Chapter on the Birth-Chamber (sūtikā) — Bṛhat-Pārāśara-Horāśāstra, Adhyāya 9

सूतिकाध्यायः

The complete Chapter on the Birth-Chamber (sūtikā) chapter of the Bṛhat-Pārāśara-Horāśāstra — all 32 verses, each in the original Sanskrit with VedicSpace's clean-room English translation, cited by śloka. Translated from the Chaukhamba (Devachandra Jha) edition and audited against the printed plates.

Śloka 1 — Invocation and transition — Parāśara opens the sūtikā chapter

अथाहं सूतिकाध्यायं वक्ष्यामि शृणु सुव्रत! । पुरा प्रसङ्गवशतो ब्रह्मणा कथितं यथा ॥ १ ॥

Now I shall declare the chapter on the birth-chamber; listen, O you of excellent vows [Maitreya] — just as it was told to me of old by Brahmā in the course of our discourse.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 1

Śloka 2 — Preliminaries — exact birth time, true graha longitudes, lagna

यन्त्रैः स्पष्टतरो वेद्यो जन्मकालस्तथा पुनः । साध्याः स्पष्टखगाश्चैवं लग्नं साध्यं यथोदितम् ॥ २ ॥

By instruments the moment of birth is to be ascertained with the utmost exactness; and then the true positions of the grahas are to be computed, and likewise the lagna is to be worked out as has already been stated.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 2

Śloka 3 — Father-significator: Sun by day, Saturn by night

लग्नाद्द्वादशभावेषु ग्रहाः स्थाप्या, दिवा जनौ । सूर्यो रात्रौ सूर्यपुत्रो जनकौ परिकीर्तितौ ॥ ३ ॥

The grahas are to be placed in the twelve bhāvas reckoned from the lagna. At a birth by day the Sun, and at night the son of the Sun (Saturn) — these two are declared to be the significators of the father.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 3

Śloka 4 — Mother-significator (Venus / Moon); whose house the birth occurs in

तथैव सितचन्द्रौ तु विज्ञेयौ मातृसंज्ञितौ । तयोर्मध्ये बली यः स्यात्तस्य गेहे जनिर्भवेत् ॥ ४ ॥

In the same way Venus and the Moon are to be known as bearing the designation of the mother [by day and by night respectively]. Whichever of the two is the stronger — in that one's house the birth takes place.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 4

Śloka 5 — Birth on the road (pathi janma)

नीचराशिगताः सौम्या ग्रहदृष्टिविवर्जिताः । चन्द्रो यदि भवेल्लग्ने पथि जन्म विनिर्दिशेत् ॥ ५ ॥

If the benefic grahas are gone to their nīca rāśi and are devoid of the dṛṣṭi of any graha, and the Moon is in the lagna, one should declare that the birth occurred on the road.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 5

Śloka 6 — Light in the birth-chamber — many lamps

सबलो भौमदृष्टश्च स्वक्षेत्रादिषु संस्थितः । सूर्यो यदा तदा ज्ञेयं बहुदीपान्वितं गृहम् ॥ ६ ॥

When the Sun is strong, aspected by Mars, and stationed in his svakṣetra or the like, then the [birth-]house is to be known as furnished with many lamps.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 6

Śloka 7 — Birth in darkness

जलभांशगतश्चन्द्रश्चतुर्थे भवने भवेत् । युक्तो मन्देन वा दृष्टोऽन्धकारे जायते जनिः ॥ ७ ॥

If the Moon, gone to the aṃśa of a watery rāśi, is in the fourth bhāva, and is either joined with Saturn or aspected by him, the birth takes place in darkness.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 7

Śloka 8 — Position of the lamp; wick from lagna, oil from Moon

यस्मिन् भागे भवेत्सूर्यस्तत्र दीपं वदेत् सुधीः । लग्नाद्वर्तिस्तथा चन्द्रात्तैलं वाच्यं मनीषिभिः ॥ ८ ॥

In whichever division the Sun stands, there let the wise man declare the lamp to be. Likewise the wick is to be pronounced from the lagna, and the oil from the Moon, by the discerning.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 8

Śloka 9 — Lamp steady or flickering, by cara/sthira/dvisvabhāva of the Sun's rāśi

चरेऽर्के चञ्चलो दीपः स्थिरर्क्षे तु स्थिरो भवेत् । द्विभे स्थितिर्द्वयोर्ज्ञेया सूर्यर्क्षवशतो बुधैः ॥ ९ ॥

When the Sun is in a cara rāśi the lamp is unsteady; in a sthira rāśi it is steady; in a dvisvabhāva rāśi the state of both is to be known by the wise, according to the rāśi of the Sun.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 9

Śloka 10 — Presentation at delivery — head-first, feet-first, hand-first

शीर्षाच्छीर्षोदये वाच्यः पादात् पृष्ठोदये मतः । करात्तदुभये ज्ञेयः प्रसवः सर्वदेहिनाम् ॥ १० ॥

When [the lagna] is a śīrṣodaya rāśi the delivery is to be declared as beginning from the head; in a pṛṣṭhodaya rāśi it is held to be from the feet; and in an ubhayodaya rāśi it is to be known as from the hand. So it is for all embodied beings.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 10

Śloka 11 — Direction of the door of the birth-chamber

केन्द्रस्थग्रहयोगाद्धा लग्नर्क्षाद्धा बलाधिकात् । द्वारं वाच्यं तु गेहस्य दिगीशक्रमतः सदा ॥ ११ ॥

The door of the house is always to be declared from the conjunction of grahas standing in a kendra, or from the strongest of them, or [failing that] from the rāśi of the lagna — following the order of the regents of the directions.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 11

Śloka 12 — Number and placement of attendant women (upasūtikā)

लग्नचन्द्रान्तरालस्थग्रहैः स्युरुपसूतिकाः । दृश्यादृश्यविभागाभ्यां बहिरन्तश्च ताः स्मृताः ॥ १२ ॥

The attending women are as many as the grahas standing in the interval between the lagna and the Moon; and by the visible and invisible divisions they are reckoned as being outside and inside [the chamber].

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 12

Śloka 13 — Multipliers for the count of attendants

स्वर्क्षादौ द्विगुणा ज्ञेया वक्रोच्चे त्रिगुणा मताः । यत्रोभयस्य सम्प्राप्तिस्त्रैगुण्यं तत्र वै सकृत् ॥ १३ ॥

For a graha in its own rāśi and the like the number is to be known as doubled; for one retrograde or in ucca it is held to be tripled. Where both conditions are obtained together, there the tripling is applied once only.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 13

Śloka 14 — Marital state of the attendants; moles from the Kāla-puruṣa limb

पापैस्तु विधवा ज्ञेयाः शोभनैः सधवाः स्मृताः । कालाङ्गे यत्र भौमार्कौ तत्र ज्ञेयं तिलादिकम् ॥ १४ ॥

By malefics they are to be known as widows; by benefics they are held to be women whose husbands are living. — In whichever limb of the Kāla[-puruṣa] Mars and the Sun stand, there a mole or the like is to be known.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 14

Śloka 15 — Dark marks from Saturn/Rāhu; head mark from Moon, Mars, Venus in lagna

शनिराहू स्थितौ यत्र तत्र श्यामलमादिशेत् । लग्ने चन्द्रारशुक्राश्चेच्चिह्नं शिरसि संस्थितम् ॥ १५ ॥

Wherever Saturn and Rāhu are stationed, there one should declare a dark mark. If the Moon, Mars and Venus are in the lagna, the mark is situated on the head.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 15

Śloka 16 — Mark on the left ear or head; Jupiter/Venus/Mars in the seventh

शुक्रेऽस्ते निधने राहुः वामकर्णेऽथ मस्तके । गुरुः शुक्रोऽथवा भौमो यदि द्यूने व्यवस्थितः ॥ १६ ॥

With Venus in the seventh and Rāhu in the eighth, [the mark is] on the left ear, or else on the head. If Jupiter, or Venus, or Mars is placed in the seventh —

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 16

Śloka 17 — Mark on the crown by graha-colour; Moon/Mars/Venus in lagna

तदा चिह्नं भवेन्मूर्ध्नि ग्रहवर्णानुसारतः । चन्द्रो वा क्षितिजो लग्नेऽथवा शुक्रो भवेद्यदि ॥ १७ ॥

— then the mark will be on the crown of the head, corresponding to the colour of that graha. If the Moon, or Mars, or Venus is in the lagna —

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 17

Śloka 18 — Head mark in the twelfth year; anus/genital mark from Saturn–Mars in a koṇa

द्वादशाब्दे तदा चिह्नं शीर्षे स्यान्नात्र संशयः । त्रिकोणस्थार्किभौमाभ्यां गुदे लिङ्गेऽपि वा दिशेत् ॥ १८ ॥

— then in the twelfth year a mark will be on the head; there is no doubt in this. From Saturn and Mars standing in a koṇa, one should declare a mark on the anus, or else on the genitals.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 18

Śloka 19 — Mark on the belly

सुखे लग्नेऽथवा मन्दस्त्रिकोणे भार्गवो यदि । मृत्युस्थौ बुधदेवेज्यौ जठरौ तत् समादिशेत् ॥ १९ ॥

If Saturn is in the fourth or in the lagna, and Venus in a koṇa, and Mercury and Jupiter are placed in the eighth, then one should declare that mark to be on the belly.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 19

Śloka 20 — Mark on the left foot

शुक्रार्कराहवश्चेत् स्युः सुखे लग्नेऽथवा कुजे । तदा चिह्नं भवेन्नूनं वामपादे विशेषतः ॥ २० ॥

If Venus, the Sun and Rāhu are in the fourth, or if Mars is in the lagna, then the mark will assuredly be, and especially so, on the left foot.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 20

Śloka 21 — Mark on the left ear; mark on the left arm

शुक्रो लग्नेऽष्टमे राहुश्चिह्नं वामश्रुतौ शिशोः । जीवो लग्ने मदे राहुस्तदा वामभुजे वदेत् ॥ २१ ॥

Venus in the lagna and Rāhu in the eighth — the child's mark is on the left ear. Jupiter in the lagna and Rāhu in the seventh — then declare it on the left arm.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 21

Śloka 22 — Marks on both arms

अष्टमे रजनीनाथो व्ययस्थौ गुरुभार्गवौ । मदस्थौ मन्दमाहेयौ तदा चिह्नं भुजद्वये ॥ २२ ॥

The lord of night (the Moon) in the eighth, Jupiter and Venus placed in the twelfth, and Saturn and Mars placed in the seventh — then the mark is on both arms.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 22

Śloka 23 — Mark at the navel

शुक्रो धनेऽथ कर्मस्थौ सैंहिकेयशनैश्चरौ । अष्टमे दिवसाधीशो नाभौ चिह्नं तदा दिशेत् ॥ २३ ॥

Venus in the second, Rāhu and Saturn placed in the tenth, and the lord of day (the Sun) in the eighth — then one should declare the mark at the navel.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 23

Śloka 24 — Mark on the waist

शुक्रभौमौ तृतीयस्थौ द्वितीये रजनीपतिः । दशमे भवने मन्दश्चिह्नं कटिगतं भवेत् ॥ २४ ॥

Venus and Mars placed in the third, the Moon in the second, and Saturn in the tenth bhāva — the mark will be on the waist.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 24

Śloka 25 — Mark on the heart

त्रिषडाये यदा सौम्यो व्यये वाचस्पतिर्भवेत् । सहजे च भवेत् काव्यस्तदा चिह्नं हृदि स्थितम् ॥ २५ ॥

When Mercury is in the third, sixth or eleventh, Jupiter is in the twelfth, and Venus is in the third — then the mark is situated on the heart.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 25

Śloka 26 — Birth in the father's absence

लग्ने मन्दो मदे भौमश्चन्द्रो लग्नं न पश्यति । बुधशुक्रान्तरे चन्द्रः परोक्षे स्याज्जनिः पितुः ॥ २६ ॥

Saturn in the lagna, Mars in the seventh, the Moon not aspecting the lagna, and the Moon lying between Mercury and Venus — the birth takes place out of the father's sight.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 26

Śloka 27 — Sun in a cara rāśi in the 8th or 9th — father absent

अष्टमे नवमे वापि चरभे यदि भास्करः । परोक्षे जन्म जातस्य पितुः स्यान्नात्र संशयः ॥ २७ ॥

If the Sun is in the eighth or in the ninth, in a cara rāśi, the native's birth occurs out of the father's sight; there is no doubt in this.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 27

Śloka 28 — Father far away at the birth

कर्मभावं विना दृश्ये चरभे यदि भास्करः । लग्नं चन्द्रो न पश्येच्चेद् दूरसंस्थः शिशोः पिता ॥ २८ ॥

If the Sun is in a cara rāśi in the visible half [of the chart] apart from the tenth bhāva, and if the Moon does not aspect the lagna, the child's father is stationed far away.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 28

Śloka 29 — Death of the father in a foreign land

रात्रौ जन्म यदा यस्य, भौमयुक्तः शनैश्चरः । चरस्थः परदेशे तु तातस्य निधनं वदेत् ॥ २९ ॥

When a person's birth is at night, and Saturn joined with Mars stands in a cara rāśi, one should declare the father's death in a foreign land.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 29

Śloka 30 — Father afflicted with disease

अष्टमे वा व्यये पापा लग्नेशो बलसंयुतः । सुखेऽथ नवमे वापि रोगयुक्तस्तदा पिता ॥ ३० ॥

Malefics in the eighth or in the twelfth, and a lagneśa endowed with strength in the fourth or in the ninth — then the father is afflicted with disease.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 30

Śloka 31 — Father diseased — Saturn and Mars aspecting a strong Sun in the lagna

लग्नस्थं सबलं सूर्यं शनिभौमौ प्रपश्यतः । जन्मकाले तदा तस्य रोगयुक्तः पिता भवेत् ॥ ३१ ॥

If at the time of birth Saturn and Mars aspect a strong Sun placed in the lagna, then that person's father will be afflicted with disease.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 31

Śloka 32 — No happiness from the father

चतुर्थे दशमे वापि शनिभौमार्कखेचराः । शुभसम्बन्धहीनाश्चेत्तदा पितृसुखं नहि ॥ ३२ ॥

If the grahas Saturn, Mars and the Sun are in the fourth or in the tenth, and are devoid of connection with benefics, then there is no happiness from the father.

BPHS Adhyāya 9, śloka 32