Asta
A graha within a fixed number of degrees of the Sun is asta, combust: it does not rise heliacally, its light is lost in the Sun's, and its significations are read as burnt. The orbs BPHS gives are the Moon 12 degrees, Mars 17, Mercury 14 direct and 12 retrograde, Jupiter 11, Venus 10 direct and 8 retrograde.
The nodes are never combust: BPHS says plainly that Rahu and Ketu should not be treated as combust however close they are to the Sun, since they are mathematical points and eclipse the Sun rather than being burnt by it. A combust graha is weakened but not destroyed, and the classical texts allow that a combust graha in its own sign or exaltation suffers less - though BPHS's translator argues the opposite for Venus and Saturn, against the common belief that those two keep their rays. The orbs vary between tables (Saturn is printed as 15 in some) and the table is recorded here rather than presented as uniform across the tradition.
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- CombustionAstangataAstangata doshaburnt by the Sun
Nature and meaning
- Kind
- Concept
- Sanskrit
- अस्त
- English
- combustion; a graha burnt by the Sun
- Meaning
A graha within a fixed number of degrees of the Sun is asta, combust: it does not rise heliacally, its light is lost in the Sun's, and its significations are read as burnt. The orbs BPHS gives are the Moon 12 degrees, Mars 17, Mercury 14 direct and 12 retrograde, Jupiter 11, Venus 10 direct and 8 retrograde, and Saturn 16.
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