Conjunction-Count Yogas

sanskrit: ग्रहयोग (graha-yoga); त्रिग्रह योग (Trigraha Yoga); षड्ग्रह योग (ṣaḍgraha yoga); ग्रहमालिका योग (grahamālikā yoga)

Definition

Conjunction-count yogas are planetary combinations named simply for how many grahas (planets) gather in one place. Murthy counts the series of two or more planets sitting together in a single rasi (sign): Dwigraha (two), Trigraha (three), Caturgraha (four), Pancagraha (five), and Shadgraha (six). Jataka Parijata reads Thrigraha as any three of the seven planets in one bhava (house). A related shape is the Grahamalika, or "garland of planets," where the planets fall along an unbroken chain of consecutive signs or houses — the five-planet chain being the Panch grahamalika.

In Tradition

Across these sources, a cluster of planets is read as a yoga in its own right — its joint result is not simply the separate effects added up. Jataka Parijata says a three-planet result differs from the individual and the pairwise effects. Murthy holds that such combinations give life-long results, while the individual planets give their results during their own dasha and bhukti (period and sub-period). deFouw and Svoboda treat the graha yoga as a defined combination of grahas.

In Practice

Here you weigh the cluster as one combination rather than reading each graha on its own. Jataka Parijata lists thirty-five three-planet combinations, each with its own phala (predicted result) — Sun, Moon, and Mars together, for instance, make a person one who extirpates enemies, wealthy and politic — and Sastri's Notes point you to Horaratna for the effects house by house. Raman, citing Saravali, reads Shadgraha (six planets together) as making someone a wanderer, a fighter, and a person of good conduct. For the garland form, Rath reads the chain's starting sign as the method or purpose and its closing sign as the fruits, the yoga unfolding during the joined periods of the planets that make up the chain. deFouw and Svoboda advise mastering the principles of interpretation rather than memorizing the many catalogued combinations.

Historical Origin

The Thrigraha series with its thirty-five combinations comes from the classical Jataka Parijata of Vaidyanatha Dikshita, with Sastri's Notes citing Horaratna. Murthy lays out the full Dwigraha-to-Shadgraha series in Phala Jyoutisha, and Raman cites Saravali for Shadgraha in Notable Horoscopes. The Grahamalika and Panch grahamalika garland forms are taught by Rath in Crux of Vedic Astrology, and deFouw and Svoboda treat the general graha yoga in Light on Life.

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Further Reading