Political Assassinations

Dr. Arjun Kumar Garg, Palwal

In the illusion of human life some survive, some succumb, some procure super success
and some fall down in dump. Politicians are public figures as they get pomp and power.
Astrologically, politicians are blessed with nectar of the first house (place of self
strength), second house (place of eloquence), third house (place of prowess), fourth house
(place of faith of masses), fifth house (place of analysis and logic), ninth house (place of
augmentation and auspiciousness) and tenth house (place of occupation and
administration). However, a person who is bestowed with the benefics of major houses of
the horoscope, is sometimes victim of malefic houses, ie, 6, 8 and 12th. This is true -
dominance of propitious houses lifts the native to dazzling heights of name, fame and
prosperity but a little effect of the arrogance of these malefic houses calls the moment
when everything suddenly, some how, changes to doom. A political assassination is such
an example. Let us make an astrological probe into the matter.

The mechanical and biological strength of physical body of the native is represented by
ascendant and its lord in the horoscope. Influence of benefic planets - waxing Moon,
Mercury, Jupiter and Venus on ascendant and/or its lord is beneficial for the individual to
make him driven, energetic, ambitious, successful and long-lived, but if the ascendant is
related to 8th or 12th house, the native suffers setbacks and unnatural death either by
some sort of accident or assassination. Generally, ascendants of politicians are strong
enough to bear various pressures, tensions and anxieties. Even then, if ascendant or its
lord is hemmed in by malefics or related to 8th or 12th house or their lords, probability of
assassination of the native emerges out.

If we look into the chart of Morarji Desai, ex Prime Minister of India, who enjoyed a
long life of about 99 years and got a natural death, the ascendant lord Mercury along with
12th lord Venus and 6th lord Mars is posited in 8th house. This is a crystal clear relation
of ascendant lord with malefic houses. Is it a sign of assassination? No, because -

1. The ascendant lord and 8th lord both are not inimical to friendship.
2. The ascendant lord is influenced by two benefics - Jupiter and Venus.
 3. The destructive nature of the Mars and 8th house has been suppressed by a
combined influence of three benefic planets - Mercury, Jupiter and Venus.

4. The lord of the 8th house - Saturn is exalted in fifth house and is free from any
influence of the malefic association or aspect.

Hindu astrology reveals 8th house as a place of death and hence considers the worst of all
the three malefic houses - 6th, 8th and 12th. In fact, 8th house describes longevity and
mode of the end of the life. Mantreshwar in Phaladeepika says - If the ascendant lord and
8th lord both are mutual friends, the native will be long lived. Similar situation is created
when the lord of the sign in which Moon is posited and the lord of the 8th house from the
Moon sign are mutual friends. It is apparent in the chart of Morarji Desai. Ascendant lord
Mercury and 8th lord Saturn both are not inimical to friendship. Also, the Sun (lord of the
sign where Moon is posited) and the Jupiter (lord of the 8th place from the Moon) both
are natural friends. Benefic planets - Mercury, Jupiter and Venus in the 8th house
increase the longevity and predict a peaceful natural death while malefic planets such as
Sun, Mars, Saturn, Rahu, Ketu and Uranus are indicative of unnatural death either by
accident, suicide, wounds, fire, weapon or electric shock. Possibility of such mis-
happening increases as the affliction to the 8th place increases.

As per astrologer's view 12th house is the most unfortunate place of the horoscope
because it is related to delusion, seclusion, loss, expense, secret enemies, imprisonment
and unseen troubles. It is the opinion that if there is no planet in the 12th house and its
lord is posited in 3rd or 8th house or aspected by Saturn (not by Mars or Rahu), the evil
characteristics of this house get minimised and the horoscope gains some extra strength.
Saturn is distinguished from Mars and Rahu in the sense that while Saturn is a planet of
delay, harassment and punishment, Mars and Rahu are planets of hurt, injury, arrogance,
excitement, explosions and fire. Saturn ultimately bestows peace and progress to the
native but Mars and Rahu lead to an awful situation. Thus the influence of the latter on 12
th house and its lord is not conduicive for peaceful life.*+-

We find 12th and 6th houses both signify enemies, injuries, sorrows and obstacles but
there is a little demarcation that while the 12th house stands for secret enemies and their
conspiracy, the 6th house stands for open field enemies. If there is influence of benefics
on 6th house and its lord, the native gets rid of his enemies. Thus it is the affliction to the
12th house or its lord that stands for assassination.

Astrologers know that benefic or malefic functions of planets not only depend upon their
intrinsic nature but also on their lordship. Sun, Mars, Saturn and Rahu-Ketu are evil by
nature, Sun being the least and Rahu-Ketu being the most. Although the latter shadowy
planets denote poisoning, secret intrigues, sudden events, assassination etc but they do
not function independently. If they occupy evil places or get associated with evil planets,
their adverse effect is increased tremendously. However, Saturn if linked to fatal places is
considered as a first grade killer. Whereas Mars, Saturn and Rahu-Ketu are considered
first grade malefics, the natural benefics - waxing Moon, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus
synchronize them if they get posited in 2nd or 7th houses or get lordship their of. Both
these houses are called fatal places as illustrated in Laghu Parashari-

" 8th house is a place of longevity. 8th place from the 8th house, ie, the third house is also
a place of longevity. The twelfth places from both (8th and 3rd) are 7th and 2nd houses
which act as killer of the native, the 7th being more fatal than the 2nd"

It is observed that many politicians were assassinated when they were undergoing the
period of fatal planets, ie, lords of 2nd or 7th houses. If Mars, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu get
involved with 2nd, 6th, 7th, 8th or 12th house or with their lord, the probability of
assassination is increased.

Chart of Mrs Indira Gandhi is strengthened by three exchanges of planets, of which the
two are making good Rajyogas. These are - 1. Exchange of ascendant lord Moon with
seventh lord Saturn. 2. Exchange of second lord Sun with fifth and tenth lord - auspicious
Mars. 3. Exchange of sixth lord Jupiter with eleventh lord Venus. Although the ascendant
is weakened by the influence of three first grade malefics (hemmed by Mars and Ketu
and occupied by 8th lord Saturn), yet its vitality is animated by the aspect of its own lord
Moon which in turn is aspected by divine Jupiter. This enabled Mrs Gandhi for hard
decisions in crucial span of time. For Cancer ascendants the Saturn is animator as well as
detrimental and fatal. Mrs Gandhi's political life was guided by the various aspects of
Saturn, the major period of which was started from Dec. 1970 when she was in chair of
PM. During the period of Saturn - Ketu she lost her power, dignity and modesty of her
political life when she got defeated in the election to the Parliament in March 1977 but in
the period of Saturn Venus she won the election to the Parliament and was sworn in for
PM in Jan. 1980. It was Saturn-Rahu-Rahu a crucial period when she was assassinated at
the age of 67 by her own body guard on Oct. 31, 1984. In her chart Saturn being the lord
of 7th house is fatal and Rahu - Ketu both are detrimental. Rahu occupies 6th house from
the ascendant and its dispositer Jupiter occupies the 6th place from Rahu. In this way a
cruel relationship among ascendant, sixth and eighth houses is responsible for her
assassination.
One should not get immediate conclusion for the time of death of a person on the basis of
the period of lord of 2nd or 7th house. It is worth while to know a broad spectrum of the
age of the native by studying the nature of the sign that contains -

 Lords of 1st and 8th houses.

 Moon and Saturn

 Lagna and Hora lagna

In the chart of Mrs. Gandhi the lords of 1st and 8th houses ie, Moon and Saturn occupy
movable signs indicating long life. Since the ascendant is hemmed in between malefics,
she might get more than middle age.

In the chart of Rajiv Gandhi, ex Prime minister, the ascendant is weakened (hemmed and
aspected) by three malefic planets, but it is augmented by the disposition of Moon in
fixed and Saturn in dual sign as well as conglomeration of five benefic planets - Sun,
Moon, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus. Moreover, the ascendant being vargottam gets some
extra strength that conferred on him beauty, body and bravery. However, the lords of 1st
and 8th house being in a fixed sign and malefic influence of Mars and Saturn on 8th
house and its lord indicate his short life. Since the ascendant is fortified by many
benefics, the age might touch to middle. He was at the age of 47 when assassinated on
May 21, 1991 in a bomb explosion by a female militant of LTTE in the period of Rahu -
Mercury. Both these planets are inimical and venomous because Rahu is in the place of
secret enemy, conspiracy and assassination while Mercury is fatal being the lord of
second house. The lord (Moon) of Rahu occupied sign in the ascendant, aspect of 6th lord
Saturn on the ascendant and aspect of Mars on the 8th house show loss of life. In this way
a cruel relationship among ascendant, second, sixth, eighth and twelfth houses is
responsible for his assassination. It would have been in the period of Rahu - Saturn from
Jan 87 to Nov 89 because Saturn also has sufficient fatal character.

Mahatma Gandhi at the age of 79 was assassinated on Jan. 31, 1948 in Delhi during
Jupiter - Ketu. There has been some ambiguity for his correct birth time and hence
correct rising sign of ascendant whether it is Virgo or Libra. I consider Virgo ascendant
which is benevolent for long life near to 80 years because lords of 1st and 8th houses are
in movable signs but Jupiter being lord of 7th house is fatal. Ketu posited in 5th house
(ie, 8th place from 10th house) is sufficiently inimical after receiving the aspect of 8th
lord Mars. For Virgo ascendant, Mars being the owner of 3rd and 8th houses is full of
fatal characteristics such as fire, injury, wound, accident, violence and destruction. So it
vitiates the aspected planets.

Shaikh Mujibur Rahman, Founder and President of Bangla Desh was assassinated at the
age of 55 on Aug. 15 1975 by an army officer during the period of Saturn - Jupiter. In his
chart Mars, lord of ascendant has lost its vigour* because of two first grade malefics
(Saturn and Rahu). The 12th house* (assassination) is highly afflicted by the presence of
Mars - Rahu and Saturnine aspect. Such combination of these three planets drains away
the comforts of the concerned house and hence in houses 1, 8, and 12 they are indicative
of short or middle life. We know that Mars - Rahu conjunction is synonym of a bomb or
an explosion. An evil aspect of Saturn on Mars or vice versa creeps into sudden calamity.
It is beyond doubt that in his chart Jupiter being lord of 2nd house is fatal but Saturn itself
is not fatal. It is the Venus that being owner of 7th and 12 houses incepts the instincts of
being a killer and instills its instincts by its direct aspect on Saturn.

"If malefics occupy 6th, 8th, or 12th houses and the lord of the lagna is weak without any
influence of benefics, the native is short lived."

Benito Mussolini born in a poor black-smith family began his carrier as a correspondent.
He stirred the public for socialist agitation by his revolutionary articles and speeches. For
such revolutionary activities he was arrested and got suffer imprisonment. In his chart the
ascendant is beset by the aspect of errant, erratic, erroneous, agonist and revolutionary
association of 3 planets - Moon-Mars-Saturn. It fascinated him to be a fascist who
believed in fight for the progress of a country. So he had been an extreme socialist using
extremism. In his view democracy and peace are just like a stagnant water of a pond and
hence an inertia to the progress. This is comparable to some other revolutionary union of
planets observed in the charts of Karl Marx (Sun, Moon and Rahu aspected by Saturn),
Adolf Hitler (Sun, Mars, Mercury and Venus aspected by Saturn) and Maharana Pratap
(Mars, Saturn and Ketu). However, conjunction of benevolent planets viz. Moon-Mars in
7th, Jupiter-Venus in 8th and Sun-Mercury in 9th houses spread his popularity in masses
as much that the king of Italy invited him to be sworn in as the head of the Govt. on Oct.
27, 1922 during Jupiter - Venus period. In second word war he faced defeat everywhere.
So he lost his faith in masses and became the victim of public rage. He tried to escape
into Switzerland but he was arrested on 28 April 1945, and, together with some members
of his Fascist Cabinet was executed by partisans and ultimately got assassinated. This is
noteworthy that Mars-Saturn conjunction like Mars-Rahu is violent for causing sudden
calamity like dog-death and Jupiter being lord of 2nd (or 7th) house is highly fatal.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of USA and one of the greatest American heroes
was born in a poor family who earned his living by working on the river as a boatman, by
splitting rails and acting as postmaster. With little formal education he had all the
qualities of a good statesman. His humour, eloquence, patience, courage, charity and
kindness established him in masses who one day elected him as President. He attended a
theatre on the night of April 14, 1865 where John Wilkes Booth, an actor shot him
through the brain and on the morning of 15th he died. It was Saturn-Mercury period. At
first instance both these planets in his chart are not fatal like the lords of 2nd and 7th
houses but they are influenced by them. It is well known that Mercury is a dependant
planet that shows the characteristics of conjoined planet. In his chart Sun-Mercury duo
occupy the ascendant. Therefore, Mercury squeezes the intrinsic fatality of the 7th house
through its lord Sun and becomes fatal indirectly. Simultaneously, Saturn as a lord of
ascendant is a producer of life even then being a lord of 12th it is related to death. In
Laghu-Parashari Saturn is considered as a master of death and becomes a first grade fatal
planet among others.

If Saturn is related to a fatal place or fatal planet in any way, it becomes itself a cruel
fatal.

Pramod Mahajan, general secretary of BJP and a minister in A B Vajpayee Govt. was
grievously wounded by his younger brother Pravin who shot at him at his residence on
April 22, 2006 at about 7.30 AM. The three bullets caused internal damage to his body
that eventually led to his death during Saturn-Moon-Venus (or Sun) period. According to
sources although Pramod supported his siblings morally, socially and financially yet the
two brothers were on bad terms for about two years as a consequence of sufferings of
Pravin from ill-treatment, humiliation, frustration and inferiority complex of the feeling
of a poor brother of a rich and powerful man (Pramod). Astrologically, for Leo ascendant
Saturn being lord of 6th and 7th houses is a cruel fatal planet. In the chart of the native
Saturn in retrograde state is posited in 12th house and by its aspect vitiating the Moon
that has drawn the fatal characteristics of 12th. The third vitious planet is either Venus or
Sun, neither is life saving because Venus being lord of 3rd has lost its auspiciousness and
further it is posited in 7th house, a giver of death. If we look at Sun, it is in an
embarrassed state being occupying 6th and having aspect of fatal Saturn.

As the conclusion, for politicians Saturn is a significant planet that in mundane astrology
stands for destiny, misfortune, public and democracy. The authoritarian action and
philanthropical behaviour of politicians are integral to public. Although in its period
Saturn induces the native to go to the high peak of power, position and prosperity yet it
does not act to the rescue of the native who commit s mistake to be bereft of his duties
and to attack the honour, integrity, sentiments, conscience and regalement of even a bit of
the public. Therefore, as soon as the period of Saturn (or any other) as a fatal planet
starts, the politician native can not get rid of the punishment of his misdeeds and hence he
must take care of not only himself but of others otherwise he may lose his life.