Vivaha or Marriage, according to Indian ethos is a Samskara, a sacrament. The aims of Indian marriage are said to be Dharma (Virtuousness), Prapa (Progeny) and Rati (Pleasure). It is both a religious duty and a social obligation towards the family and the community.

The most conventional type of an Indian marriage is that in which the parents arrange it. They exercise great influence and control over choice of partner. Secondly, it may be love marriage. Thirdly, the partners themselves based on their likes and dislikes may exercise the choice.

Lastly, the choice may be exercised by careful consideration of qualities that one may want from a partner.

The light that Jyotish (Indian Astrology) can throw upon marriage, the help it can give in forming a union or making the best of an unhappy one is a subject that possesses a wide appeal to the average person.

Jyotish (Indian Astrology) is concerned with fundamental facts and principles, and deals with the laws of nature rather than the customs and habits of different races and religions.

The legality or otherwise of a union is a matter of very secondary importance from the point of view of the horoscope. It should always be borne in mind that, for astrological purposes the word "marriage" is to be taken in it's widest sense as covering all unions irrespective of their legal standing. Jyotish (Indian Astrology) is NOT concerned with man made laws which differ in different ages, races and religions. 

The Indian Method of Comparisons

A very considerable portion of Jyotish (Indian Astrology) is based upon the Moon and the lunar Mansions (called Nakshatras) or Asterisms, which constitute a kind of lunar zodiac of 27 signs, each division or asterism consisting of 13.20 degrees. The following list contains the number and name of each Nakshatras.

In Jyotish (Indian Astrology), there are eight primary considerations in the comparisons of horoscopes, which are known as:

The rules are summarized below for each type of comparisons as:

Varna: This is based upon caste. The Signs Cancer, Scorpion and Pisces represent the learned or Brahmin castes; Leo, Libra and Sagittarius the warrior (Kshatriya) caste; Aries, Gemini and Aquarius the traders (Vhesya) caste; Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn the workers (Shudras) caste. The rule is that the husband's Moon must be in a sign of equal or higher caste than the wife's Moon. If the wife's Moon is of higher caste than the husband's is she soon becomes a Widow.

Vasya: The Moon in the horoscopes of the man and woman should be in harmonizing signs in accordance with the following list :-

If the Moon harmonizes there will be agreement and happiness, but if not quarrels will arise.

Dina: Take the number of the asterism containing the woman's Moon and from it count to that which contains the man's Moon, including both asterisms in the count. Divide the total by 9. If the remainder is either 2, 4, 6, or 9 marriage between the couple is favorable, but with any other remainder it is inadvisable.

Yoni: This is concerned with sexual adaptability, and is expressed in the terms of the animal kingdom as represented by the Asterisms.

When the man's Moon is in Asterism of a male animal, and the woman's in that of a female the marriage will produce happiness and success, provided the animals concerned are not inimical (enemy) to each others. When both Moons are in the Asterisms of female animals, the union will be of average success.

Finally, when both are in the Asterisms of male animals the result will be financial loss and unhappiness. The man's Moon in No. 16, and the woman's in No. 12 would lead to an unhappy marriage, as it would be the union of a tiger and a cow.

Graha Mitra: This is concerned with the natural friendship and enmity existing among the various planets.

For a happy and successful marriage the rulers of the signs containing both Moons must be friendly planets.

Gana: The Asterisms are divided into three groups in accordance with their natures, namely :-

Godly: Nos. 1, 5, 7, 8, 13, 15, 17, 22 and 27.

Human: Nos. 2, 4, 6, 11, 12, 20, 21, 25 and 26.

Evil: Nos. 3, 9, 10, 14, 16, 18, 19, 23 and 24.

Two people whose Moons fall in the same group may successfully marry. If one of the couple belongs to the Godly group and the other to the Human the marriage will be of average success.

In no circumstances should a person of the Godly or Human group marry a member of the Evil group.

Rasi: This refers to the relation between the signs in which the man's and woman's Moon are situated. If the man's Moon is in, the second sign from the woman's, or hers is in the 12^th from his, early death will result from the marriage. If the positions are reversed and the woman's Moon is in the second sign from the man's, or his is in the 12^th from hers, the result will be length of life for both.

If the man's Moon is in the 3^rd sign from the woman's there will be misery and sorrow. The reverse position indicates happiness. The man's Moon in the 4^th sign indicates great poverty, and the reverse shows great wealth.  In the 5^th sign, unhappiness, but if reversed happiness. In the 6^th sign, loss of children, but if reversed the children will prosper. 

Finally, when both Moons are in the 7^th sign from each other there will be health, prosperity and happiness.

In all cases, the counting is inclusive of both signs. If the man's Moon is in Virgo, and the woman's in Scorpio, her Moon is in the 3^rd sign from his, and a happy very and prosperous marriage is indicated.

Nadi: This is based upon the temperaments of the Asterisms, as follows:- 

If the two Moons both fall in the windy, or both in the Phlegmatic group the marriage is an indifferent one. If both fall in the bilious group there will be great misery and disagreement often resulting in ruin and early death. If the Moons fall in different groups the marriage will be productive of happiness.

And Finally,

Having obtained the testimonies of all these eight methods of comparisons, the Jyotishi's (Indian Astrologer) next task is to determine the final result. This is done numerically.

To each class is allocated a number of points which is the same as the numerical order in which they have been dealt with above, Varna receiving 1 point, Vasya 2 points, and so on down to Nadi with 8 points, thus making a total of 36 points altogether.

The points of agreement between the horoscopes are then added together. If the total of points is found to be less than 18 the marriage should NOT take place for it would result in danger, disagreement, or early death of the partners.

If between 18 and 27 points are obtained, the marriage will be one of success, while if the points produce a higher total than 27, the marriage will be one of great happiness, prosperity, children, long life, and wealth.

Swami Veet Chintan T'Zorba-Krsna

Jyotish Shastracharya & Vedic Astrologer of India