In Hindu astrology Rahu and Ketu are not physical planets but they are mathematical points which are included among the 9 planets influencing the human affairs. As per Sage Parashara the Rahu-Ketu ( nodes) gives the results of the houses where they are placed, the planets in conjunction with them and the planets giving aspect to them. Almost all the commentaries of Bhriat Parashara Hora Shastra , except the Mumbai edition of Shri Khemraj Krishna Das, doesn’t mention about the aspects of Rahu-Ketu. Interestingly the classical Hindu text has also not discussed about the results of planets in conjunction with Rahu and Ketu. The Sage Parashara, Varahamihira, Kalyanvarma, Mantrashaver, Vaidyanath Dikshita , Venkatasha Sharma etc. have not given the results of Rahu-Ketu’s conjunction with other planets. However many modern astrologers have their own interpretation about the conjunction of planets with Rahu and Ketu.
{ This article of mine was published in the April 2018 issue of the Express Start Teller Magazine. The same has been reproduce here for the readers of my blog }
My teacher Shri K.N. Rao use to make an interesting observation about the effects of Mercury-Ketu and Ketu-Mercury dashas during his classes. As per Shri K.N. Rao the Mercury-Ketu or Ketu-Mercury dasha may give humiliation and controversies . The dasha and anter dashas of closely associated Mercury-Ketu can bring extremely enigmatic changes in the life of a person. I have observed this in scores of horoscopes and find this rule working under certain conditions.
- Mercury is the karaka of intelligence and Ketu is the karaka of intuition their close conjunction receiving the influence of malefic planets Mars, Saturn and Sun can give humiliation and serious setbacks in the life due to wrong decision making. During the anter dashas of Mercury or Ketu in the maha dasha of a malefic planet a person can also get cheated by his own friends and relatives.
- The Mercury-Ketu under the aspect or conjunction of trine lords ( 5thand 9th lord) gives higher academic success which is envied by others. If such Mercury-Ketu conjunction take place in the 4,8 and 12 houses (Moksha Sathana) then it also inclined a person towards sublime spirituality. Shri K.N. Rao has his Mercury-Ketu conjoined in the twelfth house in Virgo sign along with Sun receiving the 10th aspect of 5th lord Saturn making him a great astrologer. Smt. Gyatri Devi Vasudev has Mercury-Ketu conjoined in Virgo in the 8th house from her Aquarius ascendant receiving the aspect of Jupiter from the 12th house giving her brilliance in astrology.
- The aspect of a Jupiter on the Mercury-Ketu conjunction reduce its bad effects. Such person recover from the controversies with his intuitive decision making.
- Mercury the karaka of mathematics, intelligence, languages and communication when comes along with Ketu, which signify fine technology, can make one very sharp and intelligent in latest technology and computers systems.
Now I will discuss some of the examples to astrologically explain the above mention points.
Case 1. Female
29 July 1970, 02:38 hours at Delhi
Longitude 77 E 13’ and Latitude 28 N 40’
Balance of Dasha in Vimshottari: Moon 0 years 2 months 12 days
The first case I am taking here is of a lady who was doing her research (P.H.D) from Delhi University in 2002 on the subject of ‘drug addicts’ and she fell in love with a criminal eventually getting married with him. In her Mithuna lagna horoscope the 7th lord Jupiter is in the 5th house receiving the aspect of Mars and Saturn showing problems in relationship. She was under Jupiter-Mercury period from 10 June 2000 to 16 September 2002. It was during the first half of 2002 when she got attracted towards a drug addict while doing her research and married him under very controvercial circumstances against the concent of her family. Later she got discover that her husband was facing 3 criminal cases against him since last 10 years, one of them was of a murder. Later this lady’s family paid her husband a handsome amount in liew of giving her divorce on mutual concent. She got releived from the cluches of her husband during the Jupiter-Ketu in the end of year 2002 when divorce proceeding was finalized in the court.
Now see the close conjunction of Mercury and Ketu in the Nakshtra Magha. In Navamsha chart Mercury is in the 7th house of marriage receiving the asepct of Mars and Sun. Ketu is in the Navamsha of Mercury receiving the aspect of malefic Saturn. The sub periods of Mercury and Ketu has to be bad for this lady.
Later she when to the USA for further study during her Jupiter-Venus dasha ( August 2003 to April 2006) and after coming back she fell in love with a boy 7 year younger than her age. She was very lucky this time as the boy was very honest, well educated and from a humble background. Her second marriage took place in June 2005 during Jupiter-Venus dasha. It was a big relief for her after getting humiliated in society because of a failed marriage with a drug addict earlier. Now she is happily settled in a foreign country in her second marriage.
Case 2. Male
29 June 1991 , 20:15 hours at Dibrugarh (Assam)
Longitude 94 E 54’ and Latitude 27 N 29’
Balance of Dasha in Vimshottari: Moon 9 years 5 months 23 days
This is the horoscope of a commerce graduate who was working in financial sector company in Bangalore. Everything was fine in his career till he got the dasha of Rahu-Mercury from May 2015 to June 2018. His father got conned by his own relatives who indulge him in some economic offence by signing a contract of liqure company concealing the facts. He had to left his job in 2016 to comeback home and save his father from debts. In the mid of 2017 he went to Mumbai and then towards Bangkok for his job in a diamond merchant company. But he had to again come back home as he was having problems with his employers who didn’t paid him the remunirations promised by them earlier. He was also got duped by a friend who took a loan of more than 6 lakh’s from him and never returned. All this happen during the Rahu-Mercury period in Vimshottari. Mercury here is the lord of 6th (court cases) and 9th (father) houses along with Ketu and Sun the 8th lord. His problems are compounding as the debts are increasing and he is jobless now. Notice here that Mercury and Ketu are devoid of any benefic aspect. They are also under the influences of malefic planets in Navamsha chart. Mercury receives the aspect of Saturn and Ketu receives the aspect of Mars in Navamsha chart. So no relief is expected until the Venus sub period comes in the maha dasha of Rahu which will be there in December 2019 only. Mercury and Ketu combination when come under the affliction of malefic planets gives cheating, losses and humiliation in life in very unexpected circumstances.
Case 3. Female
25 September 1949, 05:30 hours at Jallandhar (Punjab)
Longitude 75 E 34’ and Latitude 31 N 19’
Balance of Dasha in Vimshottari: Rahu 8 years 9 months 20 days
This lady with Leo rising at the ascendant has Mercury-Ketu conjunction in the 2nd house of finances and family. In her case she got the maha dasha of Mercury from July 1993 to July 2010 and of Ketu from July 2010 to July 2017. She made great fortune in her business of artificial jewellary and branded apparels during this period. See Mercury and Ketu here are strongly placed in Virgo sign along with the lagna lord Sun. They don’t have any blemish on them in the Rashi chart. In Navamsha Mercury and Ketu are conjoined and they are in mutual aspect with the 8th lord Moon showing some controvercies. Her farm house was sealed in Delhi by authorities during Ketu-Mercury period in December 2016. The case is still going on in the Venus maha dasha which is along with 12th lord Moon and receives the malefic aspects of 6th lord Saturn placed in the ascendant, and also of Mars from the 12th house of losses. Her Ketu maha dasha also gave her some property disputes with her younger sister. Although these problems didn’t trouble her much and she continued to make good money in her business. The astrological reason for this was the blemishless ‘Dhana Yoga’ of Sun and Mercury in the 2nd house of Rashi chart. In Navamsha the aspect of Jupiter on the Mercury-Ketu conjunction was a protection.
Case 4. Female
3 November 1984, 07:59 hours at Delhi
Longitude 77 E 13’ and Latidue 28 N 40’
Balance of Dasha in Vimshottari: Rahu 5 year 10 months and 8 days
In the Scorpio lagna horoscope of this young lady the Mercury-Ketu conjunction is taking placed in the ascendant along with 7th and 12th lord Venus. She got married on the 19th of January 2013 during her Saturn-Ketu dasha ( May 2012 to July 2013) in Vimshottari. Her husband was from city outside Delhi and when she came there after marriage she was surprised to find that he was a patient of acute depression. She didn’t know about the mental illness of her husband as his family had cleaverly conceald this fact from her family. She left the home of her husband after few days and filed a court case for taking divorce. She got the divorce in year 2014 during her Saturn-Venus dasha. Now see in her case the Ketu-Mercury conjunction is taking place in malefic sign Scorpio. The 7th lord Venus here shows the cheating releated with marriage. In Navamsha the maha dasha lord Saturn is the lord of 6th ( court case) and 7th (marriage) houses. The anter dasha lord Ketu is in the ascendant along with Jupiter which gave her some relief as she got the divorce very easily.
Case 5 Male
1 July 1956, 01:45 hours at Delhi
Longitude 77 E 13’ and Latitude 28 N 40’
Balance of Dasha in Vimshottari: Saturn 10 years 0 months 2 days
This Aries lagna horoscope is of a high ranking government officer who is a commandant in a paramillitary force. On the 14th of September 2014 when he was passing from his Sun-Mercury ( April 2014 to February 2015) dasha in Vimshottari he got arrested by the C.B.I while accepting some unlawful payments. He was landed in a jail and got suspended from his job. Now see the Ketu-Mercury conjunction in the 2nd house of finance receiving the aspect of 8th lord Mars from the 11th house and also of the 11th lord Saturn from the 8th house of scandel. His troubles continued during the Sun-Ketu dasha and he got relief only during the Sun-Venus dasha which started in July 2015. He was reinstated in his job after getting clearence from the court cases. The aspect of Jupiter on his ascendant and Navamsha was a saving grace. Jupiter her is also giving his benefic aspect to the 10th house from Moon. The anter dasha lord Venus was excellent in Rashi and Navamsha chart which saved his job. Though he was humiliated badly during his sub periods of Mercury and Ketu , the experience of which still haunt him emotionally.
Case 6. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
13 May 1956, 23:54 hours at Papanasam (Tamil Nadu)
Longitude 79 E 17’ and Latitude 10 N 56’
Balance of Dasha in Vimshottari: Rahu 8 years 9 months 18 days
In the Makar lagna horoscope of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar a close conjunction of Mercury and Ketu is taking placed in the 5th house in mutual aspect with a retrograde Saturn. It was no surprise that during Mercury-Saturn ( June 2014 to March 2017) period a world famous religious precher (Guru) like him came under controvercies. Both Mercury and Ketu here don’t have any protection of the benefic aspect or association of Jupiter. In this case the Jupiter aspect the 10th house from Moon though which is a saving grace. His organization Art of Living’s ‘world cultural festival’ in March 2016 came under difficulties when the NGT (National Green Tribunal) opposed it for the environmental damanges being caused to the Yamuna floodplains. The event could only happened when the Art of Living paid the inerim fine of Rs. 5 crore imposed by the NGT.
According to the report of the expert committee of NGT the 170 hectares ( about 420 acres) of Yamuna floodplains was adversely impacted ecologically because of the construction work before and after the 3 day’s ‘world cultural festival’ of Art of Living in March 2016. An expert committee later recommended that total cost to fix the destruction would be Rs. 42 crores and it will take at least 10 years period for the same. The matter is in the Supreme Court of India at present when Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is passing through his Ketu maha dasha. The Ketu is Vargottama in the sign of Venus. The period of Ketu-Venus ( from July 2017 to September 2018), Ketu-Sun ( September 2018 to February 2019) and Ketu-Moon ( February 2019 to September 2019) are likely to be difficult for him. Venus is in 6th house of court cases along with 7th lord Moon which is in Mrityubhagh. Sun is the lord of 8th house who’s anter dasha in the maha dasha of Ketu is not likely to give him relief from controvercies. The apex court may giving a strong decision against his organization in this case in the next 2 years.
Case 7. Narendra Modi
17 September 1950, 12:12 hours at Mehsana (Gujarat)
Longitude 72 E 24’ and Latitude 23 N 36’
Balance of Dasha in Vimshottari: Saturn 10 years 2 months 2 days
In the horoscope of Prime Minister Narendar Modi the Mercury-Ketu conjunction is taking place in sign Virgo. Mercury is retrograde and combust here in the Vrischik lagna horoscope. It was no surprise that he suffered from poverty during the dasha of Saturn till November 1960 and later during Mercury from November 1960 to November 1977. The Saturn and Mercury are functional malefics for Scorpio lagna. Had it been Libra lagna, as some astrologers are of the opinion, he would have been born in some rich family. If we take his Libra ascendant then the Saturn-Venus at the 11th house makes a very good ‘Dhana Yoga’ and ‘Raja Yoga’. The Sun-Mercury in the 12th and the Moon-Mars in the 2nd are also in good wealth giving yogas in case of Libra ascendant.
As per the Narendra Modi’s account his father was a grocer who died when he was in his teens. His mother had to do menial work in the house of neighbours to survive his six children. Narendra Modi was third eldest among six siblings. He along with his elder brother was use to run a tea stall near railway station at Vadnagar. The dasha sequence of Saturn and Mercury would have given Narendra Modi a comfortable childhood if he had Libra lagan but in case of Scorpio ascendant his miseries become astrologically clearer here.
Death of Father and wanderings of Modi during Mercury dasha
In the dasha of 8th lord Mercury, which is with Ketu and Sun, Narendra Modi’s father was died. Notice her the 9th lord Moon is debliteated along with malefic 6th lord Mars showing an ealry death of father. In case of Libra lagna the 9th lord Mercury in his sign of exaltation Virgo would have given his father a long life.
Later Modi got married in 1968 during Mercury-Moon period when he was 18 and his wife Jashodaben was just 16 years of age. As per Jashodaben she had spend 3 months with her husband and later he left her to begin his wanderings in the Himalayas practicing ‘Sanayasa’. See the 7th house from the Scorpio lagna where Mars and Saturn jointly aspect it. The 7th lord Venus is in its own Nakshatra Vargottama in Leo a rashi of ‘Bhramacharya’. The 7th lord in its own Nakshatra gives troubles in marriage as per ‘Sarvartha Chintamani’. In the Navamsha the 7th house receive the aspect of Saturn and the 7th lord Mercury is in conjunction with Sun in mutual aspect with Mars from the 8th house. No surprise that he concealed the fact of his marriage for a very long time until he had to disclose it while filing an affidafit for the nomination in the general elections of 2014. Had Modi’s horoscope been of Libra lagna then the 7th lord Mars along with 10th lord Moon would not have created such secreacy and seperation in his marriage.
In the Scorpio lagna horoscope the Rahu in the 5th house receiving the aspect of Sun and Mercury is a combination of denial of children. The aspect of Sun on the 5th house gave him the study of political science and the aspect of 8th lord Mercury shows the controvercy sorrounding his education degrees.
Ascendancy as Gujarat Chief Minister and roits controvercy
In a surprise move by the BJP Narendra Modi was given the responsibility of the chief minister of Gujarat in year 2001. He recplaced senior leader Keshubhai Patel and took oath of the office on the 7th of October 2001 when he was passing through his Venus-Mercury period in Vimshottari. Mercury the 11th lord here gave him elevation in his political career. But Mercury has to put him under controvercies due to its conjunction with Ketu and affliction in the Navamsha chart. The Gujarat riots in February-March 2002 gave a setback to his image. Then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was about to sack him but Modi was saved by Lal Krishna Advani who was homeminister at that time. Modi has to face an inquiry later by the SIT ( Special Investigating Team) formed by the Supreme Court of India when Congress came into power in 2004. Almost after one decade of this incident he was found innocent due to lack of evidences proving his role in the mismanagement of administration during riots. Later he set the national political scene on fire during his great victory in the general elections in 2014 when his Moon-Jupiter dasha was running.
At present prime minister Modi is running under Moon-Mercury period from September 2016 to February 2018. He is feeling the pressure on the criticizm of his governments poorly managed demonitization scheme in 2016 and GST affairs during the second half of 2017. Almost 99% of cash banned during the demonitization came back into the banks. The process gave a setback to the economy due to the lack of currency in the market for a long period of time. The private investments were down, millions of jobs were lost and purchasing power of people was reduced.
Later the higher rates of taxes in the GST (Goods and Services Tax) and the glitches in filling the returns made the miseries of traders worst. The growth rate of GDP was only 5.7% for the qurter from April to June in 2017 which was the lowest in the last 3 years. The problems for Modi are likely to compound with some more controvercies during his Moon-Ketu peroid from February 2018 to September 2018.
