All, even those with little knowledge of astrology, would know that a horoscope consists of 12 houses and nine planets in astrology. But then many people come to me asking which is the best house in the horoscope and what is the role of different planets in a horoscope. Which planet is the strongest/which planet plays the most significant role in horoscope? Most of them are misguided as they might have heard/experienced any hardship they or anyone would have faced in life, and people start blaming a particular planet. Some planets, in particular, take such blame. I also dither when even the learned astrologers indiscreetly or maybe deliberately attribute most miseries to one or the other planets. Saturn, Mars, Rahu, and Ketu take the maximum blame here.
However, I believe in the Karma theory and can confirm that no planet can give beneficial or harmful results on its own. Your free will can keep the worst planetary combinations pacified and how to trigger good results from the good planets. That way, I consider Saturn, the Karmic planet, most instrumental in deciding what you get from the different planets. Whereas most people will treat Saturn as the worst planet.
I will explain a few crucial aspects of this misconception while explaining the role of different planets in astrology/horoscope.
The importance of different planets in a horoscope changes with time. So, understand a very simple ideology before you get pampered or scared by any planet/planetary combination in your horoscope.
At the outset, let me clarify that no horoscope will have only good or bad planets.
Any planet in any house, strong or weak, does not give results at its own.
The role of different planets in the horoscope theoretically remains the same.
The importance of different planets in a person's horoscope varies as they grow in life. So, it is better to understand the role of any planet at a particular stage of life. You will understand as you read further down.
Most importantly, the result of different planets in the birth chart depends on how you negotiate with the planets with your Free Will/Karma.
Planets are in the horoscope, which you get when you are born. The planets in the horoscope are based on their positions in the Constellation at a particular moment of your birth. How is your birth time and place decided
Lord Brahma decides the time and place of birth based on the balance sheet of your own karma from the previous birth(s). So, you have only assisted the supreme power in crafting your horoscope of the present life. He just writes it for you with *free will” to derive results based on your own karma.
Normal perception is that out of 9 planets, some are enemy planets, and some are friendly. Let’s take one example: If Mars is friendly to Sun, it is an enemy to Venus. A friendly Mars can be helpful when you need him for your career or when you need authority. But the same Mars (Mangal) can act harmful when you need good results from Venus (marriage, love, and romance). So it depends on what stage you need Mars to help you be aggressive and passionate and at what stage Mars can harm you.
Strongest/most favorable planet, if operating at lower energy, may not bestow the inherent good results associated with that planet. In the same way, most negative planets, if operating at lower energy, may not give you harmful results for which it is known.
So, when we talk about planets in horoscope/astrology, their role remains the same; the importance of planets in the horoscope changes with time, and results from the planets depend on how we do our Karmas.
No planet gives results in isolation because one planet operating does not mean that the rest of the planets have gone to woods. Jupiter is restless without the proper support of Mercury. Read below.
Role of all planets in birth chart
Normally, the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury are considered benefic planets, and the Saturn (the most), Sun, Mars, Rahu, and Ketu are considered harmful (malefic) planets. However, each planet has its own inherent qualities/traits and behavior. So, the results depend upon the placement of these planets in the 12 different houses in your horoscope. I would not like to comment on which planet is malefic or beneficial in a particular house. These are all deep astrological readings so let Astrologers do a bit here. But yes, any planet placed in the right house will give you the best results.
Each planet has its specific traits, but when it conjuncts with another planet, it can lose its original strength under the shadow of other planets, e.g. If Shadowy planets (who have no physical existence) Rahu and Ketu when conjunct with the most powerful planets like the Sun and Moon can cause eclipses. Then, the aspect or conjunction of any malefic planet can overpower the good natural results of any planet. This is based on the defined rules of Vedic Astrology, but again, readings and results are person-specific. Now, I will elaborate briefly, and rest, you will understand how the role and importance of different planets change at the different stages of life.
Sun: Sun is the Atma (soul) of all planets and the person as well. It possesses various positive traits, such as being a fatherly figure, having immense strength, holds self-respect and authority. It is Sun to show how a person projects himself onto the world. If a strong Sun represents energy and authority, a weak Sun can make a person ego-centric/over-confident. You may need a strong Sun regarding your career and profession, but not when dealing with personal relationships.
Mars: Mars denotes courage, passion, bravery, strength, and confidence. But in many aspects of life, you don’t need all this equally. A strong Mars can help you in your career and profession but can adversely affect your married life.
Moon: The Moon represents the mind, acts as the mother of all, and denotes love, peace of mind and emotions. A strong Moon will help a person in all stages of life, but a debilitated (weak) Moon can bring troubles like a flickering mind or even depression. Saturn is the biggest influencer on the Moon.
Venus: Venus represents love, relationships, romance, beauty, sex life, and relationships. But a spoiled Venus or Venus in association with Rahu can take a person in the wrong direction. Many may not know, but a good Venus is an essence for your professional life. So, at what stage you need support from Venus is decided by you. One may not need too much from Venus in childhood.
Mercury: Mercury represents speech, Intelligence, grasping power, alertness, and logic. Though Mercury plays a significant role throughout life, it assumes more importance during the early stage of education/preparing for exams/giving interviews.
Jupiter represents knowledge. It helps a person more when at the stage of education and career. But even the strongest Jupiter may not help if the Mercury is weak.
Rahu: Rahu brings name and fame, but a spoiled Rahu can bring humiliation. Rahu is the planet for worldly desires, manipulation apart from many other significations attached to him. The heavy impact of Rahu in the initial age of life can make a person too much involved in mobile phones/internet-related activities and the result we know. Rahu is a shadowy and mysterious plant which, if it acts negative, tends to make a person over-ambitious, over-confident, and I don’t care type of attitude. It makes a person know no limit or cross all limits and the result we know when we hear about Top Babas, Businessmen, Bureaucrats and Politicians in the worst phase of their life. So how you make use of it depends on you. You stay under control, Rahu will play a good role, you brag or over-step, Rahu will devastate. So, the results of Rahu are in your hands.
Ketu: Ketu shows spirituality but detachment also. This is, again, a shadowy planet of no physical existence. Ketu is known to be maleficent in worldly desires and spiritually beneficial. So an adverse effect of Ketu can turn a person away from mundane and worldly desires, including Love and romance, at the age when you need them most. One may not need much from Ketu in the middle segment of age.
Saturn: Saturn is the Karmic planet that practically holds a person’s life throughout with the type of Karmas one does. You step out, become extra ambitious, or commit wrong deeds; Saturn will punish you. Saturn plays the dual role of a teacher and a cop. It depends on what you want Saturn to do to you. Saturn as a planet has such a comprehensive explanation that I cannot summarize it here. Read me separately to know about Saturn's effects on our life.
One can read more about role of planets in horoscope
Having explained this, I will now discuss another important aspect regarding the role of different planets in a horoscope. How to find the strength of a planet, if it is weak or strong?
How to know strength of a planet in the birth chart
To know the strength of a planet in a horoscope, if a planet is weak or strong, the main thing is to check the Shadbala of each planet. How to know if a planet is weak or strong, we check the Shadbala: Shad means six, and Bala means strength. It means planets have six types of strengths that decide if the planet is weak or strong in a horoscope. These six types are Sthahan Bala , Dig Bala, Kaala Bala, Chestha Bala, Naisargik and Drik Bala.
All the nine planets have a strong intrinsic relationship and mixed effects on a person’s life. An aspect or association of a malefic planet can remove all the good effects of benefic planets. Calculating the strength of any planet based on these six parameters is a highly skilled job, and I would not like to explain anything technical in this write-up.
On a normal rule, a planet placed in the same sign in the Lagna Chart and in the Navamsa or in the same house in both Lagna and Navamsa charts, it is called as Vargottama. This is the most powerful status any planet can have. Therefore, even one Vargottama planet in a horoscope is a blessing, and more than 1 Vargottama planet in horoscope is better conceived than described.
How do planets impact our life
How do planets impact our life: what is the role of planets in our life: and what is the importance of planets - is in our hands. What we did in previous births gets reflected in our horoscope when we are born. How planets will impact/affect our lives depends on how we deal with the different planets at different stages of life.
Can planets transit help us
The planet’s transits can help us provided we know which planet transit is good or bad. Planets keep moving and have good or bad effects. Any logical astrologer would know which transit of a planet is good or bad for a cause. It depends on the astrologer to either scare the person at a particular time when the results are adverse; or guide when the transit of that particular planet will be favourable and planet transit can help. Transits of all planets impact our lives. However, the most important is Saturn transit, which happens every 2.5 Years. Why? Because Saturn, as explained above, is the Karmic planet, and the good or bad transit of Saturn can impact our life 360 degrees. Planet Transit will help us know which transit is good or bad and when that transit will happen. Normal efforts in good transits can give us the desired results, and marathon efforts in adverse transits can disappoint a person. If one transit is not good, wait for the good transit.
No planet is good; no planet is bad. So, don’t worry, if someone talks about bad planets in your birth chart. Read more no horoscope is good or bad.
We should know which planet plays what role at what stage of life as explained above. Learn to respect it, know which planet’s transit can help you and act accordingly. One should neither get pampered nor disheartened seeing any planet in any house.
Learn to respect planets at different stages of life for what they are meant for, and control your Free will.
Meet an astrologer for guidance on Karmic way and running to know the remedies at the 11th hour. Ritual and remedies do not work always. For any specific query, connect with my office at +91 9278555588/9278665588.
Disclaimer: The above is a contributor post, the views expressed are those of the contributor and do not represent the stand and views of Outlook Editorial.
