Ruling Planets is a very important concept, in fact one of the corner stones of KP that attracted me to test KP more. This concept is almost like a mathematical application of the phenomenon of Synchronicity. In my studies into the phenomenon of Synchronicity, this is the peak of a practical near-mathematical model of Synchronicity.
Simply put ruling planets are the planets which rule over the particular moment of judgement (in the case of horary/Prasna), birth (in the case of natal chart), or whatever the issue maybe. They are the strongest determinants of the moment. According to Krishnamurti they are:
Lagna star lord
Lagna lord
Moon star lord
Moon sign lord and
Weekday lord
Later his students also added the Lagna sublord and Moon sublord. In practice the ascendant sublord works very well. I use the Moon sublord as a contender only if it is already among the first six ruling planets, only to eliminate the weaker ones, if too many planets appear in the list of ruling planets. If Rahu or Ketu occupy a sign whose lord (ruler) owns another sign, and if that planet happens to be a ruling planet, the node should also be taken as a ruling planet.
These planets determine the outcome of anything. Let us look at the rationale of Ruling planets. Isn’t it a common experience even for a beginner that quite often when he sits to study a chart the prasna lagna is the same as the birth lagna of the client? Isn’t it even more common that the Prasna chart itself reflects accurately the current picture as well as the natal chart? This has indeed been noticed even by Western (tropical) astrologers who have come up with what they call the ‘Consultation chart’. The exact moment when an astrologer or even the client genuinely has the urge to look into a question is very important in Prasna. Why? Buddhi Karmaanusaarini. The mind follows the Karmas (see my article on Synchronicity for a fuller understanding).
Most astrologers will agree that in principle it is possible to predict based on the Consultation chart. But the dispute would arise about why only the above said planets are selected. The idea of selecting certain planets as the determinants based on some criteria is not really that new either. In my own studies I have come across this a couple of times. The best instance is that of sage Satyacharya’s ‘Jataka Satyachaareeyam’ also known as “Satya Jataka”. In Adhyaya 1, slokas 7 to 14, the sage gives the four determinants of any chart based on whose strength and disposition he judges the chart straightaway. A simplified version of the same is given here. I am not going into the details of the usage here. It should be pointed out that this wonderful book is the forerunner of the great Nadi classic Dhruva nadi. In fact the principles enunciated here along with the Nadiamshas forms the subject matter of a class of Nadi literature in the form of Dhruva and Satya Samhita Nadis. The determinants of any moment according to the sage are:
It will be seen that Krishnamurthi’s Ruling planets are quite similar. Instead of taking the nakshatra lord of either the lagna or moon based on whichever is stronger, he takes BOTH. He also takes both the Lagna lord and Moonsign lord. He has no place for the Navamsa lord, but introduces the Weekday lord. Let me hasten to add that the above comparision is MINE. Krishnamurthi himself doesn’t tell where he got the idea of Ruling planets from. But other astrologers who interacted with him, suggest that he got the idea from his researches on prenatal epoch, that certain ruling planets of the prenatal epoch, become ruling planets at the birth time, and also dominate the individual’s life. More on this in another article some other time. I have over the years slightly modified the version for myself. But I will first represent the RP faithfully as they are used by KP.
After drawing a list of the ruling planets we can eliminate some as follows.
1. Planets deposited in the nakshatra of a retrograde planet have to be rejected. But planets which are retrograde pose no problem, ONLY those IN THE CONSTELLATION of a retrograde planet will be rejected. A word of caution. This rule has to be used very sparingly. It is not applicable in birth time rectification.
1. If any RP is in the sub of planet detrimental to a house by being a significator of the 8th or 12th house to the relevant house whose matter we are judging, even that planet will be eliminated. Of course this is with reference to the horary chart according to KP only.
Beginners to KP don’t have to worry about the last rule since I will give a simple example without a Prashna chart. Moreover this rule has is relevant only with an actual prashna chart.
Planets in conjunction or aspect to the ruling planets can also jump into the list. This is true especially if the planet is sitting in the ruling lagna itself. Such a planet if strong, is a very good contender. But even this is in keeping with the known concepts of conventional vedic astrology. Judging this part of when such an extra planet should be included or not is the only difficult area. Sometimes (not very common though) a planet in the constellation of a retrograde planet can still work. Don’t worry about all that. Even without such modifications (they are only 3 to 4) you will still get it right enough number of times and very accurately sometimes even in the beginning. This will give you faith to work on this concept more. With practice one can come correct 80-90%of the time. There are other guidelines which help an astrologer in judging the strength of the ruling planets. Such guidelines can be evolved after practicing it more. By then one starts feeling their pulse.
Three points are to be remembered.
1. The fructification of the event will occur only when the transiting planet transits a point in the zodiac ruled by these planets. If the result is expected on the same day, the lagna will transit this point. If it is in days, move the Moon to this point, if it is expected to happen in months, move Sun, and finally if it is expected in years, Jupiter will transit a point in the zodiac whose sign lord, nakshatra lord and sublord are ruled by the ruling planets.
2. Even if you have three strongest ruling planets, you have 3 points in the zodiac ruled by the three planets. If the ascendant at judgement is a movable sign, the earliest one may be preferred. If it is fixed, the last point.
3. In judging the strength of the ruling planets the following will be helpful most of the time. They are stronger in the descending order.
Asc nak lord> Asc sign lord >Moon nak lord> Moon sign lord>Weekday lord
The RP can be used in many ways. I will mention a few here.
1. Birth rectification: The ruling planets of the moment you sit to judge the chart (in case of any doubt about the accuracy of birth time) will be same as the birth time ruling planets. In case of doubt about the degree of lagna, it will be the degree ruled by RP. The birth lagna lord, lagna nakshatra lord and sublord will be indicated by the RP. Often the dasha or antardasha lord will also come up. This can be used with traditional astrology too.
2. In conjunction with the Prashna chart, when we have too many significators for an event, the significators which are also the ruling planets are to be clinched. Remember that prashna method will have to be that of KP.
3. Fast predictions can be given just based on the Ruling planets directly. I will illustrate one such case here. Can be used with traditional astrology too. No need of KP as long as you have the table of 249 subs. Most programs give the nakshatra and sublords of every planet including the lagna in the details.
Let me now give an actual example now. I used to teach Vedic astrology classes in the University of Sydney during the weekends. These classes were arranged by a student who was working in the Aeronautical Engineering dept in the same University. After some months of regular traditional Vedic astrology classes, I took the lesson on the Ruling planets since they can be used even without much knowledge of KP. I did some examples from my case files, but decided to do more LIVE examples as and when the opportunity arose. The next week on Nov7th 2000, Alan, a student of the same classes, called up. While I was on the phone with him, my sister from USA called me on the mobile. I told Alan to call back after 10 minutes. But the conversation with my sister lasted for more than one hour since we ended up discussing a medical case, about a patient known to both of us. Later I realized that Alan would have probably tried during that one hour a couple of times. So I called him on his phone. But the answering machine was on. I thought that he would be with a client of his or something. So I left a message on his machine. Someone suggested that I should do the Ruling planet and predict when Alan would call back. I noted the time. It was 10:57 am. The place Wollongong, New South Wales. Daylight saving one hour. The Lagna was 5 degrees 34 minutes Capricorn (I used KP ayanamsa). Moon was in Cancer 15 degrees 1 minute and the weekday Tuesday. So the Ruling planets are:
Saturn (lagna lord)
Sun (lagna nakshatra lord)
Mercury (Lagna sublord)
Saturn (Moon sign lord)
Jupiter (moon nakshatra lord)
Mars (Weekday lord)
Are any of the planets in the nakshatra of a retrograde planet? Sun in Jupiter’s nakshatra as well as Moon in Saturn’s nakshatra are to be eliminated. Saturn, Mars and Mercury are left. Saturn is a very strong significator as it appears twice. Rahu can be added to the list since it is in the sign of Mercury(Gemini). So the final list has Saturn, Mars, Mercury and Rahu. Let us see how many points are ruled by these planets. First consider the Signlord and Nakshatra lord.
We have an option between Capricorn, Aquarius, Gemini, Virgo or Scorpio. Since our Ascendant was Capricorn a movable sign, we should prefer the earlier signs. The earliest point will be that ruled by Saturn(sign lord) Mars (nak lord). It will happen either in Capricorn or Aquarius. In Capricorn ruling planet subs can be either those of Rahu or Mars. In Aquarius it can be only Mercury since no other ruling planet has a sub in Aq in Mars nakshatra. We have already used Mars. Moreover it is not a very strong contender. Mercury the Asc sublord is the strongest of all the three. So we will clinch Saturn sign Mars Nakshatra Mercury Sub. It is 0deg to 1deg 53 min 20 sec of Aquarius.
When can I expect Alan to call back? After a year? Or a month? No. Commonsense tells me that he will call me back he will call back within 24hours on the same day. So we have to see the transit of the lagna in this point of the zodiac. The lagna will be in this point from 12hrs 57 min to 12 hrs 59 min for Wollongong the place of judgement where I will receive his call. So I noted it on a paper and continued my discussion with the other person. It was 12.57. The other person was getting excited. Would Alan call back according to the predicted time? Right at 12.59 the phone rang. I picked it up. Sure enough it was Alan. I asked him the time on his watch. It was either 12.58 or 12.59. I explained the example to him in 5 minutes.
Next week I repeated it as an example in the class. Another student wanted to know the birth time of a lady whose chart she was doing. The person gave a range of 2 hours as she didn’t know exactly. But she promised to verify from her mother and the birth certificate. Two different ascendants would rise in this range of 2 hours. So in the class the student asked me what degree would be rising. After checking the ruling planets I gave Libra sign, particular nakshatra and sub. Later when the lady got the information from her birth certificate it turned out to be just 5minutes different from what I arrived at. Needless to say we agreed that what we calculated was correct. Often birth certificates could be wrong by that much.
Another instance. A group of students and faculty in a college in Vishakhapatnam were trying to learn some concepts in astrology. During the break time, they were trying the readings given by an Indian commercial software program, how reasonably accurate the program was. They put up a chart and started reading the results for the lagna. According to it, the person would be tall since it was a Gemini ascendant. But the man was actually short. Since the ascendant was in the last 5 degrees someone suggested that the birth time could be wrong. I walked in just then. They approached me for a clarification. It was 15:45, August 29th 2001, at Vishakhapatnam. I drew a list of ruling planets immediately.
Ascendant: Capricorn 01 deg 47 min
Saturn (sign lord), Sun (asc nak lord) Jupiter (asc sublord)
Moon sign: Sagittarius 23 deg 24 min
Jupiter (sign lord), Venus (moon nak lord), Saturn (moon sublord)
Mercury (Weekday lord for Wednesday)
Venus was in the 7th aspecting the Ascendant (Parasari aspects vedic style)
So the Ruling planets were:
Jupiter (Asc sublord & Moon signlord) > Venus (aspecting lagna & also Moon nakshatra lord) > Saturn (Asc signlord & Moon sub) > Sun > Mercury
With this information let us look at the question. If there was any mistake in the ascendant, since it was in the last 5 degrees, the other option would be only Cancer. But Moon doesn’t figure in our RP list. Mercury the day lord can be the ascendant lord. Having ruled out Moon, could Venus be the ascendant lord since Taurus is close to Gemini? Not really, because that requires a shift in birth time by almost more than 1.5 hours. A variation of a few minutes, say 10 at the most is acceptable in such cases, since according to him, his parents couldn’t be off the mark so badly especially being believers in astrology. Now can we go closer to the degree of the ascendant? Since Jupiter was our first choice, it could be Punarvasu nakshatra (ruled by Jupiter) in Gemini. Within this it could be Venus sub (first preference) or Saturn sub (second). I decided to go for Venus sub. It is Gemini 26 deg 33 min 20 sec to 28 deg 46 min 40 sec. I then asked them what degree they got using the birth time as it is. It was Gemini 27 deg 28 minutes. It happens to be the same sub as what I had arrived at independently. Let me point out that the physical description of a person is not based just on the lagna. Other influences on the ascendant and its lord also have to be seen. As for KP, the starlord of the ascendant sublord holds the key to the characteristics of a person. Needless to say the physical description based on the lagna alone is bound to fail very often. In case of doubt between two subs, one should actually verify the results of both sublords and then choose. While the ruling planets are a great help in rectification, the rectified time should again be verified by trying to predict a few things from the chart using either the sublords of various cusps or the divisional charts. I prefer to use the sublords first, and then look into the disional charts as a further verification.
I will give one more example. A few months back, I was talking to Mr. Keven Barett, the founder of the OZCVA. Also present were Mr.Ray Webb, editor of a tropical astrology magazine, and two other friends. After sometime, Lynda Hill, the author of a book on the degrees of the zodiac and sabian symbols, joined us. Ray Webb remarked that she had changed the energy and atmosphere with her arrival. She did seem to have. This was the first time I met her. I was wondering what her ascendant was. I mentally tried to calculate the ascendant for a horary chart for that moment. It could probably be Sagittarius. Since I was not sure, and also because I had to leave immediately. After some days while I was discussing something with Ada Cumming, a businesswoman and wonderful patron of astrology, at her home cum office, Lynda Hill dropped in. After a few minutes of interaction, again there arose a desire in my mind to know her ascendant. Immediately I calculated the RPs since I had a laptop with me this time. It was 15:59 hrs, July 5th 2001, at Sydney.
Ascendant: 07 deg 11 min Sagittarius
Jupiter (sign lord) Ketu (asc nak lord) and Rahu (asc sublord)
Moon sign: 15 deg 09 min Sagittarius
Jupiter- Venus- Venus
Weekday lord: Jupiter.
Moreover Jupiter was one of the planets aspecting lagna (Jupiter, Rahu, Sun were aspecting the ascendant from the 7th while Ketu and Moon were in the ascendant).
With Jupiter appearing 4 times and both the ruling ascendant and moon sign being Sagittarius, it was almost impossible that her natal ascendant could be anything other than Sagittarius. But just to rule out the possibility, let us consider Pisces too which is ruled by Jupiter. Next to Jupiter, Venus, Rahu and Ketu , and Sun are other ruling planets in the list. But none of them have a nakshatra in Pisces. So it was certain that her natal ascendant was Sagittarius. I worked it out in a few minutes and kept it aside. I then asked her for her birth details. Then I showed her what I had calculated. Needless to say she had Sagittarius rising in her natal chart.
Sometimes it is a good idea to see the navamsa lagna. Quite often, either the moon in the Prasna rasi chart, or the ascendant in the Prasna D-9, directly reflect the birth lagna in question.
Let me bring another experience that is not very uncommon. Sometimes you don’t find the actual lagna sign lord in the ruling planets. But this is only in cases where the lagna sign is not in doubt. But in all cases where the lagna sign itself is doubtful, the sign lord finds a place in the ruling planets. The ruling planets are like angels for an astrologer. They help in clearing the actual doubt. They also help in predicting very accurately quite often. They almost always help to refine a prediction arrived at through other methods. There is a saying that the planets whisper into the ears of a good astrologer. If that could be true, ruling planets come close to that.
The use of ruling planets is not restricted to the few types of cases mentioned here by me. As the sage Satyacharya opined, the determinants of a chart (ruling planets in this methodology) are most important to judge a chart. Snapshot predictions can be given based on them. Another common use for ruling planets is in matching charts.
In KP, for any event three houses are to be judged. One is the primary house while the other two are secondary but quite important. For marriage, we should look to houses 2,7,11. The 7th (kalathra sthana) is the primary one which signifies *partnership and *legal bondage. The 2nd stands for increase in family (kutumba sthana refers to family in general without reference to any particular relation while other houses refer specifically to a particular relation) which marriage brings by the addition of the new member. The 11th is for pleasure and permanent or lasting friendship. Venus the natural significator of marriage is also reckoned as important especially if it is related to *any of the above three houses. Additionally planets conjoined with or aspecting the above significators or houses.
What about divorce or separation? Since 12th house negates or represents loss or dissolution, houses that are12th to 2,7,11 are to be judged. So 1st (12th to 2nd), 6th (12th to 7th), and 10th (12th to 11th) are judged for divorce. While the 6th can bring about separation (temporary or permanent), the 1st and 10th speak of a more permanent separation, especially the 10th since it represents loss/end of a permanent or lasting friendship. The 10th house, which represents career, is a very enigmatic house. On one hand it can give rise/growth in career (it is one of the upachaya houses). Simultaneously as a maraka for both the mother and father, it could be bad for the parents. It can also spell serious trouble for the married life in the form of separation or divorce. And yet as the karmasthana, it can represent the ultimate blossoming of karma. Career affords one a chance to liquidate karma by living out one’s personal dharma (svadharma). That is why the highest manifestation of Ketu in the 10th is self-realisation (remember Ketu in 10th in ideal conditions can give self-realisation as in the case of Sri Ramakrishna).
Find out the ruling planets of the husband. If in the wife’s chart, they are the significators of 2,7,11 without at the same time being the significators of 1,6,10, then the marriage will be stable (also vice versa). If the ruling planets of one person are the significators of 1,6,10 as well as 2,7,11, the marriage is unstable, and the married life replete with many unhappy moments, separations, quarrels etc and possibly even divorce, depending upon other factors. If the ruling planets of one person are very strong significators of 1,6,10 only and do not signify anything positive, the match is to be definitely avoided or will fall through naturally. Of course one can study the navamsas of both against each other, apart from the rashis or the Upapadas. But here I am using only the ruling planets. When you use this method the significators are judged KP style using Placidus houses and nakshatras. Let me also add that the Navamsa lagna lords could also be included in the ruling planet list following sage Satyacharya’s method of finding out the four determinants because this context specifically relates to marriage, for which Navamsa is a key divisional chart.
Look at the following charts sent by someone. A lady born on Feb 6th 1972 at 04:45 hrs, 75E47, 31N01, IST, was married to a gentleman born on Nov 13th 1972 at 14:00 hrs (questionable time), 76E25, 30N20. Time zone is 05:30 hrs.
The ruling planets of the husband are (I am not taking the lagna sublord since we are not sure of the birth time):
Rahu (lagna nak lord)
Saturn (lagna lord as well as moon rashi lord)
Moon (moon nakshatra lord as well as weekday lord).
In the wife’s chart, Rahu is a strong significator of both 1 and 10, while Moon is also a moderate significator of the 10th. Saturn seems to be OK. But with a majority of the ruling planets being significators of houses representing seperation and divorce, the marriage cannot be stable. They got married on Feb 7th 1998 and got divorced April 9th 2001.
Now a word on compatibility. Both Seshadri Iyer and Krishnamurthi were of the belief that more than a case of Porutham, it is essentially Praptham that determined marriages. There may be a million people compatible to you on the earth. But you may not even meet them in your life. But the few who share a strong rnanubandhana (the binding of karmic debt) with you, will come into your life irrespective of compatibility. The karma shared by a couple may be sweet or bitter. Yet they have to live their karma. Then why do we do compatibility or matching of charts? One reason could be to assess the strengths and weaknesses, so that one knows the general direction, and also to be better prepared to tackle the situation. Again it is more about how one reacts, the mental poise rather than any radical changes by self- efforts. The quality of married life is largely dependant on the natal chart itself. Within the boundaries determined by our Prarabdha, we can stretch the rope of karma that binds us, a little bit. Remember the cow? We are neither totally bound by destiny nor are we totally free. We have limited freedom like a cow that has been tied to a post in a field with a rope. It can move freely, but only within the limits of the field. We have limited freedom depending upon how much we can stretch our Karma.
In passing it should be mentioned at the cost of repetition that the query has to be genuine. It is equally important to be very clear about the question. These rules are part of any prashna. Some clients change the question within that 5 minutes. After asking, “ Will I pass the examination?” while the astrologer is analysing they change it to “ I am worried that I may fail. Do you think I will fail?” It goes without saying that with the same chart, the answer to both the questions can be different. Clear questions get clear answers. An astrologer has to very clearly note at the outset the EXACT way in which the question was asked. KP READER 6 is quite good to learn KP style of conducting a prashna. But no book is enough because unless you know where to look for for a particular prashna, which houses signify the matter, even if you are experienced you will still go wrong. No book gives all kinds of prashnas. Don’t offer predictions for Prashnas based on loose knowledge of where to look for. In KP everything is precise, almost like a formula. Either you are accurate when you get it right or you get it wrong because you didn’t get your formula right. No beating round the bush. A few reminders.
1. In KP house cusps are calculated using Placidus method.
2. Subs play the key role
3. Ascendant is fixed by a Number that the client gives.
4. Ruling planet ascendant is DIFFERENT from the Arudha lagna (the ascendant ascertained with the number)
5. Buddhi Karmaanusaarini. The client WILL give a number that fits well with his karmic patterns. NEVER doubt this. The mind follows the karmas. All minds are connected. Whoever gives the number is at some level connected to the Universal Intelligence. There is no element of chance in this.
6. A particular Prashna (query) is done only once unless you are doing another Prashna to Zoom in.
Finally let me caution the reader about a few important considerations.
1. Planets in the sub of retrogrades need not be rejected for any Prasna including rectification.
2. Planets in the nakshatra of a retrograde are eliminated from the list of RP only for regular prasnas, but not in rectification cases. As such retrogression, is a misleading concept in KP as it was originally used in RPs. It may be rejected prima facie. Experience on hundreds of Prasna charts has convinced me of this. Moreover, retrogression as used in KP is a partial, very minimal application of the theory of planetary speeds in Jyotish. Both Brighu and Parasara mention 6-8 types of planetary motion. I will deal with this in another article. It is another wonderful topic for an astrologer, though grossly neglected. Many astrologers are not even aware of how to use them.
3. One need not worry about eliminating the unwanted RPs for timing of the event or finding the arc in the zodiac(sub), since often some of them get eliminated automatically simply because they cannot figure in the analysis. A multiple or composite approach can also be helpful in this regard.
4. KP as taught by Krishnamurti is not infallible. For that matter KP, Iyer’s NTP etc, none of them are infallible including the classical works. One has to be open minded and work hard. Krishnamurti himself wanted his students to be open and research minded so that they could take KP forward. I respect and love all the great minds that have researched and advanced jyotish, but no one has monopoly over the truth. Each method has its own advantage. Undoubtedly Ruling planets, is a step forward in Jyotish, but not the ultimate. It is for us to work more and make it better.
Many a time I have rectified charts with the help of ruling planets. Many times I had anticipated the Birth lagna and nakshatra even before calculating the birth chart. When it was calculated the client or student would be surprised that it was exactly the same. Let me add that I am not boasting of my abilities here. I am just writing about how reliable the ruling planets are. I am nobody. Occasionally every astrologer has to go wrong. Nobody is infallible. But the astrologer has to answer himself before giving a prediction. Has he been intellectually honest? Has he learnt the best techniques with no prejudices? Has he been open minded enough? Has he done his job sincerely? If he has, he should give the prediction boldly without any attachment to the result. It generally will come true. Ruling planets is one of those very few techniques, which give more confidence to the astrologer by increasing the precision and accuracy. For those who are new to this technique, one last word. The judgement of finding the correct 3 significators will come from applying the principles and analyzing the results. After 3 months of regular and sincere study, anyone can come 80 of the time accurate. In fact to the precise moment at times. Sometimes we may be wrong in our judgement of the sublord. We are still around the time. We learn from experience. Still even the best astrologer can be wrong sometimes. What’s there to complain about this? Are we playing God?
We are just insignificant tiny beings trying to fathom the unfathomable. The enigma of Karma will not reveal itself to any of us in its entirety, especially to us who are still bound by ignorance. If we know what Karma is, we are no more part of this rat race, this cycle of births and deaths. In fact the knower does not exist anymore. All distinction between the knower and known ceases. Sarvam khalvidam Brahma.
Remember that like in Prashna (horary) the urge has to be genuine, not to just test the theory. It will work in all genuine cases when you are doing a chart seriously. Please try this method sincerely without any bias for a few weeks at least before forming any opinions. This is a very brief introduction to the RP. It is just the tip of the iceberg. I am sharing my experience here. I have tried many methods in the past 13 years. This is one among what works. I have also given Satyacharya’s theory for comparison if any die-hard traditionalist wants to use a similar idea. Even if one doesn’t use KP subs, still the ruling planets can be used with considerable accuracy, at least in rectification methods.
Many traditional astrologers ignore or decry KP because they feel that it has broken the bindings of tradition. My sincere request to such astrologers is to try KP with an open mind. Then they can form their opinions. But if one is already biased and then reads a book, nothing will appeal to such a person. Anything that binds us is against Truth. Truth has to be liberating, not binding. Tradition has its role to play. But if it becomes an obstacle to truth, it is no more divine. Wasn’t Sri Ramakrishna advised to cut the vision of Kali with the sword of discrimination by Tota Puri? We should have a healthy respect for the sages and their teachings. A lot of their teachings are lost now. But if we hope to reclaim even a part of it, we should be open to the truth in any form. Trying more methods in the light of what the sages taught is what we should do. May the truth set us free.