Vedic Astrology is an amazing science and an accurate predictive tool that serves to guide our lives. I personally use the Rasi (D-1) Chart, the Vimsottari Dasha system and the Gochara (Transit of Grahas) to make all my predictions. I have recently done some research into the Divisional charts and found some interesting trends. This article will delve into some of my findings and hopefully inspire you to dig deeper into astrology.
The BPHS (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra) introduces us to 16 divisional charts but barely uses them in the text. There are several debates revolving the use of divisional charts and this topic is quite controversial. Some astrologers believe it is not right to use divisional charts since the Rishis themselves haven’t used them as individual charts. Some astrologers think the Rishis introduced them to us so that we are aware of their existence and hopefully use them one day. I will not take part of this debate, but I do think there are some interesting trends in the divisional charts that we shouldn’t ignore. First, we will look into how divisional charts are made.
Divisional charts are created by dividing each zodiac sign in Rasi (D-1) chart into a number of sections and labelling each section as a zodiac sign and then placing the planets into the newly labelled signs based on their longitudes. The most commonly used divisional chart is the Navamsa (D-9) chart and is created by dividing each Rasi (D-1) sign into 9 equal portions. From this, it is clear that all divisional charts stem from the Rasi (D-1) chart and thus, Rasi (D-1) chart is more valuable than any divisional chart. Rasi (D-1) chart gives the summary of all aspects of the native’s life while each divisional chart attempts to give more clarity on a given aspect of the native’s life.
In this article, we will analyze some divisional charts from the birth chart of the former U.S. President Barack Obama and try to understand why some of his life events happened the way they did. We will use the Navamsa (D-9) chart, the Dasamsa (D-10) chart, the Chaturthamsa (D-4) chart, the Siddhamsa (D-24) chart, and the Shashthamsa (D-6). We will also use the same divisional charts for the Annual Tithi Pravesha charts. The Annual Tithi Pravesha chart is a Rasi (D-1) chart casted from the planetary transits occurring in a given year and only one such chart can be produced for a given year for a native. The Annual Tithi Pravesha chart will have the exact same difference in longitude between Sun and Moon as at the native’s birth which is captured in the natal Rasi (D-1) chart and this difference in longitude has to occur in the same lunar month in which the native was born in. Every native will have a unique difference in longitude between Sun and Moon in the lunar month at birth and thus, this is seen a unique signature of the native. The Annual Tithi Pravesha chart is said to capture the main important events that will happen in the native’s life in that given year. The Annual Tithi Pravesha can be further divided into divisional charts just like we do for the natal Rasi (D-1) chart and in this article, we will also use these divisional charts to analyze particular events that happened in Barack Obama’s life in a given year.
Before getting to the different chart analysis, I would like to give a few important pointers to help the reader follow along much easily. We will use the Jagannatha Hora software to compute each chart. This software is free of charge and was created by P.V.R. Narasimha Rao. You can download the software by going to his website: http://www.vedicastrologer.org. Once you have installed the software, the first thing you want to do is go to the menu bar on the top-left corner, click on “Preferences”, hover on “Related to Calculations” and choose “Restore Default Calculation Options”. This will set the default Ayanamsa to “True Lahiri/Chitrapaksha” and will set most divisional charts to Traditional charts suggested by Parashara. I find these settings to be more appropriate for me. They give more accurate results in my opinion. To enter the birth details, click on “Edit” from the menu bar and choose “Birthdata”.
Divisional charts are very sensitive charts. I urge the reader to only use divisional charts if the accuracy of the birth time is known to the minute. If you know that the birth time can be 2-3 minutes off, please do not use divisional charts as most charts will be off. There is an important feature in this software that helps the user know when the Lagna of a given chart can change signs. For instance, if you right-mouse click on Navamsa (D-9) chart and select the first option “When will Lagna change sign in Navamsa”, you will see a popup window telling you how much time you need to deduct from the birth time to move the Lagna back by one sign and how much time you need to add to the birth time to move the Lagna forward by one sign. In divisional charts, it is very common to see Lagna change signs in less than a minute from the birth time which is why it is very important to have the accurate birth time to begin with. One final point before we begin. When using the Tithi Pravesha charts, make sure to change the time zone if in that year the native is in a different location from the birthplace. To change the time zone, click on “Edit” from the menu bar and choose “Change timezone”. For this article, it won’t be necessary to change the time zone as most events happened near Barack Obama’s birthplace.
Obama's Chart Analysis
Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961 at 7:24 PM in Honolulu, Hawaii (GMT-10) (21N18, 157W52) according to his Birth Certificate.
The Vimsottari Dasa will be used on the natal Rasi (D-1) chart and will be used as reference for analysis for all divisional charts. After entering the birth details, in the top-left corner, on the 2nd row from the menu bar, you will see a few tabs. The 4th tab is the “Dasas” tab. If you click on it, you will see the Vimsottari Dasa associated to the natal chart. The following is the summary of the dasa periods.
Analysis of Rasi Chart
First, we will go through some of the combinations in the Rasi (D-1) chart. Rasi (D-1) chart is the most important chart and any life aspect of the native can be analyzed with this chart.
Jupiter placed in Ascendant makes the native naturally lucky and its debilitation is getting cancellation by its depositor Saturn since Saturn conjoined with Jupiter. Saturn is also forming the powerful Sasa Yoga since Saturn is in own house (Capricorn). There is a 3rd level higher order Parivartana formed in this chart between 5th lord Venus (Yogakaraka), 6th lord Mercury and 7th lord Exalted Moon. This gives the native high intelligence and skillset to be highly competitive against their enemies while maintaining great relationships with them. From Chandra Lagna, this yoga is formed between Lagna lord Venus, 2nd lord Mercury and 3rd lord Exalted Moon. This will make the native a king of speeches and communications. Notice Mercury, the karaka for communication, is involved in this yoga and Moon is also exalted. 3rd lord Jupiter is in Ascendant and is aspecting Moon and 10th house as well. Lagna lord and 2nd lord Saturn is also aspecting 3rd house, the house of communication. 4th and 11th lord Mars aspecting 3rd house also shows a firm and strong sense of communication.
5th & 10th lord Venus, a powerful Yogakaraka is placed in 6th house, and 6th and 9th lord Mercury is conjoined with 8th lord Sun in 7th house in mutual aspection with Jupiter and Saturn. Mercury being 9th lord and Saturn being lagna lord in mutual aspection creates a RajaYoga which gives luck and fortune.
All these combinations show that the native will be in a high work position related to government administration and/or justice system (Law) and involving a lot of communication. From these combinations, we can easily conclude why Barack Obama ended up becoming the President of the United States. Usually for politicians, there is a strong link between Sun and Moon. In his chart, Sun’s depositor Moon is exalted in the 5th house, the house of Power. Finally, Sasa yoga formed in Lagna will show signs of an Emperor like power.
Analysis of few divisional charts
We will look into a few divisional charts and connect to the Rasi (D-1) chart. All divisional charts analysis will be based off of Rasi (D-1) chart and divisional charts will give more clarity in a particular segment of the native’s life.
In Dasamsa (D-10), we get a clearer picture of his power at work. Mars is in Taurus Ascendant and is in mutual aspection with Jupiter. I have always felt Barack Obama’s personality is a strong mixture of Jupiter and Mars because in all his presidential debates, we clearly saw huge amounts of knowledge being delivered with firm and strong ideologies. 2nd lord and 5th lord Mercury in own house in the sign Gemini, the sign of communication. 3rd lord Moon in 12th house which pushes the native to serve the people, the masses through communication. Jupiter is also aspecting 3rd house. 5th house is the highlight of this chart. The 9th and 10th lord Saturn, a powerful Yogakaraka, is placed in 5th house, the house of Power with 4th lord Sun and Rahu. This creates tremendous amount of political success, fame and power. Notice the resemblance in power that Saturn has in both Rasi (D-1) and Dasamsa (D-10).
In Rasi (D-1) chart, Ketu is placed in 2nd house and Mars is in mutual aspection, afflicting 2nd house as well. This shows some signs of family struggle and separation. In Chaturthamsa (D-4), we get a better picture of his residence and family life.
Lagna lord Venus is debilitated in 12th house and forming Parivartana yoga with 12th lord mercury. This is a very strong sign showing discontent and sorrow in family life. Moon is afflicted by the close conjunction of Rahu and aspection of Mars. Jupiter aspection on Moon is a big relief but the affliction on the Moon is still there unfortunately. His mind would likely be tormented. Saturn and Sun close conjunction in the 4th house shows the disconnect between Barack Obama and his father. Based on the grahas history, it is well known among astrologers that the relationship between the “father” Sun and the “son” Saturn is of hostile, distant and estranged nature. The same logic can be used to describe Barack Obama’s relationship with his father. His father left him after his birth in Hawaii and his parents divorced a couple of years later. His mother married someone else few years later and the following year Obama had to move to Indonesia.
Because of scary incidents that happened in Indonesia, his mother ended up sending him back to Hawaii to his grandparents when he was 10 years old. Obama did not have a relationship with his father and he struggled a lot in his childhood because of this. During his teenage years, he used alcohol, Marijuana, and cocaine to push aways the questions he had in his mind about who he truly was. He was also a member of a gang back then. He later admits it was a mistake and never used drugs after his teenage life. He went through Moon and Mars dasas and started Rahu dasa in his teenage life.
In Rasi (D-1) chart, we were able to conclude his career would be revolving around government or law related work. In Siddhamsa (D-24), we can get a picture of his education life and how he performed at school.
In Lagna, 4th and 9th lord Venus, a powerful Yogakaraka is conjoined with 5th lord Mercury. This creates a powerful Raja Yoga. I don’t think any yoga can really beat this as 4th, 5th and 9th houses are the most important houses for higher education growth. Notice the resemblance in power that Venus has in both Rasi (D-1) and Siddhamsa (D-24). Despite this, we can see some family life related issues interfering with his studies. 2nd lord Jupiter is placed in 12th house in debilitation. Mars is debilitated. Sun is debilitated in 9th house and is afflicted by Saturn and Mars. A few months after Barack Obama’s 21st birthday in 1982 during Rahu/Jupiter/Sun, his father passed away. He traveled back to Kenya in order to try to connect with his father’s memories and place where he lived. The sense of abandonment was greatly felt by him at that time. In 1983, Barack Obama graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations. He later went on to Harvard in 1988 to pursue his PhD studies in Law and graduated in 1991 from Harvard Law school.
In Navamsa (D-9) chart, we can see a better picture of his fortune in life (Bhagya) which includes his marriage life, childbirth, general luck and career related luck. In Rasi (D-1) chart, 7th lord Moon is exalted. In Navamsa (D-9), 2nd and 11th lord mercury is exalted in 2nd house which shows that his family life will dramatically improve after marriage. Mercury is also in mutual aspection with 5th and 8th lord Jupiter which can cause some minor setbacks and impediments in family life. In 5th house which is the house of general luck and power, Lagna lord Sun, 3rd and 10th lord Venus, and 4th and 9th lord Mars, a powerful Yogakaraka are all conjoined together creating once again a powerful Raja Yoga guaranteeing political success and fame. (Note: There is a divisional chart dedicated for children which is called Sapthamsa (D-7) but I personally feel it aids more in analyzing how the native’s life will be with their children. On the other hand, Navamsa (D-9) will help in finding out whether childbirth will occur or not since the native needs to be blessed by God to have it (Bhagya). A tricky thing about childbirth is that we need to analyze the Navamsa (D-9) of both partners in a couple to determine possibility of childbirth.)
In Shashthamsa (D-6), we can get a better understanding of his health condition. Although not much about his health is revealed to the general public, we can still compare the 6th house in Rasi (D-1) chart to Shasthamsa chart. In Rasi (D-1), in 6th house, the Yogakaraka Venus is placed in it. 6th lord mercury is afflicted by 8th lord Sun and Saturn. 6th lord mercury is also aspected by Jupiter which is a saving grace. Usually when Jupiter aspects 6th house or Lagna, health condition is great since Jupiter increases the recovery ability of the native. In Shashthamsa (D-6), Lagna lord Saturn is exalted in 9th house. 6th lord Moon is afflicted by Saturn and Mars. Jupiter is aspecting 6th house. Overall, both Shashthamsa (D-6) and Rasi (D-1) chart show the same level of health conditions.
Tithi Pravesha
You will be able to plot different Tithi Pravesha charts using the software. In the top-left corner, on the 2nd row from the menu bar, you will see a few tabs. The 7th tab is the “Tithi Pravesha” tab. Click on it and in the middle of your screen you will see “(1) Find Tithi Pravesha Chart” and below it you will see “Year:”. Type the year in question, leave “Month” to “None” and click on “Find tithi Pravesha Chart” to generate the charts for that year.
In 1990, during Rahu/Venus/Venus, Barack Obama was elected as President of the Harvard Law Review while he was studying at Harvard. He was the first ever African American to obtain this honored position. Plot the Annual Tithi Pravesha chart of 1990, and check the Siddhamsa (D-24) chart of it. Rahu and 8th and 9th lord Saturn are in Ascendant. Lagna lord and 4th lord mercury is conjoined with 4th lord Sun and 7th and 10th lord Exalted Jupiter. 2nd lord Moon is in mutual aspection with Mercury, Sun and Jupiter. 5th lord Venus in own 5th house. 7th and 10th lord Exalted Jupiter is aspecting 10th house and Mars is placed in 10th house aspecting Ascendant. 7th and 10th lord Exalted Jupiter in mutual aspection with 2nd lord Moon creates a powerful Gajakesari Yoga. This shows that in 1990, Barack Obama would have achieved something highly significant heavily related to speech and communication at school and with regards to law and order (based on Saturn, Mars and Jupiter placement).
On 3 October 1992, during Rahu/Venus/Mercury, Barack Obama got married to Michelle Robinson. In the Navamsa (D-9) of the Annual Tithi Pravesha of 1992, we can see some good combinations that favoured marriage. 4th and 9th lord Mars, a powerful Yogakaraka is placed in 7th house as aspecting Ascendant. Mars is also aspecting Lagna lord Sun in 2nd house which represents family life. 7th lord Saturn is also aspecting Lagna lord Sun in 2nd house and is aspecting 9th house and is in mutual aspection with 2nd lord Mercury.
On 4 January 2005, during Jupiter/Venus/Moon, Barack Obama won the election to the U.S. Senate and took oath that year. He was the only African American in the Senate at that time. In the Dasamsa (D-10) of the Annual Tithi Pravesha of 2005, we can see phenomenal combinations formed for career growth. 4th and 9th lord Venus, powerful Yogakaraka is placed in 11th house in mutual aspection with 3rd and 10th lord Mars. 2nd and 11th lord Jupiter is conjoined with 5th and 8th lord Mercury in 10th house. This creates the powerful Amala Yoga. Mercury and Jupiter are also in mutual aspection with lagna lord Saturn which creates Raja Yoga as well. 6th lord Moon is in Ascendant forming Gajakesari Yoga with Jupiter and is aspected by Lagna lord Saturn which creates heavy fan following.
On 4 November 2008, during Jupiter/Moon/Mercury, he won the U.S. Presidential Elections. In the Dasamsa (D-10) of the Annual Tithi Pravesha of 2008, we can see the great combinations that made him win the elections. 4th and 9th lord Venus, a powerful Yogakaraka is placed in 9th house. 3rd and 10th lord Mars is aspecting 5th house and Venus is 9th house. 2nd and 11th lord Jupiter is exalted in 6th house and forming a powerful Gajakesari yoga with 6th lord Moon. Jupiter is also aspecting 10th house and Mars in 2nd house. Lagna lord Saturn is in 11th house aspecting 7th lord Sun in 5th house, the house of power. 5th and 8th lord Mercury is placed with Rahu in 4th house aspecting 10th house.
On 26 November 2010, during Jupiter/Rahu/Saturn, Barack Obama got injured on his lips while playing basketball and the injury required 12 stitches. In the Shashthamsa (D-6) of the Annual Tithi Pravesha of 2010, we can see some serious affliction on the 12th house. 2nd lord mercury which rules the face is placed in the 12th house with Rahu, Ketu and afflicted by Sun. Mercury’s dispositor is Moon which represents skin is debilitated and afflicted by Roga planets Saturn and Mars. Thankfully, Moon is conjoined with Jupiter and Jupiter is also aspecting 12th house where Mercury is placed which helped Barack Obama recover quickly from the injury.
On 6 November 2012, during Saturn/Saturn/Saturn, Barack Obama was re-elected as U.S. President for a 2nd term. In the Dasamsa (D-10) of the Annual Tithi Pravesha of 2012, we can see amazing combinations that made him win the elections again. 2nd and 9th lord Venus is placed in Ascendant with Rahu. Lagna lord mercury and 9th lord Venus forming the Parivartana yoga. 5th and 6th lord Saturn is exalted in 2nd house and aspecting 8th and 11th house. 4th and 7th lord Jupiter is conjoined with 11th lord Moon in 10th house forming a powerful Gajakesari yoga causing huge success and prosperity in career.
Conclusion
To conclude, divisional charts do seem to give more clarity and support the Rasi (D-1) chart much more than we would have imagined. If the birth time is known to be very accurate, the divisional charts and Tithi Pravesha can definitely increase the accuracy of our predictions, but it is also required to dynamically analyze multiple divisional charts to get a better picture. It is very important to always stay grounded to the Rasi (D-1) chart since all divisional charts are created from it. I hope this article made you think differently and sparked you to dig deeper into astrology. Thank you!
Acknowledgment
I would like to thank my guru Muthu Vijayan Elango for helping me and giving me important suggestions while writing this article. I would like to also thank P.V.R. Narasimha Rao Sir for introducing me to the concept of Tithi Pravesha through his amazing articles and countless YouTube videos.
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