Bandhana Yoga

Bandhana Yoga is an important yoga as it indicates whether an individual would be put behind the bars or held in captivity during his/her lifetime. I have taken the definition of this yoga from Shri B V Raman’s book titled “Three Hundred Important Combinations”. The definition and the explanation go as follows:

Definition: If the lords of Lagna and the 6th join a kendra or a kona with Saturn, Rahu or Ketu, the above yoga is given raise to.

Results: The native will be incarcerated.

Remarks: The cause of imprisonment is not made clear in this yoga. Imprisonment may be due to political or criminal offences. The lords of Lagna and the 6th should occupy a Kendra or Kona in association with Saturn or Rahu or Ketu. If the Lord of Lagna happens to be Saturn, by implication the evil is either lessened or (in some cases) completely neutralized. Benefic aspects lessen the evil.


Since the definition does not talk about Rasis in particular and talks about only placement of planets with respect Lagna, I prefer to look for this yoga in the Bhava Chart rather than in the Rasi chart. Of all the different bhava charts, I prefer Sripathi Bhava. It has given consistent results so far for this Yoga.

Also, I have noticed that the manifestation of the yoga happens in different flavors and not necessarily exactly as per the definition. However, the spirit of the definition remains in each of the flavor. Hence, I would like to broaden the definition of this yoga as follows:

Lagna lord and 6th lord should occupy a Kendra or Kona

Both of them should be influenced by one of Rahu or Ketu or Sani

6th lord should in some way influence the lagna lord

The term influence could indicate conjunction, aspect or any other type of influence. And, all three namely langna lord, 6th lord and one of Rahu/Ketu/Saturn need not occupy the same house. The combination can be traced in Rasi/Bhava or Navamsha charts. When the combination is looked at in the Navamsha chart, the lordships are taken from the Bhava Chart.

My research has indicated that the release from arrest/captivity typically happens during the period /sub-period of the dispositor of the 6th lord. When this dispositor also participates in Bandhana Yoga, then the release happens during period/sub-period of dispositor’s dispositor.

I have used Lahiri ayanamsa and True Nodes.

In the following pages, I would like to present some case studies to understand the manifestation of the yoga in different flavors.

Case Study 1: Nelson Mandela

Manifestation: Strictly as per classical definition

Lagna: 0 Dhanu 59

Lagna Lord: Guru

6th lord: Sukra

Afflictor:

Ketu

Planets participating in Bandhana Yoga are: Guru, Sukra, Ketu, Dispositor Budha and Budha's associate Sani.

Looking at the dates of his arrest, we have the following data:

Arrested on Dec. 5, 1956 and released sometime during 1961 (date not known): The date of arrest falls under BUD-GUR-SAN-BUD period. All of them are participating in Bandhana Yoga.

Later, he was again arrested on August 5, 1962 and was in jail until February 11, 1990: The date of arrest falls under KET-SUK-GUR-SUK period. All of them participate in Bandhana Yoga. He was in jail for the rest of Ketu and whole of Sukra period as well. The release happened during the period of Ravi who is Dispositor’s (Budha’s) Dispositor! Ravi happens to be vargottama in this chart.

Case Study 2: Aung San Suu Kyi (Burmese Leader)
(birth time rectified to 13:07 from 13:00)

Manifestation: Strictly as per classical definition

Lagna: 18 Kanya 58

Lagna Lord: Budha

6th lord: Sani

Afflictor: Rahu

Planets participating in Bandhana Yoga are: Budha, Sani, Rahu, Sani's associate Ravi and Guru aspected by Sani.

Suu Kyi was under house arrest from 20-Jul-1989 to July 1995. The arrest date corresponds to the period SAN-SAN-GUR-RAV


She was again put under house arrest from Sep 2000 to May 2002. The arrest happened during SAN-RAH-RAV period.

She is under house arrest again from 2003 (SAN-GUR) till date (July 2007). Hence, the confinement has continued into Budha MD also. As Budha is strongly involved in the yoga, it is unlikely that she will be out of the confinement soon.

Case Study 3: Jeffery Archer (British Politician and Author)
Manifestation: This is a special case as the sambandha of lagna lord and 6th lord happens through nakashtras.

Lagna: 6 Kark 53

Lagna Lord: Chandra

6th lord: Guru

Afflictor: Ketu

The connection between lagna lord and sixth lord is: Chandra in the nakshatra of Guru. And, Guru is afflicted by Ketu.

Planets participating in Bandhana Yoga are also determined using nakshatras:

Sukra and Kuja are in the nakshatra of Chandra who is in the nakshatra of 6th lord Guru. Sani and Ravi are in the nakshatra of Ketu. There are no other planets in the nakshtra of Guru.

Jeffery Archer was sentenced to 4 years on July 19, 2001. This date falls during the period of SUK-SAN-KUJ-CHA. He was released on license after serving half the period only on July 21, 2003. This date falls during the period of SUK-BUD-RAV-GUR. Interestingly the 6th lord Guru and Ketu are in the nakshatra of Budha (the dispositor coming into play in the release?).

Case Study 4: Scott Peterson

Ref: http://www.astrodatabank.com/NM/PetersonScott.htm

Manifestation: The variation here is that Bandhana Yoga has manifested with reference to Chandra lagna and the malefic combination occurs in Navamsha.

Lagna: 9 Vrisc 29

Chandra Lagna Lord: Sukra

6th lord: Sukra

Afflictor: Sani

Lagna lord and 6th lord being the same, is in a Kendra from both Lagna and Chandra. The affliction from Sani comes in the form of Graha Drishti.

Planets participating in Bandhana Yoga are:

Sukra: Chandra Lagna and 6th lord
Sani: Afflictor
Rahu: Aspected by Sani
Guru: Aspected by Sani
Ketu: Conjunct Sani


Scott Peterson was arrested for the murder of his wife on April, 18, 2003. This date falls under the period RAH-SUK-RAH-RAH. Both Rahu and Sukra participate in the Bandhana Yoga.


This is a special case as the Bandhana Yoga can be traced to the Navamsha chart as well.

The Chandra lagna lord and 6th lord (from Rasi) is in a Kendra from both Lagna and Chandra conjunct Rahu.










Case Study 5: John Allen Muhammad (Terror Suspect)

Ref: http://www.astrodatabank.com/NM/MuhammadJohn.htm

Manifestation: Reference is Chandra Lagna, and affliction of Saturn is by aspect. The combination is better visible in Rasi chart.

Lagna: 5 Dhanu 12
Chandra Lagna Lord: Budha
6th lord: Kuja
Afflictor: Sani

Both Chandra lagna lord and 6th lord are in Kendras. Chandra lagna lord is afflicted by Sani by conjunction and 6th lord is afflicted by Sani by Graha drishti. 6th lord aspects lagna lord by Graha drishti.

Muhammad was arrested on October 2, 2002. This date falls during the vishottari dasha:

SAN-BUD-RAH-RAH

Involvement of Rahu can be explained as 6th lord (from Chandra) Kuja is in Rahu’s constellation.






Case Study 6: Jimmy Hoffa (American Labor Leader)

Ref: http://www.astrodatabank.com/NM/HoffaJimmy.htm

Manifestation: The speciality lies here in the mode of affliction.

Lagna: 4 Kumb 24


Lagna Lord: Sani


6th Lord: Chandra


Afflictor: Rahu

Lagna lord and 6th lord are in a Kendra from Lagna. They are disposited by Sukra who is afflicted by Rahu. Hence, here the affliction comes through the dispositor. One should also note that the nakshatra dispositor of Sani and Chandra is ravi. Ravi is also afflicted by Rahu in Navamsha.

There are some interesting aspects in this case:

In 1964, Hoffa was convicted of misappropriating $1.7 million in union pension funds but managed to stay out of prison until 1967 (SAN-SAN). He escaped prison for about three years until Sani MD arrived!

Though he was sentenced for 13 years, then President Nixon pardoned him and Hoffa was released during 1971 (SAN-BUD). Note that dispositor Sukra is in the nakshatra of Budha.
He went missing on July 30, 1975 (SAN-SUK-SAN-SUK). People last saw him getting into a car with some more people at a restaurant parking. Authorities believe that he was abducted and never came out live from that car. He was not to be seen again and was declared legally dead in 1982(SAN-RAH), seven years after his disappearance.

Details from: http://www.prairieghosts.com/hoffa.html


I am very thankful to Shri B V Raman for documenting and explaining this Yoga in his book.

© Krishnamurthy Seetharama