Karako Bhav Nashaya (KBN) – Paradoxical Autoimmune Disorder or Simply a Myth?

By
Rohiniranjan (published in Express Starteller July 2007)

Karakas or Significators/Executors hold a special place of importance in Jyotish

delineations. In order for the nativity to enjoy positive experiences pertaining to an area
in life, not only must the ruler of the house associated with the area be strong and
benefic, but also the karaka. This is a golden standard that is rarely questioned and makes
practical sense. However, we also run into adages such as “Karako Bhav Nashaya”
(KBN), meaning: The Karaka destroys the house it represents! This is counter-intuitive
and reminds one of disorders known as autoimmune diseases in which the body begins to
destroy its own healthy components. Diseases such as some forms of diabetes, certain
thyroid disorders (Hashimoto’s disease), and the fairly common disorder known as
rheumatoid arthritis are examples of such senseless destruction that the body sometimes
engages in. When the Karaka turns against the very bhava that it is supposed to support
and promote, a similar situation can be visualized.

Before we label such a Karaka insane or self-destructive and head towards our first-aid
box of astro-remedies, perhaps we should examine the disease itself a bit more! The first
question obviously arises as to the source of this adage. The small treatise, “Bhavartha
Ratnakara” penned by Sri Ramanujacharya and beautifully translated by Sri B.V. Raman
holds certain interesting adages regarding Karakas. In the 2nd Chapter (Atha Dhanayoga
Vicharah), sloka number 9 clearly states: If the different Karakas are present in their
respective bhavas, such bhavas lose vitality and give rise to very little of their
indications. In the notes that follow, Prof. Raman lists the bhava karakas from sun to
Saturn as Father, Mother, brothers, profession, children, wife and longevity with rahu
being attributed karakattwa over paternal relations and ketu over maternal relatives. Prof.
Raman then states that Saturn in 8th and Jupiter in 2nd are exceptions and such an
individual does not suffer from abbreviated longevity or diminished wealth. The sloka in
Bhavartha Ratnakara clearly indicates the Karako Bhav Nashaya principle but
interestingly appears in the chapter that deals with considerations for wealth. Is there a
specific message or connection in that placement, as opposed to it being a general
warning? I do not know!

Further on, in Chapter 8 (Atha Bhagyayogatarangah), another counterintuitive concept

appears in stanza 6 which states that a person will be fortunate in respect of that bhava
whose karaka is situated in the 12th from the ascendant! The twelfth being the house of
loss, one would hardly expect this to have been a good placement for a bhava karaka!
Later on, in stanza 16 of the same chapter, the principle is included in an illustration
through the statement that the native’s father will be fortunate if the lords of the 12th, 9th
and sun are in the 12th or if Jupiter and lord of 12th are in the 12th. Prof. Raman sounds a
caution when dealing with this sloka and recommends “due reservation”. Obviously, in
this sloka, more factors are involved than just the karaka being placed in the 12th house.
Another ancient text Jyotisharnava Navanitam in the first sloka of the 2nd Chapter on
Bhava effects indicates that when a karaka is associated with the bhava it represents then
limited effects emanate. The ‘blemish’ in other words seems to have softened a bit from
totally destructive Bhav Nash.

So far we have only talked about Karakas in a generic and non-specific sense. Parashara
in the Magnum Opus, Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra devotes significant attention to the
varieties of Karakas. Bhavartha Ratnakara is silent on the particulars. Perhaps one must
ask the question, “Which Karaka?” before asking, “Is the Karako Bhav Nashaya adage
valid?”

Parashara classifies in Chapter 34 (BPHS, Sharma Edition, Sagar) Karakas into different
types, such as: Charakarakas that vary from chart to chart (7 or 8 planets ranked in order
of their longitudes in a given sign to yield the range of charakarakas from Atmakaraka to
Darakaraka); Sthira Karakas which are constant from chart to chart; the bhava karaka
(karaka bhavas being specific houses from a given planet); the yogakarakas, and the
karakas for houses (the karakas used popularly in contemporary Jyotish).

I. CHARA KARAKAS: VARY FROM CHART TO CHART

In the order of diminishing longitudes in a given sign, the chara karaka designation
renders a planet to be labelled:
Atmakaraka
Amatyakarka
Bhratrikaraka
Matrikaraka
Pitrikaraka (missing from the 7 karaka scheme)
Putrakaraka
Gnatikaraka
Darakaraka

II. STHIRA KARAKAS: CONSTANT

Pitrikaraka: the stronger of sun or venus in a chart
Matrikaraka: the stronger of moon or mars
Additionally, sister, wife’s brother, younger brother are considered from mars
Relatives equivalent to or siblings of mother (mother’s sister, uncle’s wife, maternal
uncle) are considered from mercury.
Grandfather from Jupiter
Husband from venus
Son from Saturn
Wife, father, mother, father in law and mother’s father from ketu.
There are some overlaps and some possibility of confusion, as readers will note!

III. BHAVA AS KARAKAS

The ninth bhava from Sun denotes one’s father

The fourth from Moon denotes one’s mother
The third from Mars denotes one’s brother
The sixth from Mercury denotes one’s maternal uncle
The fifth from Jupiter denotes one’s sons
The seventh from Venus denotes one’s wife
The eighth from Saturn denotes death and pitras (deceased ancestors)

IV. YOGA KARAKAS

Planets that were at the time of birth in their own, exaltation or friendly signs AND in
kendras from ascendant (1, 4, 7 or 10th) become karakas. Of these, the planet in the 10th
is the most significant karaka.

It must be noted that if planets in own, exalted or friendly signs are in mutual angles (but
not from the ascendant), they are still considered as Yogakarakas (Sharma’s notes discuss
this).

V. KARAKAS SIGNIFICANT FOR VARIOUS HOUSES (I to XII):

Sun
Jupiter
Mars
Moon
Jupiter
Mars
Venus
Saturn
Jupiter
Mercury
Jupiter
Saturn

It is not really clear in texts known to me which of these types of KARAKAs is it that
destroys its house by being present in the house it is supposed to strengthen, represent
and sustain. Since ‘bhava’ is clearly indicated in the adage, some may think that it makes
sense to focus on the bhava karakas alone for this consideration. This would pretty
much rule out the classes I to IV enumerated above. There is also a variant karaka system
that ascribes one or more than one planet to a bhava, the rationale given for that being
that each bhava has many indications and needs more than one Karaka to fully represent
it. The logic would make sense but is rendered tenuous because the classification is not
exhaustive to cover all the attributes of any given house and thus remains tentative, at
best.

A proposal that has been sounded from time to time is that if the karaka is present in its
house and if affected by malefic influences then the summation of malefic influences on
the karaka as well as the house it is supposed to strengthen would be detrimental. This
does make sense, obviously. Another related issue may be that in most of the ordinary
charts that most of us jyotishis gives readings for, most planets are probably already
affected adversely and are not very benefic or strong, overall. This may be exactly what
is making these nativities regular and ordinary. An otherwise affected or not optimally
functioning karaka would be like a tired horse that even if yoked to its cart (placed in the
house it is supposed to pull out of misery) will be of questionable help!

Finally, I would like those readers who are not averse to experimentation, to also
consider examining the ‘mirror’ bhavas, or padas as described in Parashara and Jaimini’s
writings. An example is being provided here (Raman Ayanamsha -28 min., savanamana
year for dasha).

EXAMPLES

1. SNC-MC 30 Aug 1963: Marriage was adversely affected, the individual was not
satisfied from her marriage and had an ‘open’ marriage. The dynamics in that family
were extremely complex. Note that the 7th lord is placed in the 10th house with sun. Both
venus and sun are strong in shadbala, venus is weak in vimshopaka. It would be tempting
to ‘pin’ this one on combustion, particularly since venus is in the house of its atishatru
and with the atishatru being right there. And, it does not help matters when we see that
that house also holds the pada for the 7th house. Other negative factors exist too, the
notable one being rahu who is the darakaraka (kalatrakaraka since this is a woman’s
chart) and placed in the 8th house which happens to hold the upapada! Incidentally, if we
were to use a 7 karaka scheme, then mercury would become the kalatrakaraka and being
strongly and happily placed in exaltation and strength, aspected by a swagrahi Jupiter in
fifth, this would not be concordant with the actual experience. The marriage began to fall
apart in Rahu dasha, Jupiter bhukti (Aug 90 to Dec 92) after childbirth and continued to
get worse in saturn’s bhukti (Dec 92 to Oct 95) and brought several romantic
relationships. Neurological disorders surfaced in mercury’s bhukti (Oct 95 to April 98).
Mercury rules over the nervous system and is the lord of 8th house (chronic illnesses) and
is placed with lord of 6th mars. Mercury is also gnatikaraka and has association with
sickness. Dr. Charak has observed that retrograde planets lead to physical ailments. The
placement of retrograde Jupiter in the fifth, aspected by mars and mercury (by griha and
rashi drishtis being in dual signs) affirms the target system (brain) as well as raises the
possibility that perhaps the deterioration started in Jupiter bhukti and finally was
diagnosed in mercury bhukti. Some of the relationship issues and other behavioural
problems could have been the manifestation of the disease itself. Interested readers may
wish to examine some transits influencing the natal rahu and transit rahu (dasha lord)
during the period between autumn of 1992 and mid-1994 when the most dramatic part of
the happenings got played.

Using the Astrodatabank database (ver. 3), containing high quality data (category A or
higher) for human births, we have 1571 charts with jupiter in fifth house. Of these, 53
had more than 3 children whereas 17 had no children. There were 249 in the database
with no children and 626 with > 3 children, a ratio of 1:2.51. The comparable ratio in the
subset with Jupiter in the fifth house was 1:3.12. There is thus a slightly higher
prevalence (13% higher) of people with more than 3 children in the subset with Jupiter in
fifth house, as opposed to the bigger test population. The important point here is that
there are people with more than 3 children despite having putrakaraka Jupiter in the fifth
house! Unfortunately, the database does not allow one to check out similar stats for chara
karakas but it sure would have been of interest to pit one type of karaka against the other!

2. Childless 6040 20 Nov. 1925: Note in this leo rising chart that Jupiter and venus the
chara putrakaraka as well as the lord of 12th house placed in the fifth. Was it the Jupiter
that destroyed the bhava or the charakarakas aided by the lord of 12th (loss)? Note that
Jupiter is swagrahi! Additionally, gulika in the house of kutumba (2nd) is certainly not
helpful in the matter of growth of one’s family. The individual experienced rahu dasha
from age 22 till 40 generally the child-bearing period in a woman. This was followed by
Jupiter dasha. One wonders if Jupiter dasha had run earlier in life, it may have been able
to give a child, despite the KBN dosha!

Now let us look at the opposite side of the story.

3. Five kids 6379 2 Mar. 1928: She had five kids. Beneficial and unblemished
putrakaraka Jupiter is placed in the fifth. Chara putrakaraka rahu is placed in the 7th
aspected by Saturn but essentially has no contact with the fifth house. KBN did not
apply.
4. Four kids 5441 26 Aug 1921: This is an interesting chart of a very accomplished lady
astrologer, teacher, writer who had four children, each of them making significant
contributions to the field of astrology. The fifth lord is involved in a strong kendra
trikona yoga which also happens to be a powerful budha aditya yoga well in keeping with
her scholastic, astro-literary accomplishments as well as of the children. Not only does
this question the occasional practice of applying rules mindlessly and in isolation,
namely, in this case: that the lord should not be placed in the 12th from its house, but it
also questions the KBN dosha! Not only is Jupiter the putrakaraka placed in the fifth
house, but also the chara putra karaka rahu is in the fifth house. As if that was not
enough, Saturn the natural malefic is also placed there. Readers please note that Saturn in
this vrishabha rising chart is a yogakarka, since it rules the dharma and karma houses.
Some individuals consider the lord of badhaka house (9th in this case) as malefic.
Obviously that is another questionable blemish. Saturn the badhakadhipati in this case
helped flourish the house as opposed to hindering it.

PATH FORWARD: If the simplistic application of rules such as Karako bhav nashaya
strikes fear in your hearts as a nativity or an astrologer, and this article manages to rouse
some doubts and some other possible ideas as to which karak was being referred to by in
the two ancient texts mentioned earlier in this article, then my efforts have been
rewarded.

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