Your chart matrimony

By far the most important subchart is the 9th, called the navamsha. While it serves a variety
of purposes, it’s most famous as the Hindu marriage chart. Read alongside the 7th house in
your original birth chart; it indicates if and when you will marry, if and when you may
divorce, the personality, values and probable vocation of your mate and the quality of your
matrimony. The navamsha is queen of the subcharts. Even if your Indian astrologer doesn’t
have time to review all your amshas, nava is Sanskrit for nine. (Think of related English
words like “novile” or “enneagram”.)

The Second Half of Life

In parts of South India, some very traditional astrologers will scarcely bother looking at
your birth horoscope. They figure that if you’re a mature adult, by now you’ve already
dealt with many of the issues reflected in your natal chart and have graduated to the
strengths and challenges shown in your navamsha, which they think of as your second
horoscope.

ANALYZING MARRIAGE IN THE NAVAMSHA

1. Examine the navamsha’s 1st house.

2. Examine the navamsha’s 7th house.
3. Are these two houses aspected or occupied by planets that support relationships like
Venus and Jupiter, or that prevent or sabotage them, like Mars and Saturn?
4. Examine the planet that rules the navamsha’s 1st house.
5. Examine the planet that rules the navamsha’s 7th house.
6. Are these two planets placed in auspicious houses themselves, like the angles (house 1,
4, 7, 10) or trines (houses 1, 5, 9) of the chart?
Are they strong and stable?
7. Now turn back to your birth chart. Find the planet that rules its 7th house.
8. Look to see where the 7th house ruler from your birth chart is placed in the navamsha.
What condition is it in?
Example: If these factors are strongly influenced by a malefic like Saturn, the jyotishi will
check Saturn’s condition to see whether it contributes positive Saturnine qualities like
emotional maturity and commitment, or shows coldness, cruelty or victimization in
relationships.

There’s a saying in India, “The birth chart is a tree; the navamsha is its fruit.” The
navamsha reveals how the tendencies shown in the original birth chart are likely to actually
play out. It’s the horoscope of your second half of life, when you’ve had enough life
experience and reached sufficient psychological and social maturity to begin enjoying (or
suffering from) the “fruit” of your earlier efforts.
Ever wonder why some people are incredibly famous and successful in the first half of
their lives, then seem to vanish into utter obscurity just when you’d assume they’d be
reaching their peak? I think particularly of rock stars, actors or athletes who were world-
famous as teenagers or young adults, but after they hit their 30s, we never heard of them
again. Vedic astrologers would explain this is reflected in part by having a very strong birth
chart but a weak navamsha. In the second part of their lives, the momentum of the birth
chart peters out if there’s no power in the navamsha to keep the momentum going.
Then there are the kids you remember from high school whom you never for a moment
thought would amount to anything, who’are now multimillionaire entrepreneurs or award-
winning artists. One explanation for this phenomenon is that although the birth chart was
not especially remarkable, the namasha burns up the paper it’s printed on with success and
good fortune. Bill Clinton and George Bush Jr. both have mediocere birth charts, but their
navamshas are dynamite. In his mid-40s, Clinton seemed to rocket out of nowhere to win
the U.S. presidency. Bush, who seemed unable to speak a single sentence without tripping
over his words, was handed the U.S. presidency by the Supreme Court in 2000.

The Work You Will Do

Discovering your navamsha is like finding out there’s a sequel to a book you particularly
enjoy, which further develops the lead character and extends the plot line of the original
book. The navamsha is an invaluable tool for astrologers working to grasp the depths of
human nature and the sometimes intriguing, sometimes baffling, twists and turns of destiny.
Here’s another example of how jyothishis used this amazing subchart.
Confused about your true vocation in life? Curious about the career path your daughter
or son may take? In Vedic astrology we look to the 10th house in the natal chart as well as
the 10th subchart for important clues to your life work. However, one of the great classics of
Hindu astrology, the Phala Dipika (“Effects of the Planets”), offers a short cut to assessing a
general career path using the navamsha. I’ve often been stunned at how accurately this
simple technique can reveal one’s profession.
My friend Bhagavan Das (whose adventures were chronicled in Ram Das’s 1970 cult
classic, Be Here Now) has Jupiter as his navamsha career indicator. Jupiter indicates
(among other professions) spiritual teachers, and Bhagavan Das is indeed a highly-silled
teacher of Nada Yoga, a meditation system involving sound energy.

READING PROFESSION IN THE NAVAMSHA

1. Check to see which planet rules the 10th house of your Vedic birth chart.
2. Look to see which sign that planet is in your navamsha.
3. What planet rules that sign? That planet sets the tone for your career.
4. Refer to The Vedic Planets table in Chapter 7 for a list of careers associated with each
planet.

Examples: The planet ruling Bill Clinto’s natal 10th house, Gemini, is Mercury. In Clinton’s
navamsha Mercury occupies Scorpio, which is ruled by Mars. So Mars becomes his career
indicator.

The planet ruling George Bush Jr.’s natal 10th house, Aries, is Mars. In Bush’s navamsha
Mars occupies Leo, which is ruled by the Sun. So the Sun becomes his career indicator.
In India, Mars and the Sun are the two planets representing the Kshatriya caste of kings and
warriors, which traditionally includes all highly placed government officials.