DASAS, BHUKTIS, GEMSTONES AND MANTRAS
FINAL PART

Every person should wear the gemstone corresponding to his or her birth  planet (the planet that rules the ascendant or first house) as well as wearing  the gemstone corresponding to the current planetary dasa. Please remember,  however, that a gemstone worn for a particular dasa should be removed after the  dasa ends, unless the stone also happens to be appropriate to wear throughout  one's entire life (beginners should consult an expert). Because determining a  person's dasa periods is too complicated to teach here, readers who are want a  copy of their Hindu horoscope and dasa bhuktis can call Astro Communications in  San Diego at (800) 888-9983 or Astrogram in Chicago at (312) 589 6314.

The planet that corresponds to the lagna, the ascendant or first house that  is, is considered one's birth planet. The stone corresponding to that planet is  the "birth stone". The birth stone, as already mentioned, should be worn until  one's death. As indicated above, the gemstone for Mercury is emerald. Therefore,  a person with a Virgo or Gemini ascendant should wear an emerald because Mercury  rules Virgo and Gemini. A person with a Sagittarius ascendant must wear yellow  sapphire because that is the stone of Jupiter, which rules Sagittarius. (Warning  - these recommendations are ONLY TO BE PRESCRIBED FOR ONE'S HINDU BIRTHCHART  CALCULATED BY THE SIDEREAL ZODIAC. Wearing improper astrological gemstones is  harmful.). By wearing the gemstone that corresponds to the first house, the most  important house of a horoscope, the person strengthens his or her image,  confidence, well-being, self- esteem, and the ability to gain recognition. The  birthstone is generally the most important stone to wear. The effects of  gemstones are subtle, but they are profound enough for most individuals to  notice a positive difference. Let me give some examples.

Having a Taurus ascendant, Venus is my birth planet. Venus is quite afflicted  in my birthchart, being one degree away from malefic Ketu (South Node) and two  degrees away from malefic Mars. This has hurt confidence, recognition,  well-being, early childhood, and other first house matters. Further, the  ascendant ruler (Venus) being placed next to Mars and Ketu causes an extremely  introspective and mystical nature because Ketu represents metaphysical and  astral phenomenon and Mars rules the twelfth house of my horoscope, the house of  spiritual and other-worldly experiences. Therefore, aside from a strong  spiritual and metaphysical nature, I have always experienced a strong sense of  alienation from the world. During adulthood, for some reason, the effects have  been particularly annoying. In my early thirties, when I began wearing my Hindu  astrological birthstone (diamond for Venus) the perpetually disturbing moods  disappeared entirely within a few months. Confidence increased and I experienced  greater equanimity in love matters, another one of Venus' significations. The  best effect, however, was eliminating my alienating moods and that was quite a  welcome and unexpected surprise.

On the other hand, wearing an inappropriate stone can produce harmful  effects. Many years ago, I saw a client who had been out of work for over a  year. The ascendant of this woman's horoscope was Virgo and therefore Mercury  was her birth planet and emerald her birth stone. Having a Virgo ascendant meant  that Mercury was ruling her tenth house (Gemini), the realm of career success -  the area of her current problems. As fate would have it, this woman needed a  Mercury stone (green emerald) in a big way because Mercury in her horoscope was  seriously afflicted by being only two degrees away from malefic Saturn. As I was  advising her to purchase an emerald (or green tourmaline if she could not afford  emerald), I noticed that she wore a beautiful, and quite costly, three or four  carat blue sapphire that her mother had given her. Blue sapphire, unfortunately  for her, is the stone of Saturn and since Saturn was the planet damaging  Mercury, the planet of confidence, self-esteem, and career in her horoscope,  strengthening Saturn was the worst stone she could wear!

I told my client to get rid of the sapphire and to put on an emerald or  tourmaline. About two or three weeks later, she called and excitedly informed me  that after removing the large blue sapphire she started feeling lighter and more  at ease than she had felt in years. She also said that she had, at long last,  finally secured "a perfect job." Stories like this are common amongst Hindu  astrologers.

Gemstones should be very high quality and they must be natural. This means  gems should not be heated, dyed, and chemically altered. Also, the stones should  touch the skin, if at all possible. It is unimportant where the stones are worn,  as long as they feel comfortable. Most importantly, gems should be large, two  carats or more if possible, and devoid of flaws and imperfections. If this is  not possible, one should consider purchasing a slightly smaller gem or a  "secondary" stone - a stone which is similar in color and chemical properties to  the traditional gem. Because secondary stones are weaker in their effects,  however, their size should be increased. Also, wearing several tiny "chips" that  add up to two or three carats is entirely ineffective. The gem must be large and  pure to give noticeable benefits. Interestingly, the way many Indians chose gems  is by picking one they like and taping it to their body for a few hours or a  day. They then pay close attention to their moods and the positive or negative  news that comes their way while wearing the stone.

One of the most powerful upayes of all is called a yagya (also spelled  yagna). A yagya is a religious or spiritual ceremony performed by a Hindu priest  in order to alleviate karmic difficulties and this is generally the most  preferred method to ameliorate a crisis situation or a dangerous, life  threatening dasa bhukti. A yagya is an offering or sacrifice whereby a priest  appeals to the planetary beings, or nature or the gods if you like, for grace  and intervention on behalf of the person requesting the yagya. In the course of  the yagya, the priest lights a fire, burns candles and incense, and throws ghee  (clarified butter) into the flames. This symbolizes the burning of the person's  past negative karma. Also during the yagya, the priest chants nine different  astrological mantras, one for each of the original seven planets and Rahu and  Ketu. Astrological Mantras are Sanskrit prayers that entreat higher evolutionary  beings to remove difficulties and problems in a person's life. Sanskrit is the  language of the Vedas, the ancient Indian body of knowledge that is said to have  been cognized by enlightened seers. It is special in that it is known as a "name  and form" language. This means that a sanskrit word is actually a subtle  vibration of the object it describes. Therefore when a person or priest chants a  mantra to Brihaspati (the name of Jupiter), the energy or the actual being of  Jupiter is invoked every time the word Brihaspati is recited. Mantra chanting  produces profound and noticeable results. Yagyas can be done not only during  difficult periods or to remove incessant obstacles, but also to fulfill  important desires. I have seen yagyas work in my own life and for others time  and time again. (I have also seen some yagyas have no effect at all. This, I  believe, is due to the priest being interrupted or, for whatever reason, failing  to transcend to deep levels of consciousness during his chanting.) I once  invited a Hindu priest into my home to do what is called a "Mars Yagya". The  priest suggested this yagya because he noticed that in my horoscope and in so  many of my friends' horoscopes there were indications of love problems. This  "Mars Yagya" was longer than the nava-graha, or nine planet yagya, that is most  commonly performed and lasted more than three hours. Interestingly, I invited my  brother to the ceremony not because of his love life, but because he was in the  middle of the worst dasa of his life and had experienced non-stop problems for  several years. His biggest difficulty was in his profession where he was being  blatantly sabotaged and undermined by his own bosses. For months, I had advised  him to quit and find another job. But, having suffered so many career problems  in the previous two years, he had no confidence to make a move. Within one week  after the yagya, my brother was fired from his job! My brother and I were both  slightly shocked by what occurred until three or four days later when he found  the exact same kind of job under extremely different circumstances. In his new  job, my brother's bosses were supportive beyond the call of duty. They went out  of their way to make him feel welcomed and to help in any way they could with  his sales.

Another friend who took part in the ceremony that day reaped extraordinary  results, only his were more related to love matters - the prescribed purpose of  the "Mars yagya". This friend had been divorced for eight or nine years by now,  and had endured one short term relationship after another. His pattern of failed  relationships was so unrelenting that by now even he hardly believed in his  prospects for marriage. Within days after the Mars yagya, he met a woman he was  certain he would marry. Within a year they did marry.

There is also the case of one of my clients who saved thousands of dollars  because of a yagya. This woman was involved in a court case where she was suing  a school for an accident that occurred to her child. For whatever reasons, she  lost the court case and was now in deep trouble because the school decided to  sue her for court costs, which amounted to over $25,000. In court, the judge  advised her attorney that unless he could cite a previous case in law history  that was similar to this one, where the defendant was relieved of paying court  costs, then his client would have to pay. Having advised this woman to obtain a  yagya, she called Pandu Malyala, a priest in Pittsburgh who performs yagyas  locally or long distance. In tears, my client relayed her problems and asked for  help. She explained that her attorney had searched high and low for a law case  of precedent that would work in her favor, but one did not seem to exist.  Shortly after the yagya was performed, her stunned lawyer called to say that,  unbelievably, he had just come across a favorable, two-month old court case that  "appeared on his desk." (I assume this meant in a law article or magazine.) My  client saved a fortune.

Yagyas can be obtained by calling any Hindu temple in the U.S. or India that  employs a Hindu priest. Two contacts are: Pandu Malyala in Pittsburgh at (412)  374-9244 or the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago (708) 972-0300. The usual  donation for the two-hour ceremony is around $150 as of this writing. There are,  incidentally, many kinds of yagyas available. There are yagyas for acquisition  of a spouse, childbirth, wealth, removal of obstacles, family happiness, and so  on. For the purposes of ameliorating a difficult period or subperiod, the nava  graha or nine-planet yagya is usually recommended because it is both effective  and reasonably affordable. If a person's problems are too intense however, a  bigger yagya, one lasting seven or eight days, may be necessary. It is  preferable to be present with the priest during the yagya, but the ceremony can  also be performed in absentia with fine results.

Another way to heal afflicted planets and difficult dasas and bhuktis is to  chant astrological mantras. These are the same mantras that the Hindu priest  performing a yagya chants, although yagyas include additional ceremonial  material. Some Westerners will find chanting astrological mantras comfortable  while others may not. Those with strong interest should consult either of my  books Ancient Hindu Astrology for the Modern Western Astrologer or How  To Predict Your Future - Secrets of Eastern and Western Astrology.