Tuesday October 13th—the Kshatriya and the Guru

If you’ve been following the movement of the planets in the eastern sky before sunrise, you may have noticed that Mars and Jupiter are now very close together—for the next week they will be within one degree of each other, with an exact conjunction Saturday October 17^th at 3:40pmPDT. This is a high-powered transit combining the physical energy and confidence of Mars with the optimism and expansiveness of Jupiter to generate fortunate action. During this transit we tend to feel strong and fit, and more willing to take chances than usual. The conjunction of Mars and Jupiter takes place in Purvaphalguni (the first fruit of the gunas) nakshatra in the sign of Leo. The main symbol for Purvaphalguni is a couch, indicating a time of rest, relaxation, and amusement following the fulfillment of our worldly duties. The ruling deity of Purvaphalguni is Bhaga (Delight), one of the twelve solar deities who are the sons of Aditi, and, therefore, known as the Adityas. Bhaga is a deity who bestows rest, pleasure, and sexual passion as well as prosperity, worldly comforts and renown. When we are strongly influenced by Purvaphalguni we have a tendency to feel self centered and can acquire an insatiable thirst for self-glorification. The planetary ruler of Purvaphalguni is Venus and the primary energy of this asterism is called “prajanani shakti”—the power to procreate. Bhaga is also a name for the female reproductive organ.

Early this morning as I looked into the eastern sky and saw Mars and Jupiter nestled close together, the thought came to me that this conjunction is like Krishna (Jupiter) and Arjuna (Mars) standing together on the brink of the great battle of the Mahabharata, poised to begin the immortal dialogue of the Bhagavad Gita. Mars is associated with Kartikkeya, the son of Shiva who is the Indian god of war, and Jupiter is known as Guru, the dispeller of darkness. In the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita, as Arjuna surveys the opposing army and sees his cousins, his grandfather, his uncles, and his guru, he is overcome with despair and lays down his weapons, vowing not to fight. At that critical point in the story, Krishna must convince Arjuna, in the ensuing 18 chapters, that it is his dharma to fight.  Under the current influence of Mars/Jupiter conjunct in Purvaphalguni this conversation might have gone differently, perhaps something like this: Krishna addresses Arjuna, “Arjuna, where have you been? How could you possibly be late on the most important day of your life?” Arjuna replies, “I slept in, Krishna. You forget that I spent the 13^th year of my exile as a eunuch and have just recently had my manhood restored. Draupadi looked so fetching this morning that I just couldn’t help myself.” To this Krishna replied, “Your brothers are counting on you to win this war for them and all you can think of is self-gratification?” “Not to worry, Krishna,” says Arjuna, “I am the greatest warrior the world has ever known—the Kauravas are toast.”  

Obviously, such a Gita would be very short and lacking in inspiration. A little self- doubt now and then is good for our humility. I remember passing an old country church once with a placard out front with the message, “If God is your co-pilot, you need to change seats.”