Varshaphala: The time of birth of the person is the basis for the birth chart, l asting for the

entire life. However, within the life are smaller starting points , not as significant as birth, but important enough to consider on their own. Th e birthday, and specifically the exact time that the Sun returns to it's natal p osition, is such an important point. The chart cast for the exact moment that th e Sun in transit is in the same degree as when it was at birth, is called the Va rshaphala Chart. Because the Western calendar is not exactly aligned with a true solar year (the time it takes for the Earth to make a full revolution around th e Sun, the exact solar return may be a day earlier or later than the birthday. You can think of the Varshaphala chart as a transit chart on the true birthday. The fact that the new year is "born" on that day, makes the effects of those tra nsits last for a year. The Varshaphala chart is valid for one year only. Because ordinary dasha systems cover a time span of approximately a lifetime, the Varsh aphala chart also has it's own unique dasha system that covers exactly one year. The Varshaphala chart uses a special type of aspect as well, similar to aspects used in Western Astrology. "Trine Aspects", aspects on the 5th and 9th house fro m itself, are very benefic. Aspects on the 3rd and 11th are somewhat benefic. "S quare Aspects", aspects on the 4th and 10th are malefic. Aspects to same and the opposite house are very malefic. The remaining houses, 2,12,6 and 8, are not as pected. As you can see, the aspects are symmetrical, so whatever planet is aspec ted, that aspect will be mutual. This is very different from the regular aspects applied in the birth chart, which are essentially one-way influences. The aspects define the generally positive or negative relation between any two p lanets. But the extent in which such effects are felt, is defined by the 16 Taji ka yogas. These yogas are all based on the exact degree position of the planets involved. The general concept is that when planets are in similar degrees, their aspects will be more pronounced. And since the Varshaphala chart is really a tr ansit chart, the direction the planets are moving in is also integrated. Planets approaching each other towards a closer aspect will act differently from planet s with separating degrees. The Varshaphala chart also defines a set of special points in the chart that sig nify specific aspects of life. These are called Sahams, and there are a few doze n of them, signifying birth and death, happiness and sorrow, wealth and poverty and many more. The Varshaphala chart is considered part of the Tajika system ============ Muntha: The Muntha integrates one important feature of the Sudarshan Chakra with the Varshaphala chart. The Sudarshan chakra has a special kind of dasha system, that considers one of the 12 houses/signs as having special emphasis for a peri od of a year. The first year of life, that is the first house/lagna, the second year it is the second house, and so on. The 13th year it will be the 1st house a gain, and it keeps going around like that indefinitely. Since the chart can be r ead using this specially emphasized house as lagna, you can think of it as the p rogressed lagna. The Muntha is essentially the same, but the active sign (coinciding with the act ive house) is analyzed in the Varshaphala chart. Therefore, in the Varshaphala c oinciding with birth, the Muntha will be the natal ascendant itself. In the seco nd year, it will be the sign falling in the second house, and so on. Whatever ho use the Muntha is in, and whatever planets are associated with the Muntha, will have a more pronounced effect within the Varshaphala chart. The ruler of the house the Muntha is in is called the Muntha Lord. Just like the house is activated, so is the lord. The placement and overall condition of the Muntha lord should also be analyzed.

============= Planetary Strength The Varshaphala chart also has it's own systems of determining the strength of t he planets. The word "strength" here is a little less precise as we defined in t he section about Shadbala. Harsha Bala, reflects a blend of strength and auspiciousness. Harsha means happi ness, so a planet strong in Harsha bala will be more capable of giving enjoyable results. The Pancha-Vargiya Bala is purely meant for determining quantity of influence of the planet. A planet that is strong in Pancha-Vargiya bala will be more influen tial, more powerful than one that is weak. This type of strength is therefore us ed to determine the most influential planet in the Varshaphala chart, termed the "Year lord". The third type of strength is called the Dwadashavargiya Bala. It is very simila r to Vimshopaka bala, and it indicates the auspiciousness of the planet. A plane t that scores high in this bala will act more auspiciously (even though it may b e ineffective due to a weak Pancha-Vargiya bala), and a weak planet will act mor e inauspiciously. The Year Lord: The year lord is that planet which is the most influential planet in the Varshaphala chart. This is the definition, as well as its use. The year lord should be analyzed as the most important planet in the Varshaphala, and its good or bad effects are to be taken more seriously than those of the other plan ets. How to determine which planet is most influential? : The lagna lord in the natal chart will be a candidate, as it holds its sway over the native's life overall. Just as the lagna lord is important in a transit chart, it is important in the Varshaphala chart as well. The progressed Ascendant lord is also a candidate. Th is is the planet that rules the house of the year according to the Sudarshan cha kra dasha. This is the same as the Muntha lord. The Ascendant lord of the Varsha phala chart itself is also a candidate, as the Ascendant lord is characteristic of all aspects of life read from the chart. In the Sudarshan chakra the chart is read from the Ascendant, Sun and Moon, cons idering each as Ascendant. The rulers of each of these ascendants is important, but the Lagna lord is most important. It makes sense to also consider the rulers of the Sun sign and Moon sign as office bearers, but only the most important on e is used. If the Varshaphala was at day time, ruled by the Sun, the Sun sign ti ps over to become the more important of the two, and the ruler of the Sun sign b ecomes an office bearer. If the Varshaphala is at night, the portion of the diur nal cycle ruled by the Moon, the ruler of the Moon sign becomes candidate. There is one more candidate, which is determined by the combination of the Lagna in t he Varshaphala chart, and the occurrence of the Varshapravesha (the time of the Varshaphala chart) at day or night. Candidate Varshapravesha at day Varshapraves ha at night Sun Aries Leo Moon Virgo, Pisces Taurus, Pisces Mars Scorpio, Capricorn Cancer, Capricorn Mercury Libra Gemini Jupiter Leo, Aquarius Aries, Aquarius Venus Taurus, Cancer Virgo, Scorpio Saturn Gemini, Sagittarius Libra, Sagittarius Now we have 5 planets that are all very important in a generally sense. Of cours

e some planet may be a canditate for more than one reason, so there may very wel l be fewer than 5 different candidates. For example, when the person turns 12, 2 4, 36 etc. the Muntha lord and Lagna lord will be the same, so there would be at most 4 different candidates in those years. Which one will manifest most strong ly out of these? An additional requirement is that the candidate must be connect ed to the Lagna of the Varshaphala by aspect. Without an aspect, there is still not a chance that the planet will be the most influential. Out of the several of the candidates that aspect the Lagna, we can now compare their Panch-Vargiya ba la to see which one is most predominant. The strongest wins. In the unlikely cas e that two candidates have the same strength, the one with more than one candida teship will win. In case this procedure does not make sense, when all planets are very weak, or w hen none aspect the Lagna, the Muntha lord is used as year lord. Varshaphala Dashas: The Varshaphala Chart has it's own dasha systems, that are c ompressed to cover exactly the time period the Varshaphala chart is valid : one year. Two popular dasha systems are the Mudda dasha and the Patyayini dasha. The Mudda dasha is similar to the standard Vimshottari dasha system, but the lifesp an of 120 years is compressed to 365 days. Therefore, one year of Vimshottari wo uld correspond to approximately 3 days in the Muddha dasha system. The calculati on of the dasha balance is subject to alternative views. One method advocates to use the same dasha balance as the normal Vimshottari dasha system. When the per son turns two, the Varshaphala year would start with the same dasha as the Vimsh ottari dasha he was born in. For every year after the age of two, the first dash a cycle of the Varshaphala year is incremented by one complete dasha cycle. Anot her method advocates the use the balance of the Moon based on it's degree in the Varshaphala chart, otherwise being the same. A third method recommends no dasha at all, but to always start with the beginning of the first dasha.