How can judge the nature of the lords of planets?

Planets have their eternal nature and temporal or functional nature. We know that Jupiter is eternally a natural benefic planet signifying all good things in life. In Vedic mythology he is known as Brihaspati or Guru , the "remover of darkness." He is Deva Acharya or teacher of the gods and he brings righteousness, justice, and self-illumination into our lives. He brings children, education, prosperity and optimism. He is indeed a great planet, but let us assume that he becomes the lord of so called malefic houses in the natal chart, then how does he behave?

Let us take the case of a Taurus lagan (ascendant) and remember, for the study of lordships, we always use the equal house system or bhava chakra in Vedic astrology. In the case of a Taurus lagan the natural benefic Jupiter lords over the 8th and 11th houses and he will bring all the significations of these two houses into the life in his dasha or bhukti periods. We know from the above classification of houses that the 8th house is a trikasthana and therefore represents miseries, obstacles, accidents, scandals, chronic diseases and even death or at least death like experiences.

The 8th house is often said to be the most evil house in a chart and indeed it can bring the most undesirable results into life when activated. The quantity of misery that the 8th house promises in the native’s life will depend on the planets associated with the 8th house and its lord in a given chart and a thorough analysis must always be made to fully determine the outcome.

The main point here is that Jupiter, the eternal benefic, now becomes the planet that brings all the significations of the 8th house into the life. Jupiter also lords over the 11th house in this case, but the 11th house also has some affliction associated with it. It is a tri-shadya bhava. It does represent gains but they are rarely stable and long lasting. In this sense, Jupiter becomes a functional or temporal malefic for a Taurus ascendant, and although that Jupiter may bring some of his significations into the life of any Taurus ascendant, his overall impact will not be beneficial during his dasha or bhukti.

You will notice that even the transit of Jupiter will not be beneficial for this rising lagan. It will bring false hopes and promises . You can begin to apply these principles on the charts of your family and friends for your own study. You will find consistency in these principles although it must be emphasized that a full analysis must be carried out for a complete understanding of a given chart. Nonetheless, you should begin to experiment.

Now let us examine the nature of Saturn for the same Taurus ascendant using this theory of lordships. Saturn invariable receives very poor representation in astrology both east and west. He is the ruler of darkness and the natural enemy of the lights, the Sun and the Moon. He is the eternal significator of grief, misery, obstacles, dejection, difficulties, depression, humiliation, pessimism, chronic disease, or we could simply say, bad karma. He is known as Shanaishchara, meaning the slow moving one.

For the same Taurus lagan, the natural malefic Saturn, has lordship over two extremely beneficial houses - the 9th and the 10th , a trikona and Kendra. Thus Saturn brings all good things into the life of these individuals during his dasha or bhukti periods, provided of course he is strongly placed by house and sign position in the natal chart. He will bring a spiritual teacher, foreign travel, initiation into higher knowledge, benefits through father (all 9th house significations), or advancement in career and possibly fame and recognition in the profession (10th house).

Certain planets are said to be yoga forming planets for each lagan in Vedic astrology . In the context of astrology, the term yoga means union of planets, so when the lords of Kendra and trikonas conjoin in a chart, they confer on the native beneficial karmas associated with the areas of life represented by the nature of the planets and their lordships. If those yogas are strong and appear in auspicious hour to then they are certain to bring success to the native in their planetary periods .