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For many years there have been sharp disputes over which Lagna Srila Prabhupada was born with. Since there's no single source of truth around his time of birth, astrologers and devotees all over the world have been trying to rectify the birth time using Dasas, life events, transits as well as comparing the traits of his character with the results which various lagnas give. Luckily, in the case of Shrila Prabhupada's chart there's just a little uncertainty in the time of birth, which leaves us with just two possible options: Sagittarius or Capricorn Lagna. In this article we will discuss both opinions, so that you are aware of the arguments of both sides of the matter to make your own decision.

Let's start with Capricorn lagna first. Here we can see an exalted Lagnesh Saturn located in the 10th house, whereas the lords of the 5th and 9th houses Venus and Mercury are located in the 9th house, forming a powerful Raja Yoga. The Moon is in conjunction Mars in the 5th house. Again we see Mars expressed. Srila Prabhupada's name before taking spiritual initiation was Abhay Charanaravinda. That was his name — Abhay, which means "fearless". Also note that the Sun in Leo conjunct Ketu and Jupiter. It is this combination that does not seem right for those who believes that Lagna is in Sagittarius, because in this case it forms Asura yoga, Guru-Chandala Yoga in the 8th house — the most worst Dusthana. And this fact, in their opinion, cannot be in Srila Prabhupada's horoscope. But we can't know the level of personality that Srila Prabhupada was through his horoscope. We can know him only through his writing, through his writing and the deeds that he performed.

Do we really think that after reading a few books on Jyotish, we can judge who is a god, who is a demon, and after learning a few astrological combinations, we can recognize a true guru or a false one? This is the self-confidence of amateurs! Jyotish scriptures are not fixed dogma, they are not static, because Jyotish is a living stream of knowledge. Therefore, the wording of the treatises must be understood in accordance with the principle of kala-desa-patra (time-place-circumstances). In my opinion, it is Guru-Chandala Yoga that shows that Srila Prabhudada has become a guru for the chandalas, Westerners. Let's ask ourselves: who are we? From the point of view of Vedic society, we are not even untouchable, we are outside of varnas and castes. We are Chandalas and mlecchas. And Srila Prabhupada became a great teacher for us. He is the Jagad Guru, the teacher of the whole world, and the greatness of this person, as well as his highest spiritual level, of course, cannot be assessed in terms of a horoscope. I well understand that saints do not «fit in their horoscopes» because they do not live by the laws of karma.

Srila Prabhupada did not come to this world by the law of karma, he came by the grace of Krishna, by the grace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he came to fulfill his high mission and extend a hand of spiritual help to all of us. You see, the Sun, Jupiter and Ketu are in the generous royal sign of Leo, so Srila Prabhupada can be called the king of the Jagad Gurus! He came to help the most fallen.

Let's see Srila Prabhupada's horoscope by periods of life. In his chart, not only strong Mars, but also Gaja-Kesari yoga, Shasha Yoga, Mercury with Venus and the Moon with Mars in the houses of Dharma. We see the strongest house of Moksha. Yogakaraka Venus is placed in the 9th house, the house of Dharma. In 1922 Srila Prabhupada met his Guru Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati. It was the Jupiter \ Saturn period. Jupiter is in the 8th house, conjunct Ketu and rules the 3rd and 12th houses, and the antardasha lord Saturn forms the Shashi yoga. Jupiter in conjunction with Ketu in the 8th house, of course, interest in spiritual knowledge. Again, this can't be taken literally — it is not Ketu who gives interest in spiritual knowledge, but this person already has an aspiration for spiritual life, therefore, at the time of birth, Ketu was in a certain position. Consciousness first, then everything else.

In 1933, during the period of Jupiter \ Rahu, Srila Prabhupada takes spiritual initiation. Jupiter is the Dharma Karaka, Rahu is in the 2nd house, while the lord of the sign of Rahu is exalted, located in Libra, and this is Saturn. In 1959, Srila Prabhupada took sannyasa and that was the Mercury-Venus period. Both of these planets are in the 9th house with Venus debilitated in Virgo.

On August 13, 1965, at the age of sixty-nine, Srila Prabhupada leaves for America. Literally at the first meeting, in the early 20s, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati said not only to Prabhupada, but also to other young people who were close to him: “You are such young, educated people, you know English, how wonderful it would be, if you could carry the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to Western people, reveal to them the Vedas, knowledge of karma, knowledge of the soul and God. And Srila Prabhupada took these words of his spiritual master as a mandate, as his mission.

When we go to astrologers, we often ask: «What is my mission?» Srila Prabhupada did not ask the astrologer what his mission was, he took the words of his spiritual master as a command, as a duty, and this became his life's work, his high mission. It took him a long time to get prepared seriously go to America. And this was his transcendental feat: Srila Prabhupada literally brought about a spiritual revolution in the West. Already at an advanced age, he fearlessly set off on this most difficult journey — for more than a month he traveled on ship to the shores of America.

He carried with him Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavadam, which he had translated into English. While working on the commentaries on Bhagavad-gita As It Is and Srimad-Bhagavam, he often consulted Srila Sridhar Maharaj, his close friend and godbrother. Prabhupada referred to Sridhar Maharaja as his Siksa Guru, guru-guru. When disciples began to gather around Prabhupada and the question arose about registering a spiritual society, Srila Prabhupada asked Sridhar Maharaja to head the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, but he refused, saying, "This is your ksetra". Kshetra translates as «field of activity»,

Let's go back to 1965, when a sixty-nine-year-old man, with only 20 dollars in his pocket and a bundle of manuscripts in English, went to America. This was the Mercury \ Rahu \ Venus period. The journey to America by ship was very difficult: he suffered from seasickness and once nearly died of a heart attack. In September 1965, Srila Prabhupada arrived in New York, and already in July 1966, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, ISKCON, was registered. That is, in just a few months, Srila Prabhupada made a spiritual revolution! It is to him that we owe the fact that we generally know or heard something about karma, as well as the fact that we study jyotish and have the opportunity to touch the innermost words of Krishna set forth in the Bhagavad Gita.

The founding of ISKCON took place during the Mercury \ Jupiter \ Saturn period. Mercury is the lord of the 9th house and is placed in the 9th. In the dasa of Mercury, Srila Prabhupada takes sannyasa, works on the translation of the scriptures, writes commentaries on them and goes to America.

Antardasha lord Jupiter is conjunct Ketu and is in the 8th house, which is also called the house of samadhi. Samadhi is a spiritual trance, mystical and spiritual experiences. Pratyantardash lord Saturn is the lagnesha and forms shashi yoga in the 10th house which is associated with the construction and founding of temples.

It is not surprising that the largest society of Vaishnavas in the Western world was founded at this time. Planetary periods show the fulfillment of his high spiritual mission. In that distant first meeting with Bhaktisidhanta Sarasvati, he was not the only one who heard these words and the wishes of the guru — to bring the Vedas to the West, however, only he took these words as a mandate. This, of course, speaks of his highest spiritual position.

When Srila Prabhupada left this world, Srila Sridhar Maharaja revealed his transcendental position. The transcendental position can only be seen by one who is on the same level or higher, and Sridhar Maharaj spoke of Srila Prabhupada as a Shakti-Avesa-Avatara, a partial incarnation of the Lord.

In the twelve years that Srila Prabhupada dedicated to his mission, he opened one hundred and eight temples on the five continents of the Earth and traveled around the globe twelve times, his preaching flared up like a fire, and hundreds of thousands of people in the Western world accepted the highest spiritual knowledge.

Alternative version: Sagittarius Lagna

What objectives do we have in favour of Sagittarius Lagna? Let's recall that the main thing in Prabhupada's personality is not musical abilities, not business, not that he earned a lot of money, and not that there were problems in family life, but devotion to Krishna and the spirit of service to his Guru.

Life purpose

The lord of the lagna and Rahu show the main interest of the person in this incarnation. It should be noted that in the horoscope of Srila Prabhupada, Rahu is very strong, in his own sign of Aquarius and in Devalokamsa, and Saturn is exalted. Both planets are tamasic in nature and malefic. With the Capricorn Lagna, they become dominant in the horoscope and occupy prominent places: Saturn, as the lord of the Lagna, occupies the house of Karma (activity for the sake of fruits), Rahu — the house of Dhana (financial gain and maintenance). Thus, both houses of Artha are strengthened, and the main desires and interests of the individual will be connected precisely with Artha (finances and maintaining one's own body).

Both sattvic planets — the Sun and Jupiter — getting into the 8th house, are damaged (even if we take it for granted that Jupiter does not create Asura Yoga here), and make the person highly susceptible to negative sinful influences, which could not but manifest itself when contact in the environment in America that Prabhupada had to deal with: hippies, drug addicts, and so on.

As far as we know, Srila Prabhupada not only did not become defiled, but only his impeccable Sattvic qualities helped him purify the hundreds of people he encountered in America and make them devotees of Lord Sri Krishna.

In order to have the power of goodness, it is necessary to have sattvic planets in prominent places in the horoscope: in Kendras or Trines, and not in Drik bhavas. This is what happens in the Sagittarius Lagna, as the Sun and Jupiter enter the 9th house (Dharma, religion, luck). As lords of the 1st and 9th houses they form a strong yoga of devotion to Lord Vishnu in the 9th house.

This is a clear and direct, without any doubt, indication of who this person really is: a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, a shaktya avesha avatar of Shri Krishna.

The main interest of the personality in Sagittarius Lagna is in the area of ​​the 9th house (religion, Dharma) and is enhanced by conjunction with the 9th lord Sun. This combination is also called Raja Lakshmi Yoga. Lakshmi, as everyone knows, is the Goddess of Fortune. And at the same time, we know that Lakshmi is always at the feet of Vishnu or on his chest. Lakshmi is a pure devotee of the Lord, one of the Mahajanas.

It was only after taking sannyas and after Srila Prabupada started preaching in America that this combination was manifested. Lakshmi's mercy flowed like a river, but Srila Prabhupada used this mercy in the right way, as only a pure devotee of the Lord can use: he built temples, opened Vedic centers, and did not enrich himself. This further enhances Ketu, the Moksha Karaka, in conjunction with the Sun in the 9th.

In other words, just as Ravana kidnaps Sita, the incarnate Goddess of Fortune, and Hanuman, a pure devotee of Ramachandra, helps bring her back to the Lord, so Srila Prabhupada steals Lakshmi from the demons and returns them to the Lord.

With Rahu in the 2nd house and a strong 2nd lord in the 10th (Saturn), this person would no doubt be most concerned with maintaining his own body. The Sun and Jupiter in the 8th would lose all their sattvic qualities, and influencing Dhana Bhava would only help personal enrichment. The strongest Rahu in the second house would focus all the desires of this incarnation on his own enrichment. This position of Rahu gives great anxiety in accumulating money, often greed, bad eating habits, deceit, offensive speech and so on.

The location of the colord of Aquarius Saturn would show us where the person is looking for the necessary money. That is in karmic activities. True, the result would be weak, because even a strong malefic in the 10th gives constant fluctuations in wealth, and a weak lord of Karma Bhava in Dharma Bhava, which is Venus, would further increase this instability in karmic activity, and would lead to a fall in Dharma, despite the strong Mercury in conjunction with Venus.

Temple construction

Here you need to know exactly the Karakatwas (indicators) of the planets.

Indicators of the construction of temples are evident if we look at the Sun and Jupiter. The Sun, in its natural meaning, represents temples and is also associated with building. A strong Sun conjunct Jupiter in the 9th house enhances this, as the 9th is also associated with temples, places of worship or sacrifice, and other such places.

Why is it predicted to build temples all over the world? Because with Sagittarius Lagna, Rahu falls into the 3rd house, and Rahu-Ketu along the axis of 3-9 houses, a very strong indicator of overseas travel, migration, working abroad. Why at an older age? Because the planets next to Ketu delay the trip, postpone it to an older age, after 48 years. Why did Srila Prabhupada start building temples at the age of 70? Because a strong Sun, in the 9th gives, according to some texts, great luck at the age of 70 years. Why 108 temples? Because in his chart there are indicators of devotion to Lord Vishnu.

Why did you return to India? Because Sagittarius is a dvishvabhava rashi: a person travels far, but returns. Under Capricorn Lagna (Chara Rasi), if a person would leave, then without return.

In contrast, do we see all those indicators with Capricorn Lagna? In the 9th house (the house showing the temple construction) Venus and Mercury. Neither Venus nor Mercury are associated with the construction of temples. Both planets are rajasic, associated with a sense of beauty and information, the most that can be predicted for a person with Mercury and Venus in Virgo in the 9th is the work of decorating temples, decorating, making garlands, maybe painting temples. But not the construction of temples all over the world.

Mercury is an indicator of short trips. Venus is an indicator of more distant journeys, but is weak in the sign. You can’t go far with the Capricorn Lagna with a weak Venus, and you can hardly build a temple.

Preaching around the world

Let's consider this statement: «Preaching all over the world is explained by Karma Dharma Adhipati Yoga in the 9th house — and the aspect on the 3rd (lectures, dictation of books)».

There is little difference between Dharma and Karma. 9th house is the house of Dharma, 10th house is the house of Karma. Dharma is our life duty, destiny, Dharma is directed to the future, how much we perfectly fulfill the Dharma, our future incarnations or liberation depend on it.

Karma is an activity that bears fruit. And karma in itself is the fruit, that is, it is turned to today, to the present, these are our urgent needs. You have to eat — you have to move, work, without work it is impossible to maintain this body.

Karma Dharmi Adhi Pati Yoga means: the unity of these two goals: essential needs and life purpose. It can be said this way: while fulfilling his duty, a person at the same time supports himself. Or working for the sake of maintaining the body, at the same time fulfills its higher purpose. This is a good combination in the horoscope, the person has a high sense of duty and is lucky in fulfilling this duty.

What do we get if we put Venus and Mercury in the 9th house in the Capricorn lagna? «Lectures, dictation of books» is a correct answer. A person would lecture himself, write books, and that's it. His duty has been fulfilled. True, there are small problems: the 9th turns out to be surrounded by harmful grahas: Saturn in the 10th and Sun-Ketu in the 8th papa kartari yoga. Dharma-Karma Yoga encounters difficulties.

Let's talk about argalas now. We can see that a strong Saturn in the 10th, where it is even stronger, creates Papa Argala (a harmful obstacle) on the 9th house. And the lord of the 10th, Venus, in the Neecha (debilitation) sign, weakly resists this. Let's translate it into clear language: the need to work hard for money (Saturn is the lord of 2nd house positioned in the 10th house), strongly associated with the basic desire of this birth (Rahu in 2nd house), would block the realization of the Dharma associated with writing.

Sun-Jupiter-Ketu in the 8th, however, create a mixed Virodhargala for the 9th house, and destroy the argala from Saturn. They form the Viparita Raja Yoga in the 8th and could give a person quite a lot of independence and even fame. That is, some books would still be written in a certain period of life, and a person would even achieve fame and even earn something. But did he bring good to all mankind? Doubtful.

But what do we really see in the fate of Srila Prabhupada? He wrote books, and dictated lectures, and played the mridanga, that's right, but his main desire was not writing, not playing music, but publishing books and spreading Krishna Consciousness and the Glory of the Lord throughout the world. Book publishing, preaching, philosophy, spirituality are connected not with Venus and not with Mercury, but with another planet — Jupiter.

Mercury with Venus gives writing, but it is not necessarily philosophy. With a strong 8th house, it could also be mysticism, or, for example, books on healthy eating (Mercury is the lord of 6th house and is exalted) or Ayurveda or pharmaceuticals.

With Sagittarius Lagna, books are written as Karma (Venus-Mercury in the 10th house), but are published and distributed throughout the world as Dharma, or even more so as Sanatana Dharma.

If we consider Papa Kartari and argals in relation to the 10th in Sagittarius Lagna, then we can see that success in karmic activities (pharmaceutics, the same writing for the sake of writing) is inhibited by Saturn in the 11th and the Sun-Jupiter-Ketu in the 9th.

Here the opposite happens: a strong Dharma (planets in the 9th house) makes it difficult for Karma (planets in the 10th). But Karma (10th house) helps to realize the Dharma (two beneficent ones in the 10th create undestroyed shubha argala).

As long as the activity took place as Karma (10th house), the fruits were insignificant, as soon as Srila Prabhupada took sannyasa and was able to act absolutely purely, without striving for fruits, but only from the feeling of Devotion and Service to Krishna, he received realization Dharmas, and Lakshmi's grace, and fame, and everything else.

Here Venus and Mercury in the 10th create shubbha (beneficial) argala for the 9th. Writing books is not an end in itself, they are only a way, support for the realization of one's main Dharma (building temples, spreading spiritual knowledge around the world).

It can also be added that in the Lagna Sagittarius, Mercury with Venus in the 10th do not create Raja Dharma Karma yoga, but they form a powerful Jaya yoga, which is formed if the lord of the house of activity is strong (Mercury), and the ruler of the house of enemies is weakened (Venus) and both planets are in conjunction. That is to say, in other words: Srila Prabhupada's activities were successful and will continue to be successful, because his enemies were weak compared to his mind, were destroyed and will be destroyed in the future, and there is no doubt about this. Srila Prabhupada Ki Jai!