Chapter 9 - On the course of Venus (śukra-cāra)

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

1. The ecliptic is divided into nine divisions known as Vīthis (paths), According to some each division consists of three constellations beginning from Aśvini: these divisions are technically known as—1. Nāga (serpent), 2. Gaja (elephant), 3. Airāvata (the divine elephant), 4. Vṛṣabha (bull), 5. Go (cow), 6. Jaradgava, 7. Mṛga (deer), 8. Aja (ram), 9. Dahana (fire).

2. According to others the Nāga Vīthi consists of the constellations of Svāti, Bharaṇī and Kṛttikā; the Gaja Vīthi of the three constellations from Rohiṇī; the Airāvata Vīthi of the three from Punaravasu; the Vṛṣabha Vīthi of the three from Māgha; the Go Vīthi of the three from Aśvini Revatī, Pūrvabhādrapada and Uttarabhādrapada.

3. The Jaradgava Vīthi consists of the three constellations from Śravaṇa; the Mṛga Vīthi of the three from Anurādhā; the Aja Vīthi of Hasta, Viśākhā and Citrā; and the Dahana Vīthi consists of the two constellations Pūrvāṣāḍha and Uttarāṣāḍha.

4. Of the nine Vīthis the first three are known as the northern Vīthis; the next three as the central Vīthis and the last three as the southern Vīthis. Again in the case of each three the first is known as the northern Vīthi, the second as the central Vīthi and the last as the southern Vīthi.

5. According to some the position of a Vīthi follows that of the Yoga Tārā (chief star) of the particular constellation; so that if the star should be on the north of the ecliptic, the Vīthi is known as the northern one; if on the ecliptic, it is known as the central one and if on the south of the ecliptic, it is known as the southern one.

6. According to others the nine constellations from Bharaṇi form the northern Vīthi or path, the nine from Pūrvaphālguni form the central path and the nine from Pūrvāṣādha form the southern path.

7. If writers on Jyotiṣaśāstra should disagree it is not for me to determine the correct view; I have only to state the views here of several authors.

8. If Venus (śukra) should either disappear or reappear^[1] in a northern Vīthi there will be prosperity and happiness in the land; if in a central Vīthi there will not be much of either; and if in a southern Vīthi mankind will be afflicted with miseries.

9. If Venus should disappear or reappear in the several Vīthis beginning from the northernmost one, the condition of the world will respectively be—1. Very excellent, 2. Excellent, 3. Good. 4. Fair, 5. Moderate, 6. Tolerable, 7. Poor, 8. Very poor, 9. Miserable.

10. The four constellations from Bharaṇi are known as the first maṇḍala (circle or division). If Venus should reappear in it there will be prosperity in the land; the people of Vaṅga and of Aṅga, the Mahiṣas, the Vāhlīkās and the Kaliṅgas will be afflicted with fears.

11. If Venus, who so reappears in the said circle, should be crossed by a planet, the rulers of the Bhadrās, of the Aśvas, of Śūrasenakas and of the Yaudheyas and Koṭivarṣa^[2] will perish.

12. The four constellations from Ārdrā form the second maṇḍala or circle; if Venus should reappear in it, the rainfall will be moderate and the growth of food crops will also be moderate; the Brāhmins will suffer, especially those who are wicked.

13. If Venus who so reappears in the said circle, should be crossed by a planet, the Mlecchas, forestmen, persons that live by dogs, the hill men of Gomanta and Gonarda, the Cāṇḍālas, the Śūdras and the people of Videha will become wicked and lawless.

14. The five constellations from Maghā form the third maṇḍala: if Venus should reappear in it, crops will suffer; there will also be suffering from hunger and robbers. Cāṇḍālas will prosper and there will be an intermingling of castes.

15. If Venus, who so reappears in the said maṇḍala, should be crossed by a planet, shepherds, hunters, the Śūdras, the Puṇḍras the border Mlecchas, the Śūlikas, forestmen, the Draviḍas and persons who live close to the sea will be afflicted with miseries.

16. The three constellations from Svāti form the fourth maṇḍala; if Venus should reappear in it, mankind will be free from fear; the Brāhmins and Kṣatriyas will prosper and friends will turn into enemies.

17. If Venus, who so reappears in the said maṇḍala, should be crossed by a planet, the chiefs of the hunters will perish; the Ikṣvākus, the border Mlecchas, the people of Avantī and of Pulinda and the Śūrasenas will also perish.

18. The five constellations from Jyeṣṭhā form the fifth maṇḍala; if Venus should reappear in it, the people of Cashmere [i.e., Kāśmīra], the Aśmakas, the Matsyas, those living on the banks of the Charudevi [i.e., Cārudevī] and in the country of Avantī will suffer from hunger, from thieves and from disease.

19. If Venus who so reappears in the said maṇḍala should be crossed by a planet, the Ābhīras, the Draviḍas, the Ambaṣṭhas, the Trigartas, the Saurāṣṭras, the people of Sindh and of Sauvīraka and the ruler of Benares will perish.

20. The six constellations from Dhaniṣṭhā form the sixth maṇḍala; if Venus should reappear in it there will be wealth and prosperity in the land and cows will thrive and crops will be abundant but fear in certain places.

21. If Venus, who so reappears in the said maṇḍala should be crossed by a planet, the Śūlikas, the people of Gāndhāra and of Avantī will be afflicted with miseries. The Videhas will perish. The servants of the border Mlecchas and of the Yavanas will prosper.

22. If Venus should reappear or be crossed by a planet in the western portion of the maṇḍalas beginning from Svātī and from Jyeṣṭhā or in the eastern portion of the maṇḍala beginning from Maghā, there will be happiness in the land; in all the other maṇḍalas the effects will be the same as those already described wherever Venus might happen to reappear or be then crossed.

23. If Venus should be visible before sunset there will be fear in the land; if visible throughout the day, mankind will suffer from hunger and from disease; if visible at midday in conjunction with the moon, the king’s army and capital city will suffer.

24. If Venus should pass through the constellation of Kṛttikā, the Earth will be so much enundated with water as to make its surface even.

25. If Venus should pass through the constellation of Rohiṇī Earth will assume the same appearance of death and devastation as if she was going through the ceremony of Kāpālika for the expiation of the sin of murder.

26. If Venus should enter the constellation of Mṛgaśīrṣa, juice and crops will suffer; if she should enter the constellation of Ārdrā, the people of Kośala and of Kaliṅga will suffer and there will be abundance of rain.

27. If Venus should enter the constellation of Punarvasu, the people of Aśmaka and of Vidarbha will become lawless. If Venus should enter the constellation of Puṣya, there will be good rain; singing and dancing parties will suffer.

28. If Venus should enter the constellation of Āśleṣā there will be much suffering from serpents; it Venus should pass through the constellation of Magha, elephant keepers or ministers will suffer and there will be abundance of rain.

29. If Venus should pass through the constellation of Pūrvaphalgunī, hill men and the people of Pulinda will perish and there will be abundance of rain; if she should pass through the constellation of Uttaraphalgunī, the people of Kuru, of Jāṅgala and of Pāñcāla will perish, and there will also be rain.

30. If she should pass through the constellation of Hasta, the Kauravas and painters will suffer; there will be no rain; well-diggers and birds will suffer. If she should enter the constellation of Citrā, there will be good rain.

31. If she should enter the constellation of Svāti, there will be much rain; servants, merchants and boatmen will become wicked and lawless. If she should enter the constellation of Viśākhā, there will be good rain and tradesmen will suffer.

32. If she should enter the constellation of Anurādhā, rulers will be at strife; if she should enter the constellation of Jyeṣṭhā, the chief rulers will suffer; if she should enter the constellation of Mūla, physicians that deal in medicinal plants will suffer. In each of these three cases there will be drought in the land.

33. If Venus (śukra) should enter the constellation of Pūrvāṣādha, the creatures of water will suffer; if she should enter the constellation of Uttarāṣādha, diseases will increase. If she should enter the constellation of Śravaṇa, diseases of the ear will afflict mankind. If she should enter the constellation of Dhaniṣṭhā, heretics will suffer.

34. if venus should enter the constellation of Śatabhiṣaja, drunkards or dealers in liquor will suffer; if she should enter the constellation of Pūrvabhādra, gamblers will suffer as well as the Kauravas and the Pāñcālas, and there will be rain in the land.

35. If Venus should enter the constellation of Uttarabhādra, fruits and roots will be injured; if she should enter the constellation of Revatī, travellers will suffer; if she should enter Aśvinī, horsekeepers will suffer and if she should enter Bharaṇī, hillmen and the Yavanas will suffer.

36. If Venus should either reappear or disappear in the 8^th, 14^th, or 15^th lunar day of the waning moon, the Earth will be flooded with water.

37. If Jupiter and Venus should be opposite to, that is, 180° apart from each other and if they should be at the same time due east and west of each other, mankind will suffer from disease, from fears and from sorrow, and there will be no rain.

38. If the course of Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Saturn should just precede that of Venus, mankind, elephants and magicians will be at strife among themselves; storms and deaths will afflict mankind.

39. Friends will cease to be friends; the Brahmins will cease to perform religious ceremonies properly; there will be no rain; and mountains will be riven asunder thunderbolts.

40. If the course of Saturn should just precede that of Venus, the Mlecchas, cats, elephants, asses, buffaloes, black grains, hogs, Pulindas (barbarians), the Śūdras and travellers in the south will suffer by diseases of the eye and by windy disorders.

41. If the course of Mars should just precede that of Venus, mankind will suffer from fire, from weapons, from hunger, from drought and from thieves; all the creatures and objects of the north will suffer and the sky will be filled with fire, lightning and dust.

42. If the course of Jupiter should just precede that of Venus, he will destroy objects that are white, the Brāhmaṇas, cows and temples; the east will suffer; there will be a fall of hail from the clouds and diseases of the neck; the crops of Śarat will thrive well.

43. If the course of Mercury should just precede that of Venus, and if Mercury should then have either disappeared or reappeared, there will be rain in the land ; diseases and bilious jaundice will afflict mankind; the crops of Grīṣma will flourish ; ascetics, persons who have performed sacrificial rites, physicians, dancers or wrestlers, horses, the Vysias, cows, rulers in their chariots and all yellow objects will perish and the west will suffer.

44. If Venus (śukra) should be of the colour of fire, there will be fear from fire; if of blood colour, there will be wars in the land; if of the colour of burnished gold, there will be disease; if green, there will be asthmatic complaints; if ashy-pale or black, there will be drought in the land.

45. If Venus should be of the colour of coagulated milk, of the white water lily, or of the moon, or if her course be direct, or if she should be the successful planet in conjunctions, mankind will enjoy the happiness of Kṛtayuga.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Venus disappears when within 10 degrees from the Sun and reappears beyond that limit.

[2]:

Koṭivarṣa: the city of Devikoṭa in the Coromandal Coast.