Excerpt from VEDIC ASTROLOGY MASTER CLASS: DAGDHA RĀŚI
Śrī Sanjay Rath
When I was very young, I used to send short letters to the editor while Dr. Raman was the editor. He always encouraged me, and he even published my first article while I was in government service. A person who wishes to learn a Vedic subject must always begin with a prayer to the Guru. Today I would like to begin with a prayer to Dr. Bangalore Venkata Raman. Please follow me.
Oṃ jyotiṣa-tattvāya Beṅgaḷūru Veṅkaṭa Rāmaṇāya gurubhyo namaḥ
With that let me start the topic for the day today. It is Dagdha Rāśi. The word Dagdha, what does the word Dagdha really mean? It means combustion—something burnt or burning; something that hurts and causes pain. So we’ll go into the definitions of this word “Dagdha” and we need to understand today the difference between the two words “Dagdha” and “Astaṅgata”.
I have observed that astrologers are using these two words as one. They say Astaṅgata means combustion. When a planet is within a certain number of degrees of the Sun, we say it is Astaṅgata. Oh, the planet is combust. Let us say Mercury is within five degrees of the Sun, you will say, “Oh, Mercury is combust.” It is not combust. It is Astaṅgata and it is not Dagdha. You see, this mistake has been made by astrologers for a long time now and I thought it is time to settle this problem. Dagdha is different from Astaṅgata.
Now today’s topic being Dagdha, I will stick to Dagdha. There are three types of combustions that take place in charts. One is Rāśi Dagdha, in which the rāśis are burnt and on fire. There is a combustion happening. There is an ignition happening in the rāśis. That is today’s topic.
Then there is Nakṣatra Dagdha. It is a combination of vāra and nakṣatra. This is not for today unless we have the time.
Then there is another thing which is even more advanced. It is called Dagdha Tithi and there are three types of Dagdha Tithis. One is Dagdha itself. One is Viṣa dagdha. What is Viṣa dagdha? Poison that can burn you. Poison that can burn your body. Poison that actually destroys systems inside. Did you know that diabetes is a poison? Diabetes is an example of Viṣadagdha. What does diabetes do if it is left unchecked? It burns your organs. It dissolves the organs in your body. Your kidneys fail. You see that is called Viṣa dagdha and then we have something called Hutāśana.
So there are so many new words I have just introduced to you. Dagdha, Viṣadagdha, Hutāśana, Nakṣatra Dagdha and Dagdha Rāśi. So let us enter the topic.
What are Dagdha and Astaṅgata? I have got two columns for you. Dagdha is defined in Sanskrit as something that’s burnt, that’s consumed by fire, something which is tormenting you. It’s pain. It’s consumed by grief. There is a lot of torment and distress out there to the extent you could lose your mind. You are famished. You are dry. You are thirsty all the time and you need water. It is very inauspicious as in Dagdha Yoga. Very, very inauspicious yogas. Wretched, accursed. It is extremely wild. It can also imply cunning: vidagdha means very cunning but that is not really what is meant by a Dagdha Rāśi. It also refers to the quarter when the Sun remains overhead—the Abhijit Muhūrta. Did you know that the Abhijit Muhūrta is also Dagdha?
For example, when is the Abhijit Muhūrta? It’s exactly at noon. Exactly twelve o’clock. Remember while growing up we had the jokes about Sardarji’s bārah baj gaye, bārah baj gaye. It means that it is exactly twelve o’clock and this Sardarji’s head goes for a six. It’s a reminder to us basically that it is not just the Sardarji. Everybody’s head goes for a six because that is a Dagdha Muhūrta and at that moment you are supposed to be remembering Nārāyaṇa. So that is Dagdha and everything that we have discussed here about Dagdha is about something that’s burning you. Something that’s destroying you. Okay.
Now come to Astaṅgata. This is composed of two words, actually: asta and aṅga. Asta means setting. Aṅga means body. So it’s like the sunset. Astaṅgata is like the setting of the Sun. The Sun has set. The Sun has gone below the horizon. In Astaṅgata, the aṅga—the visible body of the Sun—has gone below the horizon. The Sun has gone into hiding. The Sun is no longer visible. The Sun has vanished. Do you see the point? Visibility has been lost. That is the meaning of Astaṅgata. It is not burnt. It is just hidden like me hiding the face, you know. This is Astaṅgata: hiding the face. Hiding is Astaṅgata; it is not combustion. It’s just gone to sleep or is hidden behind somebody else. Any planet that is closely conjunct the Moon goes behind the Moon. It becomes invisible. We say that Kṛṣṇa has hidden that planet from us. In Mantra Śāstra, we call it lopa. It has gone into hiding. It has vanished. How is it combust? It is not burnt. It is simply gone behind. Like the Sun: the Sun has set. It has vanished from view. That is why they say that the seventh house is where things vanish from your vision. They set over there.
So what is Astaṅgata? Astaṅgata means the planet is not visible in your horoscope. If your seventh lord is Astaṅgata, maybe your wife will vanish from your sight. That does not mean she will get burnt. It doesn’t mean she will be tormented. She’s just gone away somewhere. She has vanished from your sight. Maybe she’s taken up a job abroad and has gone away.
Do you see the difference? One is clearly evil. Dagdha is clearly evil. So in Jyotiṣa, we have to clearly differentiate between Dagdha and Astaṅgata. Astaṅgata is not as evil. It can be evil. Like if somebody dies, you may be in grief for some time. But if someone you love runs away, ooh, that’s painful. Okay. So you have to understand emotions are one thing, but Dagdha is absolutely painful. Combust can be used.
The English word “combust” can be used for Dagdha. So, in future, I would request all Jyotiṣis to use the word combust only for Dagdha matters. An Astaṅgata graha is not combust. It has just set like the Sun in the evening. It has vanished. It is the lopa-bīja in Mantra Śāstra. So we should use a word such as “vanished.” When we translate Astaṅgata, we should simply use “vanished.” So you understand better. If you use better words, you understand better.
So from the tattva perspective, Dagdha is like the effect of a strong Mars: Agni. Whenever you want to understand Dagdha, think that Maṅgala in his full power has come to bear on this matter. It is like Hanumān going to Laṅkā and dancing the Tāṇḍava. You see, Hanumān was an avatar of Śiva and he danced the Tāṇḍava. Who else can dance Tāṇḍava? Only Śiva can dance the Tāṇḍava really. And this Hanumān, he danced Tāṇḍava in Laṅkā. So that was Laṅkā Dagdha. So Laṅkā Dagdha was done by Hanumān.
Agni, absolute destruction. That is Dagdha. Whereas Astaṅgata is like the effect of a strong Saturn: Vāyu. It is blowing it away. Somebody is being taken away from you. Something is being moved away from you. That’s Astaṅgata. So Astaṅgata has a more saturnine effect—even the setting of the Sun is saturnine. It’s not dying really. It’s not being destroyed. It’s not burning.
Okay. We are clear about Dagdha and Astaṅgata now. Dagdha means “combust”; Astaṅgata means “vanished.” Okay.
Full webinar:
