Unraveling the Mystery of the 7th House: Love, Passion, and Destiny in Vedic Astrology

Next to the 10^th, the house of karmas, the 7^th is the most challenging house in today’s context. Here’s why. Our basic instincts and sensuality attract us to many opposites, including, most importantly, the opposite sex. This natural stirring of love and passion, brings joy, often changes lives in fundamental ways.

Unlike other changes in life’s pattern, the seventh activates several sensitive chords, making this change intense at the emotional level. Passion and rage define the narratives of couplings like those of Romeo and Juliet, Heer Ranjah, Soni – Mehiwal, Laila and Manju. These are instances from time immemorial of fiery passions and shooting desires that drive one to kill or get killed in love. We have the story of destruction of a thousand ships in the quest of Helen of Troy in Greek literature. Our Ramayana and Mahabharata too revolve around the wrongful passion for women and its catastrophic outcome. These epics from our Puranas compel us to review our own basic instincts that often excite us to break barriers in love and passion. These stories, in a subtle way perhaps lead us to exercise discretion against a wave of overpowering emotion.

With love laid bare, can greed be far behind? 
So in today’s world a quick buck can be made from those runaway passions,　the profiteers can profit from love. Why should not they leave a known human weakness unexploited -Viagra had to come for men and now for women.The market also includes those whose sex life is or has been rich.

Pillars: Houses 1-4-7-10
You have love, hate, passion, jealousy, anxiety, and tension along with a number of manias, phobias and other psychiatric conditions and even death attached to the 7^th house. Balancing our karmas has become more challenging than ever before today in the wake of distractions that are difficult to resist due to a degrading morality outpacing inner strength that checks. The 7^th is the house of desires(kaam). It is the house of death (maraka). Being 10^th from 10^{th it} it is bhavat bhavam of our karmas also. According to the principle of bhavat bhavam what we see from the 4^th house is also seen from 4^thfrom 4^th the 7^th house and what we see from the 10^h is also seen from the 10^th from 10^th the 7th house. In the workshop on Home and property on 25^th September, 2010 on the lighter side, I commented that from 4^th you see the sapno ka mahal (the palace of your dreams) and from 7^th you see sapno ki mahila (woman of your dreams). Both give illusions of happiness but often result inunhappiness. The 1-4-7-10 houses are the pillars of a horoscope that hold life.

Lagna is the most important house that represents self, the 4^th happiness and contentment, the 10^thaction or karmas and the 7^th the desires, the motivations and the inspiration that vibrates and propels you to act. It falls in the trikona (triangle) of kaam (desires). It can be called the house of Dreams, Desire and Death. When swayed by desires, the discretion is lost.

In ashtanga yoga the 7^th is the house of dhyana (concentration), Concentration amidst diversion.

The 7^th house not only attracts us to the opposite sex but to many more opposites
The most revered classical text, Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra mentions wife, travel, trade, loss of sight, sex, death and the like as areas governed by the 7^th house.

Phaldeepika another great classic recommends that all about desire, passion, sexual desire, a way, people, husband, road and wife should be read from the 7^th house.

Mundane astrology suggests that we see: war, foreign countries, disputes, international affairs, marriage and divorce from this house.

Partnering could mean sleeping with the Enemy
A marriage partner or a business partner could be an adversary we opt to live and work with. We invite them to our fold as they appear to be desirable companions. One for fulfilling our needs in our Grihastha ashram and other to amplify our energy for rapid growth to realize our dreams for acquisitions and success as 1 and 1 make 11 not 2.We hate and love them!

Often, inspite of disputes and knowing well that they have turned out to be our adversaries, we do not part, for we need them. One may part with the business partner swiftly, whenever the bond cracks severely but with the spouse one cannot part so easily even after a dispute, since the legal, societal, moral and karmic bindings are strong. Once a partner is chosen, it is a karmic binding for life. Ourshastras have therefore rules defined for the commitments with the opposite sex what we now know as marriage. With common law marriage, live-in –relationships, gay marriages gaining acceptance and recognition from law, it’s time we review the institution of the traditional marriage with cultural, social, moral and karmic bindings.

Are marriages made in a heaven or do we have a choice
The karma theory cites rinanubandhan ((debt of past lives) as a probable reason for choice of people who surround us. Does the divine power that plots our destiny decide our partner before our birth? If so, why bother with Kundli milaan (matching of horoscopes). We have seventy five percent destiny that cannot be changed and twenty five percent freewill that minimizes or maximizes the impact of the fixed destiny through good and bad karmas. To say that a partner in marriage is fixed and the effort in choosing one is an exercise that is futile, therefore in my view is wrong.

Can we have a fairy tale love? A reality check. How do we characterize modern marriage
Are two people satisfied in their relationship? Can we term earlier marriages in a male dominated society successful, since they lasted, in most cases till death did them part. Do we ignore the fact that there was no scope for a woman to assert her rights freely and dispute unjustified actions as she was economically dependent? Can we term those marriages also successful where a man married another woman inspite of a devoted wife because both marriages lasted lifelong? Can you have the concept of happy marriage of a literate to a semi-educated woman, who may have devoted herself to rearing children and attending household chores, blissfully unaware of her potential and devoid of aspirations? But, for understanding what is happiness and unhappiness is we have go back to our shastras. When you have expectations, you have unhappiness.

Shloka 62 of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 
“dhyayatah visayan pumsah sangas tesupajayate sangat sanjayate kamah krodha bhijayate”
While contemplating the objects of senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises 

Shloka 63 
“Krodhad bhavati sammohah ammoohat smrti-vibhramah smrti-braramsad buddhi -naso buddhi-nasat pranasyati” 
From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.

If you view everything you have as god -gifted and destiny- sent including marriage and do not hope for or expect anything, you have contentment. A differentiation of an unhappy, not so happy or happy marriage is much too subjective a concept to be assessed objectively. Where there has been death of partner, divorce, separation or no marriage, it is clearly a weakness in the 7^th house and can be assessed by evaluating the 7^th house, the significator Venus and the divisional chart navamsha. A working methodology for such an evaluation has been explained in my book Indian Marriage in Modern Urban Educated Society.

One who has contentment and happiness in what destiny has bestowed will be happy in marriage and one who has not will not be happy even with　all that life can offer.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12 Shloka 14　
‘asman nodvijate loko lokan nodvijate ca yah harsamarsa bhayoodvegair mukto yah sa ca me priyah”
He by whom no one is put to difficulty and who is not disturbed by anyone, who is equipoised in happiness and distress, fear and anxiety, is very dear to Me　

Does Mars or a malefic in 7^th indicate problems in marriage: The classics, theVishvijaypanchang and even some present interpretations of classics,　are frightening
Most of the classics talk of death of spouse if Mars is in the 7^th. This was when there was no concept of divorce and when societal compulsions did allow a woman to live independently. In today’s context, Mars in 7^th could mean divorce, separation or simply some minor irritations in marriage. It is important to evaluate the positives as well.

The educational qualifications and the multi dimensional character of women which has come to the foreground of the national scene cannot be ignored in assessing the quality and even the standard of unorthodoxy in marriage. Much modern research has been undertaken in Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, where it has been clearly shown that the planets in the 7^th house have totally new meanings for example a woman with Mars in the 7^th house can have an engineer, policeman or an army man as her husband. Similarly Ketu in the 7^th can give a spiritually minded husband.

A woman from Tamil Nadu, who learnt astrology from Mr.K.N.Rao, has Kumbha Lagna with Rahu in the 7^th aspected by Jupiter from Sagittarius. She was given many negative predictions by several astrologers but Mr. Rao assured her that she would have an excellent orthodox marriage because of her Sun, the 7^th lord being in the 4^th house with Mercury. Her husband is very well placed in his career as a chartered accountant.

Such modern interpretations will have to be put, departing from the literal and narrow translation given by Mr.U.K.Jha in his translation of Phaldeepika. Most of the astrologers are sticking to the literal meaning given in Phaldeepika which is doing damage to astrology.

Similarly in another horoscope of an Andhra Brahmin woman having Taurus, Lagna has Sun Ketu and Mercury in the 7^th. Her Rahu, with debilitated Moon is in the 7^th and is aspected by Jupiter from Pisces. She has been having an extraordinary marriage since 2001. Both the husband and wife happen to be doing exceptionally well professionally. Senior Bush, the father of George W. Bush is 87 years old. He has Mars-Ketu in the 7th house and his marriage with Barbara Pierce Bush since 1945 is still on.

Vedic astrology is known for its negative readings in the West. As in India so in the West primarily to entice clients and earn from remedial measures. Mangal dosha is one of the most misused concepts by astrologers to make money and promote fear. In Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan we stress on the totality of a horoscope which has to have different shades of happiness and unhappiness, materialism and spirituality; the modern and ancient meaning. A lot of these ancient meanings are given in Phaldeepikabut we have to modernize with new meanings.

Mr.C.V.B.Subrahmanyam, Professor and Head, Department of Jyotisha, Telugu University, Hyderabad, who had taken a workshop in Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, had stated that Lagna refers to the self and the 7^th from it relates to society. Whether we are ruled by society, or we rule society, can be assesed from the Sarvastakavarga point’s f the ascendant and the 7^th house. If lagna has more points than we dominate the society and if the 7^th has more than we are dominated by the society. Generally inSarvastakavarga the 7^th house and the 12^th house should have less point.

From the days of Leo Tolstoy’s Resurrection in the nineteenth century and George Meredith acclaimed novel Diana of the `Cross Ways’ released in 1885 the downtrodden women has been well portrayed nd continues to be redefined even today. Scholars believe that in ancient India women enjoyed equal status with men. Through the low point of the medieval period, this status has been rising.

In the Vedic and Upanishadic times the great freedom women enjoyed is described in .S Altekar’s book`The Position of Women in Hindu Civilization’. The omen’s rightful place as a co-equal has to be recognized and accepted in the context of the swirling hanged life of our times.

In today’s India a well educated woman clearly deserves better treatment. She is deprived of the dignity that is due to her. We are not living in Moghul times when the Hindu woman had to be protected from the lustful invaders. Slowly the Indian male has started to accept this shift in the ower balance. On the other hand we also have instances of unscrupulous woman taking foulest advantage of section 497 IPC and 18 of Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956 and Section 125 of Criminal Procedure Code and harass the husbands. How a balance is to be structured to put marriage on grounds of stability, dignity and harmony is the challenging point of research for astrologers of modern times.

It is a challenge to produce new researches. Those who are sticking to Phaldeepika literally when a still finer shade is to be considered in predicting matters on the basis of the shlokas are committing a serious mistake. If there is a sanyas yoga which also involves the 7^th house it mostly means a woman leading a normal married life and from second half of her middle age becoming spiritual after fulfilling her worldly duties. Parashara rightly gives a hint about it but many modern astrologers put a wrong interpretation of this combination. A malefic in the 7th and any planet in the 9th is a combination that makes a woman highly spiritual. It is to be seen to be believed

A Horoscope Matching of today too requires innovative Methods
Matching of horoscopes by merely seeing the points out of 36 is　woefully inadequate. These days the instant computer results leave many hearts broken for no reason as the self styled astrologers and computer software’s quickly churn out matching results that have no basis. We have a colleague in Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan whose marriage has crossed 50 years It it is a beautiful and blissful marriage still with only 13 points in matching.

The　dosha samya matching by some astrologers does not answer the purpose of matching when we have highly educated women outpacing men in many fields. Shudh jatak matching, a part of bhava milaan is also to be viewed in modern context. An evaluation in totality with desh kaal and paatra is required. My half written book `Choosing a Partner’ is gathering dust. I intend making it a comprehensive book for Horoscope Matching. I am also updating the Chapter Selection of Spouse of my book Indian Marriage in Modern Urban Educated Society with the 2^nd edition.

Desire War Death – The 7^th represents all Three
In his presentation ` Glimmer of Hope in a strife torn World’ during the Global conference on Mundane Astrology at Vishakhapatnam from 1-4 October, 2010, Mr K.N. Rao convincingly demonstrated through the horoscopes of many heads of states, prime ministers and presidents that they were engaged in war in the dasha of the lord of the 7^th house, the planets in the 7^th house or planets aspecting the 7^thhouse. Clearly the 7^th represents, the spouse, the society, war and also death. The classical and the researched are on the same line. 　

News Area　

Jupiter strikes a Bonanza from India’s 11^th house of Gains: – Commonwealth Games As predicted in our earlier newsletters, we witnessed India’s unprecedented medal haul, in the history of games, some sparkling performances. Spectacular opening and closing ceremonies and a historical win in cricket against Australia. Although Rahu’s smog of corruption took away some shine off the medals, yet it was a success story. Corruption in sports is disgraceful- whether they are the charges of accumulation of wealth by the high and mighty from tax payers money or from the money of berserk Indian cricket fans in　 IPL or the match fixing in UK where Pakistanis are deeply involved. We need to review dispassionately not only the wrongs but all the rights that contributed to the success of the commonwealth games for punishing and also for rewarding. As we release this Newsletter Mr. Nitin Gadkari’s statement accusing that the whole establishment was involved in corrupt practices and blaming PMO and Cabinet and that Kalmadi is being made a scapegoat is on the front pages of all the Newspapers. He has demanded a JPC probe.　

Business and Economy – Some predictions
How good can be the results of a favourable dasha combining a good transit can be can be seen from the dasha of Sun-Mars-Venus upto 17-10-2010 and transit of Jupiter in the 11^th of the Indian Independence horoscope. The pratyantar dashas of Sun and Moon upto 3-11-2010 in the Independence chart will be equally good. From September 2011 there will be global opportunities coming with global challenges in the dasha of Sun-Jupiter as Jupiter and Saturn would be on the 6-12 axis of the Indian Independence chart from November 15, 2011.As predicted in our earlier newsletters, India outperformed most of the emerging economies in its cruise towards a developed nation status Cashing on euphoria the economy is on track Direct tax collection is higher than expected. IMF has raised India’s growth forecast to 9.7%. In comparison to　global forecast of 4% and of US as 2% .India is a complex story with 37 percent below poverty line and still it is projected that its wealth will double. India will be a developed country by 2020, thanks to the dasha of Sun and Moon. Air India‘s changed financial situation is another indicator of India’s robust economy.It is out in the air free after taxing in the red for 3 years. Global Cheer has taken the stock Market still ahead. The sharp rise of　stock market index　is another of our bold predictions.

Our Predictions on Yedurappa’s Government in Karnataka couldn’t have been more precise
We were asked by our friend astrologers in Karnataka, Mr. Shanker Hegde from Bangalore andMr.Sitaramiah from Shimoga to offer our views on the Karnataka crisis one week before the vote of confidence on 11^th October, 2010. On 10^th October , 2010 while discussing the matter with Mr.K.N.Rao at his residence I found his views were the same as mine which　 had been conveyed to both our astrologer friends from Karnataka. We read that though the time is difficult for YD he would win the vote of confidence. Mr. Rao told that I had told Mr.Sitaramiah that YD will scrape through. While returning from Mr.Rao’s residence I got a call from Mr.Shanker Hegde asking me to send my prediction by mail. On 10^th October, 2010 at 9:26 p.m. I sent him the following mail From Deepak Bisaria to Shanker Hegde. Subject Chief Minister Karnataka. His time is difficult till 20^th October. If he survives he will continue. The prediction is he will survive by a thin margin. This prediction was based on his 3:01 time of birth of YD published in Journal of Astrology.

Durga Puja – Vijay dasmi Navratas
A Cultural extravaganza. Every one is spell bound. The presence of Devi on earth is surely experienced by only those who have faith and trust our traditions.

Global Conference on Mundane Astrology, Vishakapatnam 1-4 October, 2010
We must compliment Satguru Sivananda Murty for his vision, in conceptualizing the theme for this conference and to have organized such a confluence of thoughts from all across the globe. The conference was enriching at multiple levels, intellectual and moral apart from offering predictive toolkits and intellectual breadth to make sense of an increasing complex international arena which I have to read correctly and then teach as a teacher of Mundane astrology. My take-aways were the following:

1) Mundane Astrology has the potential to reform the world

2) The brilliance in thoughts presented by both astrologers and scientists go to show that there is potential spread in remote corners of the globe, if harnessed can take us closer to our goal of advising planners and policy makers of the nations on the basis of Mundane Astrology. But, we have miles to go

3) Open minded scientists can give a high degree of support to researched based　astrology

4)　Except in Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan teaching of Mundane Astrology has not developed for this reasons the presentations by members of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan stood out in the conference

5)　Morality and collective action is the key

We are covering the conference in detail in IOA’s Journal of Astrology. The November- December issue which is likely to be released on 30^th October has, as the lead article Global Conference on Mundane Astrology, Vishakapatnam part I and the January-February and the subsequent issue will have part II and part III.　

Remedial Measures

For all purpose remedial measure we have the last and ultimate shloka of Bhagavad Gita. It should be recited again and again:

“yatra yogeshvarah krsno yatra partho dhanur-dharah tatra srir vijayo bhutir dhruvd nitir matir mama”
Wherever there is Krishna, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will certainly also be opulence, victory,extraordinary power, and morality. That is my opinion.