Shoola Dasha & the Rudra / Niryana death-dasha family (Jaimini)

sanskrit: शूल दशा (śūla daśā)

Definition

Shoola Dasa — the "trident" or "spear" dasa — is a sign-based timing system from the BPHS that some scholars use to judge when death may come. Santhanam and Kapoor have it begin from whichever is stronger, the 2nd or the 8th house. Its Rudra is the death-dealing planet: for Santhanam the stronger of the 2nd- and 8th-house lords; for Narasimha Rao a fierce form of Shiva and the stronger relevant 8th lord. The Trishoola — three trines from the sign the Rudra occupies — are read as the signs that can bring death.

In Tradition

As Santhanam and Kapoor render the BPHS, the Shoola (or Soola) Dasa is a death-timing sign-dasa that begins from the stronger of the 2nd or 8th house; death is judged in the dasa of the stronger killing sign, and the Rudra is the planet that marks the possible time it may come.

In Practice

A jyotishi (Vedic astrologer) turns to Shoola Dasa to time death and longevity. Santhanam notes the Rudra normally features in the Soola Dasa to mark the possible time of death; Kapoor's BPHS runs it forward for an odd sign and backward for an even one, on the Sthira-Dasa spans of 7, 8 and 9 years set by modality. Narasimha Rao separates a Niryaana Shoola dasa — from the stronger of the 2nd or 8th, movable, fixed or dual at 7, 8 or 9 years — from a distinct Shoola dasa that starts from the stronger of the lagna (ascendant) or 7th, always runs zodiacally at nine years per sign, with death usually falling in the dasa of one of the three Trishoola signs. Rath applies Shoola-type sign-dasas at nine years each to time a relative's death: Pitri, Matri, Bhratri, Dara and Matru Shoola for father, mother, co-borns, spouse and maternal kin.

Historical Origin

The Shoola Dasa is set down in the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (BPHS) of Maharshi Parasara — at Ch.5 Sl.16-20 in Santhanam's translation and Ch.46 Sl.181-182 in Kapoor's. Later authors built out the wider death-dasa family: Narasimha Rao (Vedic Astrology: An Integrated Approach), Rath (Crux of Vedic Astrology, Brhat Naksatra), Frawley (Astrology of the Seers) and Charak (Elements of Vedic Astrology) on the Niryana sidereal frame.

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Further Reading