Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Do children bring luck?



Do children bring luck?


I decided to introspect this question,

upon seeing the birthday photos of Diya,

daughter of the kollywood couple Surya- Jothika.



On Diya’s first year birthday,

Surya is seen sporting a Tee-shirt,

with Diya’s pics

and the words, “I am lucky for daddy”.




I was a bit disturbed on reading this,

for, what if the baby does not bring luck?

What if the daddy gets into low-phase

after the baby is born?

Will he blame the baby for his bad times?




A similar trend can be noticed in the arrival of daughter-in-law.

If something bad happens in the family after marriage,

the blame falls on the newly married bride.

The reason for this is in the psyche of the people

nurtured by beliefs -perhaps raised by vivaha mantras

that keep telling that the bride would bring prosperity to the family.

When something bad happens to the family,

the newly wed bride is blamed.

This tendency, though not seen explicitly in educated homes,

is still prevalent among the masses in India.




Let not such a fate befall the new born.

The very arrival of the baby into the family is a boon by itself.

According to dharma sastras.

it is the parent who must be lucky to get a kid.

The kid does not bring luck to the parents.




Looking from sastric or Dharmic angle,

begetting children is due to purva punyam (the good deeds of past births)

The 5th house and 5th from 5th, that is the 9th house

are to be analysed for Children.

The 5th and the 9th are both indicative of one’s purva punya.

5th is for puthra and 9th is for pithru.

The child – father relationship

forms an equilateral triangle with one’s self (1st bhava)

If life has to be smooth,

the 5th and the 9th should not be afflicted.

One must get a good father,

one must get a good child.

Both play a role in shaping one’s life and peacefulness.


If afflicted, the children become a burden

or in other words, luck fails to smile on the person.

Since the man is born as his son, as per Upanishads,

unless purva punyam is there,

the children themselves will become the cause of his woes.




This is indicated by the sloka that is written in the Janma patrika,

Janani janma soukhyaanam/

varthanee kula samptthaam//”

The Janma soukhyam – the trouble-free birth is determined by mother’s fate (horoscope).

But whether the child will bring prosperity to the family is determined by its attitudes.

That is indicated by ‘varthanee kula samptthaam’.




This can be understood like this:

The baby is born with its own puurva – vaasanas.

The body is inherited from the parents.

Even the vital and mental properties

have been inherited from the genes of the parents.

But what the baby is,

depends on what it carries from its previous birth.

The vaasanas that are manifest as attitudes and character

are something the baby carries from its previous birth.

Since the baby is born in a particular family,

it does not mean that it will reflect the characteristic traits

that are dominant in that family or kulam.

Whether the baby is going to do proud to the family traits

by demonstrating such qualities

or going to exhibit traits contrary to family traits,

thereby bringing disrepute to family’s wealth (kula-sampath)

can be judged by the horoscope.


This is the import of the second line of the ‘janani’ sloka.

When the baby fails to stand by the family values

as its vaasanas are counter to the traits dominant in the family,

the baby ceases to be ‘lucky’.


In most cases of family conflicts between parents and children,

we notice the repelling traits.

Therefore, one must be lucky

or one must have abundance of purva punyam

to get children who help to grow kula-sampath.




For one to get such children who help in growing kula-sampath,

Brhama rishi Vakhyam’ (a book on astrology containing the teachings of Brahma deva)

says that a yoga called ‘Srinatha yoga’ must be present.


This yoga is formed when the 9th lord

and Venus (kalathra karaka)

and Mercury (buddhi karaka)

are placed in Kendra (quandrants)

or in konas (trines)

and are in exaltation or in own house

or in a friends house.


A person born in this yoga will be endowed with Lakshmi kataksham,

indicated by a good wife,

happy family and

children who will bring prosperity to the family.

He will get all auspiciousness

and will be a celebrated one.

The most important indication of this yoga is that

this person will be a worshiper of Sriman Narayana.




The ‘Brhama rishi Vakhyam’

also indicates the probable deeds in his previous birth to attain this.

That deed is continuous worship of Sriman Narayana

and helping devotees of Narayana!




A striking correlation to this can be seen in

Thirmangai aazhwar’s pasuram

Kuala tharum, selvam thandhidum”

(Peria Thirumozhi 1-9)


The kulam and selvam (prosperity or wealth)

are indicative of ‘varthanee kula samptthaam”

of ‘janani’ sloka!


The nama which does more than what the mother does

is Narayana nama.

It gives one a good birth in a wonderful family of a Narayana devotee,

so that he will be hearing Narayana nama right from the time of his birth.

He will add to the name of the family,

and get all material wealth

and wealth in the form of wonderful wife and children.

This is the import of this yoga mentioned by Brahma deva

in ‘Brahma rishi vakhyam’.

Also the import of Azhwar pauram!




In contrast, offense to Vishnu will invite Puthra dosham.

Propitiation must be done to Vishnu and Mercury.

Harming or killing children will invite puthra dosham.

the same parihara (as mentioned above)

must be done.




With reference to Puthra dosham alone,

there are other causes too.

Offense to Shiva and Garuda and father and ancestors,

Offense to one’s mother, Paarvathy and a sumangali,

Offense to Muruga,

Offense to teachers and Brahmins,

Offense to Mother earth and cow and snakes and snake hills,

up-rooting flowering plants and peepal tree,

harming horses

and not remembering departed ancestors –

all these invite puthra dosha.

The result is

children will not be born

or will be born with defects

or will bring disrepute to the family and

be a curse to the family.



Doing counter actions to the respective ones to whom offense is done

will bring remedy.


By saying all this, I am trying to bring out that

we have to be lucky to get children, that too, children who do us proud

(recall the kural – ivan thandai en-nOttraan kol enum sol)

instead of thinking that the children are lucky to us.







4 comments:

Ram said...

Jayasree madam,

All the articles are so informative, ever since i stumbled on your blog, been a constant reader of yours. Got few questions though on the same topic of child birth.

1. I have heard lots of people (including my parents) saying that if a child is born on such and such nakshatra with such and such horoscope, it is not good for the grand parents. How true is this statement from vedic/astrological standpoint?

2. How true is one's horoscope in determining his/her parents state?

3. Also can you please post your thoughts on "ezharai naatan sani" please, i have got so many doubts and mis-information on it?

Thanks & Regards
-Ram

Jayasree Saranathan said...

Thank you Mr Ram for your compliments and for being a regular reader.

It needs elaborate explanation for each question you have raised.
I will write about them in detail later.

But for the time being, remain assured that birth in a nakshathra is not the lone determinant of one's or one' s parents' fate.There have to be other factors or combinations to indicate trouble to parents for grand parents.

Even among the dreaded stars such as Aslesha (ayilyam), Jyeshta and moola, it is not about trouble. The star duration is divided into 60 equal parts and different groups of these parts are to be seen to know the kind of result these stars are giving. The results attributed to different parts of a star vary from Raja yoga to death! So one can not simply like that say that they are bad for oneself.

About second question, the horoscope does not determine the parents' state. It is only indicative of events. But what is going to happen to one will be decided by numerous other factors too. The parent's own horoscopic indications will be the most important factors to reckon with.

To cite two oft-seen instances, namely death of a parent and financial status of a parent-

There are as many as 9 indicators for death of a person.

It could vary from say, 9 years of age to 90 years with 7 time periods in between indicating 'gantam' (vulnerability to death). Of these, which one will actually become a death inflicting one is the question.

This has been debated by scholars in olden days and Bhattothpala, the commentator for Varahamihira's work
has opined that a person will face all these periods as 'gantams' or near-death situations but will survive and last long until the maximum assured life span of all the factors.

If one among the vulnerable periods coincides with say, a horoscopic indication of a son born to the person and the time period also tallies, then it is an instance of concern. Even then if the person's life chart is strong and if the son is not the eldest to do last rites, the father will weather the gantam. The son's loss of parent may manifest as an estrangement with father or loss of love of / help from father. In this way a number of explanations exist.

About financial status, the indication in the son's horoscope will invariably tally with the parent's horoscopic indication of job and money flows.If it does not tally, the parent will continue in financial health.
If it tallies, know that the predicted financial loss in the parent's horoscope is more than certain. The son's horoscope is like a proof from another source.

A lot depends on skillful interpretation and no hard and fast interpretation should be made in general.

So don't worry about any hearsay on these issues. The analysis must be done on a case by case basis.

I wrote all this to assure you and others not to be carried away by some predictions.What is applicable in one case may not be applicable in another.

The third issue on sade saath.
Unless saturn is yoga kaaraka in a horoscope (for Taurus and Libra ascendants - for Taurus much better being 9th and 10th lords)with no 'bhangam' (affliction to the yoga) to it and is better placed in the horoscope, one can not escape the troubles indicated by Saturn. A lot depends on birth chart indications.

But know one thing about saturn. He is the the actual dispositor of destiny in diverting one to spiritual path. One may suffer at a mundane level, but that is for removing the hindrances to spiritual evolution of the person.
He is the neeti-maan (giver of justice) Accept the troubles with grace and get involved in spiritual pursuits. He will no longer torment the person.

Ram said...

Thank you madam,

That clarifies most of things!

Thanks & Regards
-Ram

hari om tatsat said...

Madam

Bhagwan says in Gita - chaturvarnya maya srishtim guna karma vibhagshah.....4.13

Are gunas and consequently their varna predecided on basis of purva karm in a baby ? Or are they a function of being born in a family.

I mean to say can a baby's gunas reflect a different type of varna than the family in which baby is born ?