Deciding on the Term of Longevity

The term of life can be 100 years or more than that. If we look into the various dasa periods we find that there are 120 years, 108 years, 99 years etc ...We will assume the average length of life as 100 years as this is the normal expected age. This is only assumption. Of course many authors including Dr. B.V.Raman has taken the expected term of life as 100 years.

Now these 100 years has to be further sub divided. How?

According to various texts it has a major sub division of three termed as

(i) Short Life (ii) Middle life (iii) Long life.

Now when we are going to distribute this 100 years, each term gets 33.33 years. So Short life is up to say 33 years, Middle life is from 34 years to 66 years and Long life is from 67 years to 100 years.

Almost all classics have a set of rules to decide on the term of longevity of an individual. Most popular method amongst astrologers is the principles outlined in Jaimini Sutras followed by rules given by Parasara. Simpler methods are also available in Nadi literature.

Here I am going to examine one verse from Prasna Marga. Reference is from Chapter IX, verse 60 and 61:

लग्नजन्मपयोः शत्रु� निनज�ष्टमपनि� योःदि�।सम� वा� योःदि� वा� बन्धू� स्वाल्पमध्योःचि रा�योः�षः।60

न्द्रां�$श%शस्योः �ढ्'भू�षः� नवा�$श%शऽथवा� रावा%।लग्न%श वा�निप योःद्ये%वा$ स्वाल्पमध्योःचि रा�योः�षः।61Prof. B.V.Raman translates this as –

According as lords of Lagna and the 8th there from and Lords of Chandra Lagna and the 8th there from are mutually inimical, neutral or friendly, the length of life would be Alpa (Short), Madhya (Medium) or Poorna (Full). -- 60

“If the Lord of Chandra Navamsa is inimical, neutral or friendly to the lord of the 64 th Navamsa there from, the longevity of the person will be short, medium or full. The Sun and lord of Lagna should be similarly reckoned.” -- 61

From the above we can classify the required combinations for Short, middle and long life as below:

For Short Life:

1. Lord of Lagna and lord of 8th from Lagna should be inimical.2. Lord of Chandra Lagna and the 8th lord there from should be enemies.

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Deciding on the Term of Longevity

3. Lord of Navamsa occupied by the Moon and the lord of 64th Navamsa there from should be enemies.

4. Lord of Navamsa occupied by Ascendant and the lord of 64 th Navamsa there from should be enemies.

5. Lord of Navamsa occupied by the Sun and the lord of 64 th Navamsa there from should be enemies.

For Middle Life:

All the above 5 pairs of planets should be neutral.

For Long Life:

All the above pairs of planets should be friends.

So from the above it becomes clear that one must remember the naisargika sambanda table of planets which is reproduced for the reference of beginners.

Planet Friend Neutral EnemySun Moon, Mars, Jupiter Mercury Venus, SaturnMoon Sun, Mercury Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn  Mars Sun, Moon, Jupiter Venus, Saturn MercuryMercury

Sun, Venus Mars, Jupiter, Saturn Moon

Jupiter Sun, Moon, Mars Saturn Mercury, VenusVenus Mercury, Saturn Mars, Jupiter Sun, MoonSaturn Mercury, Venus Jupiter Sun, Moon, Mars

In the 5 pairs listed above the first two pairs are simple and will not require any explanation and one can easily find out from the Rasi chart. But the last 3 pairs require some explanation as it involves the 64th Navamsa from Moon, Sun or ascendant.

Finding the 64th Navamsa:

The 64th Navamsa is nothing but the 210th degree i.e. the 8th house aspect. The 64th Navamsa from that occupied by a planet will be the same Navamsa in the 8th sign, in order of zodiacal sequence. From the longitude of a planet or the longitude of Ascendant we can know the Navamsa number in that sign. The 64th Navamsa will be the same degreecal arc in the 8 th sign from it. An example will make things clear.

Suppose a planet is in say 12° Cp 45’. Navamsa is a span of 3° 20’ and hence this longitude will fall in the range of 10°.00’ to 13° 20’ which will be the 4th Navamsa and the Navamsa sign would be Aries. So the 64th Navamsa will range in Leo (8th from Capricorn) from 10°.00’ to 13° 20’ whose Navamsa would be cancer which will be the 4th from the Navamsa of the planet in this case Aries. In simple terms find out the Navamsa in which a planet or Ascendant is placed and take the 4 th sign from it which will be the 64th Navamsa.

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Deciding on the Term of Longevity

With these tools in hand let us apply the rules to some charts and verify the results.

Chart 01:

Date of Death: 04-07-1902Age at the time of death: 39 Years 6 months. Hence middle life.As per our rule all the pairs of planets in the 5 points must be neutral.

Rule 1:Lagna Lord Is Jupiter and 8th lord is Moon. Moon treats Jupiter as neutral whereas Jupiter treats Moon as friend.

Rule 2:Chandra Lagna Lord is Mercury and the 8th lord there from is Mars. Mercury treats Mars as neutral and Mars treats Mercury as friend.For these two rules the relationship must be neutral and not like the above one. In such cases we will treat that the term of longevity is undecided.

Rule 3:Lord of Navamsa occupied by Moon is Mercury. 64th Navamsa from Moon is also Mercury. (Moon is in Gemini in Navamsa. 4th house lord from it will be the 64the Navamsa lord). Both are same planets.There is no mention in the classic if both are same planets. Hence we will consider this rule also.

Rule 4:Lord of Navamsa occupied by Ascendant is Mars. 64th Navamsa lord from it is lord of Aquarius which we will take it as Saturn. (We will not consider the co-lord Ra as we have not defined the sambandha for the nodes). Mars and Saturn are enemies.

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Deciding on the Term of Longevity

Dr. B.V.Raman is of the view that instead of Ascendant we must consider the Navamsa of the Ascendant Lord and compare it with the 64th Navamsa from it. Here Ascendant Lord is Jupiter and Lord of Navamsa where Jupiter is placed is Mars. Again the 64 th Navamsa will fall in Aquarius whose lord would be Saturn giving the same result as above.Since the planets are inimical the term of life should be decided as Short life.

Rule 5:Lord of Navamsa occupied Sun is Jupiter. Sun is in Sagittarius Navamsa. Hence the 64 th Navamsa from it will be the lord of 4th house from it which is Pisces and its lord also Jupiter. Hence this rule also fails.So all the 5 rules did not show the required result in this chart.

Chart 02

Date of death: 10-09-1971Age at the time of death: 39 Years 3 months. Hence Middle life.

Rule 1: Lagna Lord is Mars and the 8th lord from Lagna is Mercury. Mercury treats Mars as neutral and for Mars Mercury is an enemy.

Rule 2: Chandra Lagna lord is Jupiter and the lord of 8th house from is Moon. For Jupiter Moon is a friend but for Moon Jupiter is neutral.

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Deciding on the Term of Longevity

Rule 3: Lord of Navamsa occupied by Moon is Venus. 64 th Navamsa from Moon is Saturn. Moon treats Saturn as neutral and Saturn treats Moon as enemy.

Rule 4: Lord of Navamsa occupied by ascendant is Mercury and the 64th Navamsa lord from is Jupiter. Jupiter treats Mercury as enemy while Mercury treats Jupiter as Neutral.If we consider the lord of Navamsa occupied by the Lagna lord of Rasi – Lagna lord of rasi is Mars and is placed in Aquarius in Navamsa making Saturn as the lord. 64 th Navamsa from Mars is Venus. Saturn and Venus are friends and should indicate long life.Rule 5: Lord of Navamsa occupied by Sun is Mars and the 64th Navamsa from it is Saturn and both are enemies and hence the term of life should be long.

So out of 5 parameters we get long life in two terms and hence this rule has failed in this chart.

Now let us once again turn to the rules as the rule has failed in two cases. The verse says it should be mutually friendly or neutral or enemy. So the pairs of planets which fall under these categories are:

Mutually Friends: (Long life)

Sun-Moon; Sun-Mars; Sun-Jupiter; Mars-Jupiter; Mercury-Venus; Venus-Saturn.

Mutually Neutral: (Middle life)

Venus-Mars; Saturn-Jupiter.

Mutually enemy: (Short life)

Sun-Venus; Sun-Saturn.

For mutually neutral and mutually enemy planets there are only 2 pairs as compared to mutually friendly planets. So let us analyse the pairs of planets indicating Middle and short life.

For the first rule Lagna Lord and 8th lord must fall among the pairs indicated above. Venus and Mars cannot be Lagna Lord and 8th lord at the same time. Likewise Saturn and Jupiter cannot be at the same time Lagna lord and 8th lord. Likewise Sun and Venus also cannot be Lagna lord and 8th lord. For Capricorn Lagna Saturn is the Lagna lord and Sun becomes the 8 th lord. Hence out of 4 possible combinations only one combination holds good. Hence the first rule is bound to produce no results except for Capricorn Lagna which will indicate Short life. But we cannot conclude that all Capricorn Lagna natives will have short life combination. Hence practically Rule 1 becomes inapplicable. Or is there something hidden in the words of the Rishi – Learned readers can contribute if they are aware of the same.

For rule 2 again, Chandra Lagna lord and its 8 th lord are to be considered. As discussed above here also only for Capricorn Rasi (where Moon is placed) this will become applicable and hence we have to discard this rule for the reasons stated above.

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Deciding on the Term of Longevity

Sun-Moon are friends. Sun and Moon can never become Lagna Lord and 8 th Lord as also Chandra Lagna lord and its 8th.

Sun-Mars are friends. This is also not possible as for Leo Lagna the 8th lord would be Jupiter and for Aries Lagna 8th lord Mars itself and for Scorpio Lagna 8th lord is Mercury. Same applies to Chandra Lagna lord and its 8th lord for this pair.

Sun-Jupiter. For Leo Lagna Jupiter becomes 8th lord. Does it mean that all Leo Lagna natives will have long life?

For the other 3 pairs viz. Mars-Jupiter; Mercury-Venus; Venus-Saturn there is no possibility of one becoming a lagna lord and the other becoming the 8th lord.

Hence we can conveniently omit the first rules as there must be something beyond our thinking which the Rishi must be suggesting through these verses.

For the other three rules the focus is on Navamsa. The lord of Navamsa occupied by Moon, Ascendant (Ascendant Lord), Sun is compared with the respective 4 th lord from them. Here we get some more possibilities.

So let us try to apply the 64th Navamsa technique to some more charts. Before that let us make one more table tabulating the mutually friendly, neutral and inimical planets.

Mutually Friend Mutually neutral Mutually enemy

Sun-Moon; Sun-Mars; Sun-Jupiter Venus-Mars; Sun-Venus;

Mars-Jupiter; Mercury-Venus; Venus-Saturn Saturn-Jupiter Sun-Saturn

Chart 3

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Deciding on the Term of Longevity

.

Date of death: 21-09-1998Age at the time of death: 39 Years 3 months

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Moon – SunLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Mars Sun and Mars are friends-hence Long life.

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Asc. – JupiterLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Mercury No mutual relationship

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Asc. Lord – MarsLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Saturn No mutual relationshipLord of Navamsa occupied by Sun – VenusLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Sun Mutual enemies – Hence short life.

The native died in middle age. We get the result as Short life or Long life.

Chart 4

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Deciding on the Term of Longevity

Date of death: 16-07-1981Age at the time of death: 39 Years 5 months

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Moon – MarsLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Saturn No mutual relationship

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Asc. – MercuryLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Jupiter No mutual relationship

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Asc. Lord – VenusLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Mercury both are mutual friends- Long life

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Sun – SaturnLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Mars No mutual relationship

The native died in middle age whereas we get the result as Long life.

In Astrology one theory may hold good for about 500 charts but in the 501st chart it may not hold good. Hence we cannot come to a conclusion about a theory after verifying a few charts. So let us continue with some more charts.

Chart 5

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Deciding on the Term of Longevity

Date of death: 16-07-1999Age at the time of death: 39 years 4 months

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Moon – MarsLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Saturn No mutual relationship

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Asc. – MercuryLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Jupiter No mutual relationship

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Asc. Lord – MercuryLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Jupiter No mutual relationship

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Sun – MercuryLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Jupiter No mutual relationship

The native died in Middle age for which no indications are found through the rules.

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Deciding on the Term of Longevity

Chart 6

Date of Death: 16-07-1981Age at the time of death: 39 Years

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Moon –SaturnLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Venus Mutual friend-Long life

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Asc. –MoonLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Venus No mutual relationship

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Asc. Lord –JupiterLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Jupiter both planets are same

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Sun – JupiterLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Jupiter both planets are same

The native died in Middle age for which no indications are found through the rules.

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Deciding on the Term of Longevity

Chart 7

Date of death: 03-04-1968Age at the time of death: 39 Years 3 months

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Moon –MercuryLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Mercury both planets are same

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Asc. – VenusLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Saturn Mutual friend – Long life

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Asc. Lord – MercuryLord of 64th Navamsa from it Mercury both planets are same

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Sun – SaturnLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Mars No mutual relationship

The native died in Middle age for which no indications are found through the rules.

Chart 811

Deciding on the Term of Longevity

In the case of Jawaharlal Nehru too, there is a difference in birth time. Here, as I said earlier, I have relied upon Astrodatabank data.

Date of Death: 27-05-1964Age at the time of death: 74 Years 6 months

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Moon –JupiterLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Jupiter both planets are same

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Asc. – JupiterLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Mercury No mutual relationship

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Asc. Lord – JupiterLord of 64th Navamsa from it - Jupiter both planets are same

Lord of Navamsa occupied by Sun – MoonLord of 64th Navamsa from it – Venus No mutual relationship

The native had long life for which no indications are found through the rules.

So far we have not been successful in establishing the rule. Probably because of this rule has not been discussed by any of the astrologers. It is quite possible, there might be some inner hidden meaning in the verses which I am not aware of. Learned readers, if they can highlight the same to me, I shall be grateful to them.

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