Visa Kanya Yoga

If some people live the lives of Lakshmis and Kuberas, others seem destined to experience relationship outcomes that are more difficult to enjoy. Over the many centuries that Jyothisha has been used to deliberate the purpose and effect of relationships, certain pointers toward less than desirable relationship experiences have been identified. We here introduce four of these, three of which are judged typically from a single horoscope and a fourth, which, judged initially from a single horoscope, is then compared to the chart of a prospective spouse. While the first of these focuses on the two luminaries, being based on combinations of the day of the week, the naksharta, and the phase of the Moon at birth, the others each center on one of the major malefic: Mars, Rahu, Ketu and Saturn.

The title Visha Kanya (literally, “poison maiden”) comes from a reprehensible practice of yesteryear in which kings’ located girls whose horoscopes promised widowhood. These girls were sequestered at an early age and fed many types of poisons in gradually increasing does to make them immune to their deleterious effects. By the time they reached puberty, these girls were thoroughly toxic and ready for use. The king who had directed the process was then ready to present one of these visha kanys to anyone whom he wanted to kill, for any man who embraced such a lady would die after a very short time. One legend holds that Aristotle warned Alexander the Great about the dangers of such “venomous virgins”; another suggests that Alexander dies as a result of the embrace of a visha kanya who was awarded to him as tribute by the defeated King Porus.

Obviously no one would want to marry a poison damsel, for she would be widowed almost as soon as her husband first caressed her. Even after the process of “toxifying” such girls had dies away, the fear of marrying women with what are reputed to be visha kanya combinations in their charts remained alive. As with kuja dosha, part of the effect that the legend of a visha kanya produces is likely due to cultural and psychological factors, with fear of the deleterious influence of such astrological visha kanyas tending to produce a self-fulfilling prophecy of martial doom. Unfortunately, in some quarters, this visha kanya designation is still used indiscriminately to brand certain women as unfit for marriage. One still occasionally reads in books from India that women having visha kanya combinations should be avoided as marriage partners. Some claim that males who are born during these combinations will destroy their families and their clan, and that females will destroy their husbands. We foment on the visha kanys phenomenon in the hope that this esoteric curiosity of Jyothisha finds a useful place in the modern context, and that its potential for unfounded grief and superstition is diminished.

Visha kanya is defined by some classical authorities as a birth that occurs:

• On a Saturday, Sunday, or Tuesday which is a dvitiya ( that second tithi or day of the lunar fortnight), when the Moon occupies Ashlesha, Shatabhisha, or Krittika nakshatrs;
• On a Sunday which is a dvadashi ( 12th tithi), when the Moon occupies Shatabhisha;
• On a Tuesday which is a saptami ( 7tn tithi), when the Moon occupies Vishakaha;
• When the Moon in Bharani falls on a Sunday, Moon in Chitra on a Monday, in Mula on a Tuesday, in Dhanishtha on a Wednesday, in Jyeshtha on a Thurday, in Purva Ashadha on a Friday, or in Revati on a Saturday;
• When Saturn occupies the Ascendant, the Sun is in the 5th bhava and Mars tenants the 9th bhava.

Maharshi Parashara, who obviously preferred more stringent conditions for this combination, defines visha kanya any birth that occurs:

• On a Sunday which is a dvitioya ( the 2nd tithi or a day of the lunar fortnight), when the Moon occupies Ashlesha;
• On a Saturday which is a saptami (7th tithi), when the Moon occupies Krittika;
• On a Tuesday which is a dvadashi (12th thithi), when the Moon occupies Shatabhisha;
• In an Ascendant occupied by a benefic and by a malefic, both of which occupy the rashi of an enemy.
• A benefic and a malefic must occupy the Ascendant and two malefics must appear in the 7th bhave.

Parashara also adds two very important cancellations for visha kanya combination that are too often overlooked. They occur:

When the lord of the 7th bhava occupies its own bhava, as counted from either the Ascendant or from the Moon.

When a benefic occupies the 7th bhava, counted from either the Ascendant or from the Moon.

Other situations that preclude predictions of total doom for a visha kanya exist, the most notable being that the danger of destruction is said to be averted if benefices aspect the Moon. It is thus probably better to view these visha kanya combinations mainly as historical curiosities, unless strong confluence for widowhood appears elsewhere in the chart. Sadly, some Indian ultra traditionalists within orthodox Indian communities continue to “slander” their clients by literalizing combinations like visha kanya or kuja dosha, effectively destroying their marital prospects in certain cases. Such “pundits” often employ the strong Indian belief in horoscopy to spawn socially imposed “truths” that are as fallacious as the perverse portrayal of AIDS as a viral agent of moral retribution.

Although true visha kanya combinations are quite rare, one modern interpolation that readers may wish to test is our observation that the few people who do have than are often prone to addiction, allergy, or some other variety of hypersensitivity. Visha kanya combinations can, for both males and females, foster heightened susceptibility to alcohol, drugs, or tobacco, lactose intolerance, environmental and emotional sensitivities, food abuse, and other such over reactive states.

Even when thery are present, however, visha kanya combinations should not be used as the sole criteria for assuming addictive or unduly sensitive metabolic or behavioral patterns. Corroboration must be present, as it is when a visha kanya combination appears in conjunction with the “poison line” ( Visha rekha) of hand analysis. In such a situation, these tendencies amplify dramatically, especially in a very long, and narrow hand. The “poison line” is a horizontal line on the ulnar side of the plam, about one inch above the main crease mark at the wrist. The line, which is typically about one inch long, runs from the outside of the hand towards its center, parallel to the wrist. When present, it is usually quite visible, though it is typically much fainter than the main flexion lines of the hand. Caution about addiction or hypersensitivity is likely to be warranted if you find visha kanya combination is the horoscope of a potential relationship partner who has such a palm.