Natural Friendships of Nodes : Classical Rule

[Vinay Jha]

Ancient authority on Vedic Astrology Satyāchārya wrote :
स्वत्रिकोणाद् धनोच्चायुःसुखान्त्यमतिधर्मपा । सुहृदः शत्रवश्चान्ये समा उभयथोदिताः ।।

It means : Lords of 2nd, uchcha (exaltation), 8th, 4th, 12th, 5th and 9th houses from Moola-trikona (trine) of a planet are (Naisargika or natural) friends of that planet, lords of other houses from Moola-trikona are enemies, and lords of both are neutral.

Thus, lords of 2-12, 5-9, 4-8 houses from Moola-trikona are natural friends of a planet. Let us see examples.

Sun's moola-trikona lies in Leo (20 degrees in Leo and before 20 degrees in Leo, from 20 to 30 degrees in Leo is own sign of Sun). From 2-12, 5-9, 4-8 houses from Moola-trikona of Sun are friendly signs, namely 1-4-6-8-9-12 signs (counting from Mesha = 1), which leaves 2-3-5-7-10-11 as inimical signs. Lords of these signs make lord of 4th sign Cancer Moon, lord of 1-8 or Mesha-Vrishchika Mars and lord of 9-12 or Dhanu-Meena Jupiter natural friends of Sun. Enemy signs have Venus as lord of 2-7 (Vrish and Tulā) and Saturn as lord of 10-11 (Makara-Kumbha). Mercury is neutral to Sun because 6th sign Kanyā is friendly to Sun and 3rd sign Mithuna is inimical to Sun. Uchcha (exaltation) of Sun Mesha (Aries) is 9th from its Moola-trikona, which is friendly. Hence, it makes no difference in friendships. We find the same conclusions in BPHS (Brihat Parāshara Horā Shāstra).

In the same way, put moola-trikona of any planet in lagna and find out the natural friendships with other planets according to above rule of Satyāchārya, you will find exactly the same conclusions as mentioned in BPHS. Three special cases need to discussed in this regard, as follows.

If we take into account only lords of 2-12, 5-9, 4-8 houses from Moola-trikona as natural friends and neglect "uchcha", we get three exceptions differing from natural friendships as mentioned in BPHS :

1)
BPHS says Venus is neutral to Moon, but we get Venus as enemy of Moon because lords of 2-12, 5-9, 4-8 houses from Moola-trikona as natural friends and the remaining are enemies, while from Moon's Moola-trikona Vrisha the signs owned by Venus are in 1rst and 6th houses which are both inimical. But the uchcha of Moon is Vrish which is the first house from Moola-trikona (i.e., moola-trikona and uchcha of Moon are in same sign). Hence, out of two signs owned by Venus we get one friendly sign Vrish and one inimical sign Tulā , thereby making Venus neutral or Sama to Moon.

2)
Similarly, BPHS says Saturn is neutral to Mars, but we find Makara and Kumbha in 10th and 11th houses from Mesha which is moola-trikona of Mars. Hence, Saturn should be a natural enemy of Mars. But exaltation of Mars is Makara, hence Makara becomes friendly to Mars and only Kumbha remains enemy. As a result, Saturn must be neutral to Mars. This is what BPHS says.

3)
Jupiter's signs Dhanu and Meena are in 3rd and 6th houses from the moola-trikona of Venus in Tulā. Hence, Jupiter ought to be inimical to Venus. But Meena is exaltation for Venus, hence friendly according to the rule mentioned by Satyāchārya. Therefore, Jupiter must be neutral to Venus. This is what BPHS says.

In all remaining cases, houses of exaltation are already friendly as per ownerships, hence no conflict arises. When conflicts arise, as in afore-mentioned three cases, house of exaltation must be treated as friendly as mentioned in the verse above.

CONCLUSION : BPHS follows the rule mentioned by Satyāchārya. Now, we should apply this correct rule to the natural friendships of nodes.

BPHS says that Rāhu's moola-trikona lies in Mithuna. Hence, Rāhu's friendly signs should be 2-4-6-7-10-11 signs (counting from Mesha = 1) and enemy signs should be 1-3-5-8-9-12. Rāhu's exaltation Vrish is 12th from its Moola-trikona and therefore already friendly, hence it calls for no change. As a result, we get Moon-Venus-Saturn as natural friends of Rāhu, Sun-Mars-Jupiter as natural enemies of Rāhu, and Mercury as neutral.

BPHS says thar Ketu's moola-trikona lies in Dhanu. Hence, Ketu's friendly signs should be 1-4-5-8-10-12 signs (counting from Mesha = 1) and enemy signs should be 2-3-6-7-9-11. Ketu's exaltation Vrishchika is 12th from its Moola-trikona and therefore already friendly, hence it calls for no change. As a result, we get Sun-Moon-Mars as natural friends of Ketu, Mercury-Venus as natural enemies of Ketu, and Jupiter-Saturn as neutral.

For these computations about the nodes, signs of exaltation, moola-trikona and ownership of both nodes as mentioned in Dashā-phalādhyāya of BPHS has been used here (राहोस्तु वृषभं केतोर्वृश्चिकम् तुङ्गसंज्ञकम् । मूलत्रिकोणं युग्मं चापं वेद्यं यथाक्रमम ।। ).

Unfortunately, wrong friendships of nodes are mentioned by many modern authors and used in softwares which defy the classical rule as used in BPHS, mentioned by Satyāchārya and explained above.

-VJ

[Brahma Mihira]

Thanks Vinay Jha, this is an important topic.