Varshaphala: The Tajika Practice of Annual Horoscopy

By Margaret Mahan (mjm108@uniserve.com)

In the past three years, I have worked to nourish this limb of the Jyotisha tree in my own evolution as a student. I strive to develop competence in Varshaphala through the gift of these teachings, that a little glimmer of the Truth may be seen. May the Jyotir Vidya be pleased, and may this article reflect the gifts of the Sampradaya, and most especially may it serve as a way to honor my teacher, Mr. Hart de Fouw, and the lineage of Jyotisha he represents.

So what is Tajika astrology, and what is Varshaphala, and more importantly, what is its utility for us in the early days of a new century in North America? I will endeavor to answer these questions in the following paragraphs, with apologies now for technical terms already used, and for those to come. There is a small glossary of terms at the end of the article that may help for those readers who are not familiar with the language.

Tajika

I do not know if anyone can accurately trace the history of Tajika astrology, or how precisely it came to be integrated into the fold of the cannon that we consider Jyotisha in India. What is known is that it originated, as implied by the name, with the Tajik peoples who hail from the north and west of what is now India. It is known that the form was part of the astrology that was used in those lands that made up classical Persia, which more than once extended north from what is now roughly Iran and Iraq to encompass the lands that are now Afghanistan and Pakistan.

My teacher, in his first introduction to this body of knowledge, evoked the largely nomadic tribes of those regions as the source of this system. This makes an eloquent kind of common sense, in that it is a system that that clearly reflects a cultural reality in which one's fortunes can be significantly different from one year to the next. It is a system that would make sense for people who travel and live based largely on an annual cycle that is very directly tied to the seasons. Seasons are of course variable in their beneficent or destructive power based in some great measure on the intensity of the sun, especially in the regions that Tajika is "native." I think this view of the historical roots of Varshaphala is supported by the basic functional design of the system: it is fair to say that the Varshaphala construct would have been ideal for travelling peoples who might only have access to an astrologer once a year.

Tajika astrology is known best through its greatest exponent, Nilakantha, who is the author of "Prasna Tantra" ("tantra" in this instance means chapter). Prasna Tantra is a classic chapter of his larger work, which is now most often translated independently, and forms the basis of much Prasna technique in India. It is in this chapter that many of the essential background elements that inform Varshaphala are available.

So What Is It?

Varshaphala literally translates as "fruit of the year": it is an annual chart that is calculated for the precise moment of the return of the Sun to the exact rasi, degrees and minutes of arc that were occupied by the Sun at the time of a person's birth. A Varshaphala chart is therefore also a transit chart, albeit one that has a whole system for ascribing meaning to that moment of transit, and for extending the import of that moment through the solar year that is to come. It also functions as a kind of mammoth Prasna chart; in as much as there are special points of sensitivity (called Sahams) that inform the individual on various important aspects of life. It is interesting to note that among some 52 Sahams for which the texts give the calculation formulae, there is no saham for home, or house, or property, or lands, suggesting that this astrology was designed for nomadic peoples.

Its special features -- Tajika yogas, aspects, relationships, the way of calculating strengths of planets, and the way in which planets acquire both energy or dominant authority -- are all completely different from classical Parasari Jyotisha. Anyone who is interested in the depth of detail can find a lucid and excellent source in "A Textbook of Varshaphala" by Dr. K.S. Charak, which is widely available in paperback.

At the same time, the essential foundations of planetary mandates and house significations are the same as the Parasari system. Also identical are the mechanics for calculating the natal horoscope, and the extrapolation of the vargas, or sub-charts. The sub-charts that are used in Varshaphala are identical to some of the 16 common sub- charts described in Parasara, and may well be evidence of the point of intersection and historic integration of the two systems. The subcharts are NOT used in the same way nor for the same purposes as in Parasari Jyotisha, however. They are in fact used exclusively for calculating the relative strengths for planets, as part of a complex process that determines who among the planets will become the Varshesha, or year lord.

In addition to the Varshesha, there is an annual cabinet, arrived at through other calculations. There is a Muntha point, which is a point of fixed progression that takes 12 years to proceed through the entire zodiac, and an annual Muntha lord. There are several dasha systems that can be employed in the Varshaphala chart, at least two of which are particular to this system. A final, lovely, unique component to Varshaphala is the use of the Sahams mentioned above. These points of sensitivity are arrived at by a prescribed set of formulae, and are then interpreted through a lens of interpretation that is, in part, similar to Parasari Jyotisha, and in part unique to the Varshaphala system.

The Varshaphala chart, in its commonly accepted use as essentially an annual transit or Prasna chart, logically therefore would be expected to be used only in conjunction with the natal or Kundali chart, and indeed it is so described in the texts. In fact, the native's birth chart in this system is cast as a Varshaphala chart, with special features denoted below, and each subsequent year another Varshaphala chart is prepared. One of the essential rules of judgment is that the "fruit of the year" cannot be interpreted without analysis of the particular area of life in the natal Varshaphala. This is seen through the sahams, the natal Tajika yogas, and some other elements for which there is neither space nor time to explain in this article.

The Uses of Varshaphala

A long term friend, client and teacher of mine recently told me that because she knew I was most interested in Varshaphala these days, she had not come to me to have Jyotish done on what she saw as issues of housing and land. She had learned (from another friend and client) that there are no sahams for land or property or home. She is an astute woman, and has been around enough Jyotisha and Jyotishis to know that it is always a good idea to try to align oneself with wherever the Jyotir Vidya is taking the astrologer at the moment. But in this instance she also fell into the common tendency of Westerners to see the world at its literal surface. A few questions and her replies allowed a reframing of the issues in the context of her life. Varshaphala was in fact then able to be of very precise assistance to her because the sahams for love and marriage and alternate vocation and "moving around" (Deshantaara) all applied to her situation, and through that we could deduce the likely outcome of her property issues. These sahams, especially when taken in the context of the Tajika system for Bhava analysis, which still uses the 4th Bhava to describe home, were more than adequate to provide some detailed direction on how the year will play out the evolution of her situation. The particular dasha systems in Varshaphala give a precision to timing events that is powerfully useful in such cases.

That story is offered as an illustration of how a system with roots in Persia, and hundreds of years of synthesis in India, Jyotisha can still make the leap into relevance for non-migratory Westerners. It is a methodology that can be of particular utility in gauging whether the dominant karmas indicated in the birth Varshaphala will improve or deteriorate in any given year. For many of us, the fast pace of life in North America means that seemingly small shifts can have a big impact in a short period of time. Varshaphala may be well suited to provide guidance in a world where although we may not be literal nomads following the seasons of the sun, we inhabit a time and place in which the vistas can appear to change quickly around us even when we stay in one place. It seems to me a line of thought and study and reflection worth pursuing.

Glossary:

Shastra - Sanskrit for a general classical body of knowledge. Jyotisha Shastra is the complete cannon of Jyotishical knowledge.

Jyotir Vidya - Vidya can be translated as Science, or deep knowledge or truth. In this context, the truth of Jyotisha is believed to be a living deity who can be sought, nourished and whose presence the astrologer hopes for.

Sampradaya - A sampradaya is the collectivity of Vidya, teacher(s), lineage, and students who all seek to understand the Truth of their Shastra, and to contribute to it through their activity.

Yoga - Yoga still means union. In astrology it means the union of two or more of planets, houses, constellations and other factors that will create a specific result.

Parasara/Parasari - The sage Parasara wrote a huge part of the basic and common cannon of classical Jyotisha that is still in use today. The system is called Parasari Jyotisha, to distinguish it from Jaimini and Varshaphala/Tajika

Rasi - A Rasi is a constellation in the elliptical view from planet Earth.

Prasna - Prasna means question in Sanskrit, and is also the name of a horoscope cast for a particular moment of a query.

About the Author: Margaret Mahan has been a student of Jyotisha for the past 13 years, and of related subjects, including Ayurveda, since 1988. She has been trained in Parasari and Tajika Varshaphal Jyotisha by the renowned Hart de Fouw, and in the special techniques of Prasna and Astakavarga found in Kerala, India, by the wonderful Mr. G. Ramesh Nayak.

Margaret co-founded Sushakti with Dr. Robert Svoboda in order to promote the growth of Ayurveda in the West. Dr. Svoboda was a long time coach in Ayurveda and also in medical astrology, and Tantra Shastra.

Margaret has been a purebred cattle rancher, organic food producer, community activist and college executive, among other things. She holds graduate degrees in public policy and public administration, and diplomas in community development and adult education.

She continues to study and practice Jyotisha, Sanskrit and Ayurveda from her home in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Margaret Mahan's email address is mjm108@uniserve.com.

From the August/September 2005 issue of Michael Laughrin's North American Jyotish Newsletter. The newsletter is administered through Yahoo Groups at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jyotish_ws/

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