Chapter 8 - On the course of Jupiter (bṛhaspati-cāra)

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

1. The years of Jupiter (bṛhaspati) take their names from the several Nakṣatras in which he reappears^[1] after his conjunction with the Sun; and these names are identical with the names of the lunar months.

2. These years beginning from Kārttika follow, each, two stars beginning from Kṛttikā; but the fifth, the eleventh and the twelfth years follow, each, three Nakṣatras.^[2]

3. In the Kārttika year of Jupiter, cart drivers, persons that live by fire and cows will be afflicted with miseries; there will be disease and wars in the land; flowers of blood and of yellow colour will thrive.

4. In the Mārgaśīrṣa year of Jupiter, there will be drought and

crops will be injuired by animals, by rats, by grass hoppers and by birds; there will be disease in the land and rulers will be at strife even with their friends.

5. In the Pauṣa year of Jupiter, mankind will be happy; princes will cease their enmity to one another; the price of food crops will become cheap doubly or tribly and there will be an increase of ceremonies to secure special benefits.^[3]

6. In the Māgha year of Jupiter, there will be an increase in respect to fathers; all creatures will be happy, health and rain will prevail over the land; the price of food grains will fall and mankind will be more friendly than ever.

7. In the Phālguna year of Jupiter, there will be prosperity, rain and crops, here and there; women will suffer miseries; thieves will become powerful and rulers cruel.

8. In the Caitra year of Jupiter, there will be slight rain, good food and happiness; rulers will become mild; loguminous grains will increase and fair men will suffer miseries.

9. In the Vaiśākha month of Jupiter, princes with their subjects will be virtuous, fearless and happy; men will engage in sacrificial rites and there will also be growth of crops.

10. In the Jyeṣṭha year of Jupiter, the chief men of every caste, of every family, of every opulent class and of every village as well as princes and learned men will suffer miseries; and grains excepting Kaṅgu^[4] and pod grains will suffer.

11. In the Āṣāḍha year of Jupiter, there will be crops here and there and drought in other places, mankind will not be very happy and rulers will be afflicted with cares.

12. In the Śrāvaṇa year of Jupiter, mankind will be happy and crops will thrive and ripen well; wicked men and impostors will suffer with their followers.

13. In the Bhādrapada year of Jupiter, the produce of creepers will thrive as well as the first crops; but the second crops will fail and there will be prosperity in some places and fear here and there.

14. In the Āśvayuja year of Jupiter, the rainfall will be incessant; mankind will be happy and prosperous; all living creatures will grow strong and food supply will be abundant.

15. When Jupiter passes through the northern path^[5], there will be health and happiness in the land; when he passes through the southern path, the reverse of these will be the case; and when he passes through the middle path, there will be neither much of the former nor much of the latter.

16. If, in one year, Jupiter should pass through a space of two stellar divisions, there will be prosperity in the land; if he should pass through two and a half of such divisions, there will not be much of it; and if at any time, he should pass through over two and a half of these divisions, crops will be injured.

17. If the disc of Jupiter should appear of the colour of fire, there will be fear from fire; if yellow, there will be disease in the land; if dark-blue, there will be wars; if green, suffering from thieves, and if of blood color, suffering from weapons.

18. If the disc of Jupiter should appear of the colour of smoke, there will be drought; if it should be visible during day, rulers will perish and if it should appear large and clear at night, mankind will be happy.

19. The Nakṣatras—Rohiṇī and Kṛttikā, form the body of the Vatsara Puruṣa,^[6] the two Āṣāḍhas form his navel, Āśleṣā forms the heart and Maghā, the heart-bladder; when benefíc planets pass through these, there will be happiness in the land; if malefic planets should pass through the body, there will be suffering from fire and winds; if they should pass through the navel, there will be suffering from starvation; if they should pass through the heart-bladder, roots and fruits will suffer, and if they should pass through the heart, crops will perish.

20. Multiply by 11 the number of past solar years from the time of the Śaka prince (Śālivahāna), and take 4 times the product; to it add 8589 and divide the sum by 3750.

21. Add the quotient to the said number of solar years from the time of the Śaka prince, and divide the sum by 60; the remainder represents the number of years by which Jupiter (bṛhaspati) has advanced in his cycle of 60 years; (call it J); divide this remainder by 5, the quotient will give the number of yugas preceding the current yugas of Jupiter calculated from Viṣṇu (the name of the first of Jupiter’s 12 Yugas, each consisting of 5 years); and the remainder will give the years by which Jupiter has advanced in his current Yuga.

22. Divide J (Jupiter’s years) by 12 and multiply the remainder by 9 and divide the product by 4; the quotient will represent the number of Nakṣatras, calculated from Dhaniṣṭhā, passed over by Mean Jupiter and the remainder the number of Navāhas passed over by him in the next Nakṣatra.

[Appendix 1: calculations regarding Śaka and Jupiter (Bṛhaspati)]

23. The twelve yugas of Jupiter’s cycle are known as belonging to the Devas 1. Viṣṇu, 2. Jupiter, 3. Indra, 4. Agni (fire), 5. Tvaṣṭā, 6. Ahirbudhnya, 7. The Pitṛs, 8. Vāsudeva, 9. Soma (the Moon), 10. Indrāgni, 11. Aśvinideva, 12. Bhaga (the Sun).

24. The five years of each yuga are known as—1. Saṃvatsara, 2. Parivatsara, 3. Idāvatsara, 4. Anuvatsara, 5. Idvatsara. These are sacred respectively to 1. Agni (fire), 2. Arka (the Sun), 3. Candra (the Moon), 4. Prajāpati (the Creator), 5. Rudra (the Destroyer).

25. Generally in every yuga, there will be good rain in the first year^[7] and at the beginning^[8] of the second year; excessive rain in the third year; moderate rain at the end (of the rainy season) of the fourth year; and slight rain in the fifth year.

26. In the first four yugas there will be prosperity in the land; in the next or middle four there will not be much of it; and in the last four mankind will suffer miseries.

27. When Jupiter (bṛhaspati) reappears at the beginning of the constellation of Dhaniṣṭhā in the month of Māgha, the first year of the cycle of 60 years of Jupiter known as Prabhava commences. In it all creatures will be happy.

28. In the same year there will be drought in certain places and suffering from storm and fire; the crops will be injured; phlegmatic maladies will afflict mankind; nevertheless mankind will be happy.

29. The next year is known as Vibhava the third as Śukla, the fourth as Pramoda, and the fifth as Prajāpati: in each of these years mankind will be happier than in the next preceding year.

30. In the same four years there will be good growth of the Śālī^[9] crop, of sugarcane, of barky and other crops in the land; mankind will be freed from all fears and they will live at peace, in happiness and without the vices of the Kaliyuga.

31. The five years of the second yuga are known as—1. Aṅgirā, 2. Śrīmukha 3. Bhāva, 4. Yuvā and 5. Dhātā. Of these, during the first three years mankind will enjoy happiness and during the last two they will not enjoy much of it.

32. In the first three of the above five years there will be abundance of rain and mankind will be freed from fears and anxieties; in the last two years the rainfall will be moderate but disease and wars will afflict mankind.

33-34. The five years of the third yuga sacred to Indra are known as—1. Īśvara, 2. Bahudhānya, 3. Pramāthin, 4. Vikrama and 5. Vṛṣa. In the first two years mankind will enjoy the happiness of Kṛtayuga. In the year Pramāthin they will feel miserable but in the years Vikrama and Vṛṣa they will again be happy.

35. The first year of the fourth yuga is known as Citrabhānu; in it mankind will be happy. The second is known as Subhānu. In it mankind will be neither happy nor miserable; there will however be disease in the land but no deaths in consequence.

36. The next year is known as Tāraṇa; in it there will be abundance of rain. The next is known as Pārthiva; in it crops with thrive well and mankind will be happy. The fifth year is known as Vyaya; in it amorous sensastions will prevail over the land.

37. The first year of the next yuga sacred to Tvaṣṭā is known as Sarvajit. The next year is known as Sarvadhārin. The next three years are—Virodhī, Vikṛta and Khara: in the second of these, mankind will be happy and they will be afflicted with fears in the other years.

38. The five years of the next yuga are—1. Nandana, 2. Vijaya, 3. Jaya, 4. Manmatha, 5. Durmukha: during the first three years there will be happiness in the land; in Manmatha mankind will feel neither happy, nor miserable and in the year Durmukha they will feel miserable.

39. The years of the seventh yuga are—1. Hemalamba, 2. Vilambi, 3. Vikāri, 4. Śarvarī and 5. Plava.

40. In the first of these years crops will generally be injured and there will be storm and rain; in the second year crops will not grow in abundance and the rainfall will not be much; in the third year mankind will be afflicted with fears and there will be much rain; in the fourth year there will be famine; in Plava, the fifth year, there will be prosperity in the land and also much rain.

41. The first year of the next yuga sacred to Viśvedeva is Śobhakṛt; the next year is known as Subhakṛt; the third is Krodhī; and the remaining years are known as Viśvāvasu and Parābhava.

42. During the first two years mankind will be happy; during the third they will feel exceedingly miserable and during the last two years they will be neither happy nor miserable; but in the year Parābhava there will be fear from fire and suffering from weapons and from disease; the Brāhmins and cows will also suffer.

43. The first year of the ninth yuga is Plavaṅga, the next year is known as Kīlaka, the third is known as Saumya and the last two years are known as Sādhāraṇa and Rodhakṛt respectively; of these, during the years Kīlaka and Saumya mankind will be happy.

44. In the year Plavaṅga mankind will suffer much; in Sādhāraṇa there will be slight rain and crops will suffer; in the fifth year there will be a variety of rainfall and crops will thrive.

45. The first year of the next yuga sacred to Indrāgni is known as Paridhāvi; the remaining years are—Pramādin, Ānanda, Rākṣasa and Anala.

46. In the year Paridhāvi the Madhyadeśa will suffer and the ruling princes will perish, there will be slight rain and fear from fire; in the year Pramādi mankind will be disposed to be inactive; villagers will be at strife; red flowers and red seed will be destroyed.

47. In the next year mankind will be happy. In the years Rākṣasa and Anala there will be deaths and decay in the land; in Rākṣasa again the summer crops will thrive and in Anala there will be fear from fire and much suffering in the land.

48. The five years of the eleventh yuga are—1. Piṅgala, 2. Kālayukta, 3. Siddhārtha, 4. Raudra, 5. Durmati. In the first year there will be much rain and fear from thieves and mankind will suffer from consumption of the lungs and the like asthmatic complaints.

49. In the year Kālayukta mankind will suffer from various evils; but in Siddhārtha they will be happy in more ways than one. In the year Raudra mankind will suffer much and there will be loss and ruin in the land. In Durmati there will be moderate rain.

50. In the twelveth yuga sacred to god Bhāga (Sun), the first year is known as Dundubhi; the crops will thrive well. The next year is known as Udgāri; in it the ruling sovereigns will perish and there will not be good rain.

51. The third year is known as Raktākṣa; in it there will be fear from the attack of tusked animals and mankind will suffer from disease. The fourth year is known as Krodha; in it there will be anger in the land and countries will be ruined in consequence of internal strife.

52. The last year of the last yuga is Kṣaya; there will then be much rain in the land; the Brāhmins will be afflicted with fear and farmers will prosper. The Vaiśyas and Śūdras will be happy as also persons that deprive others of their property. Thus have been described briefly the effects of the sixty years of Jupiter’s cycle.

53. If the disc of Jupiter (bṛhaspati) be full of pure rays and large and appear of the colour of white jasmine or white water lily or crystal and if he does not suffer by occulation by or conjunction with, other planets and when he is in his good course mankind will be happy.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Jupiter disappears when within 11 degrees from the Sun and reappears beyond that limit.

[2]:

Thus, when Jupiter reappears,
1 In Kṛttikā or Rohiṇi, his year is known as..................... Kārttika.
2 In Mṛgaśīrṣa or Ārdrā..................... Mārgaśīrṣa.
       *              *              *              *              *
5 In Pūrvaphālguni or Uttaraphālguni or Hasta.........Phālguna.
       *              *              *              *              *
11 In Satabhiṣaja or Pūrvaproṣṭapada or Uttaraproṣṭapada... Proṣṭapada.
12 In Revatī or Svāti or Bharaṇi.................. Aávayuja.

[3]:

Such ceremonies are known as Pauṣṭika Karma, the co-relative of this being Śāntika Karma, which aims at the removal of existing evils—the two together go by the name of Naimittika (purposive) Karma, whose co-relative again is Nitya Karma i.e. ceremonies, the daily observance of which is enjoined by the Śāstras.

[4]:

Kaṅgu: a kind of Panic seed, Panicum Italicum, several varieties of which are cultivated and form articles of food for the poor.

[5]:

These paths have already been explained.

[6]:

Vatsara Puruṣa: the 12 years cycle of Jupiter personified.

[7]:

In the four months from August to November according to the commentator.

[8]:

Of the rainy season—August and September, according to the commentator.

[9]:

Śālī: a species of rice.