The planetary war: graha-yuddha

Two planets (except the Sun and the Moon) are in a state of war when they are joined to one another in such a way that the distance between them does not exceed 1°. The planet with the lesser value of longitude is considered the victor.

Let us suppose that Jupiter is at 24°29′ of Taurus next to Mercury (24°10′ of Taurus). They wage a war in which Mercury is victorious. If the longitudes of the planets coincide down to the minutes, then one must look at the values of latitude: the planet whose latitude coordinates are nearer to the north wins the war.

Sri Govind Swarup Agarwal — «Vedic Astrology»

* * * * * * * * *

Graha-yuddha, or the planetary war

Here is what the classics tell us about the phenomenon of graha-yuddha.

In the «Brihat-samhita» Varahamihira recommends consulting the treatise «Surya-siddhanta» and the instructions of Parashara Muni and other sages. Let us consider the explanation of graha-yuddha that is written down in the «Surya-siddhanta»:

Shloka 1. By means of their rays and radiance the grahas may be with one another in a state of yuddha (opposition) and of samagama (conjunction, approach).

A conjunction (of Mangala, Budha, Guru, Shukra, Shani) with Chandra is called samagama (a conjunction); with Surya it is called astamana (a stay in the rays of Surya). In shloka 1, adhyaya 7, the sage Maya wrote down the explanations of his Guru, Surya Muni, about the oppositions and conjunctions into which the grahas enter.

Surya Muni is one of the eighteen sages who by the mercy of Sri Bhagavan handed down the knowledge of Vedanga Jyotisha. The sage Surya said that the grahas by means of their rays and radiance can enter into oppositions and conjunctions. He noted at the same time that the approach of one of the five grahas (Mangala, Budha, Guru, Shukra, Shani) to Chandra is samagama (a conjunction), while the approach of the grahas to Surya is called astamana (a stay in the rays of Surya). Thus graha-yuddha (a planetary opposition) is possible only between Mangala, Buddha, Guru, Shukra or Shani. The seven grahas from Surya to Shani have naisargika-bala (natural strength), which reflects their natural radiance and brightness:

The greatest brightness belongs to Surya — 60 virupas or 1.000 rupa (a unit of measurement of strength);
Next comes Chandra — 51 virupas or 0.857 rupa;
Next Shukra — 43 virupas or 0.714 rupa;
Next Guru — 34 virupas or 0.571 rupa;
Next Buddha — 26 virupas or 0.429 rupa;
Next Mangala — 17 virupas or 0.286 rupa;
The least brightness belongs to Shani — 9 virupas or 0.143 rupa.

The grahas produce their influence and action by means of radiance and rays. The natural strength and brightness of Surya is the greatest, and therefore the other grahas, approaching Surya, find themselves in its rays (astamana). The brightness and natural strength of Chandra is the second after Surya, but unlike Surya, which spreads its rays, Chandra receives the radiation of the other grahas, forming samagama (a conjunction, a union) with them. Taking the above into account, the rules of graha-yuddha, in which the remaining grahas may take part, are not applied to Surya and Chandra.

Rahu and Ketu have no radiance, since they are shadow grahas, and therefore they take no part in graha-yuddha.

Shloka 19. Graha-yuddha (a planetary opposition) is called amshuvimarda when the rays of the grahas mingle with one another. (When) a graha (taking part in the opposition) moves in the opposite direction, such an opposition is called apasavaya. The distance between the grahas taking part in the yuddha (opposition must be) less than 1 degree.

Shlokas 18 and 19 list four kinds of graha-yuddha, of which Surya Muni, Parashara Muni and other sages speak. Graha-yuddha occurs in those cases where the distance between them is less than 1 degree.

Ullekha (touching) — a kind of planetary opposition which supposes that, while the movement of the grahas across the firmament is being observed, their discs only touch one another.

Bheda (breaking) — a kind of planetary opposition which supposes that, in the field of view of one observing the movement of the grahas across the firmament, part of the discs of the grahas overlap one another.

Amshuvimarda (amshumardana) (the mingling of rays) — a kind of planetary opposition which supposes that the rays of the grahas taking part in the opposition mingle.

Apasavaya (asavya) (from right to left) — a kind of planetary opposition in which one of the grahas or both move in the opposite direction.

Each of the four kinds of graha-yuddha listed produces results the nature of which is reflected in its name.

In the «Manu-samhita» it is said that ullekha-yuddha in a jataka (a birth chart) or a prashna (a chart of a question) will manifest in the life of the native (of the querent) tension in the matters represented by the sthira (permanent) and chara (variable) karakatvas of the graha that suffered defeat in the yuddha.

Bheda-yuddha will manifest the destruction of the sthira (permanent) and chara (variable) karakatvas of the graha that is recognised as having suffered defeat.

Amshumardana-yuddha mingles the sthira (permanent) and chara (variable) karakatvas of the grahas taking part in the yuddha, depriving the graha that suffered defeat of its manifestations.

Apasavaya-yuddha will manifest a repetition of events and anxieties, making the native solve, many times over, matters connected with the graha that suffered defeat.

Shloka 20. When the distance between the grahas is more than one degree and each of them possesses strength (their discs are large and bright), one should speak of samagama (a conjunction, a union). When a yuddha takes place (the distance between the grahas is less than 1 degree), the conquered one is the graha whose disc and brightness are the lesser.

In shloka 20 are written down the instructions of Surya Muni about the difference between samagama (a union) and apasavaya (an opposition). Samagama (a union) of grahas allows their sthira (permanent) and chara (variable) karakatvas to manifest in full measure. When a yuddha takes place, the graha whose disc, rays and brightness are the lesser is deprived of its beneficent manifestations and hands over its strength to the brighter graha, manifesting results depending on the kind of yuddha. In this shloka Surya Muni notes that the main factor for determining the victor in graha-yuddha (a planetary opposition in which the distance between the grahas is less than 1 degree) is the observed size of the disc, the rays and the brightness of the grahas.

Shloka 21. (Likewise) an emaciated graha, deprived of colour and placed in the south, will be defeated. (At the same time) a graha possessing considerable strength, whose disc considerably surpasses in size and brightness, will be the victor both in the north and in the south.

In shloka 21 Surya Muni again says that in the case where one of the grahas taking part in the yuddha possesses considerable strength and considerably surpasses the other in brightness and size when their opposition is observed, such a graha is always the victor. And only in the case where the brightness and strength of the grahas taking part in the yuddha are approximately equal is the victor in the opposition the graha placed in the north.

Parashara Muni speaks of the importance of determining the yuddha-bala as one of the nine components of the kala-bala (the strength of time), which in its turn is one of the six strengths, the shad-bala:

Shloka 20. In a yuddha the strength of the graha that suffered defeat must be added to the strength of the victor.

Like Surya Muni, Parashara Muni says that only five grahas can take part in graha-yuddha. On the basis of naisargika-bala (the natural strength of brightness) the brightest is Shukra, which can gain the victory in an opposition while being placed both in the north and in the south.

Thus, taking all the above into account, one may say that in order to determine the stronger graha during a planetary opposition the following factors must be taken into account: the brightness of the grahas, their strength and their latitude.

The instructions of the sages about placement in the north (the stronger graha, or the victor) and in the south (the weaker graha, or the one that suffered defeat) refer to the placement of the graha by latitude. In many modern textbooks this point is omitted and replaced by a comparison by longitude, which is incorrect. As far as I remember, only Robert Svoboda and Hart deFouw in their book «Light on Life. An Introduction to the Astrology of India» do not make this mistake:

Two planets are considered to be in a state of war when their longitudes are at a distance of not more than one degree from one another. In this situation the one of the planets that has the higher latitude is declared the victor, that is, the stronger, while the loser is weakened. In many modern books on jyotish, however, the planet with the lower value of longitude is chosen as the victor.

The longitude of the grahas should be looked at not in order to pass judgement on the victor, but only to determine the presence of the very fact of graha-yuddha.

Here, however, not everything is simple either. The point is that the criterion by longitude is, in my view, obligatory but insufficient. Let me illustrate this at once by my own example. In my chart Shukra and Shani are in Dhanu and have longitudes of 27°15′ and 26°31′ respectively. According to the classics, a planetary war takes place; but if we look at the starry sky at the moment of birth, making use of the Stellarium program, about which I wrote in «Stellarium, a program for observing the starry sky», then we shall see the following picture.

The orange line marks the ecliptic, along which the planets move. The Sun never deviates from the centre and always has a zero latitude of deviation. As we see, Mercury, Saturn and Mars are placed practically on one axis, while Venus is above them at a considerable distance. In the next picture the values of the latitudes of Venus and Saturn relative to the ecliptic are underlined in red. Note that the difference amounts to almost 7 degrees!

Common sense suggests that there can be no question of any planetary war here: the planets are placed so far from one another on the coordinate plane that their rays do not mingle. By the classical rules it is there, but in fact it is not, and in life it is so that both grahas manifest themselves positively for me and do not take strength from one another. If, however, we allow that a yuddha is present, then the victor in it is undoubtedly Shukra.

I also offer for your attention a solid piece of research on the subject of graha-yuddha by the author Edith Hathaway. Below I give a small extract.

This research says that the classical works also give certain comments on when a war passes off considerably more calmly:

• If the participants are friends, and all the more so if they are friends of the lord of the lagna.
• If the war takes place in a kendra or a trikona, and all the more so if at least one of the participants is in the sign of a friend. Ideally — both planets.
• The graha-yuddha is well placed in the signs both in the rashi and in the navamsha.
• The lord of the sign in which the war takes place is well placed.
• The lord of the nakshatra is well placed and in good condition.
• The losing planet takes part in a raja-yoga with the winning planet.
• The graha-yuddha is not in a gandanta, especially in Scorpio.
• The defeated planet is an enemy of the lord of the lagna.
• The defeated planet is in a different navamsha or even a different sign.
• The defeated planet is not in the same sign or navamsha as Rahu or Ketu and does not receive aspects from other malefics.

Source: the JMC forum

Shlokas 22 and 23. Now the strength of GRAHA-YUDDHA will be told. The difference in strength must be added to the strength of the one placed in the north and subtracted from the strength of the one placed in the south.