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VISHA KANYA – A POISON LADY
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Visha Kanya (literally, “poison maiden”)
comes from a reprehensible practice of yesteryear in which
kings located girls whose horoscopes promised widowhood. These
girls were sequestered at an early age and fed many types
of poisons in gradually increasing doses to make them immune
to their deleterious effects. By the time they reached puberty,
these girls were thoroughly toxic and ready for use. The king
who had directed the process was then ready to present one
of these Visha Kanyas to anyone whom he wanted to kill, for
any man who embraced such a lady would die after a very short
time. One legend holds that Aristotle warned Alexander the
Great about the dangers of such “venomous virgins”;
another suggests that Alexander died as a result of the embrace
of a Visha Kanya who was awarded to him as tribute by the
defeated King Porus.
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Obviously
no one would want to marry a poison damsel, for she
would be widowed almost as soon as her husband first
caressed her. Even after the process of “toxifying”
such girls had died away, the fear of marrying women
with what are repute to be Visha Kanya combinations
in their charts remained alive. As with Kuja Dosha,
part of the effect that the legend of a Visha Kanya
produces is likely due to cultural and psychological
factors, with fear of the deleterious influence of
such astrological Visha Kanyas tending to produce
a
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self-fulfilling
prophecy of marital doom. Unfortunately, in some quarters,
this Visha Kanya designation is still used indiscriminately
to brand certain women as unfit for marriage. One
still occasionally reads in books from India that
women having Visha Kanya combinations should be avoided
as marriage partners. Some claim that males who are
born during these combinations will destroy their
families and their clan, and that females will destroy
their husbands.
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On a Saturday,
Sunday, or Tuesday which is a Dvitiya (the second tithi
or day of the lunar fortnight), when the Moon occupies
Ashlesha, Shatabhisha, or Krittika nakshatras;
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On a Sunday which is a dvadashi (twelfth
tithi), when the Moon occupies Shatabhisha;
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On a Tuesday which is a Saptami (seventh tithi), when the Moon occupies Vishakha;
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When the Moon in Bharani
falls on a Sunday, Moon in Chitra on a Monday, in Mula
on a Tuesday, in Dhanishtha on a Wednesday, in Jyeshtha
on a Thursday, in Purva Ashadha on a Friday, or in Revati
on a Saturday;
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When Saturn occupies the Ascendant,
the Sun is in the fifth bhava and Mars tenants the ninth
bhava. |
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Maharshi Parashara, who obviously preferred
more stringent conditions for this combination, defines
Visha Kanya any birth that occurs: |
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On a Sunday which is a dvitiya (the
second tithi, or day of the lunar fortnight), when the
Moon occupies Ashlesha; |
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On a Saturday which is a Saptami (seventh
tithi), when the Moon occupies Krittika. |
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On a Tuesday which is a dvadashi (twelfth
tithi), when the Moon occupies Shatabhisha. |
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Although true
Visha Kanya combinations are quite rare, one modern interpolation
that readers may wish to rest is our observation that the
few people who do have them are often prone to addiction,
allergy, or some other variety of hypersensitivity. Visha
Kanya combinations can, for both males and females, foster
heightened susceptibility to alcohol, drugs or tobacco, lactose
intolerance, environmental and emotional sensitivities, food
abuse, and other such over-reactive states.
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