The name 'Sadesati' sends a chill in the spine of a common man. Most of the astrologers take it as a dreadful occurrence and ignore the good qualities of Saturn. Apart from seven and half years transit of Saturn i.e. Sadesati, the Transit of Saturn over the 4th house from the radical Moon i.e. Ardhashtama Shani and over the 8th house from the radical Moon i.e. Asthama Shani are also considered bad. The native born under the above mentioned disposition of Saturn with reference to Moon is likely to suffer maximum during Saturn's transit over the sensitive houses. But the experience shows otherwise. Before I share my findings I would like to divide this paper into three parts which are as under :
- Opinion of classics pertaining to transit of Saturn over the said sensitive houses.
- Exact time of starting of Ardhashtama, Ashtama and Sadesati.
- My findings with real life examples & illustrations.
All the classics attribute the transit of Saturn over the 4th, 8th, 12th, 1st, 2nd houses from the Moon as a period of distress and misfortune. But our sages gave their views in a generalized manner which cannot and should not be applied verbatim. Given below are the views from the classics.
Brihat Samhita
- During the Saturn's transit over the natal Moon the native concerned will be troubled by poison and fire, separated from one's kith and kins, will wander in foreign countries, will neither have friends nor a house to live in etc.
- During Saturn's transit over the 2nd house from the natal Moon, the native will be bereft of happiness and pride. Even if he earns much wealth through many channels, it would not be sufficient to fulfil his needs.
- During Saturn's transit over the 4th house from the natal Moon, the native will be separated from his friends, wealth and wife etc. Everything in his mind will be wicked, sinful and crooked.
- During Saturn's transit over the 8th house from the natal Moon the native will be without wife and children. He will engage himself in mean activities.
Yavana Jathaka
- When Saturn is transiting over the natal Moon, the native has fear of imprisonment. There will be danger from fire and weapons etc. Native will be deceived by others and will have miseries. Native's spouse and child may pass away or leave him alone.
During Saturn's transit over the 2nd house from the natal Moon, native will have excess of expenditure and loss of money.
- During Saturn's transit over the 4th house from the natal Moon, native suffers humiliation. He will be running from pillar to post and will always be in difficulties.
- During Saturn's transit over the 8th house from the natal Moon, the native suffers a lot.
- During Saturn's transit over the 12th house from natal Moon, all endeavours of native fail, his intelligence and skill get diminished. His respect is affected and he suffers humiliation.
Jyotisharnava Navanitam
- During Saturn's transit over the natal Moon the native loses his physical energy, mental balance and is troubled from various diseases.
During Saturn's transit over the 2nd house of the natal Moon, the native will be in grief, will incur losses in undertakings. There will be futile wandering.
During Saturn's transit over the 12th house from the natal Moon one will lose his honour, be anguished, will have limited gains. He will be in the grip of strife and penury.
- During Saturn's transit over the 4th house from the natal Moon native will have body troubles, mental distress and fear etc.
- During Saturn's transit over the 8th house from the natal Moon, native will face obstacles in his undertakings. He will be troubled from diseases, there will be decline in his income etc.
b. Exact time of Ardhashtama Shani, Ashtama Shani & Sadesati :
All the three dreadful transit positions of Saturn are dependant upon the placement of Moon in the horoscope, but what will be the exact time of occurrence of above three position is a matter of debate. I will discuss here the starting of Sadesati only and from that, occurrence of Ardhasthama Shani and Ashtama Shani may be ascertained.
Most of the astrologers consider the starting point of Sadesati on Saturn's entry into 12th house from natal Moon and its ending point with leaving the 2nd house from the natal Moon, thus comprising a cycle of 7½ years spread over the three houses.
Some opine that the impact of Sadesati starts when it is 45° away, towards 12th house, from the natal Moon and it ends when Saturn passes 45° from the radical Moon.
Both statements seem to be ambiguous and absurd. Since it is a known fact that the occurrence of Sadesati or alike is dependent upon the exact longitude of the Moon. Say in a horoscope Moon's longitude is 3°10' in sign Cancer. Now as per theory No. 1 when Saturn will enter signs Gemini the Sadesati will start and when it is leaving the sign Leo the Sadesati will end. As per theory No. 2, Saturn's entry into a sign 45° prior its placement means when Saturn will be at 18° in sign Taurus the Sadesati will begin and when Saturn will cross 18° in sign Leo the Sadesati will end.
Here arises a question that when Moon is pivotal point in deciding the occurrence and ending of sadesati, under the circumstances only Moon's longitude should be a pivot to decide the beginning and ending of Sadesati. As we have taken Moon's longitude as 3s3°10' hence as and when transiting Saturn will be at 2s3°10' it will be the beginning of Sadesati and the ending point should be 5s3°10' will reference to transiting Saturn. This method of calculating Sadesati etc coincides with equal house division as being adopted.
c. Personal Findings with Real Life Examples
Case No. 1. Male native, DOB : 6.9.1953,
TOB : 3:58am IST, POB : Longitude 83° E53' Latitude : 18°N52'
Dagdha Rashi : Taurus & Leo
Yogi Planet : Mercury, Avayogi : Mars
Current Mahadasha : Mars, Antardasha : Mars
Chart belongs to a very senior IAS officer. Native was born under Ardhashtamsa Shani, since Saturn is posited in 4th house from the natal Moon. For Cancer born natives, Saturn is the most malefic planet due to its lordship over 7th & 8th houses. Simultaneously transiting Saturn was is sign Cancer in the month of October 2004 and the native was under Sadesati. During this period native's name was forwarded for a coveted post alongwith two other contenders even when all the odds were against the native. On the onset of Mars Mahadasa native got posting on the said post. Now in this case Mars is Yogkarak planet thus most benefic of the chart. Mars is a natural malefic. Leo is a dagdha Rashi. A natural malefic in a dagdha Rasi but in its direct motion gives most auspicious results. Further Mars is a Avayogi planet. Avayogi planet in a negative Bhava or Rasi gives best results. Mars being Avayogi occupying a negative Rasi, Dagdha Rasi became powerful to give most auspicious results. Thus a powerful planet, placed positively is destined to sideline the ill effects of Sadesati.
Case No. 2 : Male Native : DOB : 8.5.1965,
TOB : 9:25 am, POB : Chandigarh
Dagdha Rasis : Gemini & Virgo
Yogi Planet : Mercury, Avayogi Planet : Mars
Maha Dasha : Sun, Antardasha : Saturn
Native was born in sign Gemini rising in lagna. Lord of lagna i.e. Mercury is placed in kendra i.e. 10th house. Native was born under Ashtama Shani. On 1st October 2004 native purchased a bungalow costing Rs. 2 crores and at that time native was under sadesati since Saturn was transiting over his radical Moon. Again on 15-12-2004 when Saturn was transiting over his radical Moon he entered into a consultation agreement with a multinational company and the fee which the native will get in Rs. 30 lacs per annum. Thus defying the impact of Sadesati this period of sadesati was a boon for the native.
Dagdha Rasis : Sagittarius & Pisces
Yogi Planet : Venus, Avayogi : Jupiter
Mahadasa : Rahu , Antardasa : Venus
Native was born with Capricorn lagna. Lord of lagna i.e. Saturn and that of 7th house Moon, both are conjunct in 5th house, thus native was born under sadesati of shani. On 12.7.2001 when the transiting Saturn was over the natal Moon, the native got married. Again in the year 2002 on 15th August, native was blessed with a daughter and at that time too the Saturn was transiting over 2nd house from his natal Moon and finally in February 2004 when Saturn was in its retrogression in sign Gemini i.e. 2nd house from the natal moon, native appeared in Punjab state civil services for the post of tehsildar and successfully cleared the examination and ultimately he was selected for the post.
Conclusion :
In this research paper we have selected three glaring examples . Out of these three, one native was born under Ardhashtama Shani, second was born under Ashtama Shani and third was born under sadesati of Shani. Inspite of this configuration of the Moon & Saturn all the three natives prospered during Sadesati. Now the question arises if Sadesati is dreadful it should have given bad to worst results to all of these three natives. Under the light of these illustrations, I leave it to fellow astrologers to decide if sadesati is a bane or boon.