The astrologers must know how to find out whether the given horoscope is of a male or a female. This is considered to be quite a tough job. Hence the astrologers, when preparing a birth chart, in order to ascertain, whether the birth chart is of a male or a female adjust the Navamsa to odd(male) or even(female) even by changing the time of birth and this trick enables them to know immediately whether the native is male or female. This technique impresses the people greatly, but the astrologers themselves know their weaknesses quite well. Principle I This is a general principle which is found in the book titled ‘Book of Correct Astrological Predictions’. Some of the rules are not acceptable in the present day context as much research has been made in the field of Astrology which is contradictory to the rules in this principle.
Here Rahu and Ketu are not considered for determination of sex as they are only mathematical points. Another deviation you will find here is that Mercury and Saturn though termed as Eunuchs by all ancient texts, are treated here as female. Finally the rules do not fit properly in some of the horoscopes and there seems to be some link missing in the principle. However it may be, let us apply this principle to some charts and come to a conclusion thereafter. Rules:
1. Sun, Mars and Jupiter indicate male gender and Saturn, Venus and Moon indicate Female gender. Mercury with Saturn or Venus indicates Female and with Sun, Mars and Jupiter indicate male gender. It is to be noted that the planets of male sign i.e. Sun, Mars and Jupiter are more powerful and victorious than the planets of female sign (except the Moon). It is also to be noted that the planets which aspect the house or a planet conjoined is more powerful.
2. The Moon is loved and honoured by every planet. Hence other planets allow her to act according to her desire. If there is combination of 7th house or the lord of the 7th house with Moon, the native is female even if there are other combinations of male sex. In the same way, the signs ruled by the planets Sun, Mars and Jupiter i,e. 5, 1, 8, 9 and 12 of the Natural Zodiac are considered to be male signs and 4, 2, 7, 10 and 11 as female signs. Gemini sign is to be understood as male while Virgo is female. So Male signs are – Leo, Aries, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Pisces and Gemini Female signs are – Cancer, Taurus, Libra, Capricorn, Aquarius and Virgo. Combinations for male: 1. 7th house + Sun, Mars or Jupiter or his signs 2. 7th lord + Sun, Mars or Jupiter or his signs Combinations for female: 1. 7th house + Moon, Venus, Mercury or Saturn or her or his sign. 2. 7th Lord + Moon, Mercury, Venus or Saturn or her or his sign. List of abbreviations used in the charts: As – Lagna or Ascendant; Su – Sun; Mo – Moon; Ma – Mars; Me – Mercury; Ju- Jupiter; Ve – Venus; Sa – Saturn; Ra – Rahu; Ke – Ketu. Chart 01: Sri Satya Sai Baba (Puttaparthi) 1. 7th house is Taurus with no planets in it.
Hence cannot be taken for consideration. 2. 7th Lord Venus is in Scorpio along with a male planet Sun. Mercury and Saturn thus conjoin one male planet Sun and one female planet Venus. In such a situation the house will decide the nature of the sex. Scorpio is a Male sign. Hence the horoscope is of male. Chart 02 Mahatma Gandhi 1. 7th house is Aries with Jupiter in it. Hence this is a male horoscope. 2. 7th Lord Mars is conjoined with a female planet Venus. Mercury, which also conjoins Mars is thus with one male planet Mars and one female planet Venus. Mars is also aspected by a male planet Jupiter.
Since male planets predominate, Mercury will have no say. Chart 03 Author of this article 1. 7th house is Cancer occupied by Mars – a male Planet. Hence horoscope is of Male. 2. 7th Lord Moon is in Aquarius and aspected by Saturn and Mars. Whenever Moon is involved other planets allow her to act according to her desire. However, since male planets are more powerful, Moon subjected itself to Mars and produced a male. Chart 04 Prof. B.V. Raman 1. 7th house is Leo with Mars a male planet. Mercury is thus conjoined with a male and a female planet. Further 7th house is also aspected by Jupiter and the house itself is a male sign (Leo). Hence male predominates. 2. 7th Lord Sun is not subject to any conjunction or Aspect.
Hence indicative of Male. Female Horoscopes: Chart 05 Shoba De 1. 7th house is Gemini with no planets in it. 2. 7th Lord Mercury is conjoined with Sun a male planet. This is not aspected by any female planet. 3. If the house is taken into consideration Gemini indicates male and Sagittarius also indicate male. Hence the test fails as far as this horoscope is concerned. Chart 06 Indira Gandhi 1. 7th house is Capricorn with Moon in it. Thus indicating a female. 2. 7th Lord Saturn is in Cancer in opposition to Moon confirming the horoscope as that of female. Chart 07 Mother Saratha (Wife of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa) 1. 7th house is Capricorn with Venus in it indicating female. 2. 7th Lord Saturn is with Rahu which is not to be taken into account and he is aspected by Mercury – all point out to female. Conclusion: From the forgoing, you will observe that the system though prove to be correct in some cases, It looks as though we are trying to justify the principle one way or the other.
There are many loose ends. There is no clear cut result in some of the cases. But the real value of astrology lies in the application of a principle and predicts an event that is to happen in future. Hence in view of the limitations of the principle we cannot rely on the above system fully. Principle II : Jaimini Sutras Chapter IV Quarter 3 – sex of child There are 3 Sutras – 4.3.10 to 4.3.12 where it is stated that “Male child is born if the planet is male, otherwise female child is born and if the planet is Eunuch, an eunuch is born.” These sutras have reference to sutras 4.3.3 to 4.3.9 wherein the method of arriving at the planet is given. Noted astrologer Mr. R.Santhanam in his research paper published in his book ‘Essentials of Hindu Predictive Astrology’ has given a real life case and has thoroughly analyzed the Sutra.
I am not going into the details of the Sutra here as the same can be read from various translations available. Maharishi has stated that the Sutras are applicable to Adhana or conception chart. We all know very well how difficult it is to construct an Adhana Chart. Here I am going to examine the same principles as stated in the above Sutras with respect to a Natal Chart and see whether we are able to fix up the sex of the native. Principles as stated by Jaimini: 1. The time of birth be reckoned from sunrise to sunset depending on the birth being at day time/night time. i.e. if the birth is in the day time before Sun set, calculate the day duration from Sun rise to Birth time. If it is during night time, the duration is to be calculated from Sun set to Birth time. 2. The duration so calculated as above must be converted into vighatis.
For this you must know the relation between hours, minutes and ghatis and vighatis. 1 day = 60 ghatis 1 ghati = 60 vighatis and so the table goes on to liptas, viliptas, paras and tatparas. The duration as obtained as per rule 1 will be in Hours-Minutes-Seconds. Convert it into decimals. Formula is – Hours + Minutes/60 + Seconds/3600) This gives the duration as so many hours. 1 day consist of 24 hours or 60 ghatis and hence one hour = 60/24 = 2.5 ghatis. So multiplying the converted decimal hours by 2.5 we get ghatis and multiplying this result by 60 we get vighatis. This is called Janma vighati. 3. Divide the final figure obtained as per rule 2 above by 9. Leave the integer portion and take only the remainder. 4. If the remainder is not a whole number then it must be rounded to the next whole number.
If the remainder comes to 2.4 or 2.6 then it must be taken as 3. If the remainder is 0 then it must be taken as 9. 5. As per Sutra 4.3.9 to 4.3.12, the numbers so obtained above will indicate the sex, complexion etc of the child. Counting the planets on the basis of week days (7) and then adding Rahu and Ketu we get the number nine. The order is as below: Number Planet Sex 1 Sun Male 2 Moon Female 3 Mars Male 4 Mercury Eunuch 5 Jupiter Male 6 Venus Female 7 Saturn Eunuch 8 Rahu Male 9 Ketu Female 6. The saints call Mercury and Saturn Eunuchs. Normally Mercury rules the female Eunuchs and Saturn male Eunuchs. However this should be predicted only if specific combinations for such a birth exist in the conception chart. Otherwise Mercury will indicate a female child and Saturn indicate a male. 7. Further qualifications in determining the sex of the child are – Exalted planets indicate male child and debilitated planets indicate female child.
Some people consider Rahu to be female but Parasara is very clear that Rahu, Jupiter and Sun give illustrious son. 8. When it comes to Eunuch planets Mercury and Saturn, if they are in exaltation they indicate male sex and in debility denotes female child. 9. Here some amount of confusion may arise. What happens if a female planet is exalted or a male planet is debilitated. Then the conjunction or aspect of planets of similar nature will be the deciding factor. 10. Also the signs indicating male sex are the odd signs excepting Gemini and Aquarius, while the even signs are female except Cancer and Pisces. Male Indicators: Aries, Cancer, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius and Pisces Female Indicators: Taurus, Gemini, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn and Aquarius. Consider the signs only when you have conflicting results from the rules above especially when more than one planet is conjoined or aspected. One important point to note here is that the Sun rise mentioned here is the time when the tip of the disk appears in the horizon.
As said in the beginning itself the above principles have been clearly stated as applicable to Adhana or Conception chart. Now let us try to apply this principle to a Natal Chart and see the result. Here I will take examples of some well known person’s chart (4 of male and 4 of female) The Sun Rise and Sun Set are taken from Jagannath Hora software – selecting the preferences for sunrise and sunset as ‘Tip of the sun’s disk appears to be on the eastern horizon’. Refer Chart 01 above: Name Sri Satya Sai Baba(Puttabarthi) Date of Birth 23rd Nov. 1926 Time of Birth 06:26 Sun Rise 06:22:55 Sun Set 17:47:08 Calculations: Day time Birth. Hence Sun rise to be taken to arrive at the Birth time duration. Sun Rise 06:22:55 (a) Time of Birth 06:26:00 (b) Difference 00:03:05 (a) – (b) Convert to decimal 00 + (03/60) + (05/3600) 0.0514 hrs (c) Convert to vighatis 0.0514x2.5x60 =7.7083 vighatis Divide by 9 7.7083/9 Remainder is 7.7083 Rounded to next whole no. 8 From the table in Rule 5 Rahu Sex will have to be Male Rahu has conjoined Moon a female planet. However Exaltation of Rahu has prevailed over and the birth was of male.
Conjunction or aspect need be considered only when a female planet is exalted or a male planet is debilitated. Refer Chart 02 above Name Mahatma Gandhi Date of Birth 2nd Oct. 1869 Time of Birth 07:31 Sun Rise 05:51:09 Sun Set 17:45:40 Calculations: Since birth is in day time Sun Rise is to be taken Sun Rise 05:51:09 (a) Time of Birth 07:31:00 (b) Difference 01:39:51 (b)– (a) Convert to decimal 01 + (39/60) + (51/3600) 1.6642 hrs (c) Convert to vighatis 1.6642x2.5x 60 = 249.6250 vighatis Divide by 9 249.6250/9 Remainder is 6.6250 Rounded to next whole number 7 From the table in Rule 5 Saturn is the ruler Sex will have to be Eunuch As per rule No. 6 stated above Saturn indicates a male. Rasi drishti by Ju – a male planet confirm the horoscope as that of Male. Refer Chart 3 above: Name Yenbeeyes Date of Birth 5th Oct. 1949 Time of Birth 13:50:56 Sun Rise 06:01:18 Sun Set 18:00:08 Calculations: Since the birth is in day time, Sun rise has to be considered occurring at the Birth time duration.
Sun Rise 06:01:18 (a) Time of Birth 13:50:56 (b) Difference 07:49:38 (b) – (a) Convert to decimal 07 + (49/60) + (38/3600) 7.8272 hrs (c) Convert to vighatis 7.8272 x 2.5 x 60 = 1174.0833 vighatis Divide by 9 1174.0833/9 Remainder is 4.0833 Rounded to next whole number 5 From the table in Rule 5 Jupiter Sex will have to be Male Jupiter representing male and also exalted in Sagittarius confirms the horoscope as that of male. Other aspects not taken into consideration. Refer Chart 04 above Name Prof. B.V.Raman Date of Birth 8th Aug. 1912 Time of Birth 19:38:00 Sun Rise 06:06:11 Sun Set 18:43:35 Calculations: Since the birth is in night, time Sun set is considered to have occuredat the Birth time duration. Sun Set 18:43:35 (a) Time of Birth 19:38:00 (b) Difference 00:54:25 (b) – (a) Convert to decimal 00 + (54/60) + (25/3600) 0.9069 hrs (c) Convert to vighatis 0.9069 x 2.5 x 60 = 136.0417 vighatis Divide by 9 136.0417/9 Remainder is 1.0417 Rounded to next whole number 2 From the table in Rule 5 Moon Sex will have to be Female Refer rule No.
9 above. A female Planet Moon is exalted here. Also it is conjoined by a male planet Saturn and also aspected by another male planet Sun (Rasi Drishti) confirming the horoscope as that of a male. Note here conjunction and Aspect is taken into consideration. Now let me take the female horoscopes one by one. Refer chart 05 above Name Shoba De Date of Birth 07th Jan. 1948 Time of Birth 07:21:00 Sun Rise 07:13:49 Sun Set 18:15:47 Calculations: Since the birth is in day time Sun rise is considered to have occured the Birth time duration. Sun Rise 05:51:09 (a) Sun Rise 07:13:49 (a) Time of Birth 07:21:00 (b) Difference 00:07:11 (b) – (a) Convert to decimal 0+(07/60) +(11/3600) 0.1197 hrs (c) Convert to vighatis 0.1197 x 2.5 x 60 = 17.9583 vighatis Divide by 9 17.9583/9 Remainder is 8.9583 Rounded to next whole number 9 From the table in Rule 5 Ketu Sex will have to be Female Ketu is not conjoined by any planet. Refer Chart 06 above Name Indira Gandhi Date of Birth 19th Nov. 1917 Time of Birth 23:03:00 Sun Rise 06:22:25 Sun Set 17:12:28 Calculations: Since the birth took place at night ,Sun set is considered to have occured at the Birth time duration. Sun Set 17:12:28 (a) Time of Birth 23:03:00 (b) Difference 05:50:32 (b) – (a) Convert to decimal 05 + (50/60) + (32/3600) 5.8422 hrs (c) Convert to vighatis 5.8422 x 2.5 x 60 = 876.3333 vighatis Divide by 9 876.3333 Remainder is 3.3333 Rounded to next whole number 4 From the table in Rule 5 Mercury Sex will have to be Female Here Mercury as well as the sign wherein Mercury is placed viz.
Scorpio indicate female. One thing to be noted is that Mercury is conjoined by a male planet Sun and aspected by 2 male planets Jupiter and Saturn. Hence the sign Scorpio decides the sex. Refer Chart 07 above Name Mother Saratha Date of Birth 22nd Dec. 1853 Time of Birth 19:15:00 Sun Rise 06:19:32 Sun Set 17:01:12 Calculations: Since the birth is at night Sun set is considered to have occured at the Birth time duration. Sun Set 17:01:12 (a) Time of Birth 19:15:00 (b) Difference 02:13:48 (b) – (a) Convert to decimal 02+(13/60)+(48/3600) 2.2300 hrs (c) Convert to vighatis 2.2300 x 2.5 x 60 = 334.5000 vighatis Divide by 9 334.5000/9 Remainder is 1.5000 Rounded to next whole number 2 From the table in Rule 5 Moon Sex will have to be Female Here Moon is placed with Mars a male planet. Venus female planet is also aspecting it.
Conjunction/aspect need not be considered as no exaltation/debilitation of planet is involved. Conclusion: Hence we can conclude that the ruling planet of the birth vighati will determine the sex of the child. But vighati is a time interval of only 24 seconds, it is highly doubtful that the collected birth time information was accurate in all cases. In addition to this, the noting of the birth time is always a subject of controversy. But if we could take a case with accurate data, I am sure they will confirm Maharishi Jaimini’s principles. Before I conclude I would like to mention one important point here that the Sutras of Jaimini referred to above give the basis of the ruling planet of each half of Nadi Amsa according to Sri Sanjay Rath.
Shri Rayudu, another noted Astrologer has stated in his article ‘Astrology and Human Life’ published in “The Times of Astrology” magazine, July 1999 states: Quote: Each sign or rasi is divided into 300 parts so that each part comes under the name of a Nadi Amsa measuring 12 minutes of are in the sign or 48 seconds in time. This minute division sets the seed of destiny of an individual. If the correct Nadi is established then there is a birds eye view of entire past including the past life and future of the person concerned. Each Nadi Amsa is further divided into two parts each of 6 minutes of arc in the sign or 24 seconds in time and general pattern of life is given. Unquote : These 24 seconds in time or 6minutes of arc is what is known as Artha Nadiamasa about which Sri Sanjay Rath has also published a paper giving lucid and clear explanations. I also would like to share some of my findings in the application of this specific Sutra of the Maharishi.
I calculated the Vighati planet as explained above for exactly 100 horoscopes. I summarize below my findings: 1. In 57 cases sex as obtained by the calculations above tallied perfectly. In all the 57 cases, I did not take into consideration the conjunction or aspect. I only verified for exaltation and debilitation which revealed that some male horoscopes had exalted planets (Male) and some female ones had debilitated planets (female). 2. In 11 cases the test totally failed. None of the rules explained above provided a correct result. This might be due to error in birth time because when I changed the birth time by a few seconds which ranged between 3 seconds to 16 seconds, it was found to tally. 3. In 32 cases I got the contrary result that is native was a male and the result was female and vice versa. In these cases I then went to study the conjunction/aspect and also the nature of sign.
In 2 cases I noticed that when a female planet is exalted, it was a male native and in 1 case where male planet was debilitated, it was a female. For all aspects I considered only the Rasi Drishti as given by Maharishi. No graha drishti was taken into consideration. This topic is for further research and discussion as the Retrograde position of planets, argala have not been taken into account. Also it is to be studied whether the position of the planet in Varga Charts especially Navamsa has any bearing on the determination of the sex of the native.