Jupiter (Guru)

Astronomical Introduction

Of all the planets, Guru (Jupiter) is the largest in size. Its diameter is roughly 150,000 kilometres. It remains at an average distance of 780 million kilometres from the Sun, and moving at an average speed of 13 kilometres per second, it completes one revolution around the Sun in about 12 years; yet it takes only 10 hours to rotate fully on its own axis.

Jupiter has 14 satellites. The four largest among them are named Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, which were first observed by Galileo in the year 1610.

Puranic Account

According to the Vayu Purana (2/19, 3/5, 38/44), Brihaspati is the son of the rishi Angira; his father's name is also given as Sunima. He is the guru, the preceptor, of the devas (gods). According to the Rigveda, he has seven mouths, a beautiful tongue, and holds a bow and arrows in his hands, with a golden animal beside him. He is the lord of intellect and of excellent powers of speech. In the view of the Puranas he has 12 rays. His chariot is of gold, drawn by 8 horses, white or red in colour, swift as the wind. According to the Vayu Purana (53/97), his station lies above Mangal (Mars) and below Shani (Saturn). His sister's name is given as Yoga-Siddha.

In the Puranas, Brihaspati, guru of the devas, and Shukra (Venus), guru of the daityas (demons), are regarded as counterparts of equal rank. According to the Shatapatha Brahmana (6/7/9), when Indra insulted the deva-guru Brihaspati, he departed from the divine assembly in svarga (heaven); the asuras then, under the leadership of their priest-guru Shukra, gained dominion over the devas. In another tale, the daitya-guru Shukra, on the instruction of Lord Shiva, lived in secret for 10 years with Jayanti, the daughter of Indra, performing tapasya (austerities) for the attainment of siddhi. During this period it was Brihaspati who, taking on Shukra's form, served in his place as guru of the daityas, and in those days the devas destroyed the daityas; Lord Vishnu went so far as to slay even Shukra's mother. Enraged by this, Shukra's father Bhrigu cursed Vishnu to take birth seven times.

Guru is the largest of the planets in size. This graha, the celestial "grasper" that acts upon the chart, is the symbol of knowledge and of the learned. This same graha is also the lord of our fortune (bhagya) and of dharma. It is the destroyer (ru) of the ignorance (gu) in the heart, and it is for this very reason that, among the gods, Brihaspati has been given the station of deva-guru, preceptor of the gods.

The Person Influenced by Guru

The Guru-influenced person has a yellowish complexion and a tall, heavy body, with ample flesh and fat. The hair is somewhat brown. The eyes are brown, the chest prominent, and the belly large. The forehead of a Guru-dominant jataka (native) is never narrow, and the nose will never be small or snub. The voice is deep and commanding, like a lion's. Guru's constitution is kapha-dominant (of the phlegmatic humour).

The native is sattvic in temperament, of superior intellect and excellent power of thought, and of steady disposition. The jataka is neither cold nor overly affectionate, but is one who would lay down his life for dharma. By habit, however, he is careless. He is endowed with royal marks, skilled in the shastras, and learned.

An afflicted Guru makes the native arrogant; though devoid of knowledge, he needlessly imposes his influence on others. Causing scandal in perfectly sound institutions is the work of an afflicted Guru.

Influence on the Body

In the body, Guru governs the lungs, neck, nose, and fat. It directs the functions of karma (action), knowledge, discrimination, foresight, ethics, pride, and the like.

Astronomical Details