Twins Horoscopes, unsure about time of birth and how does Karma work?- Purpose of Phalitha Jyothish
This is a continuation of my previous article about Predictive Astrology. To read that article, click on this link. We left that article with two questions. a) How do we analyze twins horoscopes and b) how does karma work? Why do some people suffer from poverty?
Let’s start with twins horoscopes first.
How to analyze twins horoscopes?
This is a very popular question indeed. That is, when twins are born so closely in time at the same place, how come they don’t have the exact same life paths? First, let’s ask ourselves this question. Are twins’ lives that different? Why do two jeevas (conscious beings) decide to take birth as twins in the first place? There must be some reason. It’s usually that they have got some shared karma in the past lives and the easy way to spend it off is to take birth together as twins. So we actually see a lot of similarities in their horoscopes accordingly. However, the problem is, how do we draw two separate horoscopes for births that have taken place so closely in time and at the same place?
Here’re a few techniques.
Case 1: When Lagna is different for twins
Btw, what is a lagna? Lagna is the first house in a given horoscope, which is the sign rising in the eastern horizon at a given point of time in a given place. Since the earth is rotating around itself and it takes 4 min to cross one degree in the zodiac, and each sign, i.e. rasi is 30 degrees in size, every two hours (4min*30 degree=120 min), the rising sign in the east changes when you see from the earth from a given place.
Let’s take a sample case.
1st twin birth time and place: 13th Jan 2019, 16:25 pm, London, UK
2nd twin birth time and place: 13th Jan 2019, 16:29 pm, London, UK
Note: These twins are only 4 min apart in their birth.
Birth charts for both the twins are given below.
1st twin:
2nd twin:
In first glance, both images look the same wrt grahas and their positions in the boxes excepting for one big difference. Notice carefully that the lagna, i.e. the box in which the term ‘As’ (short for Ascendant) is written is different for these twins. Lagna changes every two hours. However, these twins are born at such a time that, when the first twin was born, the lagna was in Gemini. Whereas the second twin was born when the lagna just moved from Gemini to Cancer. Since lagna is the first house, although the rest of the grahas are pretty much where they are in the sky (they’re slow moving compared to lagna), the entire interpretation of the charts is very different. If we count Gemini as the first house, which we need to do for the first twin, in his 6th house, he has got Venus and Jupiter. Whereas for the second twin, same Venus and Jupiter are in his fifth house. 6th house represents enemies, daily work, service etc. whereas the 5th house represents completely different things like speculative wealth, romance, creativity, children etc. Venus and Jupiter give the results associated with the 6th domain for the first twin. But the same Venus and Jupiter give results associated with the 5th domain for the second twin. So this way, when twins are born around the time when lagna changes in the sky, their lives unfold very differently. These are the kind of lives that we sometimes hear about in the news, like how two twins were separated at birth and how their lives are completely different or how twins end up having unusually different lives.
Case 2: When lagna is the same for twins
In the first case, we discussed a scenario where twins are born during the time period when lagna is about to change. Let’s take a different case where twins are born again with 4 min difference, but in the same lagna.
1st twin birth time and place: 13th Jan 2019, 16:06 pm, London, UK
2nd twin birth time and place: 13th Jan 2019, 16:10 pm, London, UK
Note: These twins are again only 4 min apart in their birth just like the first case.
Twin 1:
Twin 2:
Notice that the Rasi chart looks the same for these twins. That means these twins are born within that time period when the lagna (i.e. rising sign in the east) is the same. However, something else is different. I’ve also included what is known as Dasamsa (aka D-10) chart for these twins. And notice that the D-10 is very different for these twins.
What is D-10? What does it indicate?
D-10 chart is the Dasamsa chart that gives details about your karma sthana, usually career in this life. It’s made by taking the 10th division of each house. So it requires a more accurate time of birth. Assuming we’ve got an accurate time of birth for the twins, we can clearly see that although at a high level these twins lives look the same, when we go into the details of their careers, they look different.
This concept of taking one bhava and then creating a detailed version of it via specific division is known as ‘Varga Chart” concept in Jyotisha. It’s like taking a magnifying glass and looking closely at one domain of your life. This is a very useful technique in Jyotish that allows the Jyotishis to focus on a given domain of one’s life at a time. Similar varga charts are available that allow us to focus on one’ spouse, children, parents, immediate past life etc.
This the case of those twins where we hear things like, ‘both the twins have got similar backgrounds like both of them have got higher education, both of them travel quite a bit, both of them have got successful careers, but completely different career paths like one is a filmmaker and the other is a doctor type narratives. High-level lives are similar, but details differ.
Notice that this varga chart technique is not unique to twins. This can be and is routinely used for anyone. What all we need is a way to determine an accurate time of birth.
Case 3: When varga charts are also very similar
In some cases, what happens is when the twins are born, they’re born in such a period that their Rasi charts, their high-level varga charts like their spouse, their children and their career charts also very much the same or maybe because the accurate time of birth is not known.
How do we interpret their charts in that case?
There is a specific technique for this. What we do in such cases is, we first create a horoscope with the given time of birth information noting that the time is probably not accurate. Then we look into their lives details.
We ask them a few questions like when did they complete their studies, other births/deaths in their family, their marriage dates etc. Whatever the key info that’s available. Based on that info, time of birth can be corrected. We’ll know, based on a few incidents that happened in their lives, we can see whether or not the given lagna and given D-10, D-9, D7 etc. charts makes sense or not. If not, we’ll make charts for a slightly different time of birth a few minutes ahead or behind and see which lagna matches the events in their lives.
Once we arrive at the decently matching birth chart, then we can use that as the birth chart for one of the twins. Then we’ll create another chart with the 3rd house as the first house and then will see if that one matches the other twin. Because the 3rd house represents younger siblings. If not, then we’ll take the 11th house as the first house and create a chart based on that and see if that matches with the other twin as the 11th house represents elder siblings. This way after a bit of back and forth we arrive at the two charts that match their lives to a satisfactory degree. Then we use that as the reference to analyze their charts for potential future events and remedies for the same.
What if I am not sure about my time of birth
This is the reason astrologers ask questions about your past. As described in the previous section, events from the past are used to validate the time of birth. They’re trying to correct the chart for you. They don’t want to start with a wrong chart. It’s like a doctor ensuring that they’re diagnosing you properly by asking you about your past condition so that they can prescribe the right medicine for you. For example, chest congestion can be due to the common cold or it can be due to lung cancer. Without conducting further tests or asking some questions about your immediate past symptoms or long term past diseases, doctors cannot prescribe crocin or chemotherapy to you. Same thing with Jyotish.
If you’re under the impression that Jyotishis should know about your past and future magically even though you provided them with the wrong date and/or time of birth intentionally or unintentionally, then the problem is yours, not theirs. You’ll end up with the wrong diagnosis and wrong prescription. Let Jyotishis do their job. Let them ask you questions to validate your chart for you before they prescribe a remedy for you.
How does Karma work? Should people live on footpaths to pay off their Karma?
After the twins questions, another most commonly asked question is about poverty. Should we use the karma theory to our advantage and let people live in poverty saying that it’s their bad karma?
The answer is no. But let’s understand the karma a bit better. Let’s take this practical case.
Suppose there is a refugee camp. Very difficult situation. People tend to live in survival mode there. In such a place, if someone has got a decent dwelling with basic running water and a toilet, then it’s a luxury. It feels like that family that’s living in that house is one happy family and they are experiencing good karma. It’s not their imagination. It really feels like and is more comfortable to live in that dwelling under the circumstances.
Suppose there is another place that’s rich. Here everyone has got luxurious buildings with multiple cars and all the facilities. In such a place the same dwelling that’s in that refugee camp, if someone is living in such a thing in this rich area, it feels like they’re paying for their bad karma. Again it’s not their imagination. They really do feel miserable to live in that dwelling seeing everyone around them so rich.
So there is no ONE way to pay off karma. If the objective of karma is to make one feel miserable and feel the discomfort, it can be achieved in many ways. Hence, let’s not buy into the argument that it’s their karma to live on the pavements. It’s perfectly fine to create suitable living conditions for humans and other species without having to worry about bad karma. Karma knows what to do to make people feel miserable even in the best of the conditions.
What can I do about my bad karma? Are there any remedies?
The best remedy to work around bad karma is to do good karma. Wait a minute. Didn’t I say in one of my previous articles that there is no escaping from karma and we need to pay for our karma be it good or bad? Yes. I did. Then doesn’t good karma remedy is in direct contrast to the above? Not really, if we go back to the relative feeling example given in the previous section.
The concept is, if we do good karma, we gradually evolve and we can pay off for our bad karma in a more agreeable way. We may still feel the same amount of misery but in a more comfortable way. For example, In Mahabharat, Yudhishtar had to just visit the hell to pay off for his bad karma that was caused due to his intentional lie that resulted in Dronacharya collapsing in the war field. Being Yudhishtar, an evolved and a very sensitive soul, the mere sight of hell gave him the kind of misery that only the actual experience of the same could have caused for someone else. If someone else were in Yudhishtar place for the same crime, they’d have gone straight to hell and stayed there and paid off for their bad karma there. Okay. Alright, we know that there is no separate heaven and hell out there. It’s all here on earth in our very physical existence. Of course, that was a story and it was very conveniently included in Mahabharat at the right place to teach us the theory of karma. Nevertheless, conceptually, no one can escape their karma, but how do we pay off for our karma is something that we have in our control to some extent. There are many ways to do good karma and there are many ways to accumulate bad karma.
How can I come out of the eternal cycle of karma?
There are many reasons we accumulate bad karma. But one common underlying theme is the superiority complex. When it gets into our head that we’re somehow superior to others or other species or any other resources, we tend to hurt that other thing/person/species in some form or the other. Or, the other way round, if we feel that the other person/thing is superior to us, even then, we aid in others accumulating bad karma.
It’s true that we’re not created equal. Some species are stronger than other species. Some adapt better to new conditions than others. Some people are taller than others. Some are darker than others. Some may follow one faith. Others may follow a different faith. Some may speak American English. Someone else may speak British English.
Clearly, we are not the same. But each has their role in the world. It’s not up to us to decide that one language/dialect/slang/race/height/weight/shape/size/food/species, you name it, is superior to other. Once it goes into our head, we automatically tend to abuse that another thing we think is inferior to us. It’s natural for different species to live in an interdependent way. It’s also natural for the species to protect their territories. It’s also natural that one is stronger than other. But it’s not natural to boss over others. It’s when we fail to realize this fundamental concept; ‘although we’re not equal, we’re not superior to anything else’, our actions and thoughts result in the violation of the natural order.
A lion doesn’t feel that it’s superior to a goat. But it knows that it’s stronger than a goat and it can eat the goat for its survival. It’s us the humans who attribute illusory superiority amongst us and within other species and invariably tend to accumulate bad karma. It’s us who feel that Rose is superior to Cactus. Neither Rose nor Cactus have any such feelings.
So the best way to avoid bad karma is to accept the differences, but not to exploit them in any way. Once we conceptually understand the nature’s dharma, we don’t have to cross-check every action and every word and every deed that we’re uttering/performing. We realize that a lion has a right to attack a goat, but the goat is not inferior to the lion and that the goat has an equal right to protect itself from the lion. Goat not trying to protect itself from a lion’s attack is bad karma. Lion trying to eat goat when it’s not hungry is bad karma.
What is not natural is bad karma. What is in harmony with nature is beyond karma. When you’re in harmony with nature, you’ll not acquire any karma, good or bad. Living in harmony with the nature that we’re part of is the way to moksha.