Secrets of Shukra (Venus) and the Mahamrityunjay Mantra
- By Pandit Sanjay Rath
We all come from Shukra (Venus). The Rajas mode of nature is comprised of Shukra (Venus) and Buddha (Mercury). Shukra is mainly comprised of the water element and Buddha is mainly comprised of the earth element. From water element animals are born and from earth element plants are born. Water and Earth are the dominant part of all our bodies. Plants have both water (sap) and earth (solid part) element. There is a shadow when light falls on the earth element whereas the water element diffuses light. Earth is inimical to the fire element as the earth blocks light creating a shadow. Shani (Saturn) that is the shadow falling on Mother Earth that comes inside us. All karmas come to us through this shadow created when the earth element blocks the fire element. Fire always wants to go straight but earth wants to block it.
The plant kingdom has more earth element than the animal kingdom. Because it has more earth element plants cannot move around. Similarly, earth roots people to the ground. Therefore plants are more Mercury dominated and use less water. Animals use more water element and very little earth element so there is a dominance of water element in animals. 75% of our body is water and most of the rest is earth. The part of our body which is earth element is blocking the light. Therefore the earth element is the enemy of fire. That is why grahas representing the fire element (Sun, Mars and Ketu) are angry with the body. The solid parts of the body come into trouble because of the fire element eg too much of heat, cold and fluctuations of the temperature which wear and tear the body. The Sun causes ageing as the earth element fights against light.
The water element in your body is highly inimical to wind element. Therefore 75% of our body that is water is troubled by the wind element and around 20% of our body that is earth is troubled by fire element. That is why all the fire planets (Sun, Mars and Ketu) and air planets (Saturn and Rahu) are all malefic planets. The malefic planets are all fire or air planets. Water and earth planets are not malefic as we are created from water and earth. The remaining elements (fire, air and ether) come and go in the body and so their percentage of the body is limited.
The benefic planets are watery planets (Moon and Venus) and earthy planets (Mercury). Jupiter is an ethet planet so it is a benefic planet of the highest order. Venus has the most water element and our body is 75% water so Venus is the most important graha for us. Therefore the Venus mantras protect our body. The same Venus gives our birth. Therefore the MahaMrityunjay mantra comes from Shukra (Venus) and ensures the water element is strong. Therefore a person with Moon in Cancer should always wear diamonds regardless of what their ascendant is and should recite this mantra. The four seed sounds of this mantra are the sounds of Shukra: Cha (wind element), Chha (fire element), Ja (earth element), Jha (water element). These syllables combine together to give harmony of these elements in the body.
Rahu is the source of wind, Sun is the origin of fire, Moon is the origin of water, Ketu is the source of earth and Lagna (at Earth and zero in the Vedic numerology system) is the source of ether. Mercury represents earth, Venus represents water, Mars represents fire, Jupiter represents ether and Saturn represents wind. Apart from Jupiter and Saturn, the planets represent the order of the elements. The Atman was given these elements in order. When the Moon is less closer to Sun than the Earth then it is in Rahu domain where one enjoys the earth and when the Moon is closer to the Sun than earth then it is in the Ketu domain and one renounces things in the world. Therefore both are extreme positions. Rahu is the shadow of earth from the Sun whereas Ketu is opposite Rahu. Ketu is like Purnima and Rahu is like Amavasya. Therefore Ketu is bright and Rahu is dark. Ketu is therefore Moksha Karaka and takes us closer to the Divine. Sun represents the Divine.
All planets up to Saturn are visible to the naked eye whereas Uranus, Nepture and Pluto are not visible to the eye so they are not stars and not counted in Vedic astrology. They affect generations of people rather than people themselves. Saturn is the outer boundary of the system.
Jupiter needs ether because it wants more and more wisdom which it gets from Lagna. But Lagna is limited to the brain capacity of the animal. Therefore if Jupiter is strong but Lagna is weak then Jupiter will not get wisdom and the person will get autism. If a person keeps studying and studying then the Lagna will get destroyed as one is consuming the ether element. How much ether can the Lagna give? After some time the health will start talking. Earth is called Mother as Moon is always with the Earth. Saturn wants to move and needs wind for this which it gets from Rahu. Therefore Saturn and Rahu are responsible for longegivity as they are responsible for breath. Death is caused when the breath runs out.
Mars needs fire because it wants power which it gets from Sun. Venus needs water to express love and emotions which it gets from Moon. Babies love everybody as they have a huge water supply. But as we become older our water supply goes down and we start drying up as the lake becomes empty. Mercury needs earth for resources which it gets from Ketu. Therefore there is a constant conflict between the source and the user. Everything has a limit.
Mercury and Venus are inside between Sun and Earth and Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are outside Sun to Earth. Therefore Mercury (earth) and Venus (water) are inside the body and Mars (fire), Jupiter (ether) and Saturn (wind) are outside and come in and out the body. Air, intelligence and knowledge comes from outside whereas earth and water are inside the body.
Venus is responsible for transporting souls from Jupiter to the Earth via Moon. Water element is needed to transport eg sperms in human beings are water element. Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system from the Sun (even hotter than Mercury). When Sun is in Taurus ruled by Venus it is the warmest month as its gets dry and one needs water. This is when mangoes ripen. The sea is the source of all water and that is why the sea and its tides are controlled by Moon. Moon represents salty water and Venus represents clear water.
During conception, the Venus energy of the male is comprised of Sun (Atman) and Venus (semen) and the Venus energy of the famale is comprised of Moon (egg) and Mars (blood).
Venus is either setting in the west after dusk when its ahead of the Sun (evening star) or rising in the east before dawn when behind the Sun (morning star). As the morning star it adds strong rajas to the Sun resulting in violence, greed, control and rule. The Incas would use the morning rajas energy of Venus to attack their enemy as in war movement of troops is important. They would attack when Venus rose as the morning star. That is why early in the morning it is peacefu and sattvik but then the stress comes in. As the evening star it adds rajas to the evening Moon such as affection, love and adoration. Therefore Venus is better in the evening as rajas is not good in the morning but good in the evening. That is why Shree Ganesh observed mauna (silence) in the morning.
Venus spins in the opposite direction of all planets. All planets have sunrise in the east but Venus has sunset in the east. Venus likes the West. Sunrise is life and sunset is death so Venus gives life where Earth is showing death. Therefore it causes rebirth and rejuvination. Therefore the power of the MahaMrityunjay Mantra is with Venus. Therefore whenever a planet is in the 7th house or joined with 7th Lord then you should do Mahamrityunjay Mantra. That is why Lord Shiva gave this mantra to Shukra (Venus).
Its rotation is very slow- it takes 243 Earth days or 8 month. Venus revolves around Sun once every 0.615 earth years or 224.7 Earth days (note the similarity with the rotation time) or 7.5 months. In 20 Earty years Vimshottari Venus resolutions = 20 x (12/7.5) = 32. There are 32 syllables Anusthubh chandas in the Mahamrityunjay Mantra! Look at the mathematical correlation. Venus follows Shiva (devata of Sun) in anustubh chandas by doing 32 circumambulations in 20 years. This statement has an absolute scientific basis. The North and South poles of Venus are opposite to that of all other planets- the Tapasya of Shukra was to hang upside down and breathe smoke for 20 years (Shiva Mahapuruna).
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