THE planets are said to be combust if they are very close to the Sun. If the longitudinal distance between the Sun and the planet is less than 12°, 17°, 14°, 11°, 10° and 15° respectively for the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn they are said to be in combustion. Mercury when retrograde can be as close to the Sun as 12° without getting combust. Similarly Venus when retrograde can be near the Sun upto 10° and above to avoid getting combust. Combustion makes the planets powerless as their rays are counteracted or neutralized completely by the rays from the Sun.
Benefic planets are very powerful in doing good while exalted. They are weak if they are eclipsed by the Sun’s rays. According to one theory, the malefics are strong if they are debilitated or in combustion. In the Ayurdaya method of computing the life-span by assessing the number of years contributed by each planet towards longevity, combustion takes away half of the longevity contributed by a planet which is in the combination. Combustion is therefore malefic and capable of cutting short the power of a planet. The exceptions to this rule are Venus and Saturn, who if combined with the Sun,contribute the full span of life.
“Planets in combination with the Sun produce results as follows:-
Moon • Makes the native henpecked and skilful in doing work.
Mars • Makes a person renowned and energetic but conceited.
Mercury • Gives learning,beauty and fickle mindedness.
Jupiter • Gives optimism, active life, wealth and royal favour.
Venus • Bestows intelligence and respect from relatives of the wife.
Saturn • Makes one dull witted and afraid of enemies.
It is seen that the Sun accentuates the good tendencies naturally possessed by the various planets. The Sun gives energy and his favorable combination promotes the special traits governed by each planet.“
Generally a planet gives the best due to its combination with other planets only if the conjunction is effective: i.e. the distance between the planets is less than 10° at least. The Sun’s association is sought to be viewed differently. The Sun being the largest of the seven planets and also a star emitting independent power, heat and light, affects the other planets if they move too close to him. All the planets get their power from the Sun and they revolve round the sun in elliptical orbits with the Sun as the centre. The angular distance between the Sun and a planet as measured from the Earth decides the degree of lustre emitted by the planets without vitiation by the Sun’s rays. Mercury in exact conjunction with the Sun (within 1″) is said to be very powerful in giving results. Those with such a combination in their horoscopes are said to be highly intelligent. The Sun-Mercury combination is capable of making one fickle-mined; still this unique conjunction (within 1″) sharpens the intellect. This feature is called cazimi.
Here are some charts to find out how Astangati or combustion of planets affects results.
Chart 1: Rajaji: Born December 9, 1878 at 5h.20m. at 12 N 43, 77 E 49.
Chart 2: Swami Sivananda: Born September 7/8, 1887 at 8 N 48, 71 E 40.
In Chart 1, Venus is within 1° of the Sun and is therefore in severe combustion. Venus represents the life-partner and enjoyments. Venus rules the 7th and the 12th, ruling again the life-partner and bed comforts respectively. Venus combust took away the wife of this renowned statesman, rather early in life, though the native lived upto 94 years. The 7th house also rules partners in trade, occupation etc. Rajaji always differed from the views held by his compatriots in public and political life and separated rather frequently from his friends. I feel that this peculiar nature of Rajaji is explained by the acute combustion suffered by Venus, lord of the 7th. This combination falls in the 1st house, in opposition to the Moon in the 7th which relieves the combustion slightly from its very bad effects.
Chart 2 is of Swami Sivananda taken from Notable Horoscopes by Dr. B.V. Raman. Mercury is combust, the distance from the Sun being less than 3°. As the combust planet occupies the 2nd house, he experienced some misfortunes early in life. He lost his wife and wound up his medical practice in Malaya. Later he became a sanycisi. Rahu is in Aslesha ruled by Mercury. As Mercury in the 2nd is combust, he experienced setbacks in family life as Rahu Dasa ended and Jupiter Dasa started. Jupiter is also in Rahu’s Nakshatra. But Jupiter’s catholicity prevailed and after his renunciation he adopted the entire world as his family and was concerned with even trifling problems his devotees experienced and posed to him for solution. He fried to solve their difficulties and answered the several letters addressed to him daily. Mercury as lord of the 3rd made him write several books.
Chart 3: Male: Born May 26, 1883 at 3h.30m. at 51 N, 6 E 55
Chart 4: Male: Born October 27, 1935 at 29 N 20, 96 W 50
The Ascendant in Chart 3 is afflicted by Saturn and the Sun. Saturn is combust, the longitudinal difference being less than 5° from the Sun. Combust Saturn affected the person’s career, his mental make-up and general disposition. The Moon occupies a Rasi owned by Saturn who is afflicted in the 1st house. There is no relief afforded by the aspect of beneficial planets. He developed a criminal outlook and committed murders, sexual perversions and rapes and the end came with his execution after conviction. The disposition of the Ascendant hardened his outlook to such an extent that he enjoyed murdering children. The Sun ruling the 4th house (heart) is in Taurus owned by his enemy Venus who is in the 12th therefore. The Sun is also afflicted by malefic Saturn who in turn is combust. The Yogakaraka effects of Saturn were simply neutralized. In all evil association, the good results vanish with the bad effects fully materializing.
Chart 4 shows the Moon being close to the Sun. The distance between the Moon and the Sun is less than 3°. The 2nd house is afflicted. But the luminaries ruling the eyes are in the 12th which governs the left eye. The combustion of the Moon has aggravated the affliction. As both the luminaries are afflicted the native was totally blind, though he could identify his position in a dark room. The Sun and Venus have exchanged houses. Venus is afflicted by Saturn. Jupiter, lord of the 2nd, is not able to afford relief as he is flanked by Mars and Rahu on the one hand and the Sun on the other. But Jupiter could give his intrinsic Karaka effect. The native is affluent.
Chart 5: Male: Born December 29/30, 1912
Chart 6: Male: Born February 11, 1917 at 21h. 37m. at 15 N 28, 75 E 04
The time of birth is not available for Chart 5. Jupiter is combust in the 5th house being within 9° of the Sun. The 5th rules political influence. Jupiter placed therein gives ministership. The native was elected to the Lok Sabha early in Saturn Dasa and gained a place in the Central Cabinet after a period of anxiety. He became a Cabinet Minister too. But he later died in harness. He is reported to have lost his favourite son due to an accident in Mercury Bhukti. Jupiter’s position in the 5th will give anxiety as regards children and if weak, will cause their death.
Jupiter here is combust. The evil effects have been predominant in Saturn Dasa. Saturn is in Krittika ruled by the Sun and so the full effect of the Sun, good and bad, have been experienced in Saturn Dasa. Saturn is placed in the 10th ruling the means of livelihood and Karma. He has thus given the results of his occupation of the 10th house in a Nakshatra ruled by the Sun, lord of the 1st house, and placed in the 5th owned by Jupiter who has been rendered weak because of combustion.
Chart 6 relates to a person suffering from asthma. The distance separating Mars from the Sun is less that 4°. Mars is lord of the 3rd and affliction to that house is likely to produce asthma. Mars as lord of the 3rd is in the 6th ruling disease and in combustion. Because of his closeness to the Sun, there is no relief afforded by any beneficial aspect. Both the planets occupy a house owned by Saturn, an enemy of both. This bad position has produced the disease, which is considered to be incurable.
I have taken care to include only those illustrations where the combustion of only one planet in involved and where a house is occupied by only the Sun and the combust planet. The point will not be fully explained if the Sun and more than one planet other than Sun is involved. “It is also possible to have more than one planet combust. In such cases, the evil results are likely to be more predominant. Close conjunction with the Sun saps the energy of the combust planet and renders it incapable of producing good effects. The Sun is a malefic but Karaka for the soul. His strength is therefore necessary for one to get the best in life. The Sun’s association in good houses will definitely magnify the good results unless the combination results in combustion actually and spoils everything.” The Sun with Venus, the Moon, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter is capable of strengthening the horoscope. It is always better to have a planet in association with the Sun than to have him alone.
Let me conclude with another example (Chart 7) to show how the two planets suffering combustion have insulated the Sun’s evil nature and how the intrinsic worth of the three-planet combine has asserted itself.
Chart 7: H.H. Chandrasekhara Saraswati: Born May 20, 1894 at 13h. 16m. at 12 N 00, 79 E 20.
Chart 8: Brahmananda Reddy: Born July 28, 1909 at 20h.37m. at 16 N 18, 80 E 23.
The Sun as lord of the 1st is situated in the l0th with Mercury, lord of the 2nd and the l1th, and Jupiter lord of the 5th and the 8th, in Chart 1: Jupiter, is ahead of the Sun by less than 11° and Mercury is just 0° 21′ behind the Sun. The Sun and Mercury are therefore almost in the same longitude. This very close situation of Mercury with the Sun gives a sharp intellect. The Sun is hemmed between Mercury and Jupiter, Mercury in cazimi and Jupiter ahead of the fast moving planet. This peculiar three-planet combination in the 10th has fortified the 10th house.
In Bhava, the Sun and Mercury are in the 9th. Therefore the two houses, the 9th and the 10th, are fortified. The native Sri H.H. Chandrasekhara Saraswati Swamigal, the Paramacharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, was a scholar and very active. He was known for his powerful memory, sharp intellect and strict adherence to Dharma. The 9th Rasi is flanked by exalted Venus on the one hand and Jupiter-Mercury on the other leaving out the malefics. The lord of the Rasi where the three closely connected planets are situated is exalted in Pisces ruled by Jupiter thus causing a strong Parivartana Yoga.
The combination of planets seems operate even if any of the planets and the Sun were to be located in different signs. But I have not considered such cases here. Leaving out the shadowy planets the Sun is said to have superior strength and affliction to the planets caused by the Sun, intensified by the effect of combustion, will spoil the combination altogether. It is therefore to be inferred that the planets should not be situated too close to the Sun but also well within a respectable effective distance to produce the results ascribed to a combination with the Sun. Mars gets combust if he is at 17″ or less from the Sun. But if Mars and the Sun are separated by more than 20″, the combustion is not effective. Still, the intrinsic strength of a planet in combustion is also to be assessed and compared to that of the Sun and the full effects of combustion found out. In Libra, the Sun is debilitated. Venus is in his own house. If the combustion of Venus takes place in Libra, then, the affliction to Venus is not much and Venus will be able to assert himself and give out his best individual results, good or bad, as the case may be depending upon his ownership and the house he occupies. If on the other hand, the combustion of Venus takes place in Taurus, which is also owned by Venus, then the Sun will have a better say there as he has just emerged from his exaltation sign and Venus is stronger in Libra than in Taurus. Such variations also play a part in deciding whether the combustion is effective in nullifying the effects of a planet in combustion or not.
In Libra, the Sun is debilitated. Venus is in his own house. If the combustion of Venus takes place in Libra, then, the affliction to Venus is not much and Venus will be able to assert himself and give out his best individual results, good or bad, as the case may be depending upon his ownership and the house he occupies. . . .
The discussion will not be complete if the effects of the Sun causing combustion to other planets is not considered.
This aspect is brought out clearly by Chart 8 relating to Brahmananda Reddy who was the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. Mercury is combust as the difference in the longitudes of the Sun and Mercury is less than 3″. Mercury is ahead of the Sun. Mercury is in the 6th with the Sun. Venus and Jupiter are in the 7th. Thus the benefics cause Adhi Yoga, giving royal power. But Mercury is combust and he occupies Saturn’s Nakshatra. Luckily Mr. Reddy enjoyed Mercury Dasa at birth and Saturn Dasa would come only after his 95th year. During the Sun Dasa however he enjoyed political success and the friendship of people in power. He was also a member of the Legislative Assembly. The Sun having caused combustion of Mercury has absorbed Mercury’s power. Mercury ruling the 5th and the 8th is capable of giving political success. Further he has caused Adhi Yoga. Thus the Sun has given very good results. But the bad effects of combustion have manifested occasionally, as he had to give up power due to various causes. The strength of the Sun to give good is also due to the fact that the Moon, lord of Cancer, where the Sun and Mercury are situated is debilitated in the 10th but gets cancellation due to the occupation of a Kendra (angle) by Venus and as the Moon is also in a quadrant from Jupiter thus giving rise to Gaja Kesari Yoga. These strong indications have fortified the Sun to confer a successful political career, which flourished further as soon as the Moon Dasa started.
This example illustrates the point that the Sun though afflicting a planet can absorb the good effects of the afflicted planet and radiate good results provided the Sun is favourably placed and harmoniously linked to the lord of the house occupied by the Sun. Combustion isthus an intricate subject requiring careful analysis before predictions are ventured.
Courtesy: MODERN ASTROLOGY
