What is Rahu Kaal coming from?
Name of Rahu Kalam comes from Rahu, the name of the head that separated from the body called Ketu of a famous Demon King Swarbhanu. Swarbhanu was once ruling some dark worlds and he had found an access to Saturn somehow. Their friendship grew and finally Saturn realized Swarbhanu’s nature, only to desert him. Swarbhanu meanwhile used several means to reach the temple of Gods. During the time, when the Gods and Demons came together for the Samudra Manthan, the Gods denied the demons a drink of the Amrit. The demons were compensated with different treasures that came out during the Samudra Manthan, other than the Amrit. Except Venus, the Guru of the Demons, no one else was to be given the Amrit.
After the Manthan was over, the demons went back home with their treasures and Vishnu began distributing the Amrit. As soon as he passed on the honey to one of the Gods, and the God standing in the queue gulped it down, Vishnu realized his mistake. Immediately he severed the head from the body, however it was too late. The separated body and the head took shape to become two separate forms and entities individually, yet they followed two different destinies.
Rahu became Uranus; some call them the northern node of the shadow of the Moon.
Ketu became Neptune, the southern node of the shadow of the Moon.
Uranus works on the principle of deceit to reach the truth.
Neptune works on the principle of manipulation to reach the truth.
Thus, they are also known as Moon’s shadow units- the Northern node being Rahu and the Southern node being Ketu since they were never made visible to humans and were kept in the shade of life.
Now, every single day has a number of planets influencing different parts of the day. However, some planets don’t repeat every day unlike Rahu. Every Muhurat is ruled by some or the other planet and no auspicious Muhurat for any important work is designated during the one and a half hours of Today Rahu Kalam.
As per the planetary hours of the ancient system, one of the seven classical planets rule each day, if you know from their names. Rahu is not given a day and to compensate that, Rahu is given a part of the hour each day known as Rahu Kaal.
Sunday is ruled by the Sun.
Monday is ruled by the Moon.
Tuesday is ruled by Mars.
Wednesday is ruled by Mercury.
Thursday is ruled by Thor or Jupiter.
Friday is ruled by Venus
Saturday is ruled by Saturn.
Now, if you notice, the rulers of each day are three places below the first planet ruling the first day. So Sunday is ruled by the Sun and Monday by the Moon that is three places below Sun in the Chaldean order.
The first hour of the day belongs to the planet that rules the whole day and the planet from whom the name of the day is derived.
Let us have a look,
The Different hours of the day with different planets
| Hours | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 1 | Sun | Moon | Mars | Mercury | Jupiter | Venus | Saturn |
| 2 | Venus | Saturn | Sun | Moon | Mars | Mercury | Jupiter |
| 3 | Mercury | Jupiter | Venus | Saturn | Sun | Moon | Mars |
| 4 | Moon | Mars | Mercury | Jupiter | Venus | Saturn | Sun |
| 5 | Saturn | Sun | Moon | Mars | Mercury | Jupiter | Venus |
| 6 | Jupiter | Venus | Saturn | Sun | Moon | Mars | Mercury |
| 7 | Mars | Mercury | Jupiter | Venus | Saturn | Sun | Moon |
| 8 | Sun | Moon | Mars | Mercury | Jupiter | Venus | Saturn |
| 9 | Venus | Saturn | Sun | Moon | Mars | Mercury | Jupiter |
| 10 | Mercury | Jupiter | Venus | Saturn | Sun | Moon | Mars |
| 11 | Moon | Mars | Mercury | Jupiter | Venus | Saturn | Sun |
| 12 | Saturn | Sun | Moon | Mars | Mercury | Jupiter | Venus |
According to Vedic Astrology that gives place to Rahu and Ketu, Rahu Kalam is a part of the day. Saturn’s son Gulika denotes Gulika Kalam and Yamagandam is the hour when death rites and rituals are conducted. Now these are timings that occur daily, now the rest of the day goes to all the other planets that come into picture each day of the week.
There is a mnemonic phrase which helps you remember when Rahu Kaal will occur each day, an easy way to remember it.
Find the phrase that can determine the Rahu Timings.
“07:30 Mother Saw Father Wearing The Turban Suddenly.”
Mother (Monday from 07:30 – 09:00)
Saw (Saturday from 09:00-10:30)
Father (Friday from 10:30 – 12:00)
Wearing (Wednesday from 12:00 – 01:30)
The (Thursday from 01:30 – 03:00)
Turban (Tuesday from 03:00 – 04:30)
Suddenly (Sunday from 04:30 – 06:00)
Understanding Rahu Kalam
According to the various Panchang Calendars used primarily to understand the Rahukalam timings. It is always for a period of one and a half hours. Hence, the Panchang is the only tool apart from the online calculators that can predict the Rahukalam in your city. Thus, you need to have a local Panchang that can help you predict the exact time of Rahukalam within your city. If you are staying overseas for your work, then you can check the online calculator.
The calculation of Rahukalam is done keeping in mind the 12 hours of the day and also the night.
So you have to divide 12 hours of the day between Sunrise to Sunset by 8, making it 12/8=1.5 hours.
The Rahukalam timing changes from place to place and it depends on the local time of the place, the Sunrise and the Sunset timings.
Rahu and Ketu are mightier than the Sun and can hide the Sun with their power. So, when Rahu and Ketu are in picture you could either be manipulated or deceived in the first case. Often, this can come as a setback to you when you do not understand the devices of self growth used by Rahu and Ketu.
Rahu deceives you to teach you some of the realities of life.
Ketu manipulates your way to teach you the other alternate and more realistic approaches of life.
So, it is important to know the Rahukalam, Gulikakalam, Yamagandam and Vishagati time periods.
Is Rahukalam really inauspicious?
Question is if we are advised to avoid Rahukalam, then should we consider such an inauspicious time for any work? The answer is that this is an inauspicious time but certainly many things might begin at this hour of the day.
There are school exams and college terms that begin at these hours. Don’t people do well in exams and don’t their future take good turns?
It is just a shadow that can curb the Sun but it can also provide you with a reality you may have never known existed or survived in the presence of the Sun. So, did you know that Rahu like Shani would teach you about this world; would show you through various deceptions certain subtle truths no one knew existed?
Would you want to know more about how people day in and day out get manipulated, even when the Sun shines bright then follow the teachings of the Neptune?
Avoiding the teachings of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune can cost you, since a wise man or woman must know all the ways of living and life only to be complete in structure and knowledge.
Saturn judges your good and bad actions.
Uranus teaches you about the various deceptive ways present around us.
Neptune teaches you the manipulative techniques used to fool people.
Now, how much manipulation you take and how much deception you tolerate is up to you, and also on your teachings and your learnings. If you are although wanting to buy a new commodity, you can avoid this time, since there is no expansion you would ever achieve with a commodity.
A Funny Story to know if Rahu can really be harmful?
However, there is a funny story I came across once from a friend of mine who had unknowingly or quite defiantly brought his first car during this period of time. His car gave him trouble and he had less money to take the car every time to a mechanic, so he learnt how to mend his own car. He joked, that “Rahukalam made me a mechanic from a driver.”
Remedies from Rahu
If you want to calm down Rahu and make your Rahu Kalam less intense, here are a few remedies from Rahu.
1) Eat vegetarian food on a Saturday
Vegetarian food is a good remedy to appease Rahu, Ketu and Saturn shows that they are not really malefic planets and you just need to know they are one for all the living creatures in the world.
2) Lord Shivay prayers
Offer prayers to Lord Shivay to calm Rahu are one of the remedies of Rahu. If possible try to ensure that you pray to him in a very simplistic manner or at least offer your obeisance to a Rudraksh.
3) Perform Pooja for Rahu and Ketu for a less intense Rahu Kalam.
4) Perform Charity: Try to give as much as you can do.
The inner teachings primarily come from four planets and sources-
· Jupiter
· Saturn
· Uranus
· Neptune
The inner teachings make you the wisest person. Consider yourself lucky if these planets have chosen to teach you. Try not to overcome their powerful teachings by using some cheap means. Of course, a few stones and a few small changes would not make you evade their entire strength and force. You have to understand that this process of learning wisdom can go far with you in terms of your life’s experiences.
We are not more than a “quintessence of dust” on this planet and trying to ignore the major forces present in the world can get us into goofy situations. Every knowledge and wisdom is required to survive here and thus not avoiding any of these forces is the wisest of all actions. They can trouble you to teach you just like your books did.