Ch. 27. Evaluation Of Strengths

Shad Bal consists of the following: Sthan Bal (positional), Dig Bal (directional), Kaal Bal (Temporal), inclusive of Ayan Bal (equinoctial), Chesht Bal (motional), Naisargika Bal (natural), Drik Bal (aspectual). These strengths are computed for the seven Grahas from Sūrya to Śani. The nodes are not considered.

Sthan Bal comprises of the following considerations: Uchch Bal (exaltation), Sapt Vargaj Bal (strength accruing out of positions in Rashi, Hora, Dreshkan, Saptāńś, Navāńś, Dvadashāńś and Trimshāńś), OjhayugmaRashiāńś Bal (acquired by placement in odd, or even Rashi and in odd, or even Navāńś), Kendradi Bal (due to placement in Kon, or Panaphara, or Apoklima Bhava), Dreshkan Bal (due to placement in first, second, or third decanate of a Rashi).

Kaal Bal comprises of the following subdivisions: Nathonnata Bal (diurnal and nocturnal), Paksh Bal (fortnight), Tribhag Bal (due to day/night being made in 3 parts), Varsh, Maas, Dina and Hora Bal (Varsh - astrological year, Maas - month, Dina - weekday and Hora - planetary hour), Ayan Bal (equinoctial), Yudhdh Bal (due to partaking in war between Grahas).

1-1½. Sthan Bal (up to Sloka 6). Firstly Uchch Bal. Now about the strengths by classes positional, temporal etc. Deduct from the longitude of the Grah its (deep) debilitation point. If the sum is less than 6 Rashis, consider it, as it is; if it exceeds 6 Rashis, deduct the same from 12 Rashis. The sum so got be converted into degrees etc. and divided by 3, which is the Grah’s Uchch Bal in Virupas.

2-4. Sapt Vargaj Bal. If a Grah is in its Mooltrikon Rashi, it gets 45 Virupas, in Svasth Rashi 30 Virupas, in Pramudit Rashi 20 Virupas, in Shant Rashi 15 Virupas, in Din Rashi 10 Virupas, in Duhkhit Rashi 4 Virupas and in Khal Rashi 2 Virupas. Similarly these values occur for the other 6 divisional occupations, viz. Hora, Dreshkan, Saptāńś, Navāńś, Dvadashāńś and Trimshāńś. When all these are added together the Grah’s Sapt Vargaj Bal emerges.

4½. OjhayugmaRashiāńś Bal. Each of Śukr and Candr in even Rashis and others in odd Rashis acquire a quarter of Rupa. These are applicable to such Navāńśas also.

5. Kendradi Bal. A Grah in a Kon gets full strength, while one in Panaphara Bhava gets half and the one in Apoklima Bhava gets a quarter, as Kendradi Bal.

6. Dreshkan Bal. Male, female and hermaphrodite Grahas, respectively, get a quarter Rupa according to placements in the first, second and third decanates.

7-7½. Dig Bal. Deduct Bandhu Bhava (Nadir) from the longitudes of Sūrya and Mangal, Yuvati Bhava from that of Guru and Budh, Karm Bhava from that of Śukr and Candr and lastly Lagn from that of Śani. If the sum is above 180 degrees, deduct the sum from 360. The sum arrived in either way be divided by 3, which will be Dig Bal of the Grah.

8-9. Kaal Bal (up to Sloka 17). Firstly Nathonnata Bal. Find out the difference between midnight and the apparent birth time, which is called Unnata. Deduct Unnata from 30 Ghatis to obtain Nata. Double the Nata in Ghatis, which will indicate identical Nata Bal for Candr, Mangal and Śani. Deduct the Nata from 60 to know the Unnata Bal of Sūrya, Guru and Śukr. Budh, irrespective of day and night, gets full Nathonnata Bal.

10-11. Paksh Bal. Deduct from Candr’s longitude that of Sūrya. If the sum exceeds 6 Rashis, deduct the same from 12. The product so obtained be converted into degrees etc. and divided by 3, which will indicate the Paksh Bal of each of the benefic Grahas. The Paksh Bal of benefic should be deducted from 60, which will go to each malefic, as Paksh Bal.

12. Tribagh Bal. One Rupa is obtained by Budh in the first 1/3 part of day time, by Sūrya in the second 1/3 part of the day and by Śani in the last 1/3 part of the day. Similarly Candr, Śukr and Mangal get full Bal in the first, second and last 1/3 parts of the night. Guru gets this Bal at all times.

13. Varsh-Maas-Dina-Hora Bal. 15, 30, 45 and 60 Virupas are in order given to Varsh Lord, Maas Lord, Dina Lord and Hora Lord. Naisargika Bal has already been explained.

The Varsh Lord is the Lord of the day, on which the astrological year of birth starts. To calculate this we first need the number of days, past from the beginning of Creation, the Ahargan. According to late Rev. Ebenezer Burgess, who translated Sūrya Siddhanta in English, as on January 1, 1860, the number of days, past from the beginning of Creation are 714,404,108,573. Divide the number of days, past from the day of Creation till the day of birth, by 60. Reject remainder and multiply the quotient by 3. Increase the post-multiplied product by 1 and divide by 7. The remainder will indicate the week day, on which the astrological year, giving birth to the native, opened. Remainder 1 indicates Sunday, 2 Monday and so on.

Maas Lord. Divide the same Ahargan by 30 and the quotient indicates months, passed from Creation to birth. The completed months be multiplied by 2 and increased by 1. The latter sum should be divided by 7 and the remainder indicates, on which day the birth month began. Continuing with the same case, we divide 65295 by 30. Quotient is 2176. This sum multiplied by 2 and increased by 1 denotes 4353. Dividing 4353 by 7, we get a remainder of 6, denoting Friday. That is, the month of birth began on Friday and the Maas Bal goes to Śukr, the Lord of Friday.

Dina Lord. Though the week day of birth can be known from ephemeris, or perpetual calendars, we better adopt the method prescribed, which will confirm, if the Ahargan followed is correct. The number of days, as arrived above, indicating Ahargan, be divided by 7 and the remainder will indicate the week day of birth.

Hora Bal. Hora means planetary hour. Each day from sunrise to sunrise is divided into 24 equal parts of one hour. These Horas are ruled by the 7 Grahas from Sūrya to Śani. The first Hora of the day is ruled by the Lord of the week day. The 2^nd one is ruled by the Lord of the 6^th week day, counted from the first ruler. The 3^rd Hora is ruled by the Lord of the 6^th week day, counted from the 2^nd Hora Lord. Similarly it proceeds in the same manner, till the first Hora of the next day is taken over by the Lord of that day himself. Whichever Grah rules the birth Hora, gets the Hora Bal. Horas are to be calculated for mean local time and not standard time of births.

14. Naisargika Bal. Divide one Rupa by 7 and multiply the resultant product by 1 to 7 separately, which will indicate the Naisargika Bal, due to Śani, Mangal, Budh, Guru, Śukr, Candr and Sūrya, respectively.

15-17. Ayan Bal. 45, 33 and 12 are the Khandas for calculating Ayan Bal. Add Ayanāńś to the Grah and find out the Bhuja (distance from the nearest equinox). Add the figure, corresponding to the Rashi (of the Bhuja) to the Bhuja. The degrees etc. of the Bhuja should be multiplied by the figure, corresponding to the highest of the left out Khandas and divided by 30. Add the resultant product to the sum, obtained earlier. Convert this to Rashi, degrees, minutes and seconds. If Candr and Śani are in Tula, or ahead, add to this 3 Rashis and, if in Mesh to Kanya, reduce from this 3 Rashis. Similarly it is reverse for Sūrya, Mangal, Śukr and Guru. For Budh 3 Rashis are always additive. The resultant sum in Rashi, degrees and minutes be divided by 3 to get the Ayan Bal in Rupas.

Notes. Ayan Bal can be found out on the following simple formula: Ayan Bal = 60*(23°27’ + Kranti)/(46°54’) = (23°27’± Kranti)*1.2793.

The following points have to be remembered in respect of Krantis. When Candr, or Śani have southern Kranti, or, when Sūrya, Mangal, Guru, or Śukr have northern Kranti, take plus. In a contrary situation in respect of these 6 Grahas, take minus. As far as Budh is concerned, it is always plus. Krantis (or declinations) can be ascertained from a standard modern ephemeris.

Sūrya’s Ayan Bal is again multiplied by 2 whereas for others the product arrived in Virupas is considered, as it is.

18. Motional Strength for Sūrya and Candr. Sūrya’s Chesht Bal will correspond to his Ayan Bal. Candr’s Paksh Bal will itself be her Chesht Bal.

19. Drik Bal. Reduce one fourth of the Drishti Pinda, if a Grah receives malefic Drishtis and add a fourth, if it receives a Drishti from a benefic. Super add the entire Drishti of Budh and Guru to get the net strength of a Grah.

20. War Between Grahas. Should there be a war between the starry Grahas, the difference between the Shad Balas of the two should be added to the victor’s Shad Bal and deducted from the Shad Bal of the vanquished.

21-23. Motions of Grahas (Mangal to Śani). Eight kinds of motions are attributed to Grahas. These are Vakr (retrogression), Anuvakr (entering the previous Rashi in retrograde motion), Vikal (devoid of motion), Mand (somewhat slower motion than usual), Mandatar (slower than the previous), Sama (somewhat increasing in motion), Char (faster than Sama) and Atichar (entering next Rashi in accelerated motion). The strengths, allotted due to such 8 motions are 60, 30, 15, 30, 15, 7.5, 45 and 30.

24-25. Motional Strength for Mangal etc. Add together the mean and true longitudes of a Grah and divide the one by two. Reduce this sum from the Seeghroch (or apogee) of the Grah. The resultant product will indicate the Chesht Kendra (or Seeghr Kendra) of the Grah from 12 Rashis. The Rashi, degrees and minutes so arrived should be converted into degrees, minutes etc. and divided by 3, which will denote the motional strength of the Grah. Thus there are six sources of strength, called Sthan Bal, Dig Bal, Kaal Bal, Drik Bal, Chesht Bal and Naisargika Bal.

26-29. Bhava Balas. Thus I explained about the strengths of the Grahas. Deduct Yuvati Bhava from the Bhava, if the Bhava happens to be in Kanya, Mithun, Tula, Kumbh, or the first half of Dhanu. If Mesh, Vrishabh, Simh, or first half of Makar, or the second half of Dhanu happen to be the Bhava, deduct Bandhu Bhava from it. Should the Bhava be in Kark, or in Vrischik, deduct from it Lagn. Deduct Karm Bhava from the Bhava, happening to fall in Makar second half, or Meen. Convert the product so obtained into degrees etc. and divide by 3 to get Bhava Bal. If the balance in the process of deducting Nadir, Meridian, Lagn, or Yuvati exceeds 6 Rashis, deduct it again from 12 Rashis, before converting into degrees and dividing by 3. The product after division should be increased by one fourth, if the Bhava in question receives a benefic Drishti. If the Bhava receives a malefic Drishti, one fourth should be reduced. If Guru, or Budh give a Drishti to a Bhava, add that Grah’s Drik Bal also. And then superadd the strength, acquired by the Lord of that Bhava. This will be the net Bhava Bal.

30-31. Special Rules. The Bhavas, occupied by Guru and Budh will each get an addition of 1 Rupa, while each of the Bhavas, occupied by Śani, Mangal and Sūrya, suffer 1 Rupa reduction. 15 Virupas will have to be added to the Bhavas, falling in Seershodaya Rashis, if birth happens to be in day time, to the Bhavas, falling in Dual Rashis, if birth happens to be in twilight and to the Bhavas, falling in Prishtodaya Rashis, if birth be in night time.

32-33. Shad Bal Requirements. 390, 360, 300, 420, 390, 330 and 300 Virupas are the Shad Bal Pindas, needed for Sūrya etc. to be considered strong. If the strength exceeds the above-mentioned values, the Grah is deemed to be very strong. If a Grah has the required Shad Bal, it will prove favourable to the native by virtue of its strength. However, Śani’s extreme strength will give long life as well as miseries.

34-36. Guru, Budh and Sūrya are strong, if each of their Sthan Bal, Dig Bal, Kaal Bal, Chesht Bal and Ayan Bal are, respectively, 165, 35, 50, 112 and 30 Virupas. The same required for Candr and Śukr are 133, 50, 30, 100 and 40. For Mangal and Śani these are 96, 30, 40, 67 and 20.

37-38. Bhava Effects. O Brahmin, thus the various sources of strengths be gathered together and effects declared. Whatever Yogas, or effects have been stated with respect to a Bhava, will come to pass through the strongest Grah.

39-40. Eligibility of Issue Fruitful Predictions. O Maitreya, the words of one, who has achieved skill in mathematics, one, who has put in industrious efforts in the branch of grammar, one, who has knowledge of justice, one, who is intelligent, one, who has knowledge of geography, space and time, one, who has conquered his senses, one, who is skilfully logical (in estimation) and one, who is favourable to Jyotish, will doubtless be truthful.