Special Drekkanas

Definition

Special or named drekkanas are certain decanates — a decanate, or drekkana, is one 10° third of a sign — that Jyotish singles out as danger markers, used above all to judge death. The chief one is the 22nd, or Khara, drekkana: you count twenty-two decanates from the Lagna's (the rising sign's) own decanate, which lands you on the first decanate of the 8th house from the Lagna. Several sources also name the Sarpa (serpent), Ayudha (weapon), Nigala or Nigada (fetters), Pasa (noose) and Vyala drekkanas as inauspicious, death-related decanates.

In Tradition

Across classical and modern Jyotish, these named decanates are read as death and danger markers, with the 22nd (Khara) drekkana from the Lagna as the chief one — astrologers look to its lord and nature to disclose the manner and cause of death. Saravali says that when this decanate of the 8th house is a Pasa, Sarpa or Nigala, “death will be reticent.” The sources agree on this broad doctrine but differ on which decanate carries which name.

In Practice

To find the 22nd drekkana, the astrologer counts twenty-two decanates from the Lagna's own decanate, or takes the first decanate of the 8th house; Raman's shortcut is to place the Lagna's degrees in the 8th sign. You then read its lord and the character of that 10° third — fiery, watery, serpent or weapon — for how and why death may come. Raman reads an Ayudha (weapon) drekkana as death by a weapon, such as a shooting or crushing accident, and Sarpa, Nigala or Pasa drekkanas rising in the 8th as death by hanging or in captivity. Charak holds that the lord and any planets in the 22nd drekkana can bring death and disease, and that the Sarpa decanates of the watery signs produce ill health during their dashas (the periods when those placements rule the timeline). The 22nd drekkana is always weighed alongside the marakas (the death-dealing planets) and an afflicted 8th house — never rushed or read alone.

Historical Origin

The 22nd/Khara drekkana appears in classical Sanskrit texts, among them the Jataka Parijata of Vaidyanatha Dikshita and the Saravali of Kalyana Varma — here in R. Santhanam's translation, which adds an identification note. Modern authors then drew it out further: K.S. Charak in Elements of Vedic Astrology, B.V. Raman in Hindu Predictive Astrology, How to Judge a Horoscope and Notable Horoscopes, and Rao in Yogis, Destiny and the Wheel of Time.

Further Reading

• Kalyana Varma, Saravali
• Vaidyanatha Dikshita, Jataka Parijata
• Charak, Elements of Vedic Astrology
• Raman, Hindu Predictive Astrology
• Raman, How to Judge a Horoscope, Volume Two
• Raman, Notable Horoscopes
• Rao, Yogis, Destiny and the Wheel of Time