16-17. PLANETARY COMPLEXIONS:
The Sun is blood-red. The moon is tawny. Mars who is not very tall is blood-red while Mercury's hue is akin to that of green grass. Tawny, variegated, and dark are Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn in their order.

18. PLANETARY DIETIES:
Fire (Agni), Water (Varuna), Subrahmanya (Lord Siva's son following Ganesa), Maha Vishnu, Indra, Sachi Devi (the consort of Lord Indra) and Brahma are the presiding deities of the 7 planets in their order.

19. SEX OF THE PLANETS:
Mercury and Saturn are neuters. The Moon and Venus are females while the Sun, Mars and Jupiter are males.

20. PRIMORDIAL COMPOUNDS:
The Pancha Bhootas, viz. fire, earth ether, water, and air are respectively governed by Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn..

21. PLANETARY CASTES:
Jupiter and Venus are Brahmins. The Sun is a royal planet while the Moon and Mercury belong to commercial community. Saturn rules the Sudra (4th caste).

22. SATWIC PLANETS
are the luminaries and Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury are Rajasik, while Mars and Saturn are Tamasic planets.

 *DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PLANETS:
SURYA
23. The Sun's eyes are honey-colored. He has a square body. He is of clean habits, bilious, intelligent, and has limited hair on (his head).

CHANDRA
24. The Moon is very windy and phlegmatic. She is learned and has a round body. She has auspicious looks and sweet speech, is fickle-minded and very lustful.

MANGALA
25. Mars has blood -red eyes, is fickle-minded, liberal, bilious, given to anger, and has thin waist and thin physique.

BUDDHI
26. Mercury is endowed with an attractive physique and the capacity to use words with many meanings. He is fond of jokes. He has a mix of all the three humors.

GURU
27. Jupiter has a big body, tawny hair and tawny eyes, is phlegmatic, intelligent, and leaned in all sastras.

SUKRA
28. Venus is charming, has a splendorous physique, is excellent or great in disposition, has charming eyes, is a poet, is phlegmatic and windy, and has curly hair.

SANI
29. Saturn has an emaciated and long physique, has tawny eyes, is windy in temperment, has big teeth, is indolent and lame, and has coarse hair.
 
NODES - DESCRIPTION OF RAHU AND KETU
30. Rahu has smoky appearance with a blue-mix physique. He resides in forests and is horrible. He is windy in temperment and is intelligent. Ketu is akin to Rahu.

 OTHER CHARACTERISTICS:
31. PRIMARY INGREDIENTS ( OR SAPTA DHATUS)
Bones, blood, marrow, skin, fat, semen, and muscles are respectively denoted by the planets from the Sun etc.

32. PLANETARY ABODES:
Temple, watery place, place of fire, sport-ground, treasure-house, bedroom, and filthy ground: these are respectively the abodes for the seven planets from the Sun onward.

33. PLANETARY PERIODS:
Ayana, Muhurtha, a day (consisting day and night), Ritu, month, fortnight, and year: These are the period allotted to the planets from the Sun to Saturn.

34. PLANETARY TASTES:
Pungent, saline, bitter, mixed, sweet, aciduous, and astringent are respectively tastes lorded by the Sun to Saturn respectively.

35-38. PLANETARY STRENGTHS:
Strong in the east are Mercury and Jupiter. The Sun and Mars are so in the south while Saturn is the only planet that derives strength in the west. The Moon and Venus are endowed with vigor when in the north. Again, strong during night are the Moon, Mars, and Saturn while Mercury is strong during day and night. The rest (i.e. Jupiter, the Sun, and Venus) are strong only in day time. During the dark half malefics are strong. Benefics acquire strength in the bright half of the months. Malefics and benefics are respectively strong in Dakshinayana and Uttaryana. The lords of the year, month, day, and Hora (planetary hour) are stronger than the other in ascending order. Again stronger than the other in the ascending are Saturn, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, the Moon, and the Sun.

39-40. RELATED TO TREES:
The Sun rules strong trees (i.e. trees with stout trunks). Saturn useless trees, the Moon milky trees (like rubber yielding plants), Mars bitter ones (like lemon plants), Venus floral plants, Jupiter fruitful ones, and Mercury fruitless ones.

41-44. OTHER MATTERS:
Rahu rules the outcaste while Ketu governs mixed caste. Saturn and the nodes indicate anthill. Rahu denotes multicolored clothes and Ketu rags. Lead and blue gems belong to Rahu and Ketu. Jupiter, Venus, the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn in their order govern saffron, silken, red silken, white silken, black silken, red, and multi-colored robes.

45-46. PLANETARY SEASONS:
Vasanta, Greeshma, Varsh, Sarad, Hemanta, and Sisira are the six Ritus respectively governed by Venus, Mars, Moon, Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn. Rahu and Ketu denote 8 months and 3 months respectively.

47. DHATU, MOOLA, AND JEEVA DIVISIONS:
Dhatu planets are Rahu, Mars, Saturn, and the Moon while the Sun and Venus are Moola planets. Mercury, Jupiter, and Ketu rule Jeevas.

48. SATURN
Out of all the planets Saturn is the eldest (i.e. with the highest age). He bestows maximum number of years in Naisargika Dasa.

49-50. EXHALTATION AND DEBILITATION:
for the seven planets from the Sun on, the signs of exaltation are respectively Aries, Taurus, Capricorn, Virgo, Cancer, Pisces, and Libra. The deepest exaltation degrees are respectively 10, 3, 28, 15, 5, 27 and 20 (in those signs). The same degrees of deep exaltation apply to deep fall.

51-54. ADDITIONAL DIGNITIES:
In Leo the first 20 degress are the Sun's Moolatrikona while the rest is his own house. After the first 3 degrees of exaltation portion in Taurus, for the Moon the rest is her Moolatrikona. Mars has the first 12 degrees in Aries as Moolatrikona with the rest therein becoming simply his own house. For Mercury, in Virgo the first 15 degrees are exaltation zone, the next 5 degrees Moolatrikona and the last 10 degrees are own house. The first one third of Sagittarius is the Moolatrikona of Jupiter while, the remaining part thereof is his own house. Venus divides Libra into two halves keeping the first as Moolatrikona and the second as own house. Saturn's arrangements are same in Aquarius as the Sun has in Leo.
 
RELATIONSHIPS OF PLANETS
55. NATURAL RELATIONSHIPS:
Note the signs which are the 4th, 2nd, 12th, 5th, 9th, and the 8th from the Moolatrikona of a planet. The planets ruling such signs are its friend, apart from the lord of its exaltation sign lords other than these are its enemies. If a planet becomes its friend as well as its enemy (on account of the said two computations) then it is neutral or equal.

Planet
Friends
Enemies
Neutral
Sun
Moon, Mars, Jupiter
Venus, Saturn
Mercury
Moon
Sun, Mercury
None
Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn
Mars
Sun, Moon, Jupiter
Mercury
Venus, Saturn
Mercury
Sun, Venus
Moon
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
Jupiter
Sun, Moon, Mars
Mercury, Venus
Saturn
Venus
Mercury, Saturn
Moon, Sun
Mars, Jupiter
Saturn
Mercury, Venus
Sun, Moon, Mars
Jupiter

56. TEMPORARY RELATIONSHIPS:
The planet posited in the 10th, 4th, 11th, 3rd, 2nd, or the 12th from another becomes mutual friend. There is enmity otherwise. (This applies to a given horoscope.)

57-58. COMPOUND RELATIONSHIP:
Should two planets be naturally and temporarily friendly, they become extremely friendly. Friendship on one count and neutrality on another count make them friendly. Enmity on one count combined with affinity on the other turns into equality. Enmity and neutralship cause only enmity. Should there be enmity in both manners, extreme enmity is obtained. The astrologer should consider these and declare horoscopic effect accordingly.

59-60. RATIO OF EFFECTS:
A planet in exaltation gives fully good effects while in Moolatrikona it is bereft of its auspicious effects by one fourth. It is half beneficial in its own house. Its beneficence is in one fourth in a friendly sign. In an egual's sign one eighth of auspicious disposition is useful. The good effects are nil in debilitation or enemy's camp. Inauspicious effects are quite reverse with reference to what is stated.
 
61-64. NON-LUMINOUS UPAGRAHAS:
Add 4 signs 13 degrees and 20 minutes of arc to the sun's longitude at a given moment to get the exact position of the all-inauspicious Dhooma. Reduce Dhooma from 12 signs to arrive at Vyatipata. Vyatipata is also inauspicious. Add six signs to Vyatipata to know the position of Parivesha. He is extremely inauspicious. Deduct Parivesha from 12 signs to arrive at the position of Chapa (Indra Dhanus) who is also inauspicious. Add 16 degress 40 minutes to Chapa which will give Ketu (Upaketu) who is a malefic. By adding a sign to Upaketu, you get the original longitude of the Sun. These are planets devoid of splendor which are malefics by nature and cause affliction.

65. EFFECTS OF SUB-PLANETS:
If one of these afflicts the Sun, the native's dynasty will decline while the Moon and the ascendant respectively associated with one of these will destroy the longevity and wisdom. So declared Lord Brahma, the lotus born.

 66-69. CALCULATIONS OF GULIKA ETC.
The portions of the Sun, etc. up to Saturn denote the periods of Gulika and others. Divide the day duration (of any week day) into eight equal parts. The eighth portion is lordless. The seven portions are distributed to the seven planets commencing from the lord of the week day. Whichever portion is ruled by Saturn will be the portion of Gulika. Similarly, make the night duration into eight equal parts and distribute these commencing from the 5th day lord. Here again the eighth portion is lordless while Saturn's portion is Gulika. The Sun's portion is Kala, Mars' portion is Mrityu, Jupiter's portion is Yamaghantaka, and Mercury's portion is Ardha Prahara. These (durations) differently apply to different places (commensurate with variable day and night durations).

70. GULIKA'S POSITION:
The degree ascending at the time of start of Gulika's portion (as above) will be the longitude of Gulika at a given place. Based on this longitude only, Gulika's effects for a particular nativity be estimated.

71-74. CALCULATION OF PRANAPADA:
Convert the given time into vighatikas and divide the same by 15. The resultant Rasi, degrees etc. be added to the Sun if he is in a moveable sign which will yield Paranapada. If the Sun is in a fixed sign, add 240 degrees additionally and if in dual sign add 120 degrees in furtherance to get Pranapada. The birth will be auspicious if Pranapda falls in the 2nd, 5th, 9th, 4th, 10th, or 11th from the natal ascendant. In other houses, Pranapada indicates an inauspicious birth.