Niryana Shoola Dasa

According to Dr. B. V. Raman's book "Studies in Jaimini

Astrology" from 1950, considerable importance is given to
Niryana Shoola Dasa by Jaimini-Scholars. However, the
explanations by commentators regarding the method and scope
of calculating were vague, and Dr. B. V. Raman therefore
decided to give the most popular method:

Quote:
"If the Lagna is an odd sign, the Dasa must start from the
Lagna. If the Lagna is an even sign, the Dasa starts from the
7th house. The order is direct or converse according as the
Lagna is odd or even. The duration of each Dasa is 9 years".

I used this method of calculating Niryana Shoola Dasa for

many years, and I got some good results from it. Also I
observed that this Dasa-system can be profitably used for all
kinds of predictions both good and bad, and since it was also
very easy and fast to use I soon became very fond of it.

There was however a little doubt in my mind that something

important was missing somewhere, and this feeling motivated
me to take a close look into the Jaimini-Sutras myself to see
if perhaps I could find out something more about this.

I found out that there are really many sutras dealing with
different kinds of Shoola Dasas in Jaimini-Sutras. In some
cases they were calculated from the different Maraka-places
and sometimes from the Karaka-planets. But they all had two
things in common:

1) They were of the duration of 9 years each.

2) They moved forewards and backwards in case of odd and even
signs.

Up to this point my findings very much confirmed the method

given by the late Dr. B. V. Raman. It was only when I found
two sutras one-by-one dealing exclusively with Niryana Shoola
Dasa that all my doubts were cleared.

Suddenly I realized how Niryana Shoola Dasa should be

calculated and not only that. There was also an important
hint about a peculiar way of using it for predictive purpose.
Adhyaya 2, pada 4:

Sutra 16: Niryanalabhadishooladasaphale.

"In predicting results, the 7th from the Niryana Shoola Dasa
should be taken first into account".

Sutra 17: Purushesamahsamanyatah.

"If the Arambha or commencing [Niryana Shoola] Dasa falls in
a masculine sign, then the subsequent Rasi Dasas will be
counted regularly and each Dasa gets 9 years only".

MY NOTES:
In sutra 17 we are being told that in case of odd signs the
dasas are direct and each dasa gets 9 years. But we are not
being told anything about counting the dasas from the 7th
house in case of even signs. Only in the translators own
personal notes on this sutra we are being told to do so:

Quote:
If the commencing Dasa falls in a feminine sign then the
Dasas have to be counted from the 7th sign from it. In
masculine horoscopes the Arambha Dasa commences from Lagna.
In feminine horoscopes it commences from the 7th.

MY NOTES:
This may be either the translators own opinion or it may
perhaps come from some oral tradition that he knows about. I
don't know about that. I am however not convinced that it has
anything to do with Jaimini.

Then sutra 16 informs us that the 7th house should be taken

first into account in case of Niryana Shoola Dasa. But still
nothing special has been said about the 7th house in relation
to the even signs.

Turning the table

Perhaps there is a much simpler solution to these two sutras.

What if this 7th-house-business has nothing to do with odd
and even signs? Could it be, that Jaimini is really
suggesting the possibility of turning the table, so to speak,
by judging the horoscope from both the Lagna and from the 7th
in case of Niryana Shoola Dasa?
Could it be a speciality of Niryana Shoola Dasa to judge the
effect of the dasa not only from the Dwara Rasi or running
Dasa itself, but also from the 7th house therefrom to get a
qualified second opinion?

I think this is a very logical solution, and I have sometimes

by mistake calculated the Niryana Shoola Dasa "wrongly" in
case of even signs by starting from the Lagna itself. I got
very nice results from this anyway. Then I have also seen
some cases of the Ascendant being in an odd sign, where the
picture became even clearer when judged from the 7th house.

Calculating Niryana Shoola Dasa

Based on this interpretation of sutra 16 and 17 and by

ignoring the idea of counting the dasas from the 7th house in
case of even signs, I have concluded the following two simple
rules about Niryana Shoola Dasa:

1) Niryana Shoola Dasa always starts from the Ascendant

running forewards in case the Ascendant is an odd sign and
backwards in case of an even sign.

2) Each dasa-period runs for 9 years only.

No sub-periods

I have never seen anything indicating Jaimini using sub-

periods for the Dasa-systems having fixed periods like Sthira
Dasa and Niryana Shoola Dasa. I think sub-periods were only
calculated in case of Chara Dasa and the other Dasa-systems
based on that particular method of counting the years.

In connection to Sthira Dasa and Niryana Shoola Dasa I am of

the impression that Jaimini used Navamsa-Dasa for precise
timings. I think the very word Navamsa has a double meaning
here by indicating the dividing of not only the Rashi but
also its Shoola-dasa-period by 9. Therefore the period of
each Navamsa-dasa will be ONE YEAR only.

However, the Sthira Dasa starts from the SIGN occupied by the
Brahma-planet, and when used in connection to Sthira Dasa the
Navamsa Dasa should start from the NAVAMSA occupied by the
Brahma-planet.

Navamsa Dasa

In case of Niryana Shoola Dasa on the other hand I believe

there may be an additional solution. It seems logical to
assume that the Navamsa Dasa could also start from the
Navamsa occupied by the Ascendant itself. This means we get
two different kinds of Navamsa Dasa. But then of course this
whole thing becomes a very delicate matter, since a minor
error in the birthtime of only a few minutes may give a
completely different Navamsa-Lagna.

Anyway, this opens a very interesting area of research

regarding rectification of the birthtime, since Navamsa-Dasa
seems to be a very effective tool. It is however a diffecult
subject for research, since much depends on very accurate
birth-data. It is very easy to go wrong, and it can be very
time-consuming if one has to verify not only the sign of the
Ascendant itself but also each one of the nine possible
navamsas of the ascending sign.

In case of doubt it may be a good idea to play it safe by

counting the Navamsa Dasas from the Navamsa occupied by the
Brahma-planet, as I have described earlier in connection to
Sthira Dasa.

Transit Saturn

There seems to be a very interesting relationship between

transit Saturn and the Niryana Shoola Dasa. At first I didn't
believe this, but then little by little I came to realize the
obviousness of the truth in this. Please observe the
following sutra very closely:

(Adhyaya 2, pada 4)
Sutra 33: Thathatsanavapiveditavyamityekeacharyavadanti.
"Some Acharyas say that all the results which have been
ascribed to planets and signs in the previous sutras [Adh. 2,
pada 4] may also be predicted with reference to Sani and his
position".

MY NOTES:
I far as I have seen, nobody has ever given any kind of
serious consideration to the importance of this sutra. It is
one of the very last sutras in a chapter exclusively dealing
with different Dasa-systems including the Niryana Shoola
Dasa.

I think this sutra is about transit Saturn, and I think

Jaimini is hinting at the possibility of using transit Saturn
in connection to at least one of the Dasa-Systems in
particular mentioned in that chapter. I believe the Niryana
Shoola Dasa to be exactly that Dasa-system, and I have got
some very nice results from this.

Rules of judgment

When dealing with Niryana Shoola Dasa one has to be aware of

a few peculiar rules of Jaimini regarding the planets (and
transit-Saturn) and their relation to the 12 houses from the
running Niryana Shoola Dasa:

1) It either works in trines, meaning when the planet is 1st-

5th-9th from a given house.

2) Or it works by the special Jaimini-aspects, which I have

already described earlier.

Predicting marriage and children

I like to illustrate the sophisticated use of transit Saturn

in combination with Niryana Shoola Dasa by way of an example,
and I like to employ the same example-horoscope as I have
used earlier in case of Chara Dasa, Sthira Dasa and Navamsa
Dasa.

Male Person, born December 31st, 1957, Time: 04:00PM, Zone:

1:00
Copenhagen, longitude: 12E35, Latitude: 55N42, Lahiri
Ayanamsa.

Asc 20:55 Gem

Sun 16:24 Sgt
Moon 13:01 Ari
Mars 12:40 Sco
Merc 03:46 Sgt R
Jup 05:16 Lib
Ven 21:54 Cap
Sat 26:07 Sco
Rahu 15:25 Lib
Ketu 15:25 Ari

This man was married and got his first child (a daughter) at
the age of 25 when Saturn was transitting in Libra.

Leo-Dasa

The person was born in the Gemini-Ascendant (odd sign) and

counting forewards the period of 9 years for each sign we get
the running Niryana Shoola Dasa at that time as Leo.

When people are being married or starting important

relationships then I have often observed transit Saturn being
trinal (1st-5th-9th) from either the 1st or the 7th house
from the running Niryana Shoola Dasa. Please observe that in
this horoscope Saturn by transitting in Libra is actually
trinal from the 7th house of Aquarius.

Indications like this should however always be double-checked

by other methods such as Chara Dasa and its sub-periods or
combined Sthira Dasa and Navamsa Dasa. Also please remember
never to go against the indication of the natal chart. If it
is clearly the chart of a bachelor then perhaps one should
not be too entusiastic about predicting marriage!

In case of childbirth I have often observed Saturn to be

either transiting the 5th-lord or aspecting the 5th-lord from
the running Niryana Shoola Dasa by the special Jaimini-
aspects. Please observe that in this case Saturn is
transitting in Libra occupied by Jupiter, being the 5th-lord
from Leo, the running Niryana Shoola Dasa.

The predictions about children should also be double-checked

with the other Dasa-systems, and here again one should not go
against the indication of the natal chart.