Chapter Four

Tvashtar – Divine Architect

SUN IN AQUARIUS & SUN IN 11TH HOUSE

om hram tvashtre namah

“Tvastar I call, the earliest born, the wearer of all forms at will.”

- Rig Veda
“Tvashta as the Sun-god; Jamadagni, the son of Rcika, as the rishi; Kambalasva as the naga;
Tilottama as the apsara; Brahmapeta as the rakshasa; Shatajit as the yaksha; and Dhritarashtra
as the gandharva maintain the month of Isa.”
- Srimad Bhagavatam

Our journey with the Sun will start from the sign of Aquarius, where Uttarayana would
start in Vedic times. It is here, in Aquarius, where upward movement of enlightening solar
energy through zodiacal chakras starts. It is here, where the first step towards
enlightenment is made – in the sign of kumbha, the sacred womb of the zodiac.

Kumbha means a “water-pot” and it represents the sacred womb of the universe, as well
as all the creative powers in our internal universe. These powers are manifested in their
most mundane form as sexual desire and instinct of procreation, while in their refined
state they assume a form of Divine creativity or innovation. But the primordial desire of
this sign is the same: to give birth to something new, to manifest something new, to bring
some new reality into being. To manifest our innermost desires. This is why eleventh
house in Vedic astrology is the house of our hopes and wishes, as well as the house of
innovation.

Kumbha rashi is a mulatrikona sign of Saturn, whose adi devata is Brahma himself, the
creator of the universe. Lord Brahma is also devata of muladhara chakra. Interestingly, one
of Brahma’s sons and progenitors of mankind, Kashyapa, narrates to his wife, Aditi, in
Srimad Bhagavatam, how in the beginning of creation he asked his father, Brahma, how
shall he please the Supreme Lord, so he is granted offspring. Brahma then instructed rishi
Kashyapa to perform the sacred process called payo-vrata, fasting exclusively on milk,
which should be done for first twelve consecutive days of month Phalguna (starting with
Shukla Pratipad and completing on Shukla Dvadashi), during which Sun stays in the sign of
Aquarius. Aditi, the wife of rishi Kashyap, has followed this vow and in a result gave birth
to one of the incarnations of Supreme Lord Vishnu himself. That is the extent of creative
power of Sun dwelling in kumbha rashi.

In the sign of Aquarius or in the eleventh house, Sun-god assumes a form of Tvashtar,
whose very name denotes Divine carpenter and governor of all creative powers.
According to Purusha Sukta, Tvashtar emerged from the navel of Vishwakarma (“the
creator of the world” or the Divine architect) as the visible form of creativity manifesting
itself from the unmanifested. But in reality, both Tvashtar and Vishwakarma, manifested
and unmanifested, are the same creative energy, working behind 11th house and kumbha
rashi. Interestingly enough, according to many Puranas, navel is the dwelling place of
Saturn, the planetary ruler of Aquarius. Similarly Lord Brahma, adi devata of Shani, was
born from the navel of Lord Vishnu.

Interestingly enough, Tvashtar is mentioned exactly 65 times in Rig Veda – 6 added to 5

produces 11, which confirms a strong association of Tvashtar and 11th house in Vedic
astrology. Sun-god in the form of Tvashtar gives a form to everything in the universe:
shaping bodies in the wombs of all beings, sculpting the world of maya around us, making
weapons for all the gods in heavens and designing all visible forms. In Rig Veda he is
invoked to protect the form of a child in the womb, to aid us with creative skills, as well as
to help us in making a sacrifice. He is Garbhapati (“the lord of the womb”) and Vanaspati
(“the lord of the forests”). Being the Architect of the universe, he does not discern
between his creation. He works both for the goodness of gods and demons, as He, the
Divine Architect, is the only one who was from the beginning of Creation and who knows
that every being, in its essence, is made from the same Divine fabric.

Similar ability to see everything and everybody as one can be seen from people with Sun
in Aquarius or Sun in 11th house. They usually have a very strong need for social equality
and justice, which is inspired both by Saturn and Rahu – two planetary rulers of this sign.
Napoleon himself, a famous native with powerful Sun (in Leo, its mulatrikona) in 11th
house said: “If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my
god.”

When this sign or house is afflicted, however, they may also tend to look more towards
the “darker side” of life. Tvashtar is in some scriptures directly addressed as asura or
“night-worker”, and sometimes he is identified with Vishwakarma (“the maker of the
world”, another name for Divine Architect) or even Mayan or Maya Danava, the great
grandfather of Vastu Shastra and author of such works as Antiram or Surya Siddhanta.
Maya Danava was of asuric origin and he was well known from his association with asuras
or those, who were dedicated to the darker force - and often abused his inventions.

Here, in the sign of Aquarius, zodiacal muladhara chakra, responsibility becomes a very big
thing – as it is through root chakra that we are connected to the manifested world and
through which we gain our own power to manifest things. Here, in the sign of Aquarius,
the soul, symbolised by the Sun, realises its own creative power and ability to manifest its
reality. The soul realises here that it is an architect of its own life. Yet, this discovery, may
also lead some souls to false understanding that they are their own gods and that
everything is dependent on them alone. Indeed, you will find many atheists born with Sun
in 11th house or Sun in Aquarius. They often believe more in their own deeds than any
supreme power, which is inspired by Shani and Rahu as planetary rulers of this sign. This is
also the darker side of Aquarius, which may develop an unhealthy ego and denial of higher
force. Perhaps this is why Tvashtar is often called addressed as asura, as well as he
cooperates with demons in the mythology. In each of us there is this asuric part, which is
nothing else than the ego and a false “I am the doer” belief. Abandoning it and realisation
that there is a higher Cosmic creative force governing all life, is the first step towards
enlightenment - and the most important one.

Tvashtar also teaches us that there is a great responsibility coming with creative power
and ability to manifest things. Our minds alone are capable of creating the brightest
future, full of light and abundance, as well as the darkest one, with our fears coming true.
Tvashtar reminds us that every thought, word and action has its creative power and that
we are responsible not only for the reality we created for ourselves, but we also influence
the reality of others to a big extent – as we are all connected through the Fabric of Life.
Our choices of thoughts, words and actions have impact not only on our little world, but
they influence the world around us, too.

Tvashtar Himself has experienced it in the most painful way. He, the Divine Architect, had
seen gods and demons abusing his weapons, as well as humans abusing his creative
powers and technology. Sign of Aquarius, after all, is also the sign of innovation and
modern technology – and seeing how humans abuse this technology for selfish purposes
in our times it is not hard to understand, why advanced technology was considered in
many spiritual traditions asuric. It is not that technology or creation itself is at fault; but
simply by its very own nature it inspires immature minds to be abused. That is one more
reason why sign of Aquarius is also ruled by Rahu – an asura and a rebel, who wants to
create the world of unlimited access to information and technology, but at the same time
takes us away from our natural origins. Balancing modern technology with respect to
Nature is the biggest challenge of our century.

Sun-god in the form of Tvashtar teaches us that every invention comes with a price and
that we need to be really careful, what we are creating in the world, as we become
responsible for that. Tvashtar himself, when he became enraged with Indra, after Indra
killed his son, Vishwarupa, created in his anger demon Vritra, who consumed all the water
in the world. Yet, after seeing how powerful and destructive his son was, he himself was
compelled to destroy his own son. Tvashtar was the one, who created Vritra, but he was
also the one, who created a thunderbolt, vajra, Indra’s weapon, to aid Indra in finishing his
son off and restoring water in the world. In this way Tvashtar was forced to destroy his
own creation – and gave us all a powerful lesson of taking responsibility for everything we
create in this world: be it children or our inventions.
It is here, in zodiacal muladhara chakra, in the sign of Aquarius, that the Sun or the soul,
must overcome the feeling of being a victim and start taking responsibility for its actions.
Tvashtar, the embodiment of creative power, teaches us that nobody is a victim of
circumstances. We all shape our own fate with our own actions, and in this life we are
merely receiving the crops of our previous karma, while sowing the seeds of new karma. It
is a never-ending circle of life, which finds its completion only when we start to offer each
of our actions as a sacrifice for the Divine and thus abandon the attachment to the fruits
of our actions – as Sri Krishna advices in Bhagavad Gita. In this way humility is born and
karma loses the ability to bind us.

After all, isn’t it the highest objective of Sun in Aquarius? To find an ultimate remedy to
escape the results of its actions (which is strongly inspired by the influence of Rahu)? But
this never happens through avoiding responsibility or trying to save our ego self from the
consequences of its self-created karma. It happens only through sincere surrender to the
Divine and performing each action as a sacrifice to God. Bhagavan Krishna explains it with
full clarity in the Gita:

“You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of
action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be
attached to not doing your duty.”

Performing each of our actions as a sacrifice to the Divine is a higher nature of Tvashtar
Aditya. In the Vedas Tvashtar or Vishwakarman is known as embodiment of sacrifice, who
sacrificed himself, in order to create the world. This is why He is invoked during every fire
ceremony to help us in performing the sacrifice with the right attitude. “Rich in all plenty,
Tvashtar, come auspicious of thine own accord. Help us in every sacrifice”, say the words
of rigvedic hymn. Similarly, people with Sun in Aquarius, may sometimes have this special
ability to sacrifice themselves for a greater good. They only need to be careful not to
sacrifice too much, as they may sometimes have a tendency to sacrifice way too much
and then assuming a role of a victim afterwards. Overcoming the negative qualities of
Rahu is a very important thing with this placement of the Sun.

Sons of Tvashtar

The creative energy of Tvashtar and Sun in 11th house or Sun in Aquarius always years to
achieve fruits of actions – to create something, to bring something into life. In Taittiriya
Brahmana it is said that when all the gods of the nakshatras expressed their desires, it was
the desire of Tvashtar to “gain a wonderful progeny”. But with power of creativity being
so strong with Sun in Aquarius or Sun in 11th house, there also comes a need of great
responsibility. Tvashtar himself needed to learn this lesson in the most profound way.

When Indra killed Tvashtar’s first son, Vishwarupa (this story is narrated in detail in Indra’s
chapter), Tvashtar got enraged. He was determined to bring the downfall of Indra. He
perfomed a special yagna, fire ceremony, during which he prayed: “O enemy of Indra, arise
to kill your enemy.”

And then something went terribly wrong. As Tvashtar was very furious, he chanted the
mantra incorrectly. He stressed the wrong syllable, which made the meaning of the whole
mantra completely opposite: “O enemy of Indra, arise to be killed by your enemy.”

Similarly people with Sun in Aquarius may be a bit impulsive sometimes, due to what they
may speak, while clouded by their emotions. Here, once again, Tvashtar is teaching us in a
very profound way the lesson of controlling our words, as whether we are aware of it or
not, they have an enormous creative power.

But what was spoken needed to manifest. There was no turning back. Consequences
needed to come and they needed to be bore, not only by Tvashtar or Indra, but by the
entire creation. Out of the fire arose “a fearful personality who looked like the destroyer
of the entire creation at the end of the millennium. That fearful demon covered all the
planetary systems by dint of austerity. Therefore he was named Vritra, one who covers
everything. The demigods, headed by Indra, charged the demon, striking him with their
own transcendental bows and arrows, but Vritrasura swallowed all their weapons. Struck
with wonder and disappointment upon seeing the strength of the demon, the demigods
lost their own strength.”

In the Rigveda, however, instead of having a human or demonic form, Vritra is having a
form of a dragon, who covers everything with his giant body and obstructs the flow of
rain from the clouds. He evaporates all the water from the earth and withholds it. “There
darkness stood, the vault that stayed the waters' flow: in Vrtra's hollow side the rain-cloud
lay concealed.” This is why from the sign of Aquarius you can often see the people, who
love to monopolise things or keep their inventions just for themselves – like Vritrasura
kept water for himself and withdrawed it from the world. If Sun in Aquarius is in ill
disposition it may often denote the person who tries to monopolise his/her invention and
make a business on it, as well as is inclined towards making things more exclusive, not
easily accessible. That is why we may see many people in secret societies from the sign.
However, if Sun is in good disposition, specifically if he is the first lord, we may see
something completely opposite: a person, who tries to break the spell of Vritra and release
the waters, giving back to society, what belongs to it, and making everybody feel equal.

Vritra in this sense resembles a lot qualities of Rahu, the planetary co-ruler of Aquarius,
often addressed as “head of the dragon”. He, similarly like Vritra, is an archetype of
primordial dragon or snake of chaos, which sometimes withholds the waters nourishing
the creation, and sometimes releases them beyond measure – but always creating lots of
chaos on the way. Rahu, indeed, represents our ego and our inner asura, who always
yearns after the drop of amrit, nectar of immortality, but never feels satisfied with
anything it gets, and just keep fulfilling one desire after another (theme of imbalanced 11th
house). Paradoxically, Rahu is at the same time deeply attracted towards social justice and
breaking the norms of society – especially those norms, which exclude some people.
Afflicted Rahu can be completely selfish and keep everyting just for himself – but well
placed Rahu can be a great innovator, out-of-the-box thinker and bringer of social reform.

Kumbha rashi is sometimes said to represent the mythical pot of amrit, nectar of
immortality. And not without a reason. Fulfillment of desires in material world, which 11th
house stands for, is like a constant chase of amrit, “the juice of life”, in many different
places, but never really reaching satisfaction – as true satisfaction and true amrit can be
extracted only from one’s spiritual effort. When devas and asuras were churning the ocean
of milk (representing the ocean of our consciousness), gods cooperated with asuras,
because they needed them and their effort for this task. This is why gods initially promised
asuras that they will also get their share of amrit. However, when it came to sharing the
amrit, gods realised that they should not give it to asuras no matter what. So they prayed
to Vishnu to save them from this trouble. And Vishnu came up with a tricky plan.

He appeared in the form of the most enchanting woman in the universe, Mohini avatar.
He proposed to distribute the amrit among gods and asuras, to which asuras cheerfully
agreed, seeing the beautiful form of Mohini. Vishnu in the form of Mohini avatar lured
them with her beauty, while secretly giving amrit only to the gods. But there was one
asura, who knew exactly what’s going on – because he was the master of deception
himself.

Rahu felt enraged inside. He could not believe his eyes, when he saw, how gods cheated
the asuras. He thought to himself: “This is not righteous. We, asuras, also worked hard to
get the amrit, but only gods are getting it. Where is my drop of amrit?” You can see this
attitude a lot with Sun in Aquarius. But even though Rahu was enraged with lack of
righteousness from the side of gods, he didn’t share this with other asuras. Instead, he
decided to get his drop of amrit for himself, no matter what. So he assumed a form of a
deva and sat among other gods, waiting for his turn to receive the amrit. And his wish was
fulfilled. Mohini devi gave him one drop of amrit, as well. But, soon after Rahu received his
share of nectar of immortality, Sun-god and Moon-god (whose signs are right opposite the
Aquarius) revealed to Vishnu Rahu’s true identity and with his Divine discus Vishnu
severed Rahu’s head at once. But, as Rahu already consumed a drop of amrit, he remained
immortal as bodiless head (Rahu) and headless body (Ketu), who can never be satisfied.
Since then Rahu became a symbol of unhealthy and unrestricted desires, as well as
bearing their consequences.

With Sun in Aquarius or Sun in 11th house it is very important for the person not to try to
reach for something, which doesn’t belong to him/her or is not destined for him/her. With
Shatabhisha nakshatra at the very heart of this sign, people with this placement may often
disagree with their destiny and try to raise their hand for something, which is not for them
– and this may often become the cause of their misfortune.

Interestingly, Tvashtar’s first son, Vishwarupa, commited a very similar mistake, like Rahu
or Vritra. He was also called Trishiras, as he had three heads, symbolising three gunas.
When he had a post of Indra’s priest, during fire ceremonies he was also secretly offering
oblations on behalf of the asuras, as he was half-asura and half-god. He was not fulfilling
his duty faithfully and he tried to get for his clan some benefit or share, which was not
theirs in the first place. And similarly like in case of Vritra and Rahu, he was beheaded by
Indra for this offence.

Beheading has a very symbolic meaning here. The entire sign of Aquarius, with Tvashtar
as its Divine guardian, tries to teach us to fulfill our duties selflessly, without any selfish
motives. Our head shouldn’t interfere with performing our duties. Our mind should be
focused on serving the Divine and performing each act as a sacrifice to the Supreme,
rather than on “what I am going to get from that” – because the moment, when the “I”
interferes with our action, karma is instantly created. Not without a reason Aquarius is
often called as one of the most karmic signs – because it is in this sign that karma is born
and created, through selfish interaction with the world around us.

Tvashtar reminds us that the only way to use our creative powers without getting
entangled by the snares of maya is through selflessness, detachment and acting with the
attitude of offering everything to the Divine, without head nor mind being involved in this
process. This is the true mastery of muladhara chakra, which is connected to sign of
Aquarius. Vritra, the dragon son of Tvashta, symbolises nothing else but serpentine
kundalini shakti herself, whose creative power and spiritual potential can become fully
manifested only when we stop being selfish and keep everything just for ourselves –
otherwise she will keep us entrapped in maya and stay dormant, coiled in the root chakra,
supressing our spiritual and vital powers. Seven rivers released by Vritrasura represent
nothing else but seven most important energy channels in our subtle body, as well as
seven chakras released from the burden of karma.

Interestingly, even the deity of muladhara chakra, Ganesha, was beheaded, which is a
powerful indication that our head should never interfere with matters of muladhara chakra.
It should rather focus on higher dimensions of our being.

Dhanishta nakshatra – starting point of Aquarius

Dhanishta nakshatra, the star that equally bridges two cosmic expansions of zodiacal
muladhara chakra, sign of Capricorn and sign of Aquarius, is the starting point of Aquarius
sign. Dhanishta literally means “the wealthiest one” – no wonder it is the starting point of
original eleventh house. With two of its symbols being a drum and a flute, representing
listening to your inner voice at all times, it represents the individuality of the sign of
Aquarius. With ladder being another symbol of this lunar mansion, it represents progress,
ambition, innovation, ascending and rise of energy needed in order to create something –
qualities of Tvashtar himself. Ambitious, fierce and independent nature of this nakshatra is
represented by female lion being its animal symbol. It also warns us, however, that too
much of ambition and being overly focused on accumulation of material wealth or rising in
society, may also make us unnecessarily aggressive, and will ultimately bind us to the fruits
of our actions, if we will be overly focused only on what we receive. If we channel this
energy wisely, however, we can also make it manifest as spiritual growth and spiritual
progress – as Dhanishta nakshatra, dwelling right at the bottom of zodiacal root chakra,
can also help us to awaken our kundalini shakti and manifest our spiritual potential.

Shatabhisha nakshatra – at the heart of Aquarius

Shatabhisha, the star of hundred healing herbs (ruled by Rahu), lies at the very heart of
sign of Aquarius. Its shakti or internal power is bheshaja shakti – “the power to heal”.
Tvashtar himself is several times called in Rig Veda as Vanaspati, “lord of the forests” –
“ever-green, golden-hued, refulgent, with a thousand branches”. He lives in all plants and
herbs and gives them their healing power, as well as he himself acts sometimes as Divine
physician of the gods. And similarly like plants grow faster during the night, so Tvashtar is
often called a “night-worker” or one of the asuras, who are also becoming stronger during
the night.

Spending enough time in nature, especially around green plants, is often, in fact, a perfect
remedy for natives with Sun in Aquarius, who have a natural tendency to spend a little bit
too much time in their heads. The energy of green plants is deeply soothing for them,
which may have something to do with healing influence of Mercury on Rahu. Recent
studies also confirm that the amount of time we spend in nature is deeply connected with
our psychological wellbeing and has the power to heal the “darkness” within ourselves.
Jane Goodall said: “It's been proven by quite a few studies that plants are good for our
psychological development. If you green an area, the rate of crime goes down. Torture
victims begin to recover when they spend time outside in a garden with flowers. So we
need them, in some deep psychological sense, which I don't suppose anybody really
understands yet.”

Interestingly, in connection to the story of Rahu above (which is strongly connected to

Shatabhisha nakshatra, as Rahu was beheaded under this star), Tvashtar is often
addressed in Rig Veda also as a “guardian of soma” or amrita, Divine nectar of immortality.
In some of the rigvedic hymns it is narrated how Tvashtar was keeping soma well hidden,
but Indra has stolen it from him. This motive of hiding something and unwillingness to
share it with others is very prominent with the Sun in Aquarius.

It is also well known that soma or healing power within the plants is getting replenished
during New Moon night, when the Moon descends into the world and dwells in the
plants, enhancing their healing properties. Sign of Aquarius is strongly connected with the
New Moon, as it becomes a tithi pati kshetra for this Moon phase, as well as the
consciousness is dwelling in this sign during Amavasya (you can read more about this topic
in “Journey with the Moon”). This makes it more understandable why Tvashtar was also
praised as the lord of forests, plants and healing herbs in the Rig Veda. Ultimately, the
patterns of Divine Architect and all the sacred ratios are the most visible in plants
themselves.

It is also important to add that Shatabhisha nakshatra, being the nakshatra of Varuna, the
Divine Judge, is also a mulatrikona sign of Shani – the executor of Cosmic Law. Shani
reminds us here about the necessity to take full responsibility for all our actions and
creations, to accept our destiny and not to yearn for more, that is destined for us. As Rahu
wants here to make things righteous, but in his own way (so he can benefit), Shani
reminds us that only selflessness can give us a true freedom (opposed to illusionary
freedom offered to us by Rahu), as only performing our actions of selfless way will break
the influence of karma in our lives.

It is quite interesting that the nakshatra of Varuna, God of Cosmic Law and Fate, lies
exactly at the heart of Aquarius, one of the most karmic signs. Indeed, natives with
prominent planets in Aquarius may sometimes blame fate for their life situation – which is
nothing else but avoiding the main life lesson from Tvashtar for them: lesson of
responsibility. Tvashtar Aditya teaches us that we should take full responsibility for our
creation, for our assets, for our actions and for our karmas - without trying to put this
responsibility on somebody else or just blame our fate. Understanding this main lesson of
sign of Aquarius or 11th house, is the key to heal it in our birth chart.

Shani and Rahu are also inspiring all the people with Sun in Aquarius to always keep in
mind a bigger picture. Looking at bigger picture comes along with understanding the
lesson of responsibility and understanding of law of cause and effect. Similarly like the
Divine Judge in the form of Varuna, who has thousands eyes, always looks at the bigger
picture, so the natives with Sun in Aquarius or Sun in 11th house have this rare capacity to
always see everything as a part of something bigger. This is the influence of Shani, as
Saturn is the most distant planet (taken into consideration in Vedic astrology) in our solar
system, which gives him the best overview of all the things happening here, as well as the
biggest detachment. Also, when Sun dwells in 11th house, he is almost at his zenith point,
approaching it slowly, which makes him see everything very clearly. This is why people
with this placement can often be good spies and detectives, too – as they naturally see
more than other people do, while they have at the same time a special ability not to be
seen, granted to them by the shape-shifting influence of Rahu and Tvashtar.

Purva Bhadrapada nakshatra – ending point of Aquarius

Sign of Aquarius ends and completes with first three padas of Purva Bhadrapada
nakshatra, extremely fiery lunar mansion with impulsive and unpredictable energy,
resembling the streak of lightening or electricity. With pillar of light as its symbol (or Shiva
lingam), similarly like Dhanishta nakshatra, it represents rising of our spiritual energy up our
chakras – it is even symbolised by the same animal, lion (male one). Purva Bhadrapada
nakshatra is strongly connected with awakening of kundalini shakti, as well as kriya yoga
practice, but also all intense, spiritual transformations. As male lion is animal connected to
this lunar mansion, and pillar of light is its symbol, it is often connected to Narasimha
avatar of Lord Vishnu, a fierce incarnation of God as half-man, half-lion, who came on
earth to relieve it from the rule of materialistic demon Hiranyakashipu, whose very own
name means “golden cushions”. Interestingly enough, birth star of Lord Narasimha is Citra
nakshatra, the star of Tvashtar himself.

Similarly, Purva Bhadrapada represents more eccentric, transformative and spiritual side of
sign of Aquarius and Tvashtar himself. It represents looking out of the box, and making a
first step out of the limiting circle of Shatabhisha – which is why it is called Purva
Bhadrapada – “first auspicious step”. This is why people with Sun in Aquarius are always
known to be very innovative and “ten steps ahead”. It also represents first step into
spirituality, as it bridges 11th sign of the zodiac with the last sign: Pisces, the sign, in which
God is experienced. It inspires us to see beyond what the physical eyes can see, and to
see the underlying unity behind all creation, the one “pillar of light”, one spiritual
fundament of the entire creation, beyond all duality. When this nakshatra is afflicted,
however, a person may have a problem with perceiving spiritual unity in the world and
may be too focused on the duality – and may even display some dual nature. This is why
another symbol of this nakshatra is two-faced man. Similarly like Tvashtar was helping
both gods and demons (and not always in openly), so sometimes there might be some
duplicity in the people with Sun in this nakshatra, as well (or Sun in Aquarius in general).
Do not judge them too quickly though: sometimes they may help both “gods” and
“demons” due to their ability to see everything as spiritually one.

Perceiving everything as one, however, is not always a sign of spiritual maturity in people
with Sun in Aquarius or Sun in eleventh house. In so many New Age philosophies we can
hear statements like “Why should we worship any God, when we are already gods? Why
should we seek enlightened Guru, if the soul is already enlightened in its essence? Why
should we follow any restrictions, if everything comes from God?” Powerful influence of
Rahu in the sign of Aquarius gives rise to questions like that. It is so-called “spiritual ego” –
which can be way more cunning than materialistic ego. Rahu is this ego particle in
ourselves, who is able to shape-shift and transform itself depending on our belief system,
to trap is in its illusion through many different ways. It is Rahu that makes us believe, that
there is no need for self-perfection, as everything is “already divine”. This is why following
the “onenness” philosophy prematurely, without firstly understanding the diversity of
different influences in the universe and proper power discrimination, may result in the
best case in a bit hyper-optimistic perception of spirituality, and in the worst case in using
such spiritual phrases to excuse one’s own inability to control one’s desires and senses.
Seeing underlying spiritual unity of everything, while being aware of diversity and
limitations of the world at the same time, is a rare ability – and a very important one to
develop for everybody, who has Sun in the sign of Aquarius, specifically in Purva
Bhadrapada nakshatra. Because when Sun enters any place of the zodiac, it is the soul
itself that wants to learn some important life lesson on a deeper level and overcome its
own ego particle in this exact sphere of life.

Purva Bhadrapada nakshatra, being on the border of original eleventh house and original
twelfth house, sign of Aquarius and sign of Pisces, as well as having a death bed as its
symbol and power of spiritual elevation as its shakti, also reminds us, that depending on
how responsible karmically are we in our today’s thoughts, words and deeds, we will also
experience the type of afterlife similar to the current level of our consciousness. “You reap
what you sow” – that is the ultimate life lesson from Tvashtar himself. But it takes a lot of
spiritual maturity to truly act so consciously in every thoughts, words and deed in our
everyday life and a lot of healthy grounding – which are the qualities of healthy muladhara
chakra. Purva Bhadrapada nakshatra itself is strongly connected with the energy of our
root chakra and requires from us finding this healthy balance, grounding and stability in
life.

Citra nakshatra – the star Tvashtar

In the cycle of 27 Vedic stars, Tvashtar is the god of 14th nakshatra, called Citra or
“wondrous one”. Citra also means “colorful one”, “shining one” or “a picture”. It is the most
tamasic of all the nakshatras, representing the raw force of nature, which still needs to be
shaped – and which requires a lot of effort and discipline to be shaped (which is reflected
by its planetary lord, Mars). And as Citra nakshatra is presided by Tvashtar, the god, who
shapes the form of a being within the womb, it is also closely connected with genetic
code. Kala Prakashika states that any grains sown under Citra nakshatra are going to be
protected. On the other hand, when Citra nakshatra or 14th nakshatra from one’s Moon or
lagna are afflicted, some genetic issues may be seen from that.

There can be many reasons, why Tvashtar was given the most tamasic nakshatra as his
star in Vedic sky. Perhaps it is due to his association with dark forces or asuras, or his own
sons having destructive or dark tendencies – or perhaps, because the wife of Tvashtar
was Danu, mother of danavas (another clan of dark beings, similar to asuras). It seems that
in Vedas Tvashtar often has a very similar role like Prometeus in Greek mythology. He
gives fire, the sacrifice and new invention, as well as creative power to humanity, but in
the end he is vilified for it by other gods or even banished from heaven. In this respect the
role of Tvashtar in the Vedas even resembles a little bit the original Lucifer, “the bringer of
light”, who was banished from heaven due to giving too much light of understanding for
humans – which may symbolically represent innovation and generally human creative
power.
This becomes particularly interesting, as Citra nakshatra, the most tamasic nakshatra of all,
which splits the zodiac in half, is a very important star for Venus. Interestingly enough,
there is even one shloka in the Rig Veda, which is dedicated to a deity called Shukra-
Tvashtar (Venus-Tvashtar), revealing that Venus was identified in the past with Tvashtar
himself. It is here, in Virgo portion of Citra nakshatra, where Venus’ creative powers are
abused for self-gratification, that Venus gets debilitated – and it is here, in Libra portion of
Citra nakshatra, where Venus’ inventions are shared with everybody, that Venus has its
mulatrikona position.

Venus was since ages associated with Lucifer, due to the special five-pointed flower shape
it creates during its synodic cycle. Even in the Vedas Venus is portrayed as Guru
Shukracharya, the teacher of the demons. Five-pointed star itself, even though it is
associated with dark forces and Lucifer in our western culture, in Vedic culture represents
nothing else but the play of five elements, of which the entire creation is made.

Interestingly enough, in the arms of five-pointed star the golden ratio itself is encoded,
which is literally the code of nature. Everything in the natural world is based on golden
ratio, which is the original code of Tvashtar, Divine Architect and the master designer of
life. Tvashtar himself is often addressed as “golden-hued” in the Vedas and five-headed,
while in the center of his very own yantra (or rather a yantra of Vishwakarma), there is a
five-pointed star, as well. The correlation couldn’t be more obvious. Interestingly enough,
the yantra of Lord Shiva also has a five-pointed star in its center, and Shiva Himself is
often addressed as Panchanan or “five-headed one”, which reveals his dominion over five
gross elements. In fact, in Tamil culture, Vishwakarma and Shiva were often considered as
one (as revealed by dr Ganapati Sthapati), while Shiva Himself was considered as the main
creative power in the universe and generative principle.

Vishwakarma is thus a higher octave of Tvashtar, the primordial Cosmic Architect and the
creator of all the worlds. When Tvashtar realises his own creative potential and its
enormous impact on the world surrounding him, and when he accepts responsibility,
which comes with creative power, he becomes a conscious Vishwakarma – co-creator of
the world, manifestation of Lord Shiva Himself.

Why is it then so that this primordial, creative, elemental force of Nature has been vilified
by so many cultures? Why was Prometeus banished from heaven in Greek mythology?
Why Lucifer, “the bringer of light” became known as the angel of darkness? Why even
Tvashtar himself is sometimes called an asura in some of the Vedic scriptures?
It is not that there is anything bad with creative force of Nature, neither with the five
elements. It is selfless, like Tvashtar in his highest manifestation. It seeks freedom in its
expression and creative manifestation. We, being the children of Nature and small
particles of Divine force, are blessed with the very same creative force. And as long as we
wish to create with a purpose of serving the Divine and contributing to the harmony in
the world, our creative force remains pure and serves a constructive purpose. But the
very moment we try to use it for our own selfish motives, it is the moment when we start
to oppose the Nature itself and when our downfall begins, with countless karmic
consequences. Not without a reason Venus, Shukra himself is guru of the demons in Vedic
mythology, and the only planet that astronomically moves in the other direction than all
other planets. There is nothing wrong with freedom, free will and chosing to go our own
way – but the moment we start to oppose Nature itself and go against the Divine current,
we abuse our own freedom and we start to accumulate karma. This is why even the shakti
of Citra nakshatra, or its internal power, is punya cayani shakti, “the power to accumulate
merit”. In best case scenario it can be a good merit that we accumulate through our
actions, while in worst case it would be bad karma. In both cases, however, the eternal
freedom of our soul becomes bound to the material world and loses its Divine glory.
“Good” karma binds the soul to the material reality in the same way like “bad” karma does.
Perhaps it is only that the rope, with which we are tied to this material reality becomes
made of silk – but it still limits our freedom, as affectively as chains.

Perhaps this is why Citra nakshatra is addressed as “human brick” in Taittiriya Brahmana.
Each of our actions is a brick in the sacrificial altar, which we are building ourselves. Yet,
what do we sacrifice on this altar, which bricks or deeds do we use to build it from, and
what is our objective behind that, is what makes all the difference. Citra nakshatra is also
said to give the one the power to rise to heavens – because, if we build our metaphoric
sacrificial altars carefully, with good deeds, and with attitude of detachment, our soul can
easily reach higher realms. Lord Krishna Himself reminds us over and over again
throughout Bhagavad Gita about an importance of sacrifice and the right attitude behind
every sacrifice:

“Some yogīs perfectly worship the demigods by offering different sacrifices to them, and
some offer sacrifices in the fire of the Supreme Brahman. Some sacrifice the hearing
process and the senses in the fire of mental control, and others sacrifice the objects of the
senses in the fire of the senses. Others, who are interested in achieving self-realization
through control of the mind and senses, offer the functions of all the senses, and of the
life breath, as oblations into the fire of the controlled mind. Having accepted strict vows,
some become enlightened by sacrificing their possessions, and others by performing
severe austerities, by practicing the yoga of eightfold mysticism, or by studying the Vedas
to advance in transcendental knowledge. Still others, who are inclined to the process of
breath restraint to remain in trance, practice by offering the movement of the outgoing
breath into the incoming, and the incoming breath into the outgoing, and thus at last
remain in trance, stopping all breathing. Others, curtailing the eating process, offer the
outgoing breath into itself as a sacrifice.

All these performers who know the meaning of sacrifice become cleansed of sinful
reactions, and, having tasted the nectar of the results of sacrifices, they advance toward
the supreme eternal atmosphere. Without sacrifice one can never live happily on this
planet or in this life: what then of the next?”

Sacrifice here, in metaphorical sense, is nothing else, but self-purification through offering
of the lower self to the fire of Higher Self. It is done not just through some severe
austeries, but like Lord Krishna says in the Gita, through thinking about God in each of our
actions and offering each of our actions as a sacrifice to the Divine, prepared with Love
and devotion. Because action offered to the Divine with such an attitude of selflessness,
sincerity and Love is not only bound to bring positive results, but it will also safeguard us
from any karmic consequences.

Closed lotuses and necklace of pearls

All of the twelve Adityas hold lotus flowers in their hands and most often two of them.
Tvashtar is however, very special among them, as he is the only Aditya, who holds two
closed lotus flowers, which didn’t blossom yet. It does not only represent his dormant
creative powers, but here the Creator and Designer of the world also reminds us, that we
should not look only in the outside, but focus more on our internal reality and our inner
attitude – as our attitude shapes our reality. Tvashtar reminds us here not to blame the
external reality, when something goes wrong in our life, but rather to look within ourselves
and see the true cause of our problems hidden deep inside. A powerful lesson connected
to muladhara chakra.

Necklace of pearls, which Tvashtar holds in one of his hands, has a very profound
meaning, as well. Pearl itself is also a symbol of Citra nakshatra. In Nature pearl gets
created in the most wondrous way, which only confirms the genius of Divine Architect.
From the smallest, the most insignificant grain of sand, it turns into the most precious
object – which is a great reminder for all of us that even from the smallest and most
“insignificant” things, words, thoughts and deeds, we shoud always strive to make
something beautiful. It is the very Nature of Tvashtar to turn something raw, crude and
tamasic into more refined state.

A grain of sand or a parasite entering the oyster triggers a defense mechanism within it,
thus releasing a substance called nacre to encapsulate the irritant. It will continue to
release nacre forming layer upon layer around the irritant to create a pearl – a shape,
which is much more pleasant for it to bear, and at the same time becomes the marvel of
Nature and one of the most expensive and luxurious objects in our world. No wonder that
Venus has its mulatrikona place in Libra part of Citra nakshatra.

There is, however, a way deeper, alchemic meaning behind this artistic process of Nature
creating a pearl – and which becomes an important life lesson for all Citra natives, as well
as for people, whose Sun assumes a form of Tvashtar in their birth chart. As Aquarius is
considered to be one of the most karmic signs, naturally it brings into our lives lots of
challenging experiences, through which we often experience the laws of Nature in their
most raw, crude and often violent form. The irritating or challenging experiences brought
by Tvashtar, however, are never supposed to be repelled by us, as Rahu, the natural rebel
on the Vedic sky, might inspire us to do. The oyster never spits the grain of sand. It always
accepts it – and from this very acceptance, the wonder of Nature is created. Similarly,
Tvashtar always inspires us to internalise every experience and reflect upon it, instead of
acting immediately and impulsively – as only from such an internalisation a pearl of
wisdom can be created within us.

All objects in Tvashtar’s hands, closed lotus flowers, a garland of pearls and a scripture,
seem to deliver to us the very same message: seek all the beauty and all the wisdom
within yourself. Take the most raw experience of life, internalise it, and derive wisdom
from this experience itself. Tvashtar, more than any other form of the Divine, encourages
us to derive our wisdom from our own experience, rather than through learning it from
any external authority.

Shiva as Vishwakarma or Tvashtar

In Tamil culture there is a special connection between Vishwakarma or Tvashtar and Lord
Shiva himself. In fact they are often considered as one, as Lord Shiva is praised as the
generative principle, which sets the universe into motion and creates the universe as
Divine Architect. Thirumanthiram, old Tamil scripture, Shiva is praised in this way:
“He conjoins the tattvas five and twenty
That in life past departed from me;
To my dear life awaken;
Thus He creates, seated within the globular womb
He the Primal One creates
Knowing what I am to be.”

“Himself fashions worlds all in detail minute

Himself fashions life, conferring birth
Himself fashions things big and small
The cauldron, the pitcher and the pot –
Himself He fashions these and more –
He the Architect Almighty.”

This connection between Lord Shiva and 11th house is not suprising – after all, Aquarius is
11th house and number 11 itself is strongly connected with the energy of Shiva and his 11
manifestations: eleven rudras. Eleventh divisional chart in Vedic Astrology (D11),
representing all the struggles we need to face in life (11th house is 6th house from 6th
house, revealing solutions to our problems and out of the box thinking necessary to
overcome them), as well as connections necessary to make and increase of our
abundance, is called Rudramsha or “particle of Rudra”, as well. Even karanas (half of a tithi)
or “causes”, which represent, how do we deal with our God-given assets (and which is the
cause of the results of our actions) are eleven. Eleven Rudras, in reality, represent nothing
else, but ten pranas seated in our energy body in manipura chakra (solar plexus chakra –
center of our will power) with eleventh particle being the mind itself. It is in eleventh
house that we learn how to control our ten pranas and the mind and how to direct them
to achieve our goals, fulfill our wishes and co-create our world. Sage Yajnavalkya in
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad also explains 11 rudras to represent our ten senses and the
mind itself – as it is through our senses and the mind that the countless desires of the
eleventh house are born, inspired by Nature’s primordial desire to create and experience
the world in its fivefold nature.

There is something sacred about number 11 connected to the evolution of life. 11th house
itself is called vriddhi bhava or “the house of increase” or rather “the mood of increasing”.
11 karanas or halves of the tithis (lunar days) are also connected to our ability to prosper
in life. Eleventh nakshatra from the Moon is also called karma sampat nakshatra, “the star
of the fruits of our actions” – this is why natural 11th nakshatra (as counted from Ashwini)
is Purva Phalguni, representing the fruits of our actions, having “the power to create
offspring” (prajanana) as its shakti. Even the eleventh lunar day, Ekadashi tithi, which is co-
ruled by Lord Shiva himself, is said to be one of the most auspicious and most prosperous
days in a month. Interestingly enough, on Shukla Ekadashi (eleventh lunar day in the bright
fortnight), the Sun and the Moon are for a moment in a very special distance from each
other, which forms golden angle, 137.5 degrees. Golden angle, being the basis of golden
mean, is truly the basis of the evolution of life on earth and the key to growth of every
living being. It is Tvashtar’s energy in action. Therefore whatever is 11 in Vedic Astrology,
stands for progress, evolution and increase of life, which leads to finding new solutions,
healing and prosperity.

From this angle it becomes very easy to understand why Mahashivaratri, “the Great Night
of Shiva” and the most important day to celebrate for all devotees of Shiva falls exactly on
the New Moon when Sun and Moon are conjuct in Aquarius (the sign of 11 rudras or
transformative manifestations of Lord Shiva) most often in Purva Bhadrapada nakshatra,
the star of spiritual elevation and symbolic death – the star, which is exactly opposite
Purva Phalguni, the star of procreation. During Mahashivaratri Lord Shiva is worshipped in
the form of “pillar of light” (connected to Purva Bhadrapada) or Shiva lingam, which is his
formless aspect.

Linga and yoni, as perceived by mundane mind, are similar in shape to phallus and the
womb, and represent the cosmic union of two opposite energies, Shiva and Shakti, as well
as the creative, generative principle of Nature. But this is the representation of spiritual
union happening within us, during the process of meditation, the struggle of our earthly
nature to transcend beyond the limitation’s of the world of matter and uplift our
consciousness. This is why in majority of Shiva temples, you will never see Shiva lingam
placed on any throne or high place, like it is in the case of other deities in Hindu temple. In
most ancient temples Shiva lingam is always arising from the earth, from the ground level,
revealing to us, that similarly like a lotus flower, we should be in the world, but rise above
our earthly vibrations. Shiva lingam thus represents the struggle of our soul and
consciousness to rise to a higher level ad reach the Divine, becoming a more conscious
co-creator of our reality.

It is very symbolic that this Great Night of Shiva happens exactly when Sun shines as
Tvashtar Aditya on the sky, the only one of the 12 Adityas, who is friendly to the asuras,
too. Shiva himself is well known from his boundless compassion for all creation, including
lower entities, such as ghosts and demons. He is also the only God, whom demons are
worshipping, because he is the only one, who doesn’t discern. That is why he received a
name Bholenath or “innocent Lord” – because it is said, that whatever you sincerely ask
him for, he will give that to you, regardless whether it is going to be benficial for you and
others or not. It is because Lord Shiva, similarly like Tvashtar, is the one who wants to give
you a chance to become a conscious creator of your life and experience the
consequences of your own creations and decisions on your own. Such is also Nature. It
will give to you whatever you ask Her for – but the moment you cease to be a conscious
creator and start to act from the level of greed and ego, you will be left alone with the
consequences of your actions, and you will need to consciously find the solution for the
same.

It is said that this special New Moon, which happens in the sign of Aquarius and Purva
Bhadrapada nakshatra is “the darkest night” in the year. Dark, materialistic energies of
Amavasya are getting greatly amplified by the sign of Aquarius, ruled by Shani and Rahu.
On this one night during the year, our ego and our inner demons are the strongest, and
we need to be especially watchful about them. This is why Hindus across the world are
celebrating this night by fasting, trying to keep vigilant the entire night, until the sunrise,
and keep worshipping Lord Shiva in his form as Shiva lingam, so the Cosmic Destroyer
transforms their inner negativity and fulfills their wishes. It is said that whoever stays
awake this entire night and worships Lord Shiva, all his wishes will be fulfilled – which is
why it is important to carefully choose, what you ask for. But at the same time, this one
night in the year, it is also the most difficult to keep our mind positive and not to fall
asleep, because, as my Gurudev once explained, all our inner “demons” are much stronger
on that day and will keep working against us, so we do not succeed in our spiritual
endeavour. But even a little bit of sincere spiritual effort during this night can bring us lots
blessings. As my Gurudev beautifully said:

“Shiva stands for the destruction of the pride and the ego. And on this particular day, by
His Grace, in the form of Rudra He destroys the mind, the ignorance inside of you, so that
your heart can take over and rise to the Feet of Lord Narayana. That's why we stay
throughout the night praising His Name chanting OM Namah Shivaya, Shivaya Namah
OM. Like this the mind is cleansed, transformed and becomes an offering to the feet of
the Lord. As the Lord offers Himself completely, in this Shivaratri offer your mind! In the
mind there are so many unwanted things. So offer it to Lord Shiva. He destroys all the
negativity, so He shall destroy all the pride and ego inside of you. As you are cleaning Him,
bathing Him, He is also cleaning you of the inner impurities, the tendency of past lives
which act very much on the mind.”

Interestingly enough, the vahana or the Divine carrier of Lord Shiva is Nandi, the Divine
Bull, who is symbolically represented by the sign of Taurus (Bull), which happens to be
fourth house from Aquarius – house of conveyances and vehicles.
Jamadagni – Divine sage in chariot of Tvashtar

Srimad Bhagavatam reveals that the rishi or Divine sage, who accompanies Sun god in the
form of Tvashtar, when he shines during his month on our sky, is Jamadagni. This
additionally confirms a very strong connection between Tvashtar and Venus, as sage
Jamadagni was a father of Parashuram – Divine incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who is at the
same time considered as Divine incarnation of Venus. Both rishi Jamadagni and Lord
Parashuram came from the lineage of rishi Bhrigu, father of Shukracharya, which is why
Parashuram was also often addressed as Bhargava. Interestingly, Lord Parashuram was the
sixth incarnation of Vishnu – while Venus is becoming debilitated in the last degrees of
original sixth house (sign of Virgo), Citra nakshatra, the star of Tvashtar.

Rishi Jamadagni was well versed in the scriptures and weaponry without any formal
instruction. Similarly people born with Sun in 11th house or with Sun in Aquarius often
prefer to learn things on their own, through the power of their own effort and experience,
rather than accepting any formal education. These venusian qualities of independence and
freedom, with a pinch of going against the current, are very prominent in them.

It is important to add here that similarly like Shukracharya, personified Venus, sage
Jamadagni was also a descendant of rishi Bhrigu. The dialogue between Shukracharya and
Jamadagni on the topic of warfare, was supposed to be the lost Aushanasa Dhanurveda.
Interestingly, the name of Jamadagni means “the consumer of fire” (which might reflect his
fiery temperament), while Shukracharya is well known from a severe tapasya of hanging
downwards above the sacrificial fire and inhaling thick smoke. The two Divine sages seem
to be very strongly connected.

There seems to be also a strong connection between sage Jamadagni and innovative
nature of Aquarius. According to the Mahabharat, Jamadagni once became annoyed with
the Sun-god for making too much heat. Being the warrior-sage he shot several arrows into
the sky, terrifying Surya. Sun-god then appeared before the rishi as a brahmin and gave
him two inventions that helped mankind deal with his heat: sandals and an umbrella.

Jamadagni was also in possesion of the Divine wishfulfilling cow, Kamadhenu, which later
on will become a cause of his death. Metaphorically, our own mind is literally such a
wishfulfilling cow – as it fulfills anything we focus our attention strongly enough. No
wonder you will find many people with strong Venus, who are very much into affirmations
and using law of attraction for the purposes of their material benefit. The story of rishi
Jamadagni, however, who is the sage associated with the 11th house of wishes in Vedic
astrology, warns us to choose our wishes wisely – as we may pay a big price for wishes
made from the level of pride. The entire story of rishi Jamadagni’s life inspires us, in fact,
to handle our wishes and desires our wisely, as they may become a cause fo our downfall.

Sage Jamadagni had five children with his wife Renuka, the youngest of whom was
Parashuram - the Divine incarnation of Lord Vishnu (and planet Venus, as in Vedic
astrology). One day an arrogant king of those times, named Kartavirya, visited his ashram.
In his ignorance and greed, Kartavirya stolen the Divine wish fulfilling cow, Kamadhenu,
from Jamadagni, as the king was jealous of all the infinite wealth that Kamadhenu was
providing at will to the saintly rishi – yet, clearly, the king wanted to abuse the cow for his
personal material benefit. Again the theme of monopolising things becomes prominent
here – but in this case it reveals that sometimes keeping things exclusive for more
advanced souls only is for the greater good and greater benefit of society, as
materialistically inclined mind can too easily turn the biggest blessing into a biggest curse.

When Parashuram returned to the ashram of his father and got to know about the crime
committed by the selfish king, he became enraged. He armed himself with various
weapons, including his famous axe (parashu) and rushed to king Kartavirya with the intent
to kill him. After the entire army of frightened king was defeated by determined
Parashurama, the son of Jamadagni finally defeated and beheaded king Kartavirya, as well.
Sage Jamadagni wasn’t pleased with his son. Well known from his compassionate nature,
he spoke to his son:

“My dear son Parashuram, you have unnecessarily killed the king, who is supposed to be
the embodiment of all the demigods. Thus you have committed a sin. We are all
brahmanas and have become worshipable for the people in general because of our quality
of forgiveness. It is because of this quality that Lord Brahmā, the supreme spiritual master
of this universe, has achieved his post. The duty of a brahmin is to culture the quality of
forgiveness, which is illuminating like the sun. Lord Himself is pleased with those who are
forgiving.”

Cultivation of forgiveness is, similarly, very important for all those, for whom the sign of
Aquarius becomes prominent in their chart, as at its very heart dwells Shatabhisha
nakshatra, the ultimate star of forgiveness and letting go of all resentment of the past.
Cultivating of feelings of vengeance and bitterness, and acting impulsively, always come
from unhealthy Venus or too impatient Mars. Balancing the qualities of Venus and Mars
within ourselves is quite an art, considering that both are natural opposites. Both are
presiding over Southeast direction or the corner of the fire – Venus through Dig chakra or
“wheel of Directions”, while Mars through Kalachakra or “wheel of Time”. Unhealthy and
overindulgent Venus gets healed by the righteous action and restraing of Mars, while
impulsiveness of Mars gets healed through Love and forgiveness of healthy Venus. It is in
the nakshatra of Mars, Citra, that Venus gets debilitated and unhealthy – and in the very
same nakshatra (but different portion) it operates at its highest in its mulatrikona sign Libra.
Healthy martian qualities (restraint and righteous action) can make Venus excell, while
unhealthy martian qualities (impulsivness, impatience, fight) can make it fall.

Interestingly enough, Parashuram, avatara of Venus manifested himself on Tritiya tithi

ruled by Mars, while Narasimha dev, Divin incarnation of planet Mars, manifested himself
on Chaturdashi tithi ruled by Venus. These interplay between Mars and Venus, and the
special relationship they share, remind us how important it is to evaluate a balance
between the two in a birth chart.

Back to the story, after reminding Parashuram about the importance of forgiveness, sage
Jamadagni told him also that he must now atone for his sins by visiting holy places and
purifying himself in the waters of sacred rivers. A powerful indication that the person, who
lacks the quality of forgiveness, must go through some purification process and purify the
inner water element of emotion. Venus, which stands for water element in Vedic
astrology, is also the planet of purification – especially purifying our emotions, so Divine
Love can manifest through us more easily. Interestingly, the nakshatras ruled by Venus are
also strongly associated with sacred waters: Bharani being connected to waters “which
take things away”, Purva Phalguni representing the procreative fluids, while Purvashadha
representing the sacred waters of boundless consciousness.

When Parashuram came back from his penance, one more test was awaiting him; another
test of purity of the heart. One day, when Renuka, the wife of Jamadagni, went to the
bank of the Ganges to fetch water, she saw the King of the Gandharvas, decorated with a
garland of lotuses and sporting in the waters with celestial women. She had gone to bring
water from the Ganges, but when she saw Citraratha, the King of the Gandharvas,
sporting with the celestial girls, she was somewhat inclined toward him and failed to
remember that the time for the fire sacrifice was passing. Later, understanding that the
time for offering the sacrifice had passed, Renuka feared a curse from her husband.
Therefore when she returned she simply put the waterpot before him and stood there
with folded hands.

Jamadagni knew the past, present and future. When he understood the adultery in the
mind of his wife, he immediately ordered his sons to kill their mother, his wife. But the
sons did not carry out his order. Jamadagni then ordered his youngest son, Parashurama,
to kill his brothers, who had disobeyed this order, and his mother, who had mentally
committed adultery. Parashuram fulfilled his father’s order immediately.
As extreme as it may sound, it was Parashuram’s dharma during his Divine incarnation to
purify the entire world from the sins. Even though his actions may seem terrifying at first,
it is not for our limited human minds to question the actions of the Divine. Venus, whose
qualities were reflected in the Parashurama incarnation of the Lord, is, above all, graha of
loyalty, sacrifice and purification – which can be clearly seen through the nakshatras of
Venus, as well. Story of Parashuram, however, is a great warning for entire humanity, that
so-called purification of the human race should be always performed by the Lord or the
Divine Power itself, rather than through a human being. Some of the worlds greatest
dictators, like Adolph Hitler, have the nakshatras of Venus severely damaged in the birth
chart.

The story has a happy end, though. Sage Jamadagni was very much pleased with
Parashurama and asked him to take any benediction he liked. Parashuram replied: “Let my
mother and brothers live again and not remember having been killed by me. This is the
benediction I ask.” Jamadagni granted him his noble wish, which restored peace within the
family.

Meanwhile, the sons of defeated king Kartavirya, were planning a vengeance for the death
of their father. When sage Jamadagni was performing his fire ritual, they ambushed him
and killed the holy man. Parashurama was enraged, when he found out about his father’s
death and he made a vow to purify the earth from the burden of all the egoistic kshatriyas
(warrior caste). He immediately rushed to the kingdom and killed all the evil sons of king
Kartavirya. Srimad Bhagavatam furtherly describes:

“With the blood of the bodies of these sons, Lord Parashurama created a ghastly river,
which brought great fear to the kings who had no respect for brahminical culture. Because
the kṣatriyas, the men of power in government, were performing sinful activities, Lord
Parashurama, on the plea of retaliating for the murder of his father, rid all the kṣatriyas
from the face of the earth twenty-one times. Indeed, in the place known as Samanta
panchaka he created nine lakes filled with their blood.”

Yet, even though Parashuram was incarnation of the Supreme Lord, due to the dreadful
task of purification of the kshatriya race in such a violent manner, even he needed to go
through self-purification process after killing so many living beings, to set a good example
for all future generations. Bhagavatam furtherly narrates:

“Thereafter, having completed the ritualistic sacrificial ceremonies, Lord Parashurama took
the sacred bath. Standing on the bank of the great river Sarasvati, cleared of all sins, Lord
Parashurama appeared like the sun in a clear, cloudless sky. Thus Jamadagni, being
worshiped by Lord Parashurama, was brought back to life with full remembrance, and he
became one of the seven sages (saptarishis) in the group of seven stars. (...) Lord
Paraśurāma still lives as a brahmana in the mountainous country known as Mahendra.
Completely satisfied, having given up all the weapons of a kshatriya, he is always
worshiped, adored and offered prayers for his exalted character and activities.”

The story of Lord Parashurama is the story of purification of the heart. Even though it
leads through violence and symbolic bloodshed, the ultimate goal is to purify our inner self
from all impurities, all negativity and all materialistic desires – because only when we go
through this inner purification process, the light of Divine Love will be able to shine
through us freely, “like the sun in a clear, cloudless sky”. Ultimately, the story of
Parashurama is the story of understanding the value of forgiveness and all the highest
qualities of Venus – and at the same time it is a warning not to fall into the darker side of
venusian qualities.

Through this story and sage Jamadagni being prescribed as the rishi accompanying
Tvashtar, the connection between Tvashtar, sign of Aquarius and planet Venus becomes
much more obvious. Interestingly, Citra nakshatra, in its Virgo portion, where Venus gets
debilitated, dwells in the 8th house from Aquarius (the house of transformation), while its
Libra portion, where Venus has its mulatrikona sign, dwells in the 9th house from Aquarius
– house of higher learning, higher understanding, our spiritual dharma and a Guru. Quite
symbolic, once we realise that Aquarius is the only sign ruled by “asura” Aditya, Tvashtar,
while 9th house from it, representing its teacher, happens to be a mulatrikona of Venus –
Guru of the demons. There are many such mysteries encoded within the zodiac.

Conflict between rishi Jamadagni and Surya dev

In Brahma Vaivarta Purana there is also an interesting story about the conflict between
rishi Jamadagni and Surya dev. When sage Jamadagni got just married to his wife, Renuka,
they both went together to enjoy in conjugal pleasure on the bank of river Narmada. This
happened during the day, which was forbidden according to the scriptures. Seeing the
saintly sage forgetting himself completely, while enjoying sensual pleasures, Surya dev
himself appeared in front of him and addressed him thus: “O sage, you know very well
that sexual intercourse is considered especially sinful during the day. You are a saintly
person, embodiment of wisdom and very well learned in Vedas. How come that indulged
in pleasures you have forgotten the path of virtue? I am the witness of all acts, therefore I
tell you this.”
Interestingly, when Sun dwells in 11th house, it is almost the middle of the day. 11th house
is also one of the three kama houses (houses oriented on fulfillment of desires).

Rishi Jamadagni, hearing the words of Sun-god, felt ashamed of himself, and immediately
collected his clothes, same as his wife, Renuka. Angry at Sun-god interfering in his
moment of pleasure, sage addressed the Sun-god in this way:

“Who are you to lecture me, the great descendant of sage Bhrigu? I know the Vedas
myself and I can distinguish between sin and virtue. You, similarly like other gods, are
mere witnesses of acts, but you are also liable to death. But as I took shelter in Supreme
Lord you cannot give me punishment, as his sudarshan chakra will always protect me. O
Sun, as you disturbed me today in my pleasures in solitude, proud due to your brilliant
light, I curse you that your light will be eclipsed by Rahu and your sight will then be
unholy.”

Sun-god, afraid of the curse of the brahmin, adressed him: “O saint, the brahmins cannot
be killed. They have been blessed and esteemed and are revered by all. You are a saintly
brahmin, and a man of God, therefore forgive me and preserve your virtue. How can a
person, whose heart is pervaded by rememberance of the Divine ever get angry?
Brahmins worship us, the gods, and we worship the brahmins. Thus there is a mutual love
between us. But as you have cursed me, I shall alos curse you in return. Otherwise the
people will say that the Sun is devoid of power. O great saint, you shall be subdued by a
kshatriya and be killed by a weapon of kshatriya.”

Rishi Jamadagni, hearing the curse of the Sun-god, became even more angry, and cursed
the Sun again: “You shall be defeated by Shiva!”

Here, again, in this story of rishi Jamadagni we see a huge need to control our tongue, if
our Sun is in 11th house or in Aquarius. Sun in such a position can become very impulsive,
vengeful and unforgiving – especially if it occupies Shatabhisha nakshatra, the star of
Varuna, depleting the watery, forgiving potential of this nakshatra with its scorching heat.

Seeing how far went the situation between rishi Jamadagni and Sun-god, Lord Brahma
appeared in front of them in order to pacify them. The creator pacified Sun-god with
these words: “O Surya, you are a fraction of Narayana himself. Therefore forgive this rishi.
O great Sun, you are the witness of all acts. Therefore compose yourself. You will surely
be obstructed by the clouds on some days, but this will also allow your wife, Samjna, to
spend some time with you, as then the relationship between of both of you won’t be
prevented by your unbearable heat. On some days of the year, you will also get obscured
by Rahu and your sight will be sinful to some and holy to others. At other times your sight
will be always holy to all. People will wash away their sins by seeing you and bowing to
you. Being eclipsed by Rahu, you will be imperceptible only to those people over whose
1st, 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 12th signs of the zodiac or over whose first or eighth nakshatra the
Moon will preside.”

Here Brahma has revealed some important astrological truths to Sun-god himself: people,
in whose birth charts 1st, 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th or 12th sign of the zodiac is occupied by the Sun
and the Moon at the time of eclipse, or when the eclipse happens in their first or eighth
nakshatra from the Moon, should never observe solar eclipses – such eclipses are
particularly transformative for them, and potentially destructive. It is best to spend a day
marked by such an eclipse in the quietness of your own home, fasting and in meditation or
prayer.

It is also interesting to notice that until today, as Lord Brahma has said in Brahma Vaivarta
Purana, people take baths in sacred rivers during solar or lunar eclipses. It is believed that
whoever is taking a bath in a sacred river during the time of eclipse, is washed from his
sins. It’s interesting, when we think that sign of Aquarius is symbolised by water-pot and
at its very heart dwells Shatabhisha nakshatra, the star of Varuna – god of cosmic waters,
as well as god of Divine law of karma and forgiveness. Aquarius, being one of the most
karmic signs, always requires us to go through certain purification in a sphere of life
denoted by the planet dwelling in this sign. Specifically when Shatabhisha nakshatra is in
any way obstructed in a chart, a person can act either in a very shameless way, never
accepting one’s guilt and responsibility for it (it can happen often with Sun or Ketu in
Shatabhisha), or, if more gentle, watery planet is dwelling there, like Venus or Moon, there
can be way too much feeling of guilt, which needs to be liberated with the power of
forgiveness. All in all, sign of Aquarius, and especially Shatabhisha nakshatra, representing
zodiacal muladhara chakra, reveals to us our ability to take responsibility for all our deeds.

This story of rishi Jamadagni is particularly interesting, once we realise that sage
Jamadagni is connected with Sun dwelling in Aquarius – the only zodiac sign, which is co-
ruled by Rahu, shadow-planet, which causes all the eclipses. And as rishi Jamadagni comes
from the lineage of rishi Bhrigu, planet of Guru Shukracharya or Venus personified, it
beautifully explains the planetary conflict between Sun and Venus. Our inner Sun, who
represents the light of our soul itself, is always dedicated to the truth – but it can easily
get “eclipsed” by all our desires and lack of control over them, which is symbolised by
inner influence Venus, as well as the sign of Aquarius, the original house of wishes and
desires.
Venus symbolises, however, also love and relationships. For any relationship to be filled
with love, our pride and feeling of individuality, represented by the Sun, needs to be
diminished – this is why Sun is debilitated in the sign of Venus, Libra, the original seventh
house of relationships. Similarly, the curse of rishi Jamadagni, paradoxically, helped to
uplift the marital life of of Surya – as before the curse of Jamadagni, when the light of the
Sun was constantly unobstructed, Sun’s wife, Samjna, couldn’t even come closer to Sun-
god, as she was in pain due to her husband’s heat. But when eclipsed, Sun’s wife, Samjna,
can finally approach him and enjoy with him. Similarly, people with Sun in 11th house or
Sun in Aquarius, may sometimes have some tendency to “burn” their relations due to their
powerful feeling of individuality and strong ego. They might sometimes be overly focused
on themselves and “what they get” in a particular relation. This is one quality in them they
need to be particularly careful about, if they wish to have fulfilling relationships.

Kumbhayoni – born in a waterpot

There is one more story of another Divine rishi, which is strongly connected to the sign
kumbha or Aquarius. It is a story of Varuna, whose nakshatra lies at the very heart of
Aquarius and his best friend, Mitra – whose sign, Gemini (surprisingly often translated as
“twins” in western astrology) is in the fourth from Aquarius.

Varuna and Mitra were inseparable friends. When one day an apsara of celestial beauty,
Urvashi, appeared before them, they both felt infatuated and discharged semen upon
seeing her. Interestingly enough, Urvashi is apsara or celestial dancer dwelling in a chariot
of Amshuman Aditya, who is ruling over Sagittarius – 11th kama house from Aquarius,
representing its desires and wishes.

Varuna and Mitra collected their semen into a pot, kumbha, not to waste their precious life
force. From the very same pot great rishi Agastya was born, which is why he will be later
on called kumbhayoni – “the one, whose womb was a waterpot”. It is one of the first
accounts of a child born outside the womb in the Vedas, which additionally reflects
innovative nature of Aquarius, as well as its creative powers, which are so intense, that
they can grow literally anything. Indeed, people with a very prominent Aquarius sign or
11th house, may often decide for in vitro fertilisation process, if they fail to have children
on their own. This process may have, however, certain karmic consequences or attract a
soul with a bit heavier load of karma into birth, or even asuric tendencies. Best known
Vedic example of birth outside the womb is the birth of 100 Kauravas in Mahabharata,
evil sons of Dhritarashtra. Not without a reason Aquarius is such a heavy karmic sign, and
not without a reason Tvashtar is also often the one, who helps the asuras.

People with Sun in the 11th house or Sun in Aquarius must be very careful with what
energies they are bringing into this world, as they may turn against them. In fact you may
often see that people with Sun in 11th house or Sun in Aquarius will decide for in vitro
fertilisation, if they cannot have their children the other way. They will often resort to
modern technology to fulfill any of their desires, in fact. One thing that they need to
consider, however, is the price that they might need to pay for that in the future.
Sometimes their children might turn against them, too – and sometimes their inventions
might turn against them, as well. This is why it cannot be emphasised enough, how
important it is for them to exercise the virtue of responsibility at all times – responsibility
for their desires and responsibility for their creation.

Rishi Agastya had also an important role in defeating Vritrasura and restoring the natural
flow of water on earth. After Indra has defeated Vritrasura with his vajra, Vritrasura’s
powerful associates known as Kalakeyas, fled from the battlefield and hid in the vast
ocean. Devas approached then rishi Agastya for help and the powerful sage had drunk the
entire ocean, thus revealing the Kalakeyas and helping the gods in annihilating them.

Through the entire mythology connected to the sign of Aquarius and 11th house in Vedic
astrology, we can see this prominent motive of drying up the waters, monopolising things,
restricting them or hiding and protecting them. We can see it through Vritrasura
withholding the waters from flowing, rishi Agastya consuming the ocean, through the
Kamadhenu cow of rishi Jamadagni, Tvashtar protecting the pot of nectar or Vishnu in the
form of Mohini avatar giving the amrit only to the chosen ones. Aquarius is, after all, a sign
of all secrets, all things that are very exclusive, as well as higher class of people or even
secret societies. Healthy Aquarius will try to reach the hidden waters in order to release
them, so they may nourish the entire society – while unhealthy Aquarius will try to find
the metaphoric water only in order to bind it and have it exclusively for oneself. These are
also the motives of healthy or unhealthy Saturn (the most drying planet additionally ruling
here the sign of air element) and healthy or unhealthy Rahu – two planetary rulers of
Aquarius.

The unquenchable thirst of rishi Agastya and Rahu’s pursue after a drop of amrit also
reveal to us, that when these “releasing” energies of Aquarius and Rahu become to strong
in an individual, or when their inner emptiness becomes to overwhelming, misbalanced
Aquarius can also lead to addictions, eccentrism or libertine behaviour. Finding a healthy
balance between restraint and releasing, between Saturn and Rahu, is a very important life
lesson especially for people with Sun in Aquarius or Sun in eleventh house.
Interestingly enough, in some texts, like Srimad Bhagavatam, it is said that along with rishi
Agastya, sage Vashishta was also born from the very same kumbha, into which the semen
of Varuna and Mitra was collected. Rishi Vashishta was also in possesion of Kamadhenu,
heavenly wish-fulfilling cow – and similarly like in case of Jamadagni, one arrogant king,
who will later on become sage Vishwamitra, tried to steal it from rishi Vashishta.
Vishwamitra was so determined to get the precious Kamadhenu cow from Vashishta, that
he killed all 100 of Vashishta’s disciples. Being an enlightened sage, however, Vashishta
has forgiven Vishwamitra all his crimes in the greatnest of his heart – reminding us,
similarly like sage Jamadagni, that we should always have a forgiving heart.

Eventually, when Vishwamitra has purified his heart through the intense tapasya and fallen
at the feet of rishi Vashishta to beg him for forgiveness, he also received the Divine
Gayatri mantra, which is said to be equal to wish-fulfilling cow – while at the same time it
brings us closer to enlightenment and higher understanding of things. Chanting Gayatri
mantra is, indeed, one of the best remedies for healing one’s Sun in a birth chart.
Interestingly enough, Hasta, the nakshatra of Savitar, Sun-god praised in Gayatri mantra, is
in the 8th house from from Aquarius (Virgo) – representing the way through which
uneasiness of this sign can become transformed.

Tilottama – the Divine Creation of Tvashtar

The apsara or heavenly dancer, who dwells in the chariot of Tvashtar, when Sun dwells in
Aquarius, is Tilottama. Tilottama was the heavenly being created by Tvashtar or
Vishwakarma himself in order to defeat two powerful demons: Sunda and Upasunda.
When demigods no longer knew how to defeat these two powerful asuras, Brahma then
ordered Tvashtar or Vishwakarma to create the most beautiful woman in the world, who
would enchant anybody. Similarly like in the story of Vishnu in the form of Mohini avatar,
a theme of a woman using her seducing powers to act almost as a secret agent, repeats
itself in this story. Indeed, you will see some of the worlds most famous female secret
agents with a very prominent sign of Aquarius or 11th house.

In order to create woman that beautiful. Vishvakarma collected all that was beautiful from
the three worlds and all the gems of the world. Then, bit by bit, from those tiny particles
and gems, he created the most enchanting apsara – and since she was created little by
little, she was called Tilottama. Tila means “grain” or “sesame seed”, while uttama means
“the highest” – as she was created from the finest particles in the universe. This process of
creation “the most beautiful woman in the world”, “little by little”, by collecting “all the
finest particles”, is, unfortunately, manifested in our times mostly as too much attachment
to the external beauty and trying to improve it in artificial ways – as, after all, Tvashtar is
governing zodiacal muladhara chakra. This is why you can sometimes see, that Rahu in
Aquarius (or other disturbing influence in this sign) can make a person too attached to
external beauty or can even make a person undergo cosmetic surgery.

As Sunda and Upasunda were enjoying dalliance with women and engrossed in drinking
liquor along a river bank in the Vindhya mountains, Tilottama appeared there plucking
flowers. Bewitched by her enchanting form and drunk with power and liquor, Sunda and
Upasunda took hold of Tilottama right and left hands respectively. As both of the brothers
argued that Tilottama should be his own wife, they grabbed their clubs and attacked each
other, ultimately killing each other – once again reminding us that our desires can become
the cause for our downfall, if we don’t control them wisely. The gods congratulated
Tilottama and Brahma granted her the right to roam freely in the universe as a boon.
Brahma also decreed that no one would be able to look at her for a long time due to her
luster.

It is said that Tilottama’s beauty enchanted even Indra, the king of heavens and Lord Shiva
himself. Indra, spellbound by her voluptous form, developed 100 eyes all over his body
according to one version of this myth – the all-seeing eyes being strongly connected with
Aquarius and Varuna, god of spies. Lord Shiva, on the other hand, manifested five heads,
while Tilottama was respectfully circumbulating him – not to lose sight of her.

Interestingly, Padma Purana says that Tilottama was in her previous birth an ugly widow
named Kubja – but due to her penance and auspicious ritual known as Magha puja, which
had performed, she was reborn as heavenly apsara of unparallaled beauty. Magha puja is
always performed during the Vedic month of Magha, when Sun is in Aquarius.

Dhritarashtra – fallen gandharva and blind king

In Srimad Bhagavatam we can read, that along with rishi Jamadagni, apsara Tilottama and
other great personalities, also gandharva or heavenly musician with the name
Dhritarashtra, the king of gandharvas as per some scriptures, resides in the chariot of
Tvashtar. This name is familiar to anybody, who knows the story of great Mahabharat.
And, indeed, some stories do say, that the blind king Dhritarashtra from Mahbharat was in
fact the reincarnation of gandharva with the same name, who was forced to born on earth
due to some unknown curse. In Tibetan tradition gandharva named Dhritarashtra is also
the guardian of eastern direction or, more precisely, eaterns slope of the mystical mount
Meru.

In Mahabharat, king Dhritarashtra plays a pivotal role. He becomes a blind king, who is
denied the right to the throne due to his disability: blindness. It is quite interesting as
Tvashtar himself, as well as sign of Aquarius and Citra nakshatra governed by him (it is also
applicable to 14th nakshatra from one’s nakshatra occupied by the Moon) is responsible
for any genetic disorders and suffering coming from that.

His own blindness and denial of his throne, quickly pushed Dhritarashtra into self-denial,
self-doubt, bitterness and... conspiracy. Indeed, many spiritual masters revealed that
Dhritarashtra in Mahabharata symbolises the blind mind, which is always a slave to its own
negativity – but at the same time seeks to be the king of our entire inner universe. That in
itself is a strong indication of powerful mental energy of natives with Sun in 11th house or
Sun in Aquarius – and the need to control it in a healthy way, instead of trying to make
our mind our “king” and becoming a slave to hundreds of our desires. My Gurudev,
Paramahamsa Vishwananda, said so beautifully in his commentary to Bhagavad Gita:

“What does the blind king represent? This blind king, Dhritarashtra, represents the mind –
the mind, which is blind and wants to stay blind. The mind is hanging on to the outside so
much that it has power only when it is focused on something exterior: on the material, on
relationships, on gaining this or gaining that. This is the nature of the mind. The mind is
blind. When Dhritarashtra asked, “What are my sons doing?” don’t think that he was very
concerned about the Pandavas. He was only concerned about his sons. He was more
bothered about, ‘What will I gain?’ Somebody with a crooked mind will always try to find
what he will gain. This is avariciousness. He was not concerned about the war before, but
when he saw that he would lose something, then his mind felt threatened, his mind
started to react.”

Indeed, Dhritarashtra had 100 sons, which represent 100 negative qualities of the mind,
as revealed by my Gurudev – 100 weaknesses and petty desires of blind mind. The mind
succumbs to all those petty desires, like the father succumbs to his children. These very
sons of Dhritarashtra became the triggers for the great war of Mahabharat to happen and
enormous bloodshed, which came along with it.

The blindness of Dhritarashtra represents here closing the eyes for the truth and avoiding
responsibility for our own actions, as well as our own creation. Again, in the story of
Dhritarashtra, we see a father, who, similarly like Tvashtar himself, gets overwhelmed by
his own creation and feels too weak to take the responsibility for that. A powerful lesson
for Sun in Aquarius.

The very birth of Dhritarashtra’s 100 sons was very unusual. Wife of Dhritarashtra
received a blessing that she will bear her husband 100 sons. When she got pregnant,
however, she was pregnant for abnormal amount of time: two years. Certain planetary
combinations in sign of Tvashtar (Aquarius) or nakshatra of Tvashtar (Citra) or 14th
nakshatra from the Moon, can, indeed, cause some abnormalities with pregnancy, as
Tvashtar is responsible for shaping the body of a child in the wombs of all living beings.

When her pregnancy was getting longer and longer, Gandhari was slowly getting
frustrated. When she heard that the wife of Pandu, brother of Dhritarashtra, has given
birth to her son sooner than her, in her frustration, Gandhari pounded her own stomach.
When she did so, a grey, shapeless mass of flesh came out of her body. In her despair,
Gandhari sought help of rishi Veda Vyasa. Veda Vyasa then comforted Gandhari and said
to her not to weep. He divided the lump of flesh into 101 equal parts (for 100 sons and
one daughter, which Gandhari wished for) and put each of the parts in earthen pots filled
with ghee to incubate for two more years. This was the first time in history when children
were “grown” outside of the womb of the mother, which was also the symbol of
approaching age of ignorance, kali yuga, in which such practices will become common.

Tvashtar, the protector of the wombs is at the same time the great innovator. You can see
very often that people, who have Sun in 11th house might experience some troubles in
getting children in natural way, due to what they may resort to in vitro fertilisation. When
impregnation happens, however, outside the womb of the mother, not during the act of
love of both of the parents, but in cold environment of laboratory, symbolised by Rahu, it
also carries with itself certain spiritual and karmic consequences – which is one of the
reasons, why Aquarius is so karmic sign. My Gurudev has said several times that
impregnation happening through in vitro fertilisation, can, in fact, even attract some lower
souls to incarnate (another reason, why Tvashtar is sometimes called asura). It doesn’t
need to happen always, though. Yet, it did happen in the case of Gandhari and
Dhritarashtra.

When after two years of incubation, sage Veda Vyasa opened the first earthen pot and
the scream of the child filled the air, all negative omens manifested simultaneously. Dark
clouds covered the sky, jackals were howling, crows were screaming and even rivers
started to flow in their reverse direction. Wise sage immediately advised Dhritarashtra and
Gandhari to kill this ominous child, as he will bring the downfall of his dynasty. He said to
them: “The scriptures clearly state that for the good of the clan an individual can be
sacrificed, for the good of the village a clan can be sacrificed, for the good of the country
a village can be sacrificed and for the development of the soul, even the earth can be
sacrificed. So for the good of the clan and of the country and of humanity, please sacrifice
this son of yours.” But Dhritarashtra and Gandhari remained deaf to his words – and later
on, when the child grew up, and he had all the worse traits of character and was
committing many sins and atrocities, his parents were blind to all of that. This represents
the state of unhealthy mind and unhealthy sign of Aquarius, who resists to see the truth
and take responsibility for his own actions and his own creation – his own child, in case of
Dhritarashtra. Indeed, when people are avoiding to face responsibility for their actions,
often God may send them difficult children, so they are forced to face the consequences
of what they bring into the world. This is very often the case with Sun in Aquarius, and
sometimes also with Sun in 11th house.

Our times are greatly influenced by these innovative, evolutionary energies of Aquarius
and Rahu, as the point of spring equinox, dwelling at the moment in the sign of Pisces,
slowly proceeds to the sign of Aquarius. This is why we can also slowly see more and
more energies of Tvashtar present on our plane - especially in the form of manipulating
the natural process of birth. This is happening in our times on a huge scale through
genetically modified organisms brought into life in laboratories and disturbing the entire
natural balance of our planet – which happens only because one massive company tries to
monopolise food itself and earn money on the ignorance of the masses. This interest of
Tvashtar personality to manipulate the external beauty or to manipulate genetics can be
also seen from the fact that right opposite the sign of Aquarius, which is mulatrikona of
Saturn, there is sign of Leo, mulatrikona of the Sun – more specifically, Magha nakshatra,
whose gods are our ancestors and which is strongly connected with our genetic code. This
is why, whenever the energies of Tvashtar are particularly strong in a chart (either through
Sun present in 11th house or Aquarius, or Citra nakshatra occupied by key planets), a
person can become a strong believer of selective breeding or eugenics. That is the darker
side of this placement.

As sign of Aquarius is 12th (house of secrets and hidden things) from Pisces, where spring
equinox is happening at the moment, the society remains ignorant about all the energies
of Aquarius manifested in an unhealthy way ruling our current world. As the 12th house is
also the house of sleeping, so we are literally asleep as society at the moment, while Rahu
spreads its web of illusions in front of our wide open eyes. However, the closer the spring
equinox points will move towards the sign of Aquarius, little by little we will start waking
up and seeing more truth. We can already see that slowly happening.

As 11th house is also the sign of the masses and mass communication, as well as our
interactions with society at large, it also reveals, how misguided can we become, if we just
blindly follow the masses. Sun in 11th house or Sun in Aquarius usually successfully
prevents that, as he gives a person with this placement a strong feeling of individuality
and innovative mind, who sheds light into all the lies the society might be build upon. This
is why we will also find many activists with this placement, as well as people, who have
certain ability to see through the “smoke and mirrors” of our times.

Story of the sons of Dhritarashtra, after all, shows us how one egoistic individual (in the
form of his own son, Duryodhana, representing the ego or “the one difficult to fight with”)
can cause misbalance in the entire world and society at large. In our times we have many
such “Duryodhanas”, who for the sake of their own greed, ambition and fulfillment of their
own desires (which 11th house is responsible for) are capable to exploit everything and
everybody on its way. That is the shadow side of Aquarius, which is so visible in our times.
Even if we, people living in the West, do not see it happening, there is such a misbalance
in our current world, which is caused mostly due to our exaggerated, Rahu-powered
consumptionism. We always want more and we never get satisfied. But similarly like
Aquarius is ruled by both Saturn and Rahu, so for every exaggerated desire (Rahu) there is
always a price to pay (Saturn). In our current society, unfortunately, the price of our own
consumptionism is paid by those, who are the poorest in this world and who are exploited
to the limits by the ones, who are wealthier. This is the sad truth of our times, which we
never like to face, as Rahu doesn’t like to face consequences of his actions. But if we
would take a closer look around ourselves and closely examine how many of the things
and products we use everyday (and majority of them being so unnecessary) are the results
of child slavery, animal abuse or exploitation manifested in other form. This is all the result
of misbalanced energies of Aquarius, and lack of balance between the influence of Rahu
(consumptionism) and Saturn (poverty).

Rahu is this influence, which spreads its illusions to make us more greedy and focused
only on ourselves and our personal enjoyment; it blindfolds, so we do not see the
consequences of our own overindulgence. While Saturn is the influence, which causes the
feeling of emptiness or lack of something. Tricky thing is, that as long as we try to fill our
inner pot, our inner kumbha with what Rahu has to offer us, we will never feel full or
satisfied – as Rahu, being a head without a body, can never be truly fulfilled. But if we
make this brave decision and choose to see what Shani can offer us in 11th house, if we
dive into this feeling of emptiness in order to find its true cause, instead of trying to
desperately fill it with Rahu’s illusions, we will receive from him the possibility to wake up
from this cosmic dream and face the truth as it is. This is why people with healthy
Aquarius and healthy 11th house, especially if Sun is placed there in a powerful position,
without its light being obstructed by other influence, are often social activists or people
interested in pursuing spiritual path – as these are the people whose Sun has woke up
from the dream of external illusion and whose Sun has seen the truth about this world.
This naturally blesses them with higher social awareness and some sort of feeling of
responsibility. Tvashtar Aditya, presiding over sign of Aquarius, the zodiacal muladhara
chakra is trying to teach us this social responsibility and becoming a more conscious part
of the society, more conscious customer, more conscious co-creator of the external world
– without closing our eyes like Dhritarashtra, but through expanding our awareness.

Interestingly enough, Agni Purana, which describes the colors connected to different
rashis, describes the color of Aquarius as dhumra, “smokey” or “violet”, which is the color
strongly associated with Rahu. Rahu himself is said to be the “inhaler of the smoke”, which
represents his strong tendencies towards addictions, as well as his ability to create
illusions and make us blind to the truth. This is what makes Aquarius a very unusual place
for the Sun to dwell in. Violet color represents in our society all things that are luxurious
and exclusive, but on spiritual level it is also a symbol of spiritual transformation and
awakening to see the truth, or rather “getting more sober” – whether in metaphoric sense,
or literally. Interestingly, a semi-precious stone, which is greatly helpful in controlling all
addictions, as well as allows us to develop the positive qualities of Saturn and control the
influence of Rahu is amethyst. Its very name (amethystos) means “a sober one” or “not
intoxicated” and it was believed by ancient Greeks that keeping this stone close to oneself
will protect the owner from drunkenness. Amethyst in itself is kind of quartz, which
receives its beautiful, violet hue due to particles of iron present in it – iron itself being the
metal strongly connected to the energy of Shani. This is why amethyst can be a greatly
supportive remedy for uplifting not only the energy of Aquarius, but also 11th house.
Being around my Gurudev for some years, I had a chance to observe, that he would also
often give rings with amethyst to his disciples, when they were running through the
astrological period (dasha) of their eleventh house, if the house itself was weak and
required uplifting.

Father of the Divine Maiden

In Rig Veda Tvashtar is also well known as a father of Divine Maiden, Sharanyu, who
becomes a wife of Surya (Sun-god) – and thus Tvashtar becomes Surya’s father-in-law.
There are many myths of Sharanyu (sometimes addressed as Samjna) being unable to
stand the heat of Surya and running away to do her penance, while leaving her shadow
self (duplicated of her own self) behind with Sun-god. There might be however a deeper,
symbolic meaning behind that. In Rig Veda we can find this mysterious verse:
“Tvashtar prepares the bridal of his Daughter: all the world hears the tidings and
assembles. But Yama's Mother, Spouse of great Vivasvan, vanished as she was carried to
her dwelling. From mortal men they hid the Immortal Lady, made one like her and gave
her to Vivasvan. Sharanyu brought to him the Ashvin brothers, and then deserted both
twinned pairs of children.”

In later myths we will see her often addressed as Samjna, which literally means
“consciousness”. She is the original bride, “the Immortal Lady”, who is hidden from “mortal
men” after she gives birth to her children, who become progenitors of mankind – similarly
like pot of amrit is hidden by Tvashtar, after it is distributed to the gods. She is the
immaculate consciousness within every being, which gives birth to everything, but at the
same time stays hidden from everything. To get in contact with this pure consciousness is
the true bliss for the soul and fulfillment of all its wishes – it is the true pot of amrit and
the only wish and desire that the soul has.

Kumbha – the Cosmic Receptacle

Aquarius, Kumbha rashi, governed by Tvashtar, becomes thus a Cosmic Receptacle for all
the energies to accumulate, grow and develop. According to Jataka Parijata Aquarius is
connected to all the pots, receptacles and vessels – all things that our hollow and empty,
ready to be filled. This is why breaking of the pot by accident is considered a bad omen, as
it represents vyaya, losses, symbolising the energy of 12th house (as in Vedic tradition
water pot is broken only during funeral ceremony). The symbol of Shatabhisha nakshatra,
dwelling at the very heart of Aquarius, is an empty circle, too. In this sense, sign of
Aquarius, even though originally governed by air element and airy Saturn, resembles some
qualities of ether element – akash, which provides space for everything existing.

According to Vastusutra Upanishad, out of twelve auspicious weapons, kumbha or “the pot”
is the eleventh one and it belongs to Kubera or “cosmic accountant”. Shakti of this kumbha
is called nidhi shakti or the power of wealth. Kubera, indeed, represents prosperity in Vedic
tradition – but also attachment to wealth and holding things, instead of releasing them.
That is the main difference between Kubera and Mother Lakshmi: Kubera always holds his
wealth in his little pot, while out of ever open hands of Mother Lakshmi prosperity is
always flowing freely, without any restriction. This is why even though Venus
(representing Mother Lakshmi in Vedic astrology) in 11th house (or Aquarius) can bring
abundance and prosperity into a person’s life, it can give the higher fulfillment and higher
bliss only while in 12th house or the sign of Pisces, where it is exalted – when we finally
surrender and open our hands, instead of trying to hold onto our petty desires. This is
why prayers to Mother Lakshmi can be very beneficial, when Sun occupies 11th house or
sign of Aquarius in a birth chart.

In our personal birth chart, eleventh house plays a role of this empty vessel, ready to be
filled with all the Divine blessings. It shows our receptivity to receive all the things, which
the world wants to fill us with. This is why even the power of Citra nakshatra, star
governed by Tvashtar, is punya cayani shakti – “the power to accumulate good merit”.
Eleventh house reveals how much prosperity, blessings, but also social interaction, are we
able to take into our lives. If eleventh house becomes a very restricted sign in our personal
birth chart or is occupied by some restrictive planets, most likely we won’t like to surround
ourselves with too many people – but at the same time we might be on some
subconscious level also closed for receiving abundance and all sorts of blessings in life.

People with very restrictive eleventh house might have issues with receiving from other
people not only wealth, but also compliments and even love. On the other hand, when
11th house is too exaggerated in our birth chart, our energy might be focused too much
on the outside and we might become greedy. This is one of the reasons, why Moon in
Aquarius might sometimes have a hard time (even though it can be very potent for
receiving enormous wealth in life): when watery, receptive and ever flexible Moon enter
Aquarius, our inner Cosmic Receptacle, the mind of the native might become too
overwhelmed with many different influences from the outside and easily fall into
confusion - unless it receives some support from other planets.

This is also why Kala Prakashika says that fixing such an auspicious muhurta, during which
Sun (or Moon) dwells in eleventh house “sanctifies all tithis, nakshatras, yogas, etc.” –
because when Sun or Moon dwell in eleventh house in any given moment and when they
bring their light there, we are more receptive to receive the maximum amount of blessings
of that day. Sun usually dwells in eleventh house right before noon (before Abhijit
muhurta). This is one more reason why 11th house is kama house or one of the three
houses of our desires, as any planet in that house is just about to reach the zenith,
representing its complete fulfillment – but it is not there yet. Hence the feeling of
incompletion or emptiness, which gives rise to desire.

Eleventh house in our birth chart, which has a lot to do with how our energy circulates in
all our relations, networks and friend circles, also resembles the energy of ether element.
No wonder, ancient rishis have seen sign of Aquarius as being ruled also by Rahu, not only
Saturn – Rahu being bereft of the body and invisible on the sky, is very etheric in nature.
Ether is this element, which provides space for all other elements, as well as keeps all the
elements together. This is why in Panchang ether element governs yoga, the element,
which keeps all other in place in our birth chart.

And like the head of Rahu without the body, which has an endless capacity to be filled,
but never gets truly satisfied, so unhealthy Aquarius or 11th house may also lead to greed
– as ether element is also connected to the feeling of emptiness. Each of our desires, after
all, is born from the thought that we lack something – that there is some “space” in our
Cosmic Pot, which we yearn to fill with amrit of fulfillment. Afflicted 11th house can also
lead to constant feeling of emptiness and discontentment in life. After all, it is not the 11th
house of our hopes and dreams that brings us the ultimate fulfilment, but the 12th house,
which symbolises completion and final destination of all things. Focusing too much on
fulfilment of our own desires and 11th house related things can, therefore, lead to certain
feeling of existential emptiness. Let us not forget, that 11th house is 12th house from the
12th house in bhavat bhavam concept – it is therefore signifying the symbolic “death” of
the feeling of completion, wholeness and union. From this “death” of sense of completion,
the feeling of emptiness and incompletion are born, which, on the other hand, give birth
to all the endless desires of the 11th house.

In the end, what makes our Cosmic Receptacle really open for receiving any blessings in
life is the quality, which is the biggest lesson connected to root chakra and Tvashtar
himself: the lesson of responsibility. The more we receive, the more responsibility we have
towards the world – even though many influential people in this world in our current age
have a hard time with comprehending this truth. Acting in a responsible way with the
things, which our eleventh house’s Cosmic Pot is already filled with, is the way for making
space for something else to come. Otherwise, why would God bless you with more things,
if you cannot handle this, what you already have? Why would you be blessed with more
money, if you barely learn how to deal responsibly with this, which you already receive?
Why would you get a bigger apartment, if you barely have time to keep your existing one
neat and clean? Think about it for a moment.

Blessings come into your life only, when you make a space for them. For anything to enter
your life the spirit of welcoming and openness must be there. Imagine if you greet your
guests with a gloomy face or in a very stressed mood, trying to deal with 10 other things
at the same time. Those guests most likely won’t stay for a very long time in your place, or
will not even bother entering your home, as they will feel that you are way too busy to
have time and space for them. This is what happens, when you expect for the blessings to
come into your life, but you are too busy to firstly fulfill all your responsibilities.
Responsibility starts with small things, such as keeping our house clean. Completing small
tasks, instead of leaving them for later. Tvashtar, being the form of Sun-god, who gave
Vastu Shastra, reminds us how important it is to take a good care of our home, too, if we
want to invite more blessings into our lives. People with Sun in eleventh house or Sun in
Aquarius can greatly benefit from applying the regulations of Vastu Shastra into their
living space – while people with Aquarius or eleventh house afflicted can utilise Vastu
Shastra as a very effective remedy for them. This is something I have personally observed
in many cases.

Keeping kumbham a pot filled with water, fruit leafs and coconut, is a wonderful way to
strengthen the energy of our eleventh house and invoke all the Divine blessings into our
lives. Such a pot, usually copper, is filled with the water from all the sacred rivers to
honour their presence in our household and invoke their blessings, fertile energies and
prosperity. Coconut is also strongly connected with fulfillment of our desires in Vedic
culture. Interestingly, you can find in many ancient scriptures a strong recommendation
that if you wish to plant a coconut tree, you need to do it on a day, when Aquarius is
particularly strong. The time of Venus dwelling in Kumbha rashi is specifically advised.

Ultimately, our physical body itself is so often compared to a clay pot in Vedic literature.
Our body, similarly like a clay pot, comes from earth and is shaped from earthly elements
by Divine Architect, who is then filling this symbolic “pot” with 11 airs or 11 rudras: 10
pranas and mind itself. This is one of the reasons why Aquarius is an airy signs, as it stands
for eleven vital breaths in our body. Sage Yajnavalkya explains in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
that eleven rudras are called in this way (“the crying ones” or “the howling ones”), because
“when the senses and the mind leave the body, they make one cry in anguish at the
moment of death”. This is why a clay pot filled with water is emptied and broken during a
funeral sacrifice, which represents all the pranas and elements constituting our body
returning back to their source. It reminds us about the perishability of life, but also about
the need to stay as responsible in our thoughts, words and actions as possible, when we
are still alive – because, our very own body comes from this earth and all its five elements,
and will return to this earth at the moment of death. And the more responsible we choose
to be in our thoughts, words and actions in this lifetime, the more our soul will be at peace
in the moment of its death, and it will experience a better afterlife in the 12th house.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu – Sun in Aquarius

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself, avatar of Radha and Krishna in one body, a beautiful,
Divine incarnation of the Lord, who came on Earth to propagate chanting of the Divine
name, also had Sun in Aquarius along with Rahu in seventh house, while His Moon and
Ketu were in the first house (Leo). He was thus born exactly during lunar eclipse.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is a beautiful example how freeing, releasing energies of Aquarius
can be manifested in the most Divine and pure way. Mahaprabhu was known to be
constantly “drunk” or “intoxicated” with the name of the Divine, and he was known as the
one, who “distributes the nectar of the Divine name” to everybody equally. He incarnated
in times, when chanting Divine name was in a way prohibited by higher caste of brahmins,
who believed that they have “monopoly” on Divine grace. Unfortunately, in our times, we
can see in so many different religions this unhealthy attempt to “monopolise” God and,
even worse, to “monetise” religion. These tendencies always come from unhealthy
Aquarius.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, being born in times, when religion and chanting the name of the
Divine was perceived in so rigid way, was considered fairly eccentric, which is a prominent
trait of Sun in Aquarius – and even more, Rahu in Aquarius. He was breaking relentlessly
all the social norms and rules, just to prove to people that God’s mercy has no boundaries
and that everybody has the right to worship the Divine by chanting his name – regardless
of caste, colour or occupation. In this way, the fierce and rebellious nature of Aquarius,
was manifested through Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, in the most beautiful and Divine way, to
restore the true dharma in our dark times of ignorance. Presence of Rahu with the Sun in
Aquarius, as well as Moon with Ketu across the zodiac, producing an eclipse, made him a
powerful reformer, who permanently transformed the world’s views and beliefs about the
Divine grace and challenged the entire universe to grow up to an understanding that in its
essence, Divine grace is boundless and has no limits. It doesn’t look at anybody’s colour,
caste, occupation or achievements. Similarly like element ether, so connected with the
sign of Aquarius, Divine grace is all-pervading - but we firstly need to empty and purify
our inner “pot” to be able to receive it. And this comes only with true humility and
surrender – two qualities so dear to Saturn, ruler of Aquarius.
Tvashtar – relations to other Adityas

We can understand much more about Tvashtar Aditya simply by observing, what kind of
relations is he forming with other Adityas in Vedic mythology. In Vedic astrology, it is
enough to simply look at the houses from Aquarius and analyse, by which Adityas are they
occupied. With practice this can bring much deeper insights into the nature of Adityas and
zodiac signs, as well as shed additional on the birthchart itself.

Vishnu – 2nd from Tvashtar

Second house from Aquarius, the sign of Tvashtar, is the sign of Pisces, presided by
Vishnu – Sun-god in the form of sustainer of cosmic order. As Tvashtar is the one, who
designs the entire creation, Vishnu is the one, who preserves it and sustains it. Vishnu in
the form of Mohini avatar is also the protector of amrit, Divine nectar of immortality, the
most desired thing by Rahu, co-ruler of Aquarius, as well as the most protected thing by
Tvashtar, who was keeping the pot of amrit in secret. Interestingly, it is also the sign, in
which Venus reaches its exaltation point, representing highest fulfillment.

Interestingly enough, Lord Vishnu is the best known in Vedas from his ability to change
shapes. He is the god, who incarnated on earth 10 different times, assuming different
form each time. Tvashtar is also directly addressed in the Rigveda as a “shape-shifter” or
rather “wearer of shapes at will”. This is another esoteric meaning of empty pot as a
symbol of this zodiac sign. Ether has no shape by itself – it’s shape is defined by the pot it
fills, similarly like the water. This is one of the reason why it is often so hard to “label”
Aquarius natives, as they have this unique ability to “shape-shift” and they change in life
frequently. Their “shape-shifting” ability, if healthy, helps them to connect better with
other people in order to fulfill the goals of their lives – if abused, however, it can also lead
to them to cunningness and duplicity. They need to be very careful, how they use this
precious asset of their personality.

Dhata – 3rd from Tvashtar

Third house from Aquarius, the sign of Tvashtar, is the sign of Aries, presided by Dhata –
Sun-god in the form of Divine creator. Sun-god in the form of Dhata reflects the qualities
of Brahma (the creator of the universe) or Prajapati (the progenitor of mankind). Third
house being the house of our efforts in Vedic astrology, reveals that all the life force and
efforts of Tvashtar are directed towards creating, giving birth to something new, reforming
the old ways or creating a new order of things. In this sense, Tvashtar’s identity in the
world becomes as the father of all creation. As Aries is, however, the sign, in which Sun
also gets exalted, it also reveals that the consciousness of “I am the doer” or “everything is
dependent on me alone” can become the biggest vice of a person with Sun in Aquarius or
Sun in 11th house. This also reveals, however, Tvashtar’s dangerous tendency of becoming
a bit manipulative, when it comes to the process of innovation, creativity or creation of life
itself.

Aryaman – 4th from Tvashtar

Fourth house from Aquarius, the sign of Tvashtar, is the sign of Taurus, presided by
Aryaman – Sun-god in the form of god of sacred alliances. And as fourth house reveals
our peace of mind in Vedic astrology, it reveals that a Tvashtar personality finds his/her
peace of mind through sacred alliances and establishing harmonious relations. After all, it
is Tvashtar, who is the most well known in the Vedas as god of marriages, giving his
daughter away to Vivasvan. Aryaman is also praised in the Vedas as the one, whose path
is “easy” and “without hatred”, revealing a natural openmindedness of Tvashtar
personality, which doesn’t discern between “gods” and “demons”, but looks with equal eye
at all.

Aryaman is also the form of Sun-god, who sacrificed himself and allowed his rays to be
trimmed, so they don’t burn the world. From the trimmed rays of Aryaman, Tvashtar
created all the Divine weapons of gods, Vishnu’s sudarshan chakra, Shiva’s trident and
Kartikeya’s spear – and sometimes it is said that all the three worlds were created by
trimmed rays of the Sun.

And since sign of Aquarius and 11th house are so connected to Lord Shiva, no wonder
that 4th house from Aquarius happens to be Taurus, the sign of Divine Bull or Nandi, who
is the vahana or vehicle of Lord Shiva Himself.

Mitra – 5th from Tvashtar

Fifth house from Aquarius, the sign of Tvashtar, is the sign of Gemini, presided by Mitra –
Sun-god in the form of Divine Friend. Mitra, presiding over the auspicious fifth house
from Aquarius, reveals a friendly and highly dyplomatic nature of Tvashtar personality.
Like the Sun shines equally on everyone, so a person with healthy Sun in Aquarius or in
11th house, looks at everybody with equal eye, being friendly and helpful to “gods” and
“demons”, aiming towards social justice and equality, as well as demonopolising
everything. People with Tvashtar personality also want to infuse their children with those
ideals.

Varuna – 6th from Tvashtar

Sixth house from Aquarius, the sign of Tvashtar, is the sign of Cancer, presided by Varuna
– Sun-god in the form of Cosmic Judge and god of cosmic waters. Sixth house, being the
house of enemies, strongly reveals that Tvashtar doesn’t resonate well with Varuna’s
nature. Tvashtar personality loves to believe that everything depends on “me” and “me”
alone – it loves to shape its own reality with its own effort and will power. People with
Sun in Aquarius or 11th house don’t like to wait for the law of karma to do the justice –
they would rather do the justice on their own. They might also often believe that they are
treated in somehow unfair way by the universe, which may lead them to blaming others
easily. They often doubt the Divine justice and may experience certain issues with
comprehending the principle of Varuna in the form of the Divine law of karma. (Regular
reading of Bhagavad Gita could be a great remedy for them due to that.) One of their
most important life lessons is to have a bit more trust in the Divine and understand that
everything happens for some higher purpose – as all the things that we experience in this
lifetime are merely an echo of our previous actions, which set into motion the wheel of
karma, starting the chain of countless cause and effect reactions. People who have sign of
Aquarius very prominent in their charts need to be really careful not to fall into the trap of
Rahu and start believing that the world or God really act against them, as this will only
make them feel like victims and take away all of their will power, along with responsibility.
They also need to consciously work on their power of forgiveness, Varuna’s highest
manifestation.

Aquarius / Cancer axis is quite an interesting one, as simiarly like Varuna Aditya is
presiding over Sun in Cancer, so it is also presiding over Shatabhisha nakshatra at the very
heart of Aquarius. People, who have this axis very prominent, especially if the Sun dwells
in one of those signs and the Moon in another, often become engaged in dealing with
other people’s secrets, due to Varuna’s potential to see everything with his 100 eyes.
Secret agents, spies or even astrologers or healers can be found with this placement.
Varuna, after all, is also the god of healing, while sixth house is directly connected to
dealing with diseases and illnesses. Even in the Vedas Tvashtar was also praised as Divine
healer.
Indra – 7th from Tvashtar

Seventh house from Aquarius, the sign of Tvashtar, is the sign of Leo, presided by Indra –
Sun-god in the form of King of Heavens and a Divine Hero, who defeated Vritrasura and
released the waters. Dwelling right in the opposite place of the zodiac, Indra becomes
both Tvashtar’s enemy (due to killing of his son, Vishwarupa), as well as, later on, a
solution for Tvashtar’s problem: Vritrasura, whose existence must come to an end, in
order to restore the balance in Nature. Interestingly enough, with Tvashtar and sign of
Aquarius starts the Vedic Uttarayana and the rise of creative energy – while with Indra
starts Vedic Dakshinayana and the downfall of creative energy, or rather its involution.

Aquarius and Leo form a very interesting axis on Vedic sky. It is the mulatrikona sign of
Shani against mulatrikona sign of Sun. Even though they share a father- son relationship,
their natural enmity comes from the opposite forces, which they represent. In this context
Tvashtar and Indra become almost as their own counterforces – Tvashtar always
interested in serving everybody equally, while Indra always interested in monopolising
everything and keeping things just for himself. These opposite influences can be strongly
seen in the charts, in which Rahu and Ketu dwell on this axis, especially if one of them is
specifically in Shatabhisha nakshatra. Both opposites inevitably need each other. One
cannot function without the other. As much as Tvashtar might be inclined towards fighting
the dictatorship of Indra, ultimately he also needs Indra to help him in restoring the natural
balance of creation. Interestingly enough, in Shatapatha Brahmana, Citra nakshatra, the
star of Tvashtar, is actually addressed as the star of Indra.

Finding the right balance in everything becomes very important with Sun in Aquarius. Sun
in Aquarius goes into the seventh house from its own sign (being at the same time its
mulatrikona sign) and enters the mulatrikona sign of its natural enemy, or rather a
counterforce: Shani. Here Tvashtar and Indra are forced to cooperate together in order to
bring some higher balance into the world.

Sun in the seventh from its own place, the house of marriage, also denotes the Divine
marriage of Surya dev with the daughter of Tvashtar, who is sometimes addressed as the
Goddess of clouds. Again, the union of two counterforces is experienced. On the same
axis Indra, the Aditya of the sign of Leo, gets infatuated with Tilottama, apsara dwelling in
the chariot of Tvashtar, when Sun is in Aquarius. This axis between natural 5th house and
natural 11th house is thus fully oriented on fulfillment of one’s own desires and balancing
them with the power of responsibility. Activist is learning here common sense, while king
learns here responsibility.
Interestingly enough, sign of Aquarius starts with nakshatra having female lion as its
animal symbol (Dhanishta) and ends with nakshatra having male lion as its symbol (Purva
Bhadrapada), which makes it resemble some of the qualities of Leo, too – especially the
need for individuality or eccentrism. Signs, which are opposite to each other are always
intimately interconnected, and even though they may represent two completely opposite
currents, whenever there is a planet in one of them, another one gets automatically
aspected by that planet. After all, life is a cosmic play of opposites: and the biggest
challenge is always how to find the balance between, without getting too stuck on one
side of the scale.

Sun in 11th house or Aquarius will also always aspect the 5th house or Leo, which are both
connected to our creative power and ability to create something in the world – including
children. This might be one of the reasons, why Sun as Tvashtar is so focused on creating
something in the world and “having a good progeny”, or to simply enjoy the fruits of its
actions.

Vivasvan – 8th from Tvashtar

Eighth house from Aquarius, the sign of Tvashtar, is the sign of Virgo, presided by
Vivasvan – Sun-god in the form of Martanda, who self-sacrificed himself for the world, as
well as the father of twins Ashwins, Divine physicians, and husband of Saranyu, Tvashtar’s
daughter. Vaivasvata is also the name of the Manu or current guardian of mankind and the
first mortal, who is also a son of Vivasvan. Thus the Sun-god in the form of Vivasvan
represents the power of responsibility and service – a quality, with which Tvashtar natives
may sometimes experience some issues, as in order to serve others you need to
temporarily forget about your own pleasure and fulfillment, which is symbolised by Venus
getting debilitated in Virgo. If, however, Tvashtar natives do take a conscious decision to
take more responsibility in life for, they will get positively transformed by that – as 8th
house is the house of transformation. By understanding the power of responsibility they
will manage to control their strong Rahu influence, while they will positively empower
Shani’s influence in their lives.

Interestingly enough, Kanya sankranti, the day, when Sun enters the sign of Virgo, is
known as Vishwakarma puja.
Pushan – 9th from Tvashtar

Ninth house from Aquarius, the sign of Tvashtar, is the sign of Libra, presided by Pushan –
Sun-god in the form of Divine Shepherd, who shows everybody the right path. Here, in
Libra, Shukra also has its mulatrikona sign – while among all other stars, Venus gets
exalted exactly in Revati, a nakshatra, which is also governed by Pushan. This auspicious
placement of the sign of Pushan in relation to Aquarius, reveals a strong connection
between Aquarius and Venusian supportive energies. Saturn himself, who has his
mulatrikona sign in Aquarius, gets exalted in Libra – while Sun is getting debilitated here.

Parjanya – 10th from Tvashtar

Tenth house from Aquarius, the sign of Tvashtar, is the sign of Scorpio, presided by
Parjanya – Sun-god in the form of God of rain. Tenth house from the sign occupied by the
Sun becomes of highest importance in Vedic astrology, as it is the house of Sun’s activity
and action in the world – as well as fruits of its action. Interestingly enough, similarly like
Aquarius is co-ruled by Rahu, “the head of the dragon”, so Scorpio is co-ruled by Ketu,
“the tail of the dragon”. There is a powerful interplay between these two signs, which are
called the most karmic signs in Vedic astrology. Parjanya Aditya is the god, who blesses
with rain and releasing the waters, as well as the one, who supresses the rain and waters –
similarly like Vritrasura. Not without a reason sign of Scorpio starts and finishes with two
nakshatras of Indra: Vishakha and Jyeshtha. It is said that Vritrasura was finally defeated
by Indra under Jyeshtha nakshatra with the help of his thunderbolt.

Metaphorically, water represents our emotions. Sign of Scorpio may often result either
with overflow of negative emotions or supression of emotions, which may lead to certain
emotional explosions (“thunderbolts”) with time. This is why it is naturally the hardest sign
for Moon to dwell in, specifically in the portion of Vishakha nakshatra, which is closely
associated with Indra’s thunderbolt. Similarly the activities of Tvashtar and sign of
Aquarius can be seen through this supressing and releasing qualities of Scorpio.

Interesting thing is that if you live anywhere close to nature and close to anthills, you may
often experience ants visiting your house couple of days before heavy rains start – which
are ruled by Parjanya Aditya. If ants appear suddenly in your house without any specific
reason, it is a sure sign that big rains are coming soon. Quite interesting, once we realise
that ants are connected in Vedic astrology to Rahu, co-ruler of Aquarius – while Scorpio is
naturally connected to all small insects.
Amshuman – 11th from Tvashtar

Eleventh house from Aquarius, the sign of Tvashtar, is the sign of Sagittarius, presided by
Amshuman – Sun-god in the form of “the splitted One”. Similarly like one universal light of
the Sun breaks down into the rainbow of colours, so Tvashtar creates multifarious forms
from one Divine fabric of the Supreme Consciousness and condenses light into a variety
of gross, tamasic form. In Vedic astrology Sun represents this singular light of Supreme
Consciousness, while Venus, once again, stands for all the different colours of light and
the differentiation. The sign of Amshuman being the 11th house from Aquarius, which is
the house of all our desires, hopes and wishes, reveals Tvashtar’s deep desire to create
things.

It is also interesting to note that Urvashi is the apsara dwelling in the chariot of Amshuman
during the time when Sun is in Sagittarius – the very same celestial dancer, who
enchanted Mitra and Varuna.

Interestingly enough, earthly king with the same name, Amshuman, was also the ancestor
of Bhagiratha, who brought the sacred waters in the form of river Ganges back to earth,
after rishi Agastya has swallowed the entire ocean.

Bhaga – 12th from Tvashtar

Twelfth house from Aquarius, the sign of Tvashtar, is the sign of Capricorn, presided by
Bhaga – Sun-god in the form of “the Lucky One”. Bhaga, interestingly, was the god, who
desired, in the beginning of creation, to always get “the best share of all offerings”.
Capricorn, earthly sign being governed by Bhaga and Saturn, is also the ultimate sign of
responsibility, as well as government. Bhaga being the 12th Aditya from Tvashtar, gives a
warning to all those, who fall a prey to worldly splendour, greed or power, as these very
qualities, if not supported by wise responsibility, can become a source of downfall for
Tvashtar’s natives.

Interestingly, as much as sign of Aquarius is connected to “keeping water” or amrit in our

Cosmic Pot, sign of Capricorn is connected to releasing it, waters pouring out and raining.
This is because in the very heart of Capricorn dwells Shravana nakshatra. Shravana means
“to hear”, but with slightly different accent it also means “to flow”. In fact, very old
depiction of personified Goddess of Shravana nakshatra depicts a lady pouring the water
out simultaneously from two water pots. This is most likely referring to month Shravana
being associated with rainy season. When Sun dwells in watery Cancer and Moon gets full
in Shravana nakshatra, this rainy month is called Shravana. Perhaps this is why sign of
Aquarius is classified in Jataka Parijata as “water resorter”, the sign, which utilises the
energy of water, while sign of Capricorn is “water provider”, the sign producing the water.
And as 12th house is the house of final fulfillment of a soul, so Tvashtar natives find their
final fulfillment not in keeping the metaphoric water or nectar in their metaphoric pot just
for themselves, but by sharing it in a wise and responsible way with everybody else, and
thus uplifting the world around them. This is why so many activists or people who yearn
to uplift the world in any other way can be seen from Sun placed in Aquarius or 11th
house.

Tvashtar and lunar phases

Movements of Sun and Moon our intimately interconnected, Sun representing the Divine
masculine principle, while Moon representing the Divine feminine principle and the
Goddess. And being so, certain tithis or lunar phases also have some impact on exact
rashis – either by energising them or depleting their energy. This is was described in detail
in my previous ebook, Journey with the Moon.

Sign of Aquarius becomes very important for all Pratipad tithi natives (born on first lunar
day in any of the two pakshas), as it becomes for them tithi pati kshetra paksha or the sign
revealing their direction in life. It is quite interesting, as Pratipad tithi is governed by
Goddess Kameshwari or “the ruler of all desires”. Everything in the universe starts from
the power of creative desire, which represented both by Goddess Kameshwari and
Tvashtar himself. In one of her hands Goddess Kameshwari also holds a pot full of amrit.
She is the personification of the power of the desire itself, which is why Pratipad natives
are often full of desires, but also full of creative power. Kameshwari is also Goddess of
procreation. Life lessons of Pratipad natives are very similar like those of Tvashtar himself:
learning more responsibility, handling their creative potential wisely, but also controlling
and focusing their life force and desires, so their energy doesn’t become unnecessary
depleted and scattered.

Interestingly enough, when Sun is dwelling in Aquarius and Moon in Leo in one of the
Phalgunis, such a Full Moon is considered birthday of Lakshmi, Goddess of prosperity,
creativity, wisdom, devotion, love and generosity in every sense of this word. Similarly,
both people with Sun in 11th house or in Aquarius, as well as Pratipad natives need to
learn in life, how to become more generous in their thoughts, words and action – how to
“release” the waters from their metaphorical “pot” and share them with the world a little
bit more often.

Chaturti tithi or fourth lunar day, on the other hand, depletes the energy of Aquarius in the
birth chart of those natives, or makes Aquarius shunya, “empty”, a challenging sign.
Chaturti is one of the rikta tithis or “empty” lunar days, which are by their very own nature
exposing and emptying everything – including the metaphoric “pot” of Aquarius. Chaturti
tithi is also governed by Goddess Bherunda, the only naked Goddess, which symbolises
her love for transparency. Transparency, on the other hand, does not resonate that well
with Aquarius’ tendency to always keep and withdraw things, as well as keep them secret.
And as Aquarius is also the house of social life and social circles, it doesn’t resonate that
well with Chaturti, which is probably one of the most asocial and introverted tithis, valuing
its solitude above all.

29th muhurta – time of Tvashtar

In Vedic Astrology we are splitting the day, beginning from the moment of sunrise (until
the time of next sunrise) into 30 equal parts, known as muhurtas. Each muhurta has its
presiding deity, often very similar to the deities of the nakshatras. The muhurta known as
Tvashtar muhurta happens to be very special – because it’s other name is Brahma muhurta,
or “time of the Great Creator”. Creative force of the universe happens to be at its peak
around this special time of the day, which starts exactly 1 hour and 36 minutes before
sunrise. Yogis know well this time to be the best for meditation and all spiritual practices –
as well as obtaining knowledge and preserving the longevity of one’s life, according to
Ashtanga Hridayam. Not only the surroundings are the most peaceful during this time of
the day (usually only some birds slowly start to wake up), but the sky also slowly starts
getting little bit brighter, as the sky approach the horizon. It is believed that during this
time of the day our consciousness moves from sushupti (deep sleep) state into turiya
(transcendental) state, and our ego is not yet fully present, which allows us more easily to
enter deep meditation states and connect with the Divine within us, before the first
healing rays of the Sun appearon the horizon and mark the beginning of the next day.

The nakshatra of Tvashtar, as we already know, is also the lunar mansion, in which Venus
experiences both its debilitation, as well as finds its mulatrikona or most comfortable place.
Interestingly enough, if Venus is currently on the sky in the mode of Morning Star (travels
ahead of the Sun), we will always be able to see it rising right before the sunrise – very
often during the time of Tvashtar muhurta (or sometimes Maruta muhurta). These three
muhurtas, Tvashtar (Divine Architect, presiding over 11th house), Maruta (Maruts are wind-
gods frequently associated with 11 Rudras in the Vedas) and Rudra (the muhurta at
sunrise) form a very special triad of 3 deities connected to progress. Also, whenever
Venus appears as Morning Star on the sky, you will be able to see it only during one of
those 3 muhurtas.

11th Surya kala: Dharini – The Bearer

om aim hrim shrim tamdham dharinyai namah

According to tantric tradition, Moon has 16th kalas or “particles”, which are her lunar
phases, while Sun has 12th kalas connected to 12th zodiac signs and 12th solar months.
Dharini or “the bearer” or “the one, who is holding things” is the name of 11th kala of the
Sun, connected to Aquarius. Kumbha rashi or 11th house in our birth chart is similarly our
symbolic cosmic pot and bearer of all the blessings and curses in our life.

Dharini is also one of the names of Mother Earth, as She is the one, who bears all Her
burdens patiently. Similarly people with Sun in 11th house or in the sign of Aquarius must
learn in this lifetime how to become more humble and patient like the Earth, but at the
same time more responsible towards the Earth – which is the quality we get to learn on
the level muladhara, our root chakra.

Meditation with the light of Tvashtar

To meditate with the light of Tvashtar Aditya, sit straight and focus all your attention on
muladhara chakra at the base of the spine. Visualise in your root chakra a bright light, like
the light of the Sun and feel the extent of your own creative power. Realise the truth that
similarly like Tvashtar is the Divine Architect of the universe, so you are the architect of
your own life and each and every single one of your thoughts, words and actions are the
bricks and particles building your world. Feel the connection with the world around you
and resolve to take greater responsibility for your thoughts, words and actions, through
enhancing them with more mindfulness and Love. Decide to take full responsibility for
your life, instead of blaming any other person, circumstance or Divine force, being fully
aware that everything that happens to you is the result of your own karma. Promise
yourself to you will take a better care in the future about the karmic seeds, which you are
sowing for yourself in the world – and forgive yourself for all, what you already sowed in
the past. Allow the liberating power of forgiveness to release your inner creative potential
from the grasp of metaphoric Vritrasura, the one, who supresses the creative power of
water element within you. Forgive yourself, forgive the world and forgive God. And know
at the same time that true forgiveness is understanding that, in fact, there is nothing to
forgive: as everything is already perfect in the act of Creation and everything is created
for some higher purpose. With this understanding and the knowledge received from the
light of Tvashtar, allow yourself to create a better future more freely, letting go of the
burden from the past.

During the meditation you might like to chant inwardly the mantra of Tvashtar, Gayatri
mantra or simply the universal mantra om.