Graha Drishti

GRA-ha DRISH-ti

sanskrit: ग्रह दृष्टि (Graha Dṛṣṭi)

Definition

Graha drishti is the Vedic idea of planetary aspect — the "sight" a planet (graha) casts on the houses and planets it can see. Drishti means sight or glance, from the root dṛś, "to see." Every planet aspects the 7th house from itself; Mars also aspects the 4th and 8th, Jupiter the 5th and 9th, and Saturn the 3rd and 10th. You count this aspect by whole signs and by houses, not by the degree-orbs of Western astrology, and it is different from rashi drishti, the aspect a sign casts.

In Tradition

Both the classical and the modern Jyotish literature treat graha drishti as a whole-house planetary sight that uses no orbs: every planet aspects the 7th from itself, and Mars, Jupiter and Saturn cast extra special full aspects — Mars on the 4th and 8th, Jupiter on the 5th and 9th, Saturn on the 3rd and 10th. That sets it apart from the degree-and-orb aspects of Western astrology and from rashi (sign) drishti.

In Practice

A jyotishi (Vedic astrologer) reads graha drishti to judge how one planet conditions another: what a placement brings shifts with which planet aspects it, so in Saravali the same Sun, Moon, Mercury or Jupiter in a sign is read one way when Jupiter aspects it and another when Saturn does. You can grade the strength — every planet casts a quarter sight on the 3rd and 10th, half on the 5th and 9th, three-quarters on the 4th and 8th, and full sight on the 7th — or set it numerically by the aspectual angle (Drishti Kona / Drishti Kendra), which peaks at the full opposition. The planet looking is the Drishti Graha, the one looked at the Drisya Graha. A harsh gaze can also harm: Prasna Marga's Drishti Badha (affliction by sight) is confirmed when the lord of harm aspects the Lagna (ascendant) or its lord, and a partial aspect gives partial affliction.

Historical Origin

The classical Sanskrit texts lay graha drishti out plainly: Parasara's Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra (Ch.26), Varahamihira's Brihat Jataka (Ch.II Sl.13), Kalyana Varma's Saravali, and Prasna Marga (Drishti Badha). Modern handbooks carry it forward — among them works by Frawley, Sutton, Charak, Behari, Raman, Rayudu, Larsen, Harness and Narasimha Rao.

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Further Reading