Meaning
Shukra is Venus, named for the sage who teaches the asuras, as Guru teaches the gods. "Venus is desire," says the Brihat Jataka of the cosmic person, and among the grahas Venus is a counsellor (II.1, Iyer 1885). Its colour is "neither very white nor very black", its direction the south-east and its element water, and among its names are Bhrigu and Sita, "the white planet".
Modern readings make Shukra the graha of love and attraction, beauty, pleasure, the arts and comfort, the good things of life and the wish for them. The tradition also reads it in matters of partnership.
In the chart it is written Ve. It is the lord of the longest Vimshottari period, twenty years.
Rashis and dignities
Shukra rules Vrishabha and Tula, and its moolatrikona is Tula. It is exalted at the 27th degree of Meena and debilitated in Kanya (Brihat Jataka I.6, I.13 and I.14). Its drishti falls on the seventh rashi from itself. It is the Vimshottari lord of Bharani, Purva Phalguni and Purva Ashadha.
Its period
In the Vimshottari dasha Shukra holds twenty of the cycle's 120 years, the second period in the order Ketu, Shukra, Surya, Chandra, Mangala, Rahu, Guru, Shani, Budha. A person whose Moon stands in Bharani, Purva Phalguni or Purva Ashadha at birth begins life in Shukra's period, counting only the part still to run; for any other Moon it comes later in the sequence. Each period is divided into nine sub-periods in the same order.
Our chart's reading of the period, in our words: "The twenty-year Shukra mahadasha tends to emphasize relationships, beauty, art, comfort and the enjoyment of life. Much depends on Shukra's condition in the chart, and the period often invites cultivating harmony, refinement and grace." The tradition's reading of this period, not a prediction of events, and not advice on health, money, legal matters or relationships. The dates follow the chart's conventions, years of 365.25 days and the Lahiri ayanamsa; other tools differ from ours by days.
Correspondences
Each item with how it stands: “sourced” is in the work cited, “our construction” is EsoTerrier’s own, and “disputed” means the sources disagree.
- To the Kalapurusha (Brihat Jataka II.1, Iyer 1885)
- "Venus is desire" sourced
- Rank among the grahas (II.1)
- a counsellor, with Jupiter sourced
- Natural nature (Brihat Jataka)
- benefic sourced
- Moolatrikona rashi (I.14)
- Tula sourced
- Element and gender (II.6)
- water; female sourced
- Themes in modern readings, our summary
- love, beauty, pleasure, the arts and comfort our construction
How the schools read it
- The Brihat Jataka (Varahamihira, 6th century; Iyer 1885)
- Desire to the Kalapurusha and, with Jupiter, a counsellor; lord of Vrishabha and Tula; exalted at 27° Meena and debilitated in Kanya; benefic; "neither very white nor very black"; the south-east; element water.
- The Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, as printed
- Twenty years in the Vimshottari order; the lord of Bharani, Purva Phalguni and Purva Ashadha.
- Modern Jyotisha
- Love, beauty, pleasure, the arts and comfort.
- Western tropical astrology
- Venus of the Western chart, the same body measured from the equinox; there too it rules Taurus and Libra.
- EsoTerrier
- Shown as Ve in the boxes, with its degree; R beside it when it is retrograde (vakri).
Claims about it
-
The dasha of this graha foretells events to the day.
unverifiedWhat the record shows: Dasha dates move with the ayanamsa, the year length and the Moon's degree; tools differ by days. We give the period with its conventions stated, as the tradition's theme for a stretch of years.
-
This graha's place foretells illness, wealth or marriage, and doshas cause misfortune.
unverifiedWhat the record shows: These are claims of the tradition and of the commercial kundli. We compute no doshas.
Elsewhere on EsoTerrier
- Rashi 2: Vrishabha, Taurus its own rashi
- Rashi 7: Tula, Libra its own rashi
- Rashi 12: Meena, Pisces where it is exalted
- Nakshatra 2: Bharani a nakshatra it rules as Vimshottari lord
- Nakshatra 11: Purva Phalguni a nakshatra it rules as Vimshottari lord
- Nakshatra 20: Purva Ashadha a nakshatra it rules as Vimshottari lord
- Natal Chart (Tropical): Venus the same body in the Western chart
