Predicting with Nakshatras: Tara Bala or Star Strength

What is Tara Bala?

In this predictive method, the words ‘Tara’ and ‘Nakshatra’ are interchangeable. Tara simply means
‘star’ and Bala means ‘strength’. In order to predict with Nakshatras it is not necessary to know or
memorize what the Nakshatras mean or their various characteristics. All that is needed to predict
with Nakshatras is for one to know the Nakshatra of the Natal Moon, its planetary ruler and the
chronological order of the planets in Vimshottari dasa which is as follows: Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu,
Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Ketu, Venus. From there, away we go into prediction! This method is
wonderful if the Astrologer does not know the exact birth time but does know the Moon’s
Nakshatra. This technique does not use the Nakshatra of Abhijit.
Janma Nakshatra or Birth Star
The Janma Nakshatra is simply the Nakshatra the natal Moon is placed in. It is your Birth Star. It is
number 1 in the Table below. For purposes of Tara Bala, the Janma Nakshatra is also all of the
Nakshatras that have the same planetary ruler as your birth Nakshatra. For example, if your birth
Nakshatra is Purva Bhadra, then your planetary ruler is Jupiter. Therefore, Vishaka and Punarvasu
are also considered to be your Janma Nakshatra and any natal planets in these Nakshatras are said
to be conjunct the Moon or in your Birth Star. If your Birth Star is Purva Bhadra, then the second
Nakshatra would be Uttara Bhadra ruled by Saturn. Pushya and Anuradha would also be
considered your second Nakshatra or Tara because they are also ruled by Saturn.
There are three sets of nine Tara, encompassing all twenty-seven Nakshatras. Starting with the
Moon’s Nakshatra, the Birth Star, there are 8 more Nakshatras constituting the first group. The
entire process repeats itself again with a second group of nine and finally a third set of nine. One
only has to figure out Tara for the first set of nine because those lords repeat themselves every
subsequent set of nine.
Using the example of the Natal Moon residing in the Nakshatra of Purva Bhadra, examining the
table below, if this person has Jupiter in Mula, then Jupiter occupies the 4th Tara even though Mula
is 22 Nakshatras away from Purva Bhadra.

Birth Star is Purva Bhadra ruled by Jupiter

3rd Tara
1st Tara 2nd Tara 4thTara 5th Tara 6th Tar 7th Tara 8th Tara 9th Tara
(Mercury
(Jupiter) (Saturn) (Ketu) (Venus) a (Sun) (Moon) (Mars) (Rahu)
)

Purva Uttara Ashwin Krittik Mrigashir

Revati Bharani Rohini Ardra
Bhadra Bhadra i a a

Purva Uttara
Punarvasu Pushya Ashlesha Magha Phalgun Phalgu Hasta Chitra Swati
i ni

Purva Uttara
Satabish
Vishaka Anuradha Jyestha Mula Ashadh Ashadh Shravana Dhanishta
ak
a a

Meanings of the 9 Taras

Much like the houses of the horoscope, the Taras have certain qualities. From your Ascendant,
specific houses, like the 3rd, 6th, 8th and 12th all have difficult connotations. The 8th house will always
give extreme changes and life-changing situations no matter if Aries is on the 8th house or Taurus is
on the 8th house. With Nakshatras, we do the same thing. From the Moon’s Birth Nakshatra,
different Nakshatras take on different qualities. These Nakshatras, also called Taras, are more
benign or more difficult depending upon where they fall from your Nakshatra and it has nothing to
do with the qualities or characteristics of the Nakshatra itself. By a simple glance at these
Nakshatras we can get an idea of the horoscope and also make some predictions.
1st Tara
“Janma” or Birth Tara: Birth of ideas and initial activity. All kinds of beginnings, beginning of life,
beginning of a project, beginning of ideas and anything that arises in our consciousness or arises in
our life has its beginnings in our Janma Nakshatra. The general attitude and personality
characteristics are seen from the 1st Tara as whatever is in the first Tara is conjoined the Moon
which is our consciousness. Therefore planets in the first Tara are very much within our
consciousness and part of who we are. The 1st Tara or Birth Nakshatra equates to the Ascendant in
the Birth Chart.
2nd Tara
“Sampat” or wealth, accomplishment: The 2nd Tara shows what we are responsible for, i.e. our
possessions and the ability to take care of our responsibilities. The 2nd Tara equates to 2nd house in
the Birth Chart. It can mean all of our valuable possessions, our bank account but not our income,
our family, the food we eat, any type of resource we may have and our close friends. Receptivity
and ability to enjoy what is given to one, to be open to the good things in life, to take experiences in
and benefit from them, are all connotations of the 2nd Tara.
3rd Tara
“Vipat” or Hindrance: This Tara has connotations of the 3rd House in the horoscope. The 3rd House
is considered to be a house of difficulties according to Parasara. The 3rd House revolves around
things that always involve difficulties. The 3rd House is the house of travel. Travel comes from
French word “Travail” which means hard work and difficulties. You cannot go on a trip without
having a problem. Traveling is hard work. Siblings are also ruled by the 3rd house. Siblings make
life difficult, siblings fight over toys, food, friends, and most importantly, their parents. The
3rd House is competition, skills we are forced to develop and situations that warrant exerting our
will. This difficult Tara causes frustration, it denotes things that don’t settle well with us, that cause
us to feel irritated or angry, and presents situations we have conflict with. Any planet falling in
3rd Tara represents something that will frustrate us and give a us a lot of conflict. The 3rd Tara are
things we will have to learn how to make peace with. Difficult situations and experiences can be
overcome in the 3rd Tara with patience, perseverance and will power.
4th Tara
“Kshema” or things that create security: The 4th Tara is related to the 4th and 5th Houses in the
horoscope. The 4thHouse is having property, having a place to go, having a home which creates a lot
of security. The 5th House creates security as well. Psychologically the 5th House creates security
through self-esteem, confidence and also the security of children, the security of continuing the
family lineage which is very important to some people. The security of progeny is helpful in old age
and keeping wealth in the family. The person with a good 4th Tara experiences security and well
being. Because of this security, it allows the person to work at their finest. Kshema Tara is the
Nakshatra that helps things to go our way. The 4th Tara is where we are finding happiness, security
and comfort and therefore helps us behave accordingly. The 4th Tara will also denote land, real
estate, vehicles, lakes or ponds and the Mother.
5th Tara
“Pratyak” or Averted: The 5th Tara denotes something that is missed, something that has already
come and passed, a missed opportunity for you to benefit from. The 5th Tara is a challenging Tara
and has connotations of 6th House in the horoscope. The key words and phrases are averted,
experience of lack and limited fulfillment. The 5th Tara will make you feel as if you must move in
another direction to find fulfillment because it places so many obstacles and setbacks in your
current focus. This Tara causes us to feel a lack of happiness, so we go to something else looking for
happiness, but we should stick to the original focus and think of it as something we need to be
responsible for and to develop. Even though we may feel lack and are searching for something that
will make us feel better, this Tara will not give us anything better. The 5th Tara denotes those
karmic things that we just have to take care of, be responsible for and have a duty towards even
though they are not fulfilling us. This is a Karmic, Saturnian type of Tara. The 5th Tara also denotes
enemies and health, therefore it can give illness, court cases, shame, etc.
6th Tara
“Sadhaka” or effective, efficient, perfecting, productive, useful: The 6th Tara is a beneficial Tara that
relates to the 7thHouse in the horoscope. A good spouse makes life more productive, efficient and
helps perfect a person. The 6thTara denotes recognition of the worth and value of activity which
prompts productivity and the desire to perfect the event. The 6th Tara helps us to make the best
decisions. If the 6th Tara is good then the choices we take result in the best actions and cause the
greatest amount of good, success, and perfection. The 6th Tara denotes business and business
partners, the public and residence in foreign countries.
7th Tara
“Vadha” or slayer, destroyer, death, destruction, prevention: The 7th Tara is the most difficult
Nakshatra from the Moon. Another name for the 7th Tara is Naidhana which means deadly or
perishable. The 7th Tara denotes things that are perishable, going to die or are going to be
destroyed. The 7th Tara relates to the 8th House in a horoscope. Other significations of this Tara are
crises, changes and things causing termination. Some beneficial effects of the 7th Tara are
benefitting from other people’s money, working in the occult, working in psychology or therapy and
gaining from the spouse’s resources. This Tara will cause us to have strong feelings of vulnerability,
psychological complexes and fear thereby preventing happiness with the planets that fall within
this Nakshatra. There are usually some traumatic events surrounding the significations of the
planets associated with the 7th Tara. It is where the unexpected will happens to us.
8th Tara
“Maitra” or friendly, benevolent, helpful to a person: The 8th Tara relates to 9th and 10th Houses in
the horoscope. These Houses make us dutiful and benevolent to other people, therefore the
8th Tara is a highly beneficial Tara that will allow us to follow our dharma or life-purpose
(9th House) and to influence the world (10th House). The 9thHouse is our dharma, our purpose, our
spirituality combined with 10th house significations such as our duty, our karma, the influence we
wield in the world translates in how benevolent, dutiful, and friendly we are to the rest of the
world. The 8th Tara denotes actions performed toward the world, not the actions of the world
towards us. If we follow our dharma, which is really our inspiration, then we are happy, we are
doing good, and we are doing the right thing. Planets and their significations in this Tara are being
productive.
9th Tara
“Parama Maitra” or best or highest friendship, the most friendly, the most benevolent, the most
useful: the 9th Tara relates to the 11th and 12th Houses. The 11th House signifies getting the most
that we can in life, providing the most and the best for other people and then receiving our
due. The 11th House is the gain that we have earned through the world, whether in past lives or in
this life. According the nature of the 9th Tara, we will receive our just rewards. If this Tara is well
disposed, then the world is very friendly to us. One of the things that separates our friend from our
best friend is that our best friend will be able to accept and let go of things, whereas a friend might
not be as forgiving. The 12th House has connotations of loss and the completion of karmas, so the
friend that sacrifices, the friend that suffers loss for us is really the best friend. The 9th Tara relates
to how friendly the world is to us whereas the 8th Tara is how friendly we are to the world. You are
not obliged to give anything to receive the great rewards from Parama Maitreya. . The Parama
Maitra Tara is a Nakshatra of great fulfillment.
After the 9th Nakshatra ends, the 10th Nakshatra is the Birth Nakshatra again. When 10th Nakshatra
ends, the 11thNakshatra is ‘Sampat’, etc. The 19th Nakshatra starts the 3rd set of nine Nakshatras all
over again, so the Birth Nakshatras or Taras are the 1st, 10th, and 19th Nakshatras. The 2nd, 11th and
20th Nakshatras are all Sampat Nakshatras or Taras, the 3rd, 12th and 21st Nakshatras are Vipat
Nakshatras and so on.
Of utmost importance is to examine all the planets and the Ascendant in their Taras. To determine
what planets belong in which Tara, we can count from the Moon’s Nakshatra and divide by 9. For
example, if your Moon resides in Magha and Jupiter is in Ardra, then we count from Magha to Ardra
which is 24, then we divide by nine which results in 2, remainder 6. Therefore, Jupiter would reside
in the 6th Tara.
Jupiter occupies the 6th Tara for the following example of a person with Magha as the Birth
Nakshatra, but Jupiter is also the Lord of the 7th Tara, a very difficult Tara. Therefore, when Jupiter
runs his dasa or bhukti, he is going to cause some trouble. Jupiter will always cause trouble for
those who have Magha Nakshatra as their Birth Nakshatra, precisely because he rules the 7th Tara
or Nakshatra from Ketu. Ketu is the Lord of Magha.
Below is a table of someone who has a Magha Birth Nakshatra. The lords of the 3rd, 5th and
7th Taras, Sun, Mars, and Jupiter respectively, will almost always cause some trouble in their dasas
or bhuktis with some exceptions which we will touch on later.

Ke Magha
Ke Ve Su Mo Ma Ra Ju Sa Me

9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
P.
Jan Sam Vip Ksh Pra Sad Vad Mai
Mai

Mo Sa Ju Ke Me Lg Su Ma Ra Ve

The 3rd, 5th and 7th Taras are considered the more challenging Taras. If you see a person who has all
of their planets in the 3rd, 5th and 7th Taras, that person is going to have a more turbulent, stressful
life than a person who does not have any planets in those Taras. There are exceptions which will be
mentioned later.
When running the dasa of the 3rd, 5th or 7th Tara lord, one will experience more difficult periods in
one’s life. Nakshatras give foundation for everything that is created, therefore the lords of 3rd, 5th,
and 7th Taras and those Nakshatras create situations and experiences that are disruptive to our
consciousness, push our buttons, make us feel ill at ease. The 3rd, 5th, and 7th Taras will always be
a bit difficult. Since Nakshatras create the foundation for things in our lives, these negative
Nakshatras create experiences with stress, anxiety, worry and manifest the negative aspects of our
personality.
Those individuals whose Ascendant or Birth Nakshatra Lord falls within one of these negative
Taras in our horoscope will cause some stress for us. These will be people who make us feel ill at
ease. If their Ascendant or Birth Nakshatra Lord falls within the beneficial Taras, then the person
will be productive in our life.
For making concrete predictions, it is necessary to analyze the strength of the planet and the houses
in the Rasi. If a person’s horoscope is showing a planet that will give great success and wealth, but
that planet rules bad Taras from the Moon’s Nakshatra, then there will be problems, obstacles and
stress in regard to that planet during its dasa.
The position of the Ascendant relative to the Birth Nakshatra or 1st Tara is also very relevant in
discovering how comfortable a person is within their own skin, how at peace they are with their
personality. The Tara of the Ascendant is always going to be important because the Ascendant is
the person and the Moon is the person. The Ascendant is the conditioned consciousness of the
person, the person’s personality to a large degree and how they interact in their day to day
affairs. If the Ascendant is in the 3rd, 5th or 7th Tara, then the individual causes stress, anxiety or is a
threat to themselves. Someone having their Ascendant in a challenging Tara must work harder to
be at peace with themselves.
If the Ascendant occupies the 3rd Tara, these individuals must work on being more accepting, more
tolerant and not being too attached to certain concepts and ideas. These individuals will see things
about themselves that they are critical of, that they will beat themselves up about. They have very
high expectations they do not think they can achieve, so they feel frustrated and they are their own
worst critic. These people need to learn to accept themselves as they are.
If the Ascendant falls in the 5th Nakshatra from the Moon, then the person can be prone to
depression and has a hard time getting motivated. These individuals constantly feel like they are
not going to succeed so why bother? The 5th Tara gives obstacles that are huge chasms, like the
Grand Canyon, so these people feel overwhelmed by obstacles and cannot handle certain projects
or situations. What is important is that they do their best at whatever is the task at hand and not be
too attached to results.
If the Ascendant falls in the 7th Tara, the person is liable to have a lot of vulnerabilities and
insecurities that revolve around their psychological and emotional life. This is a person who is
traumatized more easily, who is much more moody. Deep sub-conscious activity will motivate their
actions and there are deeper complexes. It is important that they learn to see themselves in a
better psychological light.
When the ruler of the Moon and the Ascendant are both in a good Tara, then what happens in day-
to-day life (the Ascendant) and what is in their consciousness (the Moon) are unified, one-pointed
and focused, therefore there is a lot more room for success. If the ruler of the Moon’s Nakshatra and
the Ascendant are together in a good Tara, then Mind, Body and Heart are all going in one direction.
After analyzing the Tara of the Ascendant, analyze the Birth Nakshatra. Any planets in the Birth
Nakshatra are going to have huge influences upon us. Saumya (gentle) planets like Mercury, Jupiter
and Venus will make life easier. This concept is akin to having gentle planets in angles in the birth
chart. If there are cruel planets in the 1st Tara (Birth Nakshatra), then life will be more
difficult. With gentle planets, life will be innately happier and will get off to a better start. With
cruel planets in the Birth Nakshatra, life will be more stressful and the person will find themselves
struggling against difficult odds much more often. Planets in the Birth Nakshatra are in our
consciousness, it is what we are used to and how our consciousness has been conditioned.
Sun in Birth Nakshatra (1st Tara) will give a personality very aware of its shortcomings, but also an
individual that will be idealistic, spiritual, filled with inspiration, and a natural leader.
Mars in Birth Nakshatra (1st Tara) will give a highly logical personality, someone who is assertive
and no-nonsense, someone who works with things that come from the Earth or is a type of
engineer.
Mercury in Birth Nakshatra (1st Tara) will give a managerial type personality, someone who is very
witty and humorous and someone who makes a lot of friends. Mercury will also give the person a
lot of skills and manual dexterity.
Jupiter in Birth Nakshatra (1st Tara) makes someone highly philosophical and spiritual, someone
who enjoys learning for learning’s sake. Jupiter will give a jovial, kind personality and an ability to
make money.
Saturn in Birth Nakshatra (1st Tara) will give a very introverted, serious personality. The person
will like to be alone a lot, tend to be lazy and does things slowly. Saturn will provide focus and
determination.
Ketu in the Birth Nakshatra (1st Tara) will give a highly spiritual, introverted personality. The
person will be good at math. They can also be very critical of themselves and unemotional.
Rahu in the Birth Nakshatra (1st Tara) will give an extreme personality, someone who is very
extroverted and who does things that are motivated by deep, subconscious desires. The person will
be very unpredictable and may not know themselves the motivations for their actions. This person
will also like foreign countries and foreigners.
Next, it is important to examine the placement of the Lord of the Birth Nakshatra. This placement
will additionally be an important area of focus for the person. Much like the placement of the
Ascendant Lord in the Rasi, the Tara of the Birth Nakshatra Lord will always be an area of life in
which we are heavily involved and focused upon. Therefore if the Birth Nakshatra Lord occupies
the 3rd, 5th or 7th Tara, we will be involved in difficult things, in struggles. If it’s the 3rd, we will
always be competing and struggling, if it’s the 7th, we are always presented with crises and
turbulent changes. If it is the 5th Tara, then life is full of delays and setbacks.
After we have completed the aforementioned analysis, it is important to look for themes in a
person’s life. The placement of planets in the Birth Nakshatra, the placement of the Ascendant and
the Birth Nakshatra Lord all indicate basic themes, but there are also other themes. One of them is
interchanges between Nakshatra Lords. You don’t want an interchanges between the bad Tara
lords, (3, 5, and 7) and the good Taras and vice versa. You do want a good Tara lord in a good Tara
and a bad Tara lord in a bad Tara. For example, if you have an interchange between the 3rd Tara
and the 7th Tara, then that combination will hinder ‘death and destruction’ . This example leads to
someone who always escapes, always gets away, the guy who has his entire troop killed at war, but
walks away without getting shot. There is a theme of hindering or avoiding disaster.
If there are two negative Tara Lords in a good Tara, then the negative Tara Lords will cause
disruption to the good Tara, but if they are in a negative Tara, the bad Tara lords will give good
effects. If you have a conjunction of a good Tara lord and a bad Tara lord in a good Tara, then the
good Tara lord will overcome the challenges presented by the bad Tara lord.
When the Moon and Ascendant are together in a Tara, then destiny is supported. This conjunction
tends to be a favorable thing, producing a unified character, a person whose goals and aspirations
tend to be in tune with his mentality and mind. It will support the person’s focus in life in general
when the Ascendant is in the same Tara as the Birth Nakshatra. The support and favorability will
also happen when Moon is in 5th or 9th house in the Birth Chart. When your Birth Nakshatra lord is
in 4th Tara, it tends to make you a patriot and give you enormous love your country and heritage.
When the 9th Tara Lord is in the 3rd, 5th or 7th Taras, your ‘due’ or ‘recognition’ is averted, destroyed
or hindered, unless it is with another good Tara Lord. The lords are more important than the Tara
itself. Having a good lord in a bad Tara destroys that lord because the Lord is the thing in action, it
is the thing in daily life, whereas the Tara is what happens to that thing. The Lords are the things
that get destroyed or influenced. What gets destroyed or produced is based on the Lord. Two
negative Tara lords together will destroy each other and produce good. It is the concept of two
negatives make a positive.
Timing Events with Tara Bala using Vimshottari Dasa
Vimshottari Dasa is based upon the lords of the Nakshatras so Vimshottari dasa is used with this
system for timing and prediction. To demonstrate how this would manifest, we will use examples.
Example 1: Native with Magha Nakshatra

Ke Magha

Ke Ve Su Mo Ma Ra Ju Sa Me

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Jan Sam Vip Ksh Pra Sad Vad Mai P. Mai

Mo Sa Ju Ke Me Lg Su Ma Ra Ve

Currently this native is running their Mars dasa. Mars is the 5th Tara lord so we would predict,
based solely on Tara, that this person will be experiencing events in their life where they are
experiencing many setbacks and delays. They may feel that whatever they are doing takes too
much effort and they are not receiving any results. They will experience events as boring, tedious
and may want to make changes to their living situation, career, etc. To better qualify this concept, it
would be necessary to analyze the Rasi as well, but if we do not have a birth time, just looking at the
Tara will suffice. We see that the 5th Tara lord, Mars, occupies the 8th Tara, the Tara corresponding
to the 9thand 10th houses. These are the houses of dharma, or life purpose (9th house) and career or
karma (10th house). This person may feel like they are missing out on their life purpose and
whatever their career, it is not giving them the inspiration they had hoped for. We could predict
that the person is experiencing obstacles in obtaining the success they wish for in their career.
The negative Tara lords, i.e. the lords of the 3rd, 5th and 7th Taras, do well when they are conjoined
other negative Tara lords or when they are placed in challenging Taras. As mentioned before, this
relates to the concept of two negatives making a positive. Our example person has their Sun, the
3rd Tara lord, placed in the 7th Tara. This means that during their Sun dasa, disaster (7th Tara) will
be hindered (3rd Tara). And hindrance (3rd Tara) will be destroyed (7th Tara). When this person
ran their Sun dasa, they would have experienced events related to the Sun, i.e. self-confidence,
inspiration, authority, charisma, influence over others. These things would have manifested
without any problems and this person should have gained some influence and authority in their
career. They also could have received benefits from the government such as student loans, tax
exemptions, etc. The Sun rules the Government.
Moon dasa would have been a dasa where the person focused on gaining security and they would
have done this in a way very much related to their personality, which is most likely spiritual or
introverted (Ketu rules the Magha Nakshatra and therefore the Moon). The Moon is the 4th Tara
lord, showing the native is very concerned with security and happiness. They would have used
spirituality to gain security in themselves.
When Venus dasa ran for this person, they experienced enormous wealth and prosperity that came
from their family (Venus is the 2nd Tara lord placed in the 9th Tara of the ‘world giving you your
due’).
The best way to see how this technique gives results is to demonstrate with examples of famous
people whose lives are well documented. The following examples will show how Tara Bala
manifests in everyday life.
John F. Kennedy
Born May 29, 1917 at 15:00 in Brookline, MA
Natal Moon occupies Uttara Phalguni ruled by the Sun

Su Uttara Phalguni
Su Mo Ma Ra Ju Sa Me Ke Ve

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Jan Sam Vip Ksh Pra Sad Vad Mai P. Mai

Mo Ma
Su Lg Ve Ke Sa Ra
Me Ju

John F. Kennedy became President of the United States on January 20th, 1961. He was running
Jupiter/ Saturn. Examining the diagram above, it is easy to see how this came to pass.
Firstly, Jupiter is a negative Tara Lord situated in the 1st Tara or Birth Nakshatra. Jupiter is
conjoined Mercury and Mars, both negative Tara Lords as well. Mercury is the Lord of the 7th Tara,
the Tara of death and destruction and Mars is the Lord of the 3rd Tara, the Tara of Hindrance. As
mentioned before, negative Tara lords when conjoined, cancel each other out and give good effects,
however, if they are placed in a good Tara, they will harm that Tara. Since all three negative Tara
Lords are in the Birth Tara, then you can bet they will destroy the native eventually. Since Jupiter is
conjoined with the other negative Tara lords, he will give good effects for his significations. Saturn,
the bhukti Lord when he was sworn in as President, is extremely well-disposed in its own Tara, the
6th. The 6th Tara has to do with our partner, business transactions and the public. In politician’s
chart, the 6th Tara places more emphasis on the public and relations with other countries.
When John F. Kennedy became President, all obstacles, delays, setbacks and enemies represented
by Jupiter as the 5th Tara Lord, were destroyed by the 7th Tara Lord of Mercury and hindered by the
3rd Tara Lord of Mars. The public loved and elected him by the 6th Tara Lord of Saturn.
John F. Kennedy was murdered on November 22, 1963 while running Jupiter/Mercury. Mercury is
the 7th Tara Lord of death and destruction placed in the 1st Tara of the beginning of life and the
individual himself. Because the 1stTara is a good Tara and there are many negative Tara Lords in
that Tara, Mercury would have the power to destroy that 1st Tara. And it did.
We can take this predictive technique a step further. The current dasa Lord can also be analyzed as
the 1st Tara Lord. For example, when JFK became President he was running Jupiter dasa. We can
use Jupiter as the first Tara Lord and judge the bhukti lords by their placement within the various
Taras and their lordships.

Ju Vishaka

Ju Sa Me Ke Ve Su Mo Ma Ra

9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
P.
Jan Sam Vip Ksh Pra Sad Vad Mai
M

Mo Ma
Ke Sa Ra Su Lg Ve
Me Ju

Analyzing the Taras from this perspective can give additional insight into the events during Jupiter
dasa. However, always remember that the Taras and Tara Lords from the Birth Nakshatra always
take precedence. Here again we see a heavy emphasis on the public and dealing with foreign
countries as Jupiter is placed in the 6th Tara, the Tara of perfecting our relationships, dealing with
the public and foreign countries (if you are a politician). Saturn is in its own Nakshatra in the birth
chart, so naturally here again we see that Saturn is in its own Tara, making it very powerful. It is in
the 2nd Tara of wealth.
JFK was shot while riding in the back of convertible during a parade. He was in public and many
people witnessed the tragedy. The Moon is also in the 6th Tara and the Moon rules the 7th Tara, the
Tara of death and destruction. The Moon is also conjoined Jupiter, the 1st Tara lord (in this Jupiter
dasa).
Henry Ford
Born July 30, 1863 at 7:00 AM in Dearborn, MI
Natal Moon occupies Sravana ruled by the Moon.

Mo Sravana

Mo Ma Ra Ju Sa Me Ke Ve Su

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Jan Sam Vip Ksh Pra Sad Vad Mai P. Mai

Mo Ke Sa Ju Ra Su Me Ma Lg Ve

Ketu and Saturn occupy the Birth Nakshatra. This will give a very focused, determined and willful
personality. Ketu will give the effects of Mars, therefore Ketu will made him logical, willful and gave
him his extraordinary engineering ability. Mars rules engineering. Interestingly enough, Ketu rules
oil, petroleum and natural gas.
Saturn is the 5th Tara Lord, the Tara of obstacles, delays and setbacks and Ketu is the 7th Tara Lord,
the Tara of death and destruction. Those two Tara lords together will produce very good results,
however, they will harm the 1stTara.
Henry Ford became the chief engineer of the Edison Illumination Company in 1893 while running
Jupiter/Saturn. Becoming chief engineer gave him a lot more time to devote to experimenting and
inventing with gasoline engines. Jupiter is the 4th Tara Lord. The 4th Tara corresponds to the
4th and 5th houses in the horoscope. The 4th house represents, among other things, automobiles and
conveyances. He would go on to invent the automobile by his ingenuity with conveyances. The
5th house represents creativity. Jupiter, as 4th Tara lord, is placed in the 2nd Tara of ‘Sampat’ or
wealth, an excellent placement and one that will give him wealth (2nd Tara) through creativity and
conveyances (4th Tara). Saturn the 5th Tara Lord, representing obstacles and setbacks, is being
neutralized by Ketu, the 7th Tara lord of destruction. Therefore, while Saturn is running, obstacles
and setbacks (5th Tara) are being destroyed (7th Tara).
In 1896, Ford completes his first automobile, the Quadricycle, and drives it through the streets of
Detroit, Michigan. He was running Jupiter/Mercury. Mercury is the 6th Tara Lord placed in its own
Tara, another excellent placement for success. Mercury is conjoined with the Sun, the 9th Tara
Lord. The 9th Tara signifies ‘getting your due from the world’ and ‘being recognized for one’s
accomplishments’. In general, throughout his life, this certainly was the case, and especially when
he created his first car and drove it through the streets for all to see and admire.
The entire Saturn dasa was one of invention, manufacture and distribution. He also made many
humanitarian overtures. This is when he became one of the most prominent businessmen in the
world. Saturn as 5th Tara Lord conjoined with Ketu the 7th Tara Lord made this possible.
Saturn and Ketu were able to produce good effects for each other, however when they ran their
dasa/bhukti, they effectively destroyed the 1st Tara, the Tara in which they were placed. Henry
Ford passed away on April 7, 1947 while running Ketu/Saturn.
John Wayne Gacy
Born March 17, 1942 at 12:29 AM in Chicago, Il
Natal Moon in UttaraBhadrapada ruled by Saturn

Sa UttaraBhadrapada

Sa Me Ke Ve Su Mo Ma Ra Ju
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Jan Sam Vip Ksh Pra Sad Vad Mai P. Mai

Lg Su Mo Ra Sa Ma Ju Ve Me Ke

John Wayne Gacy was an American serial killer that molested, tortured and murdered young
teenage boys between 1972 and 1978. He was born on a total eclipse. Another well known serial
killer, Ted Bundy, was also born on an eclipse.
The Moon is the husband of the Nakshatras and as such, the health of the Moon is of paramount
importance in what is created. The Nakshatras are the foundation of what is created. If the Moon is
hammered by malefics or involved in eclipses, then what it creates will reflect dysfunction and
disharmony. I want to state here that not all individuals born on eclipses exhibit psychopathic or
sociopathic behavior. An eclipse can bring forth a very spiritual personality. However, eclipses do
have the power to ruin the Moon, the Sun or both in the horoscope.
Examining John Wayne Gacy’s horoscope, we can ascertain that the Moon is already in bad shape,
so what it produces will be counter-productive and detrimental to himself and others. John Wayne
Gacy was a diagnosed psychopath. The definition of a psychopath is a person that does not have
empathy or remorse. They have very shallow emotions and do not have a normal response to fear
making them appear fearless or reckless.
The Sun as the 5th Tara Lord in the Birth Nakshatra shows a personality that is not at peace with
itself. It shows someone who will have enormous obstacles to overcome when trying to gain
acceptance of his personality. The Sun represents the father. It has been documented that Gacy’s
father was a violent alcoholic and extremely abusive to him, his mother and sisters. The Sun is our
highest ideals. The Sun as the 5th Tara Lord placed in the Birth Nakshatra will show a personality
that will think it can never reach the ideals it sees as being redeeming. The Light of the Sun shines
on all of our faults and negative characteristics, which can cause serious complexes.
A theme exists in this horoscope with regard to Tara as the Sun being the 5th Tara lord occupies the
Birth Nakshatra ruled by Saturn and Saturn, the 1st Tara lord occupies the 5th Tara. Therefore there
is double emphasis on the 5thTara and 1st Tara. The consciousness is very aware and exists within a
paradigm of being an enemy to itself. The 5thTara represents enemies, wounds, and sickness. It is
certainly a foregone conclusion that Gacy had a sick mind. The Ascendant occupying the Birth Tara
shows someone who will carry out what is in their consciousness with relative ease even though
what is in that consciousness is sick and twisted. The Moon rules the 6th Tara of relationships and
the public. It can be seen that he viewed relationships and the public in general as enemies on
account of the Moon being conjoined the Sun.
John Wayne Gacy began murdering in Ketu dasa, but the bulk of his murders were throughout
Venus dasa until his capture in December of 1978. Venus is the 4th Tara lord of emotional
happiness, comfort and security placed in the 7th Tara of death and destruction. The 7th Tara is
ruled by Mars, the planet of violence. Mars is placed in the 6thTara of relationships and dealings
with the public.
Let’s take a look at the dasas of the Tara lords for further insight. Remember that that Tara
placements and lordships from the Moon’s Natal Nakshatra always take precedence and must
always be read in conjunction with the dasa of the Tara lord.

Ke Aswini

Ke Ve Su Mo Ma Ra Ju Sa Me

9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
P.
Jan Sam Vip Ksh Pra Sad Vad Mai
Mai
 Ra Sa Ma Ju Ve Me Ke Lg Su Mo

Notice that when John Wayne Gacy began killing he was running Ketu/Saturn. Ketu is placed in the
7th Tara of death and destruction from its own Tara. Saturn is the 8th Tara lord. The 8th Tara
symbolizes the mark we make on the world and our dharma. Saturn sits in the 3rd Tara of
Hindrance. During Saturn bhukti, Gacy had been arrested for sodomy and spent time in prison,
then denied work because of this.

Ve Bharani

Ve Su Mo Ma Ra Ju Sa Me Ke

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Jan Sam Vip Ksh Pra Sad Vad Mai P. Mai

Ra Sa Ma Ju Ve Me Ke Lg Su Mo

The bulk of the killings happened in Venus dasa. As mentioned before, from the birth Nakshatra,
Venus is the 4thTara lord placed in the 7th Tara of destruction. From Venus’ own Nakshatra, Venus
is placed in the 4th Tara of the Home conjoined Jupiter, the 6th Tara lord of relationships, significant
others and the public. 29 bodies were discovered in the crawl space underneath Gacy’s home. He
led his victims to his home, tortured and killed them there. He then ran Venus/Sun, the Sun
occupying the 7th Tara and Venus/Moon, in which time period he was arrested. The Moon is the
3rd Tara lord from Venus’ Nakshatra, therefore he was hindered (3rd Tara) from causing any more
destruction (7th Tara). He was arrested on December 22, 1978 and never left prison after that.
Nikola Tesla
Born July 10, 1856 at 12:01 AM in Smiljan, Austrian Empire (43n52, 18e25)
Natal Moon occupies Chitra ruled by Mars

Ma Chitra

Ma Ra Ju Sa Me Ke Ve Su Mo

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Jan Sam Vip Ksh Pra Sad Vad Mai P. Mai

Mo Ma Ke Me Sa Su Ve Ju Ra Lg

Nikola Tesla was a mechanical and electrical engineer and also an inventor. Mars, Ketu and the
3rd Tara rule engineering. The essence of engineering is figuring out problems and innovating to
overcome obstacles to make actions and objects more efficient. It’s all about seeing limitations and
employing methods to overcome them. Mars and Ketu, the planets of engineering are occupying
the Birth Nakshatra. These planets are in his consciousness. The Moon as the 9th Tara lord of
‘getting one’s reward from the world’ in the 1st Tara represents the fact that his ideas and
inventions would go a long way in innovating electrical and mechanical engineering as we know it.
We can see that the Ascendant (Lg) is placed in the 7th Tara, the Tara of death and destruction. It is
well known that Tesla had a very eccentric personality with several phobias and quirks, namely
that he was physically revolted by jewelry, had an unhealthy fear of bacteria and germs
(mysophobia), was revolted by overweight people and was imperative about staying in hotel rooms
that were divisible by the number 3. He never married and claimed to be celibate although having
many female admirers whom he would often behave nonchalantly toward. Tesla was mostly
introverted as evidenced by Ketu being placed in the Birth Nakshatra.
While in Jupiter dasa, he started his own electrical company and invented the first brushless
alternating current induction motor. Jupiter rules the 3rd Tara and the 3rd Tara corresponds to the
3rd house in the Birth Chart. The 3rd house rules self-effort, small obstacles, competitors, siblings,
engineering, problem-solving, initiatory instructions, performing arts and travel. Jupiter as the
3rd Tara lord is having its hindrance destroyed (7th Tara). However, the beneficial results of the
3rd house remain, like engineering and problem-solving, both actions that Tesla excelled in.
Interestingly enough, if we examine the chart with Jupiter as the Birth Nakshatra because most of
the momentum for his illustrious career started in this dasa, we will see that Jupiter occupies the
3rd Tara.

Ju Vishaka

Ju Sa Me Ke Ve Su Mo Ma Ra

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Jan Sam Vip Ksh Pra Sad Vad Mai P. Mai

Su Ve Ju Ra Lg Mo Ma Ke Me Sa

The planets of engineering, Mars and Ketu, occupy the 8th Tara of the career and one’s effect on the
world or what one gives to the world. The 6th Tara lord, the Sun, which is the Tara of perfection, is
placed in the first Tara, the Tara of ideas, ingenuity and beginnings.
During Saturn/Saturn and Saturn/Mercury, he lived in Colorado Springs performing experiments
on direct current through the ionosphere and wireless telegraphy. In Saturn/Mercury he left
Colorado Springs and sold the lab to pay debts. You will see that Saturn is the 4th Tara Lord of
security placed in the 2nd Tara of wealth conjoined with Mercury. Mercury is the 5th Tara lord of
obstacles, delays and aversion. This Tara lord would have a negative influence upon his wealth and
security. During the Saturn period, he lost his patent for radio to Guglielmo Marconi but regained it
many years later in 1940. He went on to build the Wardenclyffe Tower which turned out to be a
folly and waste of money.
During his later years, from 1915 onward, he was living in debt in New York City, but still producing
experiments and theories. His mind also took a turn for the worse as he had what is today known
as obsessive-compulsive disorder. Many people thought he had gone insane at that time because
OBD was not officially known as an illness. This was during Mercury dasa. Mercury is the 5th Tara
lord occupying the 2nd Tara. This helped avert and give debts and delays to his wealth. Here is the
Tara for Mercury as 1st Tara Lord:

Me Jyeshtha

Me Ke Ve Su Mo Ma Ra Ju Sa

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Jan Sam Vip Ksh Pra Sad Vad Mai P. Mai

Mo Ma
Ju Ra Lg Me Sa Su Ve
Ke
As you can see, Mercury as the 1st Tara lord is placed in the 7th Tara, causing some severe
psychological disturbances during his dasa. The Ascendant is also placed in the 3rd Tara, further
compounding Tesla’s ability to be at peace with himself.