Veno has worked in the Jyotish field for two decades. She is co author of "Sun, the Cosmic Power house"(Sagar Publications) and illustrator of "The Rahu Ketu Experience" & "The 27 Celestial Portals" by Prash Trivedi. She has a keen interest in Vedic sciences and esoteric practices generally. Her personal experiences have helped her realize the role kundalini plays in refining one's knowledge in sciences like jyotish. She specializes in natal astrology and runs her own website www.venoastrology.com

By

Veno, UK

hilst nakshatras do not really

show the full quantative

quality of a planet's effects in a

chart, which is more ascertained by the

strengths and weaknesses of planets as per

shadbala; it does reveal many intimate

details of the inner and outer play.

Gandhi was hailed as a great political figure,

a freedom fighter especially for the

suppressed and underprivileged classes in

India. He was considered an inspiration for

the rest of the world because of his

nonviolent stance in bringing about

revolution.

As with many political figures there is a

strong cardinal sign emphasis in the chart.

Most of the planets including natural benefics

placed in kendras allowed him to leave a strong

impression on the world during his life time.

His reputation also has succeeded him long

after his death due to the strong yogas

formed by ascendant lord Venus who also

rules the 8th house with

W

yogakaraka mercury and kendra lord mars in ascendant beneficially aspected by Jupiter.

Because of the strong Ascendant, from the outset he had a powerful destiny in the public eye.

Planets in the 10th house are always the most visibly dominating identification in a person's life, and

here the Ascendant nakshatra lord Rahu sits in the 10th house with Moon who occupies its own sign

Cancer. Rahu is a revolutionary and with Moon in the sign of the masses Gandhi became a self

motivated caretaker and leader of the masses. Moon and Rahu together evoked strong emotional

sentiment from others. Also these planets together will give a reputation of some controversy.

Swati rising shows a person who grows strong through independence and their strength usually

reaches maturity in the latter half of life. As a passive nakshatra it inclines one to take a gentle

stance in life. In this way Swati people get ahead through the use of great tact and diplomacy

and this is really what Gandhi is recognised for. His perceptiveness about the power of

nonviolence was impressed on him from an early age through very personal childhood

experiences, especially with his father. We see this playing out because of Swati's lord Rahu

with the Moon (natural significator of early childhood) in the house of father or authority.

Libra is a sign which is pro social justice and this was the main driving force in Gandhi's life.

With Libra rising and Mars also placed there, even though he was an advocate of peace, Mars is

always a planet of war, so Gandhi was prepared for war, only the war strategy was to use peace to

achieve victory. Mars, a planet of strife caused a lot of struggle within the personal man and

much outer struggle in his mission.

Besides the rising degree occupying Swati, Mercury also occupied this nakshatra and as 9th lord

helped him become versed in law and legal matters. He was a great student with the Swati

nakshatras and always tried to increase his spiritual or philosophical learning besides his

awareness of legal and judicial subjects.

The other emphasized nakshatra in the Ascendant is Vishakha. Vishakha is a constellation

giving great determination and can remain fixated on a goal like no other. It will apply herculean

efforts and does not give up even in the face of overwhelming obstacles. This is very true of his

desire to bring about justice and transformation through his truthful ideals, his 8th, 9th and 2nd

lords together in Libra. Jupiter constellations are very devoted.

Venus and Mars, the planets in Vishakha work well together, so he was easily able to maintain

his vigor and determination throughout his life. Having Vishakha's lord Jupiter in the 7th house

meant that he was relentless in trying to influence others. On a personal level, he faced a lot of

moral and ethical conflicts because the 9th lord Mercury is not getting along peacefully with

Mars and it had a lot to do with areas related to sexuality. Here Vishakha's lord Jupiter is in the

7th house of relationship aspected by 8th lord Venus and 7th lord Mars giving a lot of sexual

focus. Another constellation strongly related to sexuality, Ashlesha is strongly highlighted in the

chart with Moon occupying it. Moon conjunct the shadowy planet Rahu tends to distort some aspect of

the perception or clarity, causing addictions or obsessions in the mind. Gandhi was often fixated on

various methods of purification with Jupiter in the 7th house in Krittika. This was a way to

influence others on the political platform, and also a way to work out his challenges in the realm

of personal or sexual relations. Jupiter here is retrograde so his approach was not going to be

easily understood or conventional. The strong presence of benefics across the 1st and 7th house axis gave

him an early marriage.

Moon with Rahu can cause powerful psychological fears and one example of this is during Gandhi's

childhood and early teens in which he suffered an overwhelming fear of the dark. Ashlesha is also a

nakshatra known for fears to arise and because the planet occupying it is the Moon, it can manifest a lot in

the younger years.

Because of Moon and Rahu in the 10th together, Gandhi's reputation was apt to be aggrandized

in both negative and positive ways, the emphasis on the positive due to the powerful benefics in

angles1.

Having Rahu in Pushya lends itself to somebody who mostly abhorred violent or brutal

behavior, but it depends on the disposition of Saturn. Taking a stand against violence was a new

lesson for the soul. Pushya has a very narrow minded focus at times and can almost play a bigot at one

extreme. This is true in a positive sense because Gandhi was able to maintain an intense, almost

rigid focus on his mission and sentiments, and could not be swayed from his stance. The ruler

of Pushya Saturn, although not a planet at ease in Scorpio is occupying the nakshatra of Mercury

who as 9th lord represents high ethical ideals. When looking at nakshatras, the path of dispositors in

this case Mercury becomes quite a prevalent matter. It helped bring out the nobler side of Jyestha's

functioning. Saturn in Jyestha relates to protection, penance and seeking grace through higher

forces.

The Vishakha emphasis in the Ascendant not only gave Gandhi great zeal for political ideals or

personal purification beliefs (its lord in Krittika), but it also gave him tremendous spiritual zeal

and he was a great advocate of religious/spiritual sentiments and philosophy having natural

karaka for higher wisdom, Jupiter having strong relationship with the 12th, 9th , and 8th lords.

Ketu is important in everyone's chart because it is a window or foundational trigger through which

one tries to make progress materially and spiritually. It also governs the past life traits or talents. Ketu

occupies Shravana, Moon's nakshatra and Saturn's sign Capricorn, highlighting Saturn's role in

the chart (control of speech in 2nd house) and Moon in the 10th (outer reputation and the

potential to influence the masses). Shravana indicates a person who is socially adept at public

dealings and who tries to create order (Capricorn impulse) through using gentle reasoning.

Shravana is all about the ear, communicating and listening and this was Gandhi's past life

talent. It's also a very patient constellation.

Ketu's sign lord Saturn in Jyestha has a lot to do with penance - penance through the mouth and

eyes because of the 2nd house placement. We see that Gandhi relied a lot on fasting as one way

to achieve his Ketu impulses to establish peace and order. He was able to endure with great

discipline and patience in that regard. We also see that he undertook penance with the eyes,

and tried to control personal sexual impulses that way. On a personal level, Jyestha can indicate

some type of internal battle to control the elemental forces within. As the constellation is

1 See how a negative is balanced by other factors, this is the key to dynamic interpretation of horoscopes and not just taking a

solo shloka to give verdict on applicability of that shloka. - Saptarishis Astrology

strongly related to the God Indra, we see it has a lot to do with penance and indulgence both.

Jyestha is a constellation that always gives one a position of authority in older years. In today's

world Jyestha is often related to the abuse of power and authority, so we see that Gandhi was a

great observer of this in the world but also was vulnerable to this weakness in himself. Jyestha

has a talent for being some kind of policeman and in this case Gandhi was acting as a protector

through the speech and through his observation of what was taking place especially in his own

homeland.

Even though Sun is sitting somewhat isolated in the 12th house, we see it is also a strongly career

related planet because it occupies the Moon's nakshatra Hasta. Sun in the 12th house is very

humanitarian and here the humanitarian instincts are functioning at a deeper spiritual level.

Sun is the 11th lord and in the 12th house one is prepared to forsake their personal wealth for the

benefit of others. Hasta is a constellation which is very determined. It is often tied to

connotations of greed or holding on too tightly to things, but here there is not much to hold on

to except strong impressions from the greater unconscious, subconscious and spiritual

awareness. We see all these things manifesting. Gandhi was able to make a lot of personal

sacrifice in order to serve his concern for the masses by holding on very tightly to greater

spiritual ideals. It is true he also may have identified with or held on tightly to some

impressions from his subconscious regarding purity (Virgo on the 12th) which were not rational

(Hasta's ruler Moon conjunct Rahu). Gandhi spent a lot of time in prison on different occasions

and this falls under the domain of the 12th house. Hasta is a great wakeup call and Gandhi was to

an indeterminable extent a wakeup call for his generation and many generations afterwards. It

was his ambition (11th house) and also a fact of his existence.

It was during the 1940's when India achieved some independence from the British empire that

Gandhi may have realized a great part of his mission or perceived by others to have had. Jupiter

Dasa was running and Jupiter occupies the Sun's constellation. It was during this period that

Gandhi worked hard to promote religious harmony and his spiritual philanthropy was more

prevalent.

The chest is vulnerable in the chart because of the presence of nodes in the 4th and in Cancer's

sign. Also the 4th lord in Jyestha is struggling in an inimical Martian sign. Jyestha rules

revengeful actions and Gandhi was killed by a vengeful assassin with three bullets fired at his

chest at blank range in early 1948.