Destructive degrees for the planets in the various signs
Every nakshatra has its own special destructive degrees.
Ashwini: the Moon and Ketu — 8° of Aries, Saturn — 10° of Aries.
Bharani: Rahu — 14° of Aries, Mercury — 15° of Aries, Jupiter and Mars — 19° of Aries, the Sun — 20° of Aries.
Rohini: Mercury — 14° of Taurus, Venus — 15° of Taurus, Ketu — 18° of Taurus.
Mrigashira: Mars — 28° of Taurus, Jupiter — 29° of Taurus.
Ardra: Saturn — 7° of Gemini, Venus — 11° of Gemini, the Sun, Jupiter and Rahu — 12° of Gemini, Mercury — 13° of Gemini.
Punarvasu: Ketu — 20° of Gemini, the Moon — 22° of Gemini, Mars — 25° of Gemini.
Pushya: the Sun — 6° of Cancer, Saturn — 9° of Cancer, Ketu — 10° of Cancer, Rahu — 11° of Cancer, Mercury — 12° of Cancer.
Ashlesha: Venus — 17° of Cancer, the Moon — 22° of Cancer, Mars — 23° of Cancer, Jupiter — 27° of Cancer.
Magha: Jupiter — 6° of Leo, the Sun and Mercury — 8° of Leo, Venus — 10° of Leo, Saturn — 12° of Leo.
Purva Phalguni: the Moon and Ketu — 21° of Leo, Rahu — 24° of Leo.
Uttara Phalguni: the Moon — 1° of Virgo, Jupiter — 4° of Virgo.
Hasta: Venus — 13° of Virgo, Saturn — 16° of Virgo, Mercury — 18° of Virgo, Ketu — 22° of Virgo, Rahu — 23° of Virgo.
Chitra: the Sun — 24° of Virgo, Mars — 28° of Virgo, Saturn — 3° of Libra, the Moon and Venus — 4° of Libra.
Swati: Jupiter — 13° of Libra, Mars — 14° of Libra, the Sun — 16° of Libra.
Vishakha: Mercury — 21° of Libra, Rahu — 22° of Libra, Ketu — 23° of Libra.
Anuradha: Venus — 6° of Scorpio, Mercury and Jupiter — 10° of Scorpio.
Jyeshtha: the Sun — 17° of Scorpio, Saturn — 18° of Scorpio, Rahu — 21° of Scorpio, Ketu — 24° of Scorpio, the Moon — 23° of Scorpio
Mula: Mars — 2° of Sagittarius, Rahu — 10° of Sagittarius, Ketu — 11° of Sagittarius
Purva Ashadha: Jupiter — 17° of Sagittarius, the Moon — 18° of Sagittarius, the Sun — 22° of Sagittarius, Mercury — 21° of Sagittarius.
Uttara Ashadha: Venus — 27° of Sagittarius, Saturn — 28° of Sagittarius, the Sun — 2° of Capricorn
Shravana: Jupiter — 11° of Capricorn, Venus and Ketu — 12° of Capricorn, Saturn — 14° of Capricorn, Mars — 15° of Capricorn, the Moon and Rahu — 20° of Capricorn, Mercury — 22° of Capricorn
Shatabhisha: Mercury — 7° of Aquarius, Mars — 11° of Aquarius, Saturn and Ketu — 13° of Aquarius, Jupiter — 15° of Aquarius, Rahu — 18° of Aquarius, the Moon — 20° of Aquarius
Purva Bhadrapada: Venus — 29° of Aquarius.
Uttara Bhadrapada: Mercury — 5° of Pisces, Mars — 6° of Pisces, Rahu — 8° of Pisces, the Moon — 10° of Pisces, Ketu — 14° of Pisces, Saturn — 15° of Pisces
Revati: Venus — 19° of Pisces, the Sun — 23° of Pisces, Jupiter — 28° of Pisces.
The presence of planets in their own destructive degrees indicates a short life if there are no neutralising factors; it also brings suffering to the owner of the horoscope and destroys the planet in its function as karaka, or indicator of a particular sphere of life.
For example, in the horoscope of V.V. Mayakovsky, Saturn, the ayush karaka or indicator of longevity, is placed in its own destructive degree of 15° 50’ of Virgo, which is one of the indicators of a short life in his horoscope. In the horoscope of M.I. Tsvetaeva, Jupiter is in its destructive degree — 27° 47’ of Pisces — which also tells on the length of life. Jupiter is the putra karaka, or indicator of children, and also the dhana karaka, the indicator of wealth. The great poet had to live through the death of her daughter from hunger in post-revolutionary Moscow, and through difficult relations with her younger son.
If a planet is in the destructive degree of another planet, then both karakas may be afflicted and their functions mixed. For example, the presence of Venus in the destructive degree of Mars may lead to the development of sexual complexes and to problems in relations with the opposite sex; the Moon in the degree of Ketu or Mars may speak of disturbances in the psyche, of cruelty and of diseases of the brain, and so on. If many planets in a horoscope are placed in destructive degrees, then this undoubtedly speaks of sickliness, of a certain fatality in one’s destiny and of a short life.
For example, in the horoscope of the Tsarevich Alexei, the son of Nicholas II, six of the main planets of the horoscope (the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter) occupy various destructive degrees. An ominous combination proved to be the five planets in destructive degrees in the horoscope of I. Stalin. Among them are Jupiter in its own destructive degree of Aquarius, the Moon in the degree of Ketu in Pisces, and Mars in Aries in the destructive degree of the Sun. To the general picture of the horoscope this adds such indications as the destruction of religiousness (Jupiter being the indicator of dharma), suspiciousness and diseases of the psyche, and a hypertrophied thirst for power.
In conclusion it must be added that the passage of planets through their destructive degrees is considered unfavourable for beginning new affairs. Many people feel these days as days of energy crises.
«Vedic astrology of marriage» — Indubala
The action of a mrityu-bhaga, or destructive degree, extends to the presence of a planet at a distance of 1° before and after the degrees given.
For example, the Sun will experience the action of its destructive degree within the range from 19° to 21° of Aries — and the closer the position of the natal or transiting Sun to 20° of Aries, the stronger the destructive action will be.
Mrityu-Bhaga
From Sanskrit it may be translated as «the womb of death». In every Rashi every Graha has a particular degree, which is called the Mrityu-Bhaga. In it the planet gives an extremely negative (deadly) result for all its own properties, and also for the properties of the Bhava in which it is placed and of the Bhavas it oversees. The peculiarity of the degree of the Mrityu-Bhaga is that the Graha brings a catastrophically negative result. The natural property of the Mrityu-Bhaga and of the Bhava is to generate such events and processes as deprive a person, on the material level, of the manifestations of the properties of the Graha that has fallen into the «deadly» degree.
Below is a table giving the degrees of the Mrityu-Bhaga for Surya, Chandra, Mangala, Budha, Guru, Shukra, Shani, Rahu, Ketu, Gulika and the Lagna.
In the context of the Mrityu-Bhaga, the death of the owner of the horoscope may be meant when Gulika, Rahu, Ketu, the Lagnesha or the Lagna fall into a Mrityu-Bhaga. Sometimes it may be a Maraka Graha. If Guru or the Bhavesha of the 5th Bhava falls into a Mrityu-Bhaga, this often means the death or a serious illness of a child. Shukra in the 4th Bhava in a Mrityu-Bhaga means the loss of real estate, of the wife and of the properties of those Bhavas that Shukra oversees through the properties of the 4th Bhava (which automatically means problems with the mother and with the Matru-Bhava as a whole), and so on.
Any Graha in a Mrityu-Bhaga will call into question the existence of something in one’s life. Rahu and Ketu give the result of the Graha that oversees the Bhava in which they are placed. It is held that the deadly influence of the Mrityu-Bhaga extends to a Graha within 1 degree, and the closer a Graha is placed to the exact degree of the Mrityu-Bhaga, the stronger the deadly effect. For instance, Surya will be under the influence of the Mrityu-Bhaga within the range from 19º to 21º of Mesha. The upaya against the negative influence of the Mrityu-Bhaga is the Maha-Mrityu-Jaya Mantra.
Ketu in the 10th Bhava in a Mrityu-Bhaga may bring problems of any kind. These are problems with work of a fatal character, mystical problems in one’s Karma. Ketu in the 7th Bhava in a Mrityu-Bhaga will certainly «damage» the spouse. The Lagnesha placed in the 8th Bhava in a Mrityu-Bhaga will mean the death of the person himself. As for Gochara, the Mrityu-Bhaga is not cancelled in Gochara, but neither does it promise a fatal result; that, however, always depends on the particular circumstances… According to the Jyotish Veda, a person can die only when the Maha Dasha, Bhukti Dasha or Antar Dasha of a Maraka Graha is running.
Conclusions:
The Mrityu-Bhaga does indeed mean a fatal outcome, but this can happen only during the corresponding Dasha. Sometimes it is simply a very serious illness, the death of the properties of the Graha. If the 10th Bhava is connected with a Mrityu-Bhaga, there will be problems at work. Certainly, there will be very serious problems in life. Grahas in a Mrityu-Bhaga need Upayas, since these Grahas create serious problems and may ruin the sphere of life in which they are placed.
The chief positive aspect of the degree of the Mrityu-Bhaga: it will always give rise to problems that call into question the existence of something in a person’s life, forcing him to set his priorities in life and to decide how far he really needs this or that object. The Mrityu-Bhaga carries out a natural cleansing of a person’s life and consciousness of superfluous objects by pouring the Prana of death upon them.
Roman Panchuk — based on a lecture by Shiva within the Satsangah «Jyotish Veda»