Introduction
"Gaja" means elephant and "kesari" means lion. The name sounds grand, and it is indeed one of the best-known yogas in Jyotish. But its rule is simple, so it appears in many charts: the chance that Jupiter falls in one of the four kendras from the Moon is quite high.
That is why it matters which conditions the texts add, and how scholars such as Raman ask us to read it.
The rule
The common rule (Raman, Three Hundred Important Combinations, no. 1; Phaladeepika 6.14 as "Kesari yoga"): Jupiter in a kendra from the Moon, that is, in the 1st, 4th, 7th or 10th house counted from the Moon.
The BPHS form (ch. 36, verses 3-4) is stricter:
- Jupiter in a kendra from the lagna or from the Moon,
- joined or aspected by a benefic,
- and Jupiter not debilitated (in Makara), not combust and not in an inimical sign.
ePandit shows both: first whether the yoga forms by the common rule, then whether the BPHS conditions are also met.
What it depends on
Writing on this yoga, Raman explains that the results of any yoga vary greatly with the condition of the planets forming it. There is a large difference between the builder of a small shrine and the builder of a great temple, and in the same way one yoga looks different from chart to chart.
In How to Judge a Horoscope he adds that when Gajakesari falls in the 6th, 8th or 12th from the lagna, it does not advance the chart much. He also notes that it can show in different ways: sometimes as reputation without money, sometimes as progress at work, sometimes only as financial steadiness.
So we look at:
- the signs of Jupiter and the Moon (exalted, own, friendly or inimical),
- the house from the lagna in which the yoga falls,
- and when the dasha of Jupiter or the Moon runs.
What tradition associates with it
The old texts describe a person with this yoga as generous, courteous, intelligent and respected. Raman says plainly that these old results should not be taken literally but adapted to modern life.
Tradition takes Jupiter as the significator of wisdom and good counsel, and the Moon as the significator of the mind. A good link between them is associated with patience, good sense and a wish to help others. It is a leaning, not a fixed outcome.
How ePandit shows it
In the "Yoga" tab of your kundli, Gajakesari is shown with:
- the kendra from the Moon that Jupiter occupies,
- whether the BPHS conditions are met, and which are not,
- the house from the lagna where the yoga falls,
- and the sources (Raman, Phaladeepika, BPHS).
Even without a birth time the common rule can be checked, because it is counted from the Moon.