Natural planetary relationships: read the table in the right direction
Brihat Jataka adopts a fixed table attributed to Satyacharya. Friend, neutral and enemy are technical labels for how one graha is classified in relation to another.
STEP 1
Read from the reference planet
Choose the planet in the first column, then look for the second planet across that row. Each row lists the other six planets; it leaves out the reference planet itself.
| Reference planet | Friends | Neutral | Enemies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | Moon, Mars, Jupiter | Mercury | Venus, Saturn |
| Moon | Sun, Mercury | Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn | None |
| Mars | Sun, Moon, Jupiter | Venus, Saturn | Mercury |
| Mercury | Sun, Venus | Mars, Jupiter, Saturn | Moon |
| Jupiter | Sun, Moon, Mars | Saturn | Mercury, Venus |
| Venus | Mercury, Saturn | Mars, Jupiter | Sun, Moon |
| Saturn | Venus, Mercury | Jupiter | Sun, Moon, Mars |
STEP 2
Check the reverse direction separately
In the Moon’s row, Mercury is a friend. In Mercury’s row, the Moon is an enemy. The two entries differ because each starts from a different reference planet; do not assume the table is symmetrical.
STEP 3
Keep this lookup separate from placement
This natural table is fixed within the stated scheme. A temporary relationship is a different lookup based on the planets’ relative positions in a chart.
Stanza 15 records another list. This guide uses only the Satyacharya table the author adopts in stanzas 16–17.