Kalapurusha and Human Karma

sandhu.jp · January 5, 2009

Kalapurusha and Human Karma

One of the first things jyotishis learn in astrology is the kalapurusha kundali which has mesha rising in the lagna and the rest of the signs arranged in the remaining houses. Kalapurusha is Time-personified, TIME itself viewed as a human being. I have always taken it to represent the horoscope of all human beings, in other words a generic horoscope of the human race!

As far as I know, only human beings are concerned about or interested in astrology, hence in the rest of the article I would avoid the oxymoronic term: Human Karma, and simply call it Karma! The remaining fauna and flora are perhaps entirely devoid of karma because their fate is the responsibility of The Creator and those built in the image of the CREATOR!

I invite you to take this mental journey with me. Let us try and match attributes of the planetary rulers and the houses in this Aries-oriented kalapurusha kundali and who knows, some interesting concordances might emerge.

Almost sans exceptions for most of earth-dwellers, to achieve success in material spheres be it money or fame or in spiritual spheres too, hard work and persistence and focused application of oneself is an absolute requirement. Initiative is certainly important as also is the willingness to assume responsibilities and taking risks. Physical and mental endurance are essential attributes. Remaining blasé and waiting for blessings to drop in ones lap is generally not a good strategy, or sometimes is not even an option. Little wonder that energetic mars rules the FIRST house in the kalapurusha=s horoscope (KPH hereafter) through its fiery, action-oriented sign, Aries.

Venus represents LOVE in its many shades including true love, unconditional love, selfish love, all kinds of love. Some of us love our families, our acquisitions, our knowledge, even ourselves. Our personal possessions that we want to last forever and grow are ruled in the KPH by the fixed, earthy sign of Venus B vrishabha, in the SECOND house of the KPH.

Communication and logic as well as efforts are the attributes of the third house. Through its airy sign mithuna, budha or mercury gets the portfolio of the THIRD house in KPH. Unlike the emergency-type response that mars is proficient at, mercury is fast at thinking on its feet. The mental agility is never unidirectional and involves strategy: knowing when to push forward, when to stay put and when to step back! Mercury is good at that, being the planet that is probably literally more often moving forward and retrogressing even in its astronomical journey up in the visible sky from our geocentric perspective. The first house deals more with physical efforts, endurance, qualities that are possessed best by mars, but the third house indicates efforts that are of a mental nature. Initiative, careful planning and strategy basically are more the forte of mercury who gets to be the ambassador of the third house. Some astrologers look at the 3rd for communication, travels, restlessness, all of which are mercury=s portfolio. The glove fits!

From inner peace comes our sense of integrity and strength of character and this we learn from our first home and the second home in this lifetime. Our first home is inside our mother=s womb. Our second home is the home where our first few years were spent, usually the home of our parents. Our nurturing, the sense of belonging, of being cared and our true sense of self-confidence comes from this house. Little wonder that we find that the FOURTH house in KPH is ruled by moon, the matrukaraka. In most cases, though fathers may give us a lot of brain food, much of our cultural, instinctive and emotional formation can be attributed to our mother, regardless of our gender, or culture and location!

The primary domain of the FIFTH house deals with children and creativity. Having the natural karaka for father, sun, rule over the fifth house in the KPH does make one halt and take notice. In fact if the fifth and ninth could be switched around so that sun became the ruler of the 9th and Jupiter the ruler of the 5th their respective karakattwas would fit the bill perfectly! However, that is not the case in the Kalapurusha kundali. Creative energy comes from an energy Source that is higher than us, and self-sustaining. The Sun represents that with its karakattwa being associated with the SOUL. While hard effort is required, creativity of the highest order, as seen in Beethovan or Mozart requires Heavenly blessings.

Mercury comes back again for a second term when we arrive at the SIXTH house. This house has three attributes associated with it clearly and almost unequivocally: service, sickness and maternal uncle. I find it very interesting that mercury which is undeniably an intellectual and information-type planet (Hermes the messenger bringing and taking back information being the patron saint of communication, including the modern information technology) is also associated with effort, service and work, in the third house of purushartha and now again in the sixth. It is also an important upachaya bhava and again the growth aspect of service and sickness as the human population ages (and so does Kalapurusha!) makes sense. Most of the serving, and service these days is really about information management, no matter which vocation, or profession one is in. Truly mercury has its fingers and both thumbs in all pies, metaphorically speaking and our reliance on its child, Internet, in all walks of life is not a random happenstance. It is true that there are a few services that correspond more to Saturn still, but even those are managed by mercury in many ways.

Our relationships, at work, at home may have a strong component of communication and mercury which rules the 9th and 12th houses from the seventh house may have an interesting role to play in keeping the 7th house happy and friendly! But seriously, these relationships are based and derive strength from emotions and feelings! The superficial envelop in a business relationship may be about logic, gains and tangible material goals, but players and consultants tell us that in many cases it is often about emotional connectivity. The first impressions! We now hear of terms like, Emotional Intelligence and organization and beautification and streamlining. All of these terms and labels go with Venus that believes in rounding off any jagged edges, and though earlier depicted as the glue that bonds souls is probably more the lubricant that allows souls to coexist B in personal lives, in business, in ... pretty much everywhere! Venus gets the SEVENTH house. I need not go into the obvious links between LOVE, Venus, seventh and 2nd house, I am sure!

Leaving the moon aside for a second given its special status vis-à-vis the earth, our home planet is flanked by mars and Venus. This of course is obvious and depicted in the assignment of rulership which is based on the orbital placements in the solar system.

Sign

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