All 52 chapters
  1. Part 1 · The sky and the chart
  2. The sky above us
  3. Time and place of birth
  4. Two zodiacs
  5. How a chart is drawn
  6. Part 2 · The building blocks
  7. The 9 planets
  8. The 12 signs
  9. The 27 nakshatras
  10. The 12 houses
  11. The lagnas
  12. Part 3 · How planets work together
  13. How planets interact
  14. Friends, dispositors, exchanges
  15. House lords
  16. Reading one placement
  17. Part 4 · Strength and condition
  18. Dignity in depth
  19. A planet's mood
  20. Planetary strength
  21. Ashtakavarga in depth
  22. Part 5 · Patterns: yogas and doshas
  23. Yogas
  24. Doshas
  25. Part 6 · The nakshatras up close
  26. Reading a nakshatra
  27. Tara Bala
  28. Part 7 · Divisional charts
  29. Divisional charts
  30. Navamsa in depth
  31. Part 8 · Timing
  32. Dashas
  33. Transits
  34. The annual chart (Tajika)
  35. Part 9 · Relationships
  36. Compatibility
  37. Marriage in depth
  38. Part 10 · Advanced systems
  39. Special points
  40. Jaimini astrology
  41. Arudha padas
  42. KP astrology
  43. Nadi astrology
  44. Part 11 · Choosing the moment
  45. Panchanga
  46. Muhurta
  47. Prashna (horary)
  48. Part 12 · Life areas
  49. Career, money and business
  50. Travel, abroad, spirituality
  51. Health and longevity
  52. Karma and past lives
  53. Remedies
  54. Rectifying a birth time
  55. Part 13 · Western astrology
  56. Western astrology basics
  57. Aspects and chart shapes
  58. Western prediction
  59. Synastry
  60. Horary and electional
  61. Part 14 · The wider world
  62. Mundane astrology and eclipses
  63. Astrocartography and branches
  64. Part 15 · Putting it all together
  65. How it all fits
  66. How AstroMatch4u scores a chart
  67. Using astrology well
Part 12Life areas
CHAPTER 41

Remedies (upayas)

What does tradition suggest when a planet is troubled, and what should I avoid?

Tradition offers upayas, remedies, to steady a troubled planet. Most of them are simple, free and good for you anyway: prayer, discipline, kindness and charity. The expensive ones are the ones to be careful with.

The kinds of remedy

MantraRepeating a planet's mantra. Each planet has a seed (beej) mantra; Gayatri and Navagraha mantras are also used.
Dana (charity)Giving the planet's items on its day: wheat on Sunday, rice or milk on Monday, red lentils on Tuesday, green gram on Wednesday, yellow lentils or turmeric on Thursday, white clothes or sugar on Friday, black sesame or mustard oil on Saturday.
Vrata (fasting)Fasting or eating simply on the planet's weekday.
Seva (service)Living the planet's best qualities: serving elders and workers for Saturn, helping teachers for Jupiter, caring for your mother for the Moon.
Puja and deity worshipWorship of the deity linked with a planet (Surya, Shiva, Hanuman, Vishnu, Durga and others); temple visits such as the Navagraha temples.
YantraA geometric diagram used as a focus for a planet's mantra.
RudrakshaSeeds worn by "faces" (mukhi); one to nine faces are linked to the Sun through Ketu in common practice.
Timing remediesChoosing a good muhurta, or doing a planet's remedy during its own dasha or a hard transit.

Gemstones

SunRuby
MoonPearl
MarsRed coral
MercuryEmerald
JupiterYellow sapphire
VenusDiamond
SaturnBlue sapphire
RahuHessonite (gomed)
KetuCat's eye

The traditional idea is that a gem strengthens its planet; it does not calm it. So the rule astrologers themselves give is:

  • Never strengthen a planet that rules difficult houses for your lagna (for example the lord of the 6th, 8th or 12th), or one that is causing the trouble.
  • Gems are usually suggested only for the lagna lord and the lords of good houses (the 5th and 9th) when they are weak.
  • Blue sapphire and the Rahu/Ketu stones are treated with special caution.
  • A gem is not a cure, and no stone should cost you money you cannot spare.
Be wary of fear-based remedies. If someone says you must pay for an expensive puja or stone to avoid disaster, that is a sales pitch, not astrology. The best remedies in every classical text are free: discipline, honesty, prayer, service and charity. And none of them replaces a doctor, a lawyer or a financial adviser.

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