Chapter 1 Explanation of technicalities used
Stanza 1:
The Sun, who is one of the AshtaMurthies of Siva, who forms the path for those who go to Moksha, who represents Atma for those who are well versed in Atmavidya, who accepts the results of the sacrificial rites, who is the master of Amaras and Jyotishas; who destroys, creates and protects the Lokas, who is praised in the Vedas in various forms, who is possessed of many rays and who is the lamp of the three worlds, may he grant us speech.
Stanza 2:
Although there are great many works ably written by intelligent men in accordance with excellent literary style, many people get dispirited in trying to cross the vast ocean of horoscopic knowledge; to such I offer a small boat, constructed with metre of various kinds, short but very suggestive and full of instructive ideas, to enable them to cross this ocean.
Stanza 3:
The science of astrology is called Hora Sastra from the compounding of the two words Aho and Ratri and the dropping of the first and last letters; and it speaks of the results of the good and bad deeds done by men in their previous births.
Stanza 4:
In the celestial Chakra (globe) the signs commencing with Mesha and Aswini, are each formed by nine padams (quarters) of stars and govern the following organs of Kalapurusha, namely, head, face, chest, heart, belly, waist, lower belly, sexual organ, thighs, knees, buttocks and feet respectively. Rasi, Kshetra, Griha, Ruksha, Bha and Bhavana refer to and signify the zodiacal signs.
Stanza 5:
Meena is represented by two fishes lying close to each other with their heads pointing in opposite directions; Kumbha is shown by a person bearing a water pot; Mithuna is indicated by a man with a club and a woman with a lute, in close embrace; Dhanus is described as a Centaur with the hind part resembling that of a horse and the front of an archer; Makara bears the representation of the face of a deer with the hinder part of a crocodile; Thula represents the appearance of a man with a balance in hand; Kanya is shown by a virgin seated in a boat with a crop in one hand and with a light in the other, and the other signs are represented by their names and move in places congenial to their nature.
Stanza 6:
Kuja, Sukra, Budha, Chandra, Ravi, Budha, Sukra, Kuja, Guru, Sani, Sani and Guru are respectively the lords of the signs and their divisions from Mesha; the navamsas commence from Mesha, Makara, Thula and Kataka, etc., Dwadasamsas commence from the houses themselves.
Stanza 7:
Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury and Venus govern five, eight, seven and five Bhagas (degrees) respectively in the Trimsamsas of the odd signs while the order is reversed in those of the even signs. The last part of Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces goes under the name of Rikshasandhi
(junction of two rasis or constellations).
Stanza 8:
Kriya, Thavuri, Jitheema, Kulira, Laya, Pathona, Juka, Kowrpi, Thaukshika, Akokero, Hridroga and Anthya are names for Mesha, Vrishabha, Mithuna, Kataka, Simha, Kanya, Thula, Vrischika, Dhanus, Makara, Kumbha and Meena respectively.
Stanza 9:
If a planet is in its Drekkana, Hora, Navamsa, Trimsamsa, Dwadasamsa
and Rasi, it is said to be in its Varga.
Stanza 10:
Vrishabha, Mesha, Dhanus, Kataka, Mithuna and Makara are Ratribala Rasis or signs powerful during night. With the exception of Mithuna these same rasis are called Prustodayas, The other rasis, viz., Simha, Kanya, Thula, Kumbha and Vrischika are called Dinabala Rasis. These with Mithuna are called Sirshodayas. Meena is called Oobhayodaya.
Stanza 11:
The signs are cruel and beneficial regularly, they are also masculine and feminine, the same are also movable, fixed and common; the lords of the cardinal points are the lords of the triangular houses from Mesha, Vrishabha, Mithuna and Kataka. In odd signs, the first hora is governed by Ravi and the second hora by Chandra and the reverse holds good in the even signs. The lords of the Drekkanas are the lords of the 1st, 5th and 9th in a rasi.
Stanza 12:
Some writers on astrology say that the first hora is governed by the lord of that house while the second hora is governed by the lord of the eleventh from that house. They further say that the lords of the Drekkanas are: (1) the lord of the first, (2) the lord of the 12th, and (3) the lord of the eleventh houses respectively.
