D I Astrology 13: Kaal Sarp Yog

Kaal Sarp Yog is the most beautiful concept of fear used to reap profits. There is no Yog in astrology like Kaal Sarp Yog (KSY), which has lined astrologers’ pockets and will continue to be in the future. That is the power of fear. This yog is also known as the Kaal Sarp Dosh. Why is this Yog so severe that we call it a Dosh? 

Well, for many reasons, one being its name. Kaal, which usually means time, but here it means death, and combined with the Sarpa (snake), nothing good can come out of it. These slithery beings are universally condemned by all cultures, though ours have been slightly kind to them. However, by and large, we are all taught to fear the snake. When two dreadful things combine in a yog, scariness is automatic. 

This yog has no roots in Brihat Parasha Hora Shastra, not even a mention. The closest mention is a Sarp yog that is entirely different from how the Kaal Sarp yog is defined. KSY is the most ingenious, created in several forms, depending on how one “chooses” to define it. In a way, no chart on this earth does not have this KSY. Many opine that this is a recent creation, a 20th-century creation. Nevertheless, others find various theories to support the existence of this yog for ages. Whatever the case, let us explore the commoners’ current understanding and how they use KSY. 

Kaal Sarp yog forms when all the planets are placed between Rahu -Ketu. When means Rahu and Ketu are engulfing the planets, now, this gets tricky. The north Indian style in the chart reads anti-clockwise, while the south Indian reading is clockwise. In both charts, if all Planets line up between Rahu and Ketu – First Rahu, then all Planets, and lastly Ketu, we say Rahu engulfs the planets. Alternatively, if we have Ketu first, then all the Planets and the lastly Rahu, we say Ketu engulfs the planets. We express the Rahu-Ketu as the head with a snake-like body; this gives it the name ‘Sarp’ (snake) in KSY. A yog feared only next to Shani!

In the figure, Rahu is in the first house, making Ketu in the seventh house. Rest planets hemmed between these two. So Rahu is eclipsing the planet; in the second figure, it is Ketu’s turn. Since Rahu -Ketu Axis is the 1-7 house; consequently, these two houses feel the impact. Thus, the Rahu Ketu axis can be 2-8, 3-9, maintaining a ‘six’ difference. Thus 12 positions for this same Yog, have varied meanings. 

(All these positions which create KSY get specific names, because why not.)

• • • • • Anant
        • Kulik
        • Vasuki
        • Shankhpal
        • Padma
        • Mahapadma
        • Takshak
        • Karkotak
        • Shankhchud
        • Ghaatak
        • Vishdhar
        • Sheshnag

It does not end here; so far, we have seen all planets between Rahu-Ketu. However, that does not happen all the time; there is always one or two planets that fly over the cuckoos nest. If one or two are outside Rahu Ketu’s axis or in the same house as Rahu Ketu, it is called Ardha Kaap Sarp

The initial rule was all planets between Rahu Ketu, but as it does not cover all the bases, we have a new sub-liter called Anshik KSY (Ardha KSY -Partial KSY). As if this did not cover everything, we have another sub-clause; depending on the planet accompanying Rahu or Ketu, the results get altered for the native. Especially if Sun or Moon is with Rahu or Ketu, it is worse (As Sun/Moon are mortal Enemies to Rahu-Ketu). Again this can take 12  positions and so will follow the results. 

So far, we are dabbling in the definition of KSY; we have not explored the implications of the Yog. 

Depending on where the Rahu Ketu axis is, so will be the results, 

1-7 axis health, marriage, business problems, 

2-8 axis family, inheritance issues,

4-10 axis home, job issues, 

5-11 axis children, education, income problems

We can have 12 such combinations. 

Natives with KSY suffer hardships, not luck; ancestors visit in the dream (may hound), nightmares, snake problems, no progress in life, life of a pauper, and many more. Reading the implications, we can quickly realize that ‘imagination’ is the limit to describe the dreaded implications of KSY. 

Fear has a multitude of roots; anything and everything can go awry in KSY. With Kaal hounding, doom is inevitable. 

Nowadays, people visit an astrologer with the assumption they have KSY and doing havan, Shanti, or Narayan Naag Bali will release them from Rahu and Ketu’s clutches. We are tuned to accept our suffering is due to KSY.  

Rahu, Ketu on their own are quite capable of harming, added they are always together (180° apart) acting in tandem, there is no Rahu without Ketu and vice versa. KSY also says when it is Rahu, Ketu Dasha, or sub-period, one feels the heat of KSY more, but that is how Dasha works.

One might wonder, how even people with KSY even live, do they have any life? As there is only hardship, no success, no money, no fame, health ailments, how can one have any life? To get the answer to such a question, one must study many many many charts with KSY; the more one studies and has a comparative basis ready, one can see what the outcome will be. 

It might surprise the reader that with the defined KSY, natives who have the KSY are at very high echelons of government; some have ruled countries, some have been despots, and some have been Queen and Kings. We can observe that KSY, opposite of harm, can help one thrive in their life. 

Here are few famous people who have KSY(Full or Partial) in their charts Pt. Nehru, Sachin Tendulkar, Dhirubhai Ambani, Lata Mangeshkar, R P Goenka, JRD Tata, Gautam Adani, SL Kirloskar, KM Birla, Ratan Tata, Mayawati, Narayan Murthy, Abasaheb Garware, Sumitra Mahajan, AB Bajpai, Sonia Gandhi Ravi Ruia. One theory could be that these are Indians and must have done the required remedies. Nevertheless, we have Abraham Lincoln (KSY was not in use during his time), Billy Carter, Donald Trump, Ted Turner, Richard Branson, Andrew Carnegie, Richard Nixon, and many more. 

KSY, as dreaded, it is made to sound in reality, it is not. Rahu-Ketu are shadow planets, ones with no actual physical presence. They are the karmic planets are they indicate the souls desire. Nothing remains permanent; change is inevitable, the night to day, winter to summer, everything will have a cycle.

One conclusion we can draw so far,  KSY cannot be bad throughout one lifetime, especially in the form it is defined. One can at least make some sense that KSY is not harmful as it is made to sound, given the long list of people who have reached high points in their life.