Astrology and Spirituality- Jupiter

By KVRK Bhargav

(Bhargav is a student of Swami who after completing his B.Tech in Textile Engineering graduated with an MBA from the the Sri Sathya Sai University in 2001. Ever since, he has had the great fortune of waiting for Swami’s direct guidance. He has been blessed with many interactions with Swami and he pursues astrology as a hobby to understand how it complements and dovetails spirituality. He shares his insights on how the planets are not causes of fear; rather they all serve the common goal of prodding man towards his spiritual destiny of Self Realization)

Budhei is popularly known as the Laughing Buddha is admired for his happiness, plenitude, wisdom and contentment. The laughing Buddha is regarded as one of the most auspicious Gods of wealth and charity.   He has a protruding belly, a short stature, long flowing robe, with a linen sack full of sweetmeats to be given to children who make a beeline wherever he goes. An infectious smile always plays on his lips.

Laughing Buddha

He is based on an eccentric Chinese Ch'an (Zen) monk who lived over 1,000 years ago and has become a significant part of Buddhist and Shinto culture. Because of this monk's benevolent nature, he came to be regarded as an incarnation of the bodhisattva.

The Laughing Buddha personifies the characteristics of planet Jupiter or Guru. Jupiter is the largest planet of our solar system and astrologically considered as the great benefic. In Indian mythology Jupiter is depicted as Bruhaspati the preceptor of devas and in Greek mythology he is represented by Zeus. It gives abundance, charitable nature, contentment and higher wisdom. It is considered that if Jupiter is strong in a chart a thousand handicaps of the horoscope are nullified.

A strong Guru makes a person champion the cause of morals and ethics. Lord Rama had a very strong Jupiter in the first house of personality as mentioned in our epics which made him go through untold hardships to uphold morals and ethics. As a corollary a weak Jupiter makes a person compromise higher ideals in life for some petty gains.

Jupiter is a planet of higher wisdom and higher intelligence and gives an individual a keen discriminative faculty. Swami calls this the Dhi shakti which gives a person the understanding to discriminate between right and wrong.

Jupiter signifies all types of wealth. Kubera, the lord of riches in puranas is believed to have a very strong Jupiter influencing the houses wealth and abundance according to Bhrigu Naadi. But this wealth always comes with a caveat. Osho’s chart is a classic example. His Jupiter was very strong giving him abundant wealth and prosperity, but the surfeit of it gave him an over expansive nature which finally led to his downfall.

Osho’s case study teaches us the lesson of moderation. Many astrologers believe that there should be a contracting influence of Saturn to prevent the individual from going overboard. Hence a strong Jupiter should also have a strong Saturn to keep the balance for excellent spiritual growth. Jiddu Krishnamurthy a profound thinker, sage and philosopher had a very strong Jupiter in the fifth house of intellect giving him higher wisdom and a strong Saturn which gave him grounding without getting carried away by the abundance he received in his life. 

In Sanatana dharma Jupiter is considered a very auspicious planet and many muhurtas for important functions like marriages, house warming ceremonies, akshara abhayasam or upanayanam are fixed when it is strong, for the success of the undertaking.

The pushkara festival, the festival of having ritualistic bath in rivers all over India depends on the movement of Jupiter. Jupiter takes one year to traverse one zodiacal sign and whenever it enters a new sign it results in the Pushkara festival of a particular river.

Following is the table of the transit of Jupiter in a sign and the river associated with that sign for the sacred bath festival:

SNo.	Zodiac Sign	Name of the river
1st sign	Aries	Ganga
2nd sign	Taurus	Narmada
3rd sign	Gemini	Saraswati
4th sign	Cancer	Yamuna
5th sign	Leo	Godavari
6th sign	Virgo	Krishna
7th sign	Libra	Kaveri
8th sign	Scorpio	Bhima
9th sign	Sagittarius	Brahmaputra
10th sign	Capricorn	Tungabhadra
11th sign	Aquarius	Indus
12th sign	Pisces	Tapti

 17^th May 2012 Jupiter enters the sign of Taurus marking the beginning of Narmada Pushkara festival. It is believed "Pushkar" , a mythological character, who is imbued with the power to make any river holy, will travel with Jupiter as Jupiter moves from one Zodiac house to another and gives each river the potency to confer worldly gains and also spiritual benefit to the people who take bath during this time.

A strong guru in a horoscope makes a person pursue a career of teaching, judiciary or priesthood. It even gives a good job in government as advisors. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishna, an outstanding educationalist, excellent author and statesman had a very strong Jupiter in the first house of personality.

Guru signifies children and is considered a bestower of good children. For girls, he represents a good husband.

Guru rules the sweet taste. Individuals with a strong influence of Jupiter on the second house of taste naturally like sweet taste. Second house also signifies oratory skills and wealth. Strong guru placed in second house makes a person a powerful orator and very wealthy.

Jupiter is the harbinger of good health, social status, wealth and prosperity Jupiter signifies the fat component in the human body; hence a strong Jupiter imparts a corpulent body to the individual. It also signifies the liver and the spleen. Its weakness in a horoscope is the prime cause of diabetes and jaundice. Jupiter is depicted as a planet with a golden hue thus imparting a golden colour to an individual. Jupiter rules the hips, pelvis, thighs and the sciatic nerve. It also governs illness where too much of a good thing are contributing factors.

Hence any affliction to guru gives ill health, worry and loss of honour. This can be alleviated by praying to Lord Shiva and chanting rudram. It is also believed that sleeping in a gurusthanam for three nights also strengthens a weak Jupiter in a horoscope. The best way to utilize Jupiter energy is to observe moderation and share the resources, skills and talents bestowed on us with others for the betterment of the society.

As Guru Nanak puts it very beautifully, ‘Wealth hoarded is wealth lost, wealth given in charity is wealth gained’.