Education!

I was contacted over the weekend by a concerned mother over the education of her elder child, who is about ten years old.

The chart and significators of the child's birth chart are below:

The general nature of the person can be judged from the Ascendant and its sub lord. As per page 260 of the third reader, we understand that if the Ascendant sublord is Mercury or Jupiter the native will be the studious sort. If however the Ascendant sublord is Saturn, then the native will not be as inclined towards studies. In this case the native may face obstacles while one studies and during examination times. Saturn may cause native to arrive late at the examination hall or remembering the answer to that question in the exam, just after handing in the paper to the invigilator. So it is indeed correct of the parents to worry about the child's education. (This is based on Krishnamurti Paddhati)

Now let us look at the Nadi significators. The combinations of good education are 4 11 or 4 9 11 or 5 11. Combination for failure is 6 8 12. Combination for lack of interest in education is 3 6 8/ 3 8 12/ 3 6 12.

First thing to notice is that the combination for good education is seen in five planets: Venus, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter and Mercury. There is no clear failure indication in the horoscope. Nadi is not clearly showing a lack of interest in studies either and one can only surmise that the 3 6 8/ 3 6 12/ 3 8 12 combinations are being produced through a mixing of Dasha/ Bhukti/ Antara (DBA) lords. For example, the child is currently in the Dasha of Jupiter and the last bhukti that ended was Moon. Moon has 8 while Jupiter has 3 and 12 as significators. Even the Bhukti before that, of Sun, had 8 at Bhukti and 3 12 at Dasha lord level.

Anyway, so the current Bhukti is of Mars which commenced on August 16, 2014 and the significations indicate that the child's lack of interest has diminished somewhat since then. This is because Mars does not signify either the 6th or the 8th cusp needed to make the negative combination. However, Mars signifies the good education combination at the weakest (ie. planet) level and as such the improvement is the child's education may not have been very discernible.

The Mars Bhukti ends on July 22, 2015 and there after starts Rahu Bhukti which will end on December 14, 2017. Rahu is signifying 5 6 10 11 at the strongest (ie. Sub) level. While the presence of 6 allows for a scattered combination of 3 6 12 between Jupiter and Rahu, the significations of good education (4 11 in Jupiter Nakshatra level and 5 11 at Rahu Sub level) will likely overrule. The combination of 6 10 11 is also good for examinations. This period will be very good for the child's education. I believe the parents should see a improvement in the child's grades in this period.

With the Rahu Bhukti, the Jupiter Dasha will end and Saturn's will commence. Saturn's Dasha will run from December 15, 2017 to December 14, 2036. Saturn signifies 2 7, 2 7, 1 3 9. 2 is for memory, 3 is for writing skills and 9 is for higher education. So mildly positive for education, but not as supportive as Jupiter was. The biggest positive for me in this was that while Saturn does not actively support education, it does not oppose it. Also, from among the 'lack of interest' combinations, it only signifies 3, where as Jupiter had signified 3 and 12. Thus it is tougher for Saturn to support lack of interest in education than Jupiter. Which is a good thing.

Saturn's bhukti will go on till December 17, 2020. As Saturn does not actively hinder education, the results of this DB will be decided by the Antara lords, of which 5 support education. This will be a decent time.

In India, the two 10th grade and the 12th grade have special importance to students. Since the child is about 10 years old now, this will be about 6 and 8 years from now. So the years 2021 to 2023 will be key. 

In March 2021 the child will run the period (Dasha-Bhukti) of Saturn-Mercury. While Saturn is neutral to positive for education, Mercury is positive for studies and the child will likely do well in the exams held during the period December 2020 to April 2021. Post May, there may be some lack of interest, but overall the stars support education much more strongly than disinterest during this period. Since Mercury Bhukti runs till August 27, 2023 I think even the 12th grade exams will fall in this period. The child is likely to do fairly well then also.

The Ketu bhukti which runs from September 2023 to October 5, 2024 will be a slightly difficult period only because Ketu is also neutral to education. So the child will be in the period of Saturn, who is education neutral and the sub period of Ketu, who is also education neutral. But even this period does not suggest failures so apart from having to work much harder than usual to maintain grades, the child should be able to get through. Interestingly, this would also roughly coincide with the first year of whatever professional course that is chosen post the 12th grade, so it’s understandable that the period might require a bit more work than usual. 

The next three years will however be easier ie. From October 6, 2024 to December 6, 2027 as Venus is supportive of a good education. The child will still need to work hard, but the stars will support  education more actively. 

The next two years will be like the child Ketu Bhukti as none of the Bhukti lords, Sun and Moon, actively support education, though they don’t hinder it as well. So again, I don’t see failure, just a bit more pressure to work hard. This period is from December 7, 2027 to June 18, 2030.

This will be followed by Mars Bhukti (June 19, 2030 to July 28, 2031) and Rahu Bhukti ( to June 3, 2034). Both these periods are good for studies, Rahu even more than Mars.

By this time the child should be around 29-30 years of age and hopefully through with education!

I send my best wishes for the child to focus on studies.

May God give her, what ever is best for her!