burning coals – he bears multiple arms and is adorned with akṣamālā (rudrākṣa garlands).
6
KUJA (Mars)
Śrī Laṅkān Abisambidana Yantra deemed effective for the propitiation of Mars, warding off accidents, injury, infections and fevers. This yantra appeases Lord Kuja, grants strength, endurance and the will to defeat of one’s enemies. This yantra promotes technical skills and respect from one’s subordinates, elevating its wearer to a position of authority.
Mars has fierce eyes, a youthful appearance (thin waist) and is generous in disposition. His constitution is predominately bile; he is extremely fickle by nature. His limbs are fine and of a reddish hue, he is energetic and lustful, his tendencies are toward the quality of Tamas (darkness).
Jātaka Pārijāta by Vaidyanātha Dīkṣita
Kuja pre-eminently holds the position of commander-in-chief. He rides in a golden chariot born of fire. He is masculine, of reddish complexion and Kṣatriya by caste. Pitta in dosha, his taste is pungent, his element fire. Mars dresses in coarse red fabrics gaining strength in Earth signs. Mars is exalted in the sign of Capricorn (specifically 28°), and is similarly debilitated at the same degree in Cancer. Mars is said to be representative of Sāmaveda. The effects of Mars mature in the 28th year of life.
Mars is martial in his manner and represents shakti (power/energy). His guna is tamasic; his build is muscular (without height), his waist is narrow. If strongly placed in a horoscope, Mars promotes tactical skill and a combative temperament. He is fierce and able to endure prolonged physical hardship. Mars is a fighter and survivor. He floods the body with freshly oxygenated blood, creating heat, drive and passion helping to burn up āma (toxins) with the fire element. Sometimes he can push the body to its utmost limits, ultimately bringing fatigue and burnout.
Mars can be a lifesaver, but prefers fight to flight. If he withdraws it is only to regroup before continuing the onslaught. Ironically, Mars may be the most philanthropic of planets, always craving a just cause!
Kuja is cruel of nature, but was also thought to be less so to those who afford him propitiation. Mars is deemed to prosper in the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 10th houses of the horoscope. His metal is iron. Kuja rules Dina, the day.
Favourable Kuja: Kuja maintains youthful vigour, passion and competitive edge (literally ‘a will to win’). Kuja excels in stratagem, decisive acts and technical skill. One may benefit or profit from a younger sibling, acquire land (real estate) or receive patronage from a king. Kuja easily sequesters military force or wins the kinship of military personnel. Mars incurs the favour of both Karttikeya (god of war) and Bhumi (goddess of earth).
Unfavourable Kuja: One may be forced to suffer at the hands of siblings, endure difficult relations with a younger brother or sister, face losses through inheritance issues, lose properties to fire, or undergo periods of theft, accident or injury. One may feel restraint at the hands of military personnel, policemen or the law, manifest blood imbalances through toxins, contract muscular ailments, eye disorders, fever and injury through edged weapons or sharp objects. Kuja Dosha1 is a notorious disturbance of married life, initiated by a challenging Mars residing in houses that relate to marital harmony.2
Bala (strength): Kuja is considered well-disposed if the following are applicable: if highlighted on his own day (Tuesday) or in the signs Aries and Scorpio (own), Capricorn (exalted), Aquarius or Pisces. Mars gains in stature during the night or when journeying toward the southern regions (Dakshināyana). Mars favours the earlier degrees of Rashis and brings prosperity when 10th from Lagna. Kuja is said to gain in potency when retrograde.
Undertakings on Tuesday: Sacrificial offerings on Tuesdays are considered fruitful/auspicious for those wishing to receive benefit from Kuja. Acts or undertakings include: the art of warfare and military tactics, surgeries, construction of forts, combat and the procurement of weapons, competitions, exercise, taking command of subordinates, philanthropic endeavours, mining ores, working with metals (forging), the manufacture of weapons, harvesting of coral (red), redwoods and red flowers, heating spices, pungent foods, crudeness, roguery and ostentatious behaviour.
| Alternative names for Kuja | |
| Angáraka | Glowing like a heated coal |
| Maṇgala | Auspiciousness or auspicious actions |
| Bhūmiputra | Child of the Earth |
| Śiva-gharma-ja | Born from the sweat of Lord Śiva |
| Vakra | Curved or crooked (orbit) |
| Janma | Birthed |
| Navārchi | Nine-rayed |
| Rināntaka | Ender of debts |
6.1 ASTRONOMICAL
First of the exterior planets, Mars is well noted to resemble (in apparent magnitude and colour) the stars Antares (α Scorpii) and Aldebaran (α Tauri), over which it frequently passes. Easily visible to the naked eye and discerned as having a reddish hue, its radiance is best witnessed when rising, just after sunset, or when setting before sunrise (both indicating its greater proximity to Earth). Although twice as distant from the Sun as Venus, during opposition (see Chapter 18) Mars can at times be less than 35,000,000 miles from Earth. During conjunction it can be as far distant as 230,000,000 miles.
Wariness of the red planet appears to have been documented as early as 1000 bc, the Babylonians referring to this martial wanderer as Nergal (god of death and pestilence). Later discoveries of its twin satellites bestowed the names Phobos (meaning fear) and Deimos (terror) upon the two small rocky bodies. Both names are Greek in origin and previously awarded to the sons of Ares and Aphrodite (Mars and Venus).
Martian terrain is breathtakingly unique and largely asymmetrical, making its hemispheres a forged-welded affair, with smooth northern plains or lowlands sharply contrasted against the cratered, mountainous southern highlands.3 Generally the borders between hemispheres differ significantly with some areas exceeding 1.5 miles in elevation. This gives Mars the appearance of an orange stripped of skin toward its northern axis. Martian soil has been shown to contain high concentrations of iron oxide (essentially rust), giving the planet its characteristic red colour – yet ironically this planet emits an extremely weak magnetic field, perhaps one thousand times less than of the Earth.
A Martian sidereal day is 24 hours 37 minutes and 22 seconds in length; its axial inclination to its orbital plane is approximately 25°, strikingly similar to the Earth and matching our own seasonal cycles.4 Were humans to colonise the red planet,5 inhabitants would enjoy the spectacle of Earth as both morning and evening star, with Moon-like phases and periodic retrograde activity. On occasion Earth could also be seen to transit the face of the solar disc, appearing as a distant dark orb, accompanied by its rather disproportionate satellite – the Moon.
6.2 PRIMARY KĀRAKAS OF MARS
| Primary Kārakas |
| Fighting, competition, competitive nature, vitality, physical strength, short stature, thin waist, firmness of limbs, leanness, warring, battles, carrying weapons, masculinity, anger, arguments, violence, injuries, fire, firearms, iron, ironware, steel, copper, metals, alloys, strength, honour, courage in the face of adversity, armies, military personnel, the colour red, philanthropy, abuse and criticism, resilience, accidents, minerals, gemstones, red ochre, carnelian, red agate, a wicked person, southerly direction, property, buildings, bloodshed, dictatorship, lust, youthful figure, edged weapons, mechanisms, contraptions, thieves, opposition, controversies, heat, forges, metalcraft, alchemy, chemistry, pungent taste, the Nakshatras Mrigashirsha, Chitrā and Dhanistha, foul language, consumption of
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