Thithi and Zero Rasi or Dagdha rasi or Rashi under Fire In Sanskrit Thithi means reduction and Yoga means addition. Thus the former is got by the difference and the latter by addition of the longitudes of Sun and Moon. There are 30 Thithis in all in a lunar month distributed to 360 degrees of the Zodiac. Thus each Thithi has a span of 12 degrees in the Zodiac the first one commencing from the point of conjunction of Sun and Moon (New Moon). By name there are 14 Thithis repeating in the two halves of the month(Sukla Paksha and Krishna Paksha)( Moon – Sun ) divide by 12 = (1-9-54) – (2-4-34) = 11-5-20 or 335 Degrees 20 Minutes. Add 12 Rasis to Moon if it is less than Sun’s. Dividing 335-20 by 12 we get quotient 27 and remainder 11-20. So it is the fag end of 28th Thithi viz. Krishna Paksha Thrayodashi. So far very few seem to have had the knowledge of using Thithi for prediction except for Muhurtams. I will reveal how Thithi acts predominantly in the evaluation of the merits of a Horoscope. For one born in a thithi some signs become useless. In Sanskrit it is called Dagdha Rashi meaning Burnt Rasi. For Easy understanding I call it Zero Rasi. This aspect is discussed very briefly in Vidya Madhaviya a Sanskrit edition by the Mysore Oriental Library. Even there the theory is not quite correctly stated. The following table shows the Zero Rasis of a thithi, which can be followed safely. Padyami Dwitiya Thritiya Chaturthi Panchami Shashti Saptami Ashtami Navami Dasami Ekadashi Dwadashi Thryodashi Chaturdashi Full Moon New Moon
Tula and Makara Dhanush and Meena Simha and Makara Vrishbha and Kumbha Mithuna and Kanya Mesha and Simha Kataka and Dhanush Mithun and Kanya Simha and Vrischika Simha and Vrischika Dhanush and Meena Thula and Makara Vrishbha and Simha Meena, Mithuna, Kanya and Dhanusha None None
Thus you see that on all Full Moon and New Moon days there is no Zero Rashi or Dagadha Rashi or Rashi under Fire. On chaturdashi there are four Zero Rasis. On the other Thithis there are two Zero Rasis
The Yogi and Ava Yogi planets are an interesting field of study for any serious astrologer and well worth exploring to understand their effects ina chart. Firstly to calculate the Yogi point itself you must add together the longitudes of the Sun and Moon from 03.20 degrees Cancer. The longitudes of the Sun and Moon are calculated from 00.00 degrees Aries. You can alternatively add 93 degrees 20 minutes to the total of the Sun and Moon's longitudes from 00.00 degrees Aries. Where the total finishes is the yoga point and the lord of the nakshatra is the yogi planet. You then count forward 6 nakshatras to the same degree and the lord of that nakshatra is the ava yogi planet. To give an example my Sun is at 04.29 degrees Pisces and my Moon is at 07.14 degrees Leo. Add 334.29 degrees plus 127.14 degrees plus 93.20 degrees to get a total of 555.03 deg. Subtract 360 to get 195.03 degrees. Counting from 00.00 degrees Aries forward 195.03 degrees you get the yoga point falling 15.03 degrees in Libra in Swati. So the yogi planet is Rahu. The planet ruling the sign where the yoga point falls is considered a good planet and is called the duplicate yogi planet. If you then count forward 6 nakshatras you reach Poorva Ashadha so the ava yogi planet is Venus. The reason the point is calculated from Pushya nakshatra is that Pushya is divinely nakshatra considered the most auspicious out of all 27 lunar constellations. The yoga point is a point of power in the horoscope and planets placed in the nakshatras of the yogi planet will be boosted to give good results. Alternatively planets occupying the nakshatras of the ava yogi will be spoiled and increase in power to do harm. Some of the other general rules that apply are that if the yogi planet falls in the nakshatra of the ava yogi planet then the birth yogi gets somewhat spoilt and its ability to give good results suffers. If the ava yogi falls in the nakshatra of the birth yogi it will not be harmful and give good results. The birth yogi planet being in conjunction with the ava yogi planet is somewhat bad as the birth yogi is afflicted by the ava yogi planet and it will lose its benefic influence in the chart. One unusual rule that seems to apply is that a node in the nakshatra of the ava yogi planet becomes a benefic. A well known astrologer recently told me his Rahu has been very good for him and his Rahu is in the nakshatra of the Sun which is his ava yogi planet. The nodes also seem to give good results when they are the ava yogi planet itself. The duplicate yogi should not be forgotten and it will modify planets as well if they are in its nakshatras. When I calculate a chart I usually check straight away what planets are yogi and ava yogi planets so I have them in my mind when reading a chart. We should of course remember that nothing should be taken in isolation and a part is not the whole. This technique of yogi and ava yogi should be only a part of a holistic assessment of a horoscope.
yogi and Ava Yogi Planets The Yogi and Ava Yogi planets are an interesting field of study for any serious astrologer and well worth exploring to understand their effects in a chart.
Firstly to calculate the Yogi point itself you must add together the longitudes of the Sun and Moon from 03.20 degrees Cancer. The longitudes of the Sun and Moon are calculated from 00.00 degrees Aries. We can alternatively add 93 degrees 20 minutes to the total of the Sun and Moon's longitudes from 00.00 degrees Aries. Where the total finishes is the yoga point and the lord of the nakshatra is the yogi planet. You then count forward 6 nakshatras to the same degree and the lord of that nakshatra is the ava yogi planet. To give an example my Sun is at 04.29 degrees Pisces and my Moon is at 07.14 degrees Leo. Add 334.29 degrees plus 127.14 degrees plus 93.20 degrees to get a total of 555.03 degrees. Subtract 360 to get 195.03 degrees. Counting from 00.00 degrees Aries forward 195.03 degrees you get the yoga point falling 15.03 degrees in Libra in Swati. So the yogi planet is Rahu. The planet ruling the sign where the yoga point falls is considered a good planet and is called the duplicate yogi planet. If you then count forward 6 nakshatras you reach Poorva Ashadha so the ava yogi planet is Venus. The reason the point is calculated from Pushya nakshatra is that Pushya is divinely nakshatra considered the most auspicious out of all 27 lunar constellations. The yoga point is a point of power in the horoscope and planets placed in the nakshatras of the yogi planet will be boosted to give good results. Alternatively planets occupying the nakshatras of the ava yogi will be spoiled and increase in power to do harm. Some of the other general rules that apply are that if the yogi planet falls in the nakshatra of the ava yogi planet then the birth yogi gets somewhat spoilt and its ability to give good results suffers. If the ava yogi falls in the nakshatra of the birth yogi it will not be harmful and give good results. The birth yogi planet being in conjunction with the ava yogi planet is somewhat bad as the birth yogi is afflicted by the ava yogi planet and it will lose its benefic influence in the chart.One unusual rule that seems to apply is that a node in the nakshatra of the ava yogi planet becomes a benefic. A well known astrologer recently told me his Rahu has been very good for him and his Rahu is in the nakshatra of the Sun which is his ava yogi planet. The nodes also seem to give good results when they are the ava yogi planet itself. The duplicate yogi should not be forgotten and it will modify planets as well if they are in its nakshatras. When I calculate a chart I usually check straight away what planets are yogi and ava yogi planets so I have them in my mind when reading a chart. We should of course remember that nothing should be taken in isolation and a part is not the whole. This technique of yogi and ava yogi should be only a part of a holistic assessment of a horoscope.
Birth time rectification is a skill that every serious astrologer needs to learn, since approx 10% of charts have issues regarding their birth time. Either there is some uncertainty about the birth time, or there is no known birth time at all, or the ascendant is on a cusp between two signs, etc. A good first step in birth time rectification is to take a logical approach in which you consider the person's character traits and then analyze their chart. For instance, I'm a tennis fan and recently was looking at the chart of Ryan Harrison, a 19 year old American who's suddenly climbed up in the rankings into the top 75 players in the world. He's a tough, spunky, highly competitive kid with a hot temper. He's often seen throwing his racquet, yelling, or challenging umpires. There is no available birth time for him, so I just chose 12 noon. Here's his chart:
Ryan Harrison's Natal Chart Notice that at 12:00pm Harrison's Moon is at late degrees Gemini at 27 degrees 54 minutes. By 3:32pm the Moon enters Cancer. In Gemini, the Moon is conjunct Ketu and aspected by Mars, which are two fiery and temperamental planets. Gemini is an outgoing, expressive, communicative sign, whereas Cancer is an introspective, passive, and reserved sign, especially with the Moon being aspected by Saturn. Given this clear distinction between the Moon placed in Gemini versus Cancer, it makes logical sense that he was born before 3:32pm. That's a nice short cut that didn't take much time. Now instead of considering a full 24 hour period, we've cut it down to a 15 1/2 hr period. Now, let's consider the ascendants. At 12:00am on May 7, 1992 in Shreveport Louisiana the ascendant was at 16 degrees Sagittarius, and at 3:32pm the ascendant was at 27 degrees Leo. So we'll just eliminate Virgo, Libra, and Scorpio as possible ascendants. If you look at his chart with these two extreme birth times of 12am and 3:32pm, you'll see that in either case he's in a Saturn mahadasha right now. Given his fiery temperament, self-confident and cocky attitude, and his disciplined career focus I would first consider Aries ascendant as his likely ascendant. Aries ascendant runs at sunrise from 5:18am until 6:49am. This is not only the most fiery ascendant, which matches his temperament, but it would place exalted Sun (confidence) in the ascendant and Saturn (discipline) in its own sign in the 10th house of career. Given that he gave up high school and turned pro at the ripe age of 15, I would certainly expect a dasha sequence that supported that. Saturn dasha with Saturn in its own sign in the 10th house forming a shasha mahapurusha yoga gives this. Basketball superstar Michael Jordan also had this combination of an Aries ascendant with Saturn in the 10th house. Of course, these are only quick initial steps in birth time rectification and nothing definitive has been established about Harrison's real birth time. I've just presented this article to emphasize taking an initial rational approach based on known character traits and known facts/events about a person's life. You can see how in a short period of time we narrowed the range of his birth time down to a more manageable level. Then we honed in on an ascendant that made the most logical sense. However, to do a complete birth rectification process is a much more complicated and time-consuming task that involves analyzing 15-20 events in a person's life and making sure that they all make logical sense, not only in the natal chart, but in all the relevant divisional charts. In addition, life events of family members should also be verified with the rectified birth time. That's a process than can take several hours, whereas we reached a logical ball park range of time in much less time.
