Arudha Padas

The 4th house in shodasamsa chart shows one's happiness from vehicle. It doesn't show how expensive the vehicle is. One can be very happy with a Bajaj Chetak and someone else can be very unhappy with a Mercedes Benz. The 4th house only shows how happy one is with one's vehicle. It doesn't show whether one owns a scooter or a Mercedes Benz. That is shown by A4, the maya associated with vehicle. We can see a lot of details about one's vehicle (physical vehicle!) from A4 in shodasamsa.

Similarly A10 in dasamsa shows the maya associated with karma (action), i.e. one's workplace! Dusthanas from A10 show bad time for the company one works for or a change of workplace.

In dwadasamsa, 9th house shows father. It actually shows happiness from father and relations with him. A9 stands for the maya associated with the concept of father, i.e. the material existence of father and his status. So A9 can be used as a reference in dwadasamsa and some inferences can be drawn about father. The 8th house from A9 shows material setbacks to father and the 5th house from A9 shows father's fame.

Just as arudha lagna shows the manifestation of the native (lagna) in this maya world, arudha padas of individual houses show the manifestation of the house matters in this maya world. Arudha pada of a house show the maya associated with the matters signified by that house. Let us denote the arudha pada of nth house by An (e.g. A4 for matri pada and A5 for mantra pada).

In chaturvimsamsa, the 4th house shows one's learning. A4 shows the maya associated with one's learning. What can that be? Well, this maya world places a lot of value on the place and environment in which one learns. Depending on whether one studied at IIT or "Varala Venkata Subbayya Engineering College", we jump to different conclusions about one's knowledge. So the place of study is the illusion associated with learning and it is seen from A4.

A very intelligent and learned friend of mine has extremely strong 4th and 5th houses in chaturvimsamsa. He wondered why he always studied at mediocre (his word) colleges and universities, despite such a strong chaturvimsamsa chart. I found A4 in his chaturvimsamsa chart and it was afflicted by !

In dasamsa – the chart of achievements in society, i.e. career – the 5th house can show one's judgment, balance and discretion in career and also professional reputation. Which should be seen from lagna and which from arudha lagna?

Judgment, balance and discretion are related to true self and they are seen from the 5th from lagna. Reputation is seen from the 5th from arudha lagna, because it is a part of maya and related to perceived self.

In this manner, we can choose the correct divisional chart and the correct reference (lagna or arudha lagna), based on the nature of the matter of interest.

Money is related more to arudha lagna than lagna. This is why Jaimini talked about planets in the 11th and 12th houses from arudha lagna when talking about savings and expenditures. We find that Sudasa (rasi dasa) of the 11th house from arudha lagna invariably improves finances.

If someone has lagna in Aries, arudha lagna in Cancer and in Scorpio, dasa may bring reputation and worries at the same time. Reputation is given by in the 5th from arudha lagna and worries are given by in the 8th from lagna.

Thus arudha lagna basically shows the perceptions and illusions of the world about the native and it is useful for many materialistic aspects of life.

http://www.jupitersweb.com/arudha-padas.html

is satya peetha or the seat of truth. Arudha lagna is maya peetha or the seat of illusion. Both stand for self, but they stand for different shades of self. stands for true self and arudha lagna stands for perceived self. Arudha lagna stands for "self, as
peceived by this maya world".

Classics attribute many matters to each house. By using divisional charts, we can resolve many clashes. For example, 5th house stands for son, mantra, judgment, fame etc. Using divisional charts, we can see that 5th house in saptamsa stands for son and 5th house in vimsamsa stands for mantra. However, we sometimes have a clash even after going to the correct divisional chart. For example, intelligence and academic success are both to be seen in chaturvimsamsa (chart of learning) and the 5th house shows both. In such cases, we have to see which matter is seen from lagna and which from arudha lagna.

We said that Parasara prescribed chaturvimsamsa chart for learning and knowledge and the 5th house is supposed to show success in competition and fame, as well as intelligence. An intelligent person usually succeeds in competition, but it is not necessary always! How do we resolve this clash? We do it by using lagna for one and arudha lagna for the other.

shows true self. Whether one is intelligent or not, is related to true self. But whether one is successful in a competitive examination or not, is related to perceived self. An intelligent person may fail and one of average intelligence may succeed. It is related to perceptions. So use lagna as a reference when judging one's intelligence and use arudha lagna when judging success in competition and fame.

Some scholars (e.g. Sri K.N. Rao) prefer to ignore the exception in (2) above, but both Parasara and Jaimini mentioned it and it cannot be ignored.

Moreover, the following point may be considered by learned men: Some results are attributed in literature to the mutual shashthashtaka (6th/8th) positions of arudha lagna and dara pada (arudha pada of 7th).

If this exception is ignored, it can be mathematically proved that arudha lagna and dara pada will always be in mutually odd houses and mutual shashthashtaka position of these two padas can never occur! Why did maharshis talk about a combination that never occurs? The readers are urged not to ignore these exceptions.

There is another thing to remember: Though many scholars find arudha padas only in rasi chart, they are equally valid in divisional charts.

Example 2:
is in Aries and is in Aquarius. Let us say we need to find mantra pada (arudha pada of 5th house).

Solution:
From Aries lagna, the 5th house is in Leo. From Leo, its lord is in 7th. Counting the 7th from , we get Leo itself. But arudha pada of a house cannot be in the house itself or the 7th from it. So we find the 10th from what we found above, i.e. Leo, and get Taurus.

Example 3:
is in Taurus and is in Libra. Let us say we need to find bhratri pada (arudha pada of 3rd house).

Solution:
From Taurus lagna, the 3rd house is in Cancer. From Cancer, its lord is in 4th. Counting the 4th from , we get Capricorn (7th from Cancer!). But arudha pada of a house cannot be in the house itself or the 7th from it. So we find the 10th from what we found above, i.e. Capricorn, and get Libra.

(3) Caution: Parasara said that Aquarius is owned by and both and Scorpio is owned by and both. When finding arudha padas of houses falling in these two signs, we have to consider both the lords. If one of the lords occupies the sign (e.g. in Aquarius), the other lord (e.g. ) should be used. Otherwise, we have to take the stronger lord. Usually a planet in conjunction with more planets is stronger. A more elaborate set of rules can be found in standard references.

Arudha pada of a house is computed using the following method:

(1) Rule: Measure the number of signs from the house of interest to its lord. Measure the same number of signs from the lord. The resultant sign contains the arudha pada of the house.

Example 1:
is in Gemini and is in Aries. Let us say we need to find
(a) arudha lagna (arudha pada of the 1st house) and
(b) matri pada (arudha pada of 4th house).

Solution:
(a) is in Gemini. Its lord is in Aries, i.e., 11th from Gemini. Count the 11th house from . It is Aquarius. So Arudha lagna is in Aquarius.
(b) The 4th house is in Virgo. Its lord is in 8th from it. Counting the 8th from
, we get Scorpio. So matri pada is in Scorpio.

(2) Exception: Arudha pada of a house cannot be in the 1st or 7th from the house. If the Arudha pada computed above falls in the 1st or 7th from the original house for which we are finding arudha pada, then the 10th house from what was found above becomes the Arudha pada.

NOTE: It may be noticed that arudha pada of a house can only be in the 3rd, 4th, 5th,
9th, 10th and 11th from the house. This is because the illusion is always separated from the reality.

World is swayed by Maya

A gentleman I know owns a scooter, with which he is very happy. He owned it for 15 years and he is very fond and proud of it. He rides it to work everyday. I know another
gentleman who owns three fine cars, but not happy with any of them and always hoping to buy something better.

If you ask someone, "which of these two gentlemen is more blessed with happiness from vehicles – the one with a scooter or the one with three cars", the answer you are likely to get is "the one with three cars".

The world has its own perceptions. The material world is swayed by maya or illusion. The same thing is true for most aspects of life.

If I tell you when you come to me that a central minister just left my home after astrological consultations, you will probably think that I am a good astrologer. If I tell you in our first meeting that I don't demand a fixed fee for my astrological consultations and take whatever clients happily give, you will probably think that I am not a good astrologer. Is every astrologer consulted by central ministers necessarily good? Can't an astrologer who does not demand a large fee be good?

If I tell you I did my B.Tech at IIT, you will probably think that I am a smart person. If I tell you I did my B.Tech at "Varala Venkata Subbayya Engineering College", you will probably not get the same impression. Is everyone at IIT necessarily smarter than everyone at the latter college? Probably not. However, we always jump to conclusions
and form ideas and perceptions that are possibly wrong, because we are swayed by the maya of this material world. Outer trappings matter more than the inner truth.

How people perceive and judge a native is guided by the maya of this material world. Those perceptions are merely illusions and the reality can be different from them.

The question in front of astrologers is: "How do we distinguish between the illusions of
the material world and the reality?"

The answer to this important question lies in the use of arudha padas, defined by Parasara and Jaimini.

The term Arudha Pada is also commonly called PADA. Arudha means "MOUNT" and
refers to the IMAGE of a sign falling on another due to "reflection of the rays emanating from it and being reflected by its lord.

Keeping the reflection in view, the Karaka (Significator) can be taken to be the .
Count from a sign to its lord. Then count as many signs from the lord to arrive at the
ARUDHA PADA.

For example, if the Lord is in the fifth house, then count five signs from the lord to arrive at the ninth house. This ninth house becomes the Arudha Pada for the .

Exception: The Arudha Pada cannot be in the same sign or the seventh from it. In case
this happens, then choose the tenth house therefrom.

For example, if the Lord is in the 4th house, then the Arudha lagna should be in the 4th from the 4th house i.e. the 7th house. But since this is not allowed, the tenth therefrom should be chosen. The tenth from the 7th house is the 4th house and the 4th house becomes the Arudha .

This is also called PADA LAGNA or ARUDHA LAGNA. In this manner we can compute the Arudha Pada for all the houses and these are called Dhana Pada (2nd), Bhratripada
(3rd), Matri Pada (4th), Mantrapada (5th), Satrupada (6th), Dara Pada (7th), Roga pada (8th), Bhagyapada (9th), Rajyapada (10th), Labhapada (11th) and Upapada (12th).

For some of the best info I have come across on Arudhas, please refer to page 72 in Narasimha’s book Vedic Astrology - An Integrated Approach. There are also Graha Arudhas – refer to page 79 for computations. These show the illusions of the native… Narasimha’s book is an excellent resource book with information on many of the classical techniques, and well worth the price and place in your library.

Below is detailed information on Arudha’s and their manner of calculation. Better information I have not found in any book or online. The contributions below were written years back by Sanjay Rath and Narasimha Rao – two very strong advocates for the usage of Arudhas – along with a variety of other very interesting Parashara and Jaimini techniques. Their contributions to the world of Astrology are quite remarkable.

This terminology refers to how one is “perceived”by others. This is about illusions and maya associations, versus the actual “reality” of a situation - or how we distinguish between what is actually “real”, and what is actually an “illusion” of our material world.

How we judge people is very often guided by our illusions – or the maya of our material world – whereas in reality, the situation may actually be much different than that of our maya perception. So we need to understand how to actually distinguish between the illusions present in our material world versus the actual reality.