How to Predict Your Time of Marriage

Introduction

My name is Gaurav. I am a student of Vedic astrology, and here I'm going to share the methodology I use to predict a possible time of marriage. I'm also going to share some examples at the end, applying the methodology, which might help you understand it much better.

This is an interpretive Vedic-astrology method for examining possible timing windows. It cannot guarantee marriage or replace mutual consent, personal readiness, relationship judgement and real-life circumstances. So without any further delay, let's begin.

Start with Saturn

The first thing that I do is to always identify if a person has combinations for late marriage. The main combinations for late marriage are related to Saturn. If you have Saturn placed in the first house, the fifth house, the seventh or the tenth, then these are placements which may indicate late marriage in my framework when supported by the wider chart. Or if you are born as a Cancer or a Leo ascendant, I also read this as a possible tendency towards late marriage, because if you are a Cancer or Leo ascendant, Saturn would become the ruler of the house of marriage, the seventh house. For those of you who are unfamiliar with their charts, the ascendant is the zodiac sign rising in the first house at the time of birth.

Why the house matters

Now coming back to Saturn's placement in your chart, irrespective of your ascendant, if Saturn is placed in the first, fifth or tenth house, Saturn would have an aspect on the house of marriage and therefore may indicate some delay for different reasons. If Saturn is there in the tenth house, the symbolic reason for late marriage could be one's career. The person feels, hey, my career is not yet built. How can I think of getting married? And the person might have to toil very hard to find the right person, as Saturn would be placed ten places away from the house of marriage. If Saturn is in the fifth house, the reasons for late marriage could be that the person was meant to shoulder the responsibility of parenthood late in life.

So naturally, if a person is meant to have a child and have a family late in life, the person may also be married late. And the person in this case may also go through long phases of either being in a relationship or being single. If Saturn is placed in the first house, the person might have to become more mature to handle the responsibility of a marital bond. So for various reasons, Saturn's position and Saturn's rulership may create a possibility of late marriage in this framework.

Marriage delay in perspective

Now, if we calculate the probability of Saturn's influence over the house of marriage, if we start with the ascendants, the probability would be 2 by 12, or if a person is born in a different ascendant, 10 by 12, but has Saturn in these four positions, the first, fifth, seventh and tenth. And if we combine the assumptions, you'd end up with 4 by 9. So in my view, four out of nine charts I reviewed have Saturn's influence on the house of marriage. I associate that with marriage close to the age of 30 or beyond, but this is a remembered sample, not population research or a rule. Now, I understand for the ones who are in the early 20s who discover combinations for late marriage, this can be very disappointing.

I have something to share with you, a quotation from the Bhagavad Gita. Bhagavad Gita 18.37 describes a form of happiness that may seem like poison at first and nectar at the end; one translation describes it as happiness in the mode of goodness. What this quotation is suggesting is that the process of marriage, the delay in the process of marriage that you're currently experiencing, might seem like poison to you at the beginning, but when you do find the right person, when you get married for the right reasons, when you respect the timelines, all of this might seem like a blessing in disguise. I use this as an analogy; the verse itself does not predict marriage age.

More Saturn factors

Now, there are some other combinations for late marriage too, which I would classify as contributing factors. The main combinations I've already shared, which are you being born as a Cancer or a Leo ascendant or Saturn being placed either in the first, fifth, seventh or tenth. The other combinations are Saturn as the Darakaraka, the planet in your birth chart occupying the lowest degree value, is the Darakaraka, and if that happens to be Saturn, in my view, this may reinforce a late-marriage reading. Just like we've studied the main chart, we should also study the Navamsha chart. If you are born as a Cancer or a Leo ascendant, in the Navamsha chart too, this again, in my view, is a contributing factor, a contributing combination, which may reinforce a late-marriage reading.

If Saturn is placed in the seventh house in the Navamsha chart, this I would again classify as a combination for late marriage. Now, let's stay with Saturn. If Saturn is in conjunction with the ruler of the house of marriage, if they are together in the main chart or in the same Navamsha, in the same sign in the Navamsha chart, the D9 chart, this again may contribute to a late-marriage reading. Saturn in conjunction with Venus, similarly, or Saturn and Venus together in the Navamsha are further Saturn-related combinations for late marriage. So, I have divided Saturn-related combinations into main and contributing combinations, and I hope you're able to see the distinction. These factors are weighed together rather than treated as separate certainties.

Ketu and individuality

Now, Ketu is another planet which may indicate delay as far as marriage is concerned. If Ketu is placed in the seventh house in the main chart or in the Navamsha chart, I read a possibility of very late marriage. If Saturn's influence is there on the house of marriage, the source offers a past-life explanation. I know it's mythology, but in my view, in one's past life, the person did not value companionship and partnership, and therefore in this life, the person has to work really hard to find the right person. When Ketu is involved, the person was very involved in one's marriage and family that the person was so involved that in this life, the person is given an opportunity to build one's individuality.

And therefore, when Ketu is found in the seventh house, one optional reflection is to prioritize your career, build your personality, travel the world, and once you feel that you have fulfilled your purpose as far as your career is concerned, your personality is concerned, you feel satisfied with the growth that you've had in life and you feel that you are financially independent, perhaps that could feel like a better time to consider marriage. This is not an instruction to postpone or end a relationship. When Ketu is found in the seventh house in the person's chart, the person may keep running into circumstances which keep moving that person away from a serious relationship or the person oneself might feel very detached from the idea of marriage. I understand Ketu's position in the seventh house is a difficult position for the one who's looking to be married.

Having said that, if Ketu is in the seventh and Rahu goes in the first house, that to me is an indication that the person can achieve extraordinary things in life. Every cloud has a silver lining. So you should not only look at what you are missing in life, but also be very grateful for the things you have been able to accomplish. Now, these are all the combinations related to late marriage in my view. They were mainly linked with Saturn and there were a few combinations related to Ketu too. The past-life explanation is a spiritual interpretation, not an established fact or karmic punishment.

Choose a broad window

Now, let's now study the methodology on how to predict the time of marriage. What we have done so far is seen if a person has combinations for late marriage, as by doing so we can then narrow down the time phase in which I would look for marriage. If a person has combinations for late marriage, the source looks at time phases around the age of 30 and beyond. If not, the source looks at the early to mid-20s. These are broad example windows, not fixed tracks for every life.

Start with the Dashas

Now, what is the methodology? I start from the Dashas. In this methodology, the Dashas are supreme. The planetary time periods, which are also known as the Dashas, are organised at three levels. Planetary time period 1 is the Mahadasha, 2 is the Antardasha and 3 is the Pratyantardasha: the major, sub- and shorter sub-sub-period. At the time of birth, your Moon's Nakshatra and its ruler determine under which Mahadasha you were born. For example, this person, at the time of birth, had Moon in the Nakshatra of Dhanishtha. Dhanishtha's planetary ruler is Mars and therefore she was born under Mars's Mahadasha. You don't need to worry about the calculations here. However, if you would like to understand the theoretical information behind planetary time periods, see the article on the blog on the Vimshottari Dasha system of planetary time periods.

Check for Mahadasha changes

Now, what you should do is to identify change of Mahadasha. A change of Mahadasha in your 20s or 30s may indicate a change in your life circumstances, which could be the time when you'd be married. This is the easiest way to identify a possible future marriage window. Every Mahadasha would last anywhere between 6 to 20 years. So it's a long phase. If a phase change occurs around the next few years when you're looking to be married, then that time could be the time. Now, there are particular phase changes which are more promising. If a person is moving from Ketu's Mahadasha to Venus's Mahadasha or if a person is moving from Rahu's Mahadasha to Jupiter's Mahadasha, these two phase changes in particular may signify change in one's personal life circumstances.

As Venus firstly is a natural signifier of relationships and marriage, then you'd assume that from Ketu to Venus may indicate the person moving into developing one's personal life. Similarly, Jupiter's introduction is treated as an indication of fulfillment of one's desires, particularly in the source's traditional convention for women, where Jupiter signifies a life partner. This is a gendered convention, not the only framework for every reader or relationship. So from Rahu to Jupiter, the source treats this as a strong indication of the time frame around which the person is likely to be married when the rest of the chart supports it, not a promise. That's the easiest way and I'll clarify this methodology in the examples I'm going to take a bit later.

Study the Antardasha planet

Now, if you do not find a phase change in the near future, in that case naturally you'll have to look at the Antardashas. When you're studying the Antardasha under the Mahadasha, study the role of the Antardasha planet in your chart. Study in which house, in which sign, in which Nakshatra is it sitting in your chart? Is it forming a connection there with the house of marriage, the seventh house? Is it aspecting the seventh house? Is it in conjunction with the seventh house ruler either in the main or is it placed together with the seventh house ruler in the Navamsha chart? Now, I understand this can be fairly complex for the ones who are unfamiliar with their chart. So two things can be done about it. One, the material on how to read a birth chart might be helpful for you to build some basics. And secondly, the worked examples below might also help you grasp the concept.

So the Antardasha planet has to be studied, and it has to be studied if it's linked to the house of marriage. As a basic rule, what you can do is identify if the Antardasha planet is the ruler of the house of marriage. It is very easy to identify this once you know which planet rules the zodiac sign in the seventh house. If the Antardasha planet is Venus or is Jupiter, those are promising Antardashas as to when this person can be married in the source's framework, not a guarantee. Naturally, you look at Antardashas at a time phase probable for you for marriage. If you find an Antardasha Venus in your early 20s, but you have combinations for late marriage, I would look at combinations after age 30 in that scenario. Again, that age is an interpretive threshold, not an instruction.

Now the third and the final thing that I study in the Dasha sequence is the relationship the Antardasha planet has with the Mahadasha planet. Is the Antardasha planet placed seven places or 11 places away from the Mahadasha planet? The source says this also is a strong indication that this can create the probability of marriage. Here it remains one supportive indicator, not a guarantee. Now before I move on to the transits, I have also identified Rahu's Mahadasha and Venus's Antardasha or Venus's Mahadasha and Rahu's Antardasha is treated as a promising phase for marriage as the nature of Rahu and Venus is to fulfill our desires. These are supportive factors in a checklist, not guarantees.

Use transits to narrow timing

Now I start studying the transits. Once I've identified the Mahadasha and the Antardasha phase which can be probable for a person for marriage, I then study the transits across that interval. For any 10-year phase, every day's planetary positions can be compared. What I study here is whether the ruler of the house of marriage is transiting over the 7th house or the 11th house. I group the 3rd, 7th and 11th houses around desire and its fulfilment. But from experience I've found the 7th and 11th house more relevant and so if I find the ruler of the 7th house transiting the 11th house or the 7th house or I find the ruler of the 11th house in the main chart transiting over the 7th and 11th then the transit phase is a promising phase within a promising Dasha.

So what we have done here is that we are moving from the Dashas to the transits. In this method, the Dashas identify a possible marriage phase, and then we narrow down the time phase from the transits.

Purva Phalguni and 7–11

Then there are more generic combinations too. Purva Phalguni is a Nakshatra. Given its nature, I associate it directly with marriage. So if I find the ruler of the house of marriage or planets like Venus or Jupiter transiting over Purva Phalguni, this may be a promising phase as far as marriage is concerned. And lastly the relationship between the Antardasha planet and the Mahadasha planet in the transits. If the Antardasha planet is placed 7 or 11 places away from the Mahadasha planet the source reads another possibility of marriage. I know the combinations were many but the application hopefully would help you understand them better. So, so far what we have done is we started with combinations for late marriage so we know where to look. Should I look at early to mid 20s or should I look at time phases close to the age of 30 or beyond?

What we've done then is to look at the Dashas and the transits to narrow down the time as to when this person is likely to be married in my framework.

Diana: Rahu to Jupiter

Let's now look at a few examples. I am going to share the chart of Diana, Princess of Wales. Using the selected 7:45 p.m. birth time in the source, she does not have the main combinations for late marriage. So naturally we are going to look at time phases in her early 20s, early to mid 20s. Now around her early 20s, she was going through a phase change from Rahu to Jupiter. Rahu's phase is a very long phase close to 18 years and therefore after 18 years of Rahu's Mahadasha she was about to enter this Jupiter's Mahadasha. Could this time frame support marriage in the method? I think so. Jupiter in her chart is having an aspect on the house of marriage.

So even though she wasn't married at the beginning of Jupiter's Mahadasha, she was married at the end of Rahu's Mahadasha close to that phase of transition from Rahu to Jupiter. Lady Diana Spencer and the Prince of Wales married on 29 July 1981. In the transit reading, the source places Venus near Purva Phalguni around the marriage. On the very next day, on 30 July after her marriage, Venus entered Purva Phalguni in the reproduced calculation. Purva Phalguni as a Nakshatra is all about time for celebration. So I read the transits and Dashas together as she was going through a major phase change and I have taken a simple example here to help you understand the methodology of identifying phase changes as phase changes can lead to a change in our life circumstances. And Venus in Purva Phalguni is another important transit for her as the source identifies Venus as connected with the house of marriage in the selected chart.

The source also identifies Venus as placed in the house of marriage. Moreover, Venus is also the Darakaraka. So around that transition from Rahu to Jupiter when Venus was about to transit over Purva Phalguni is when she was married and I hope you're able to follow the methodology. The civil date verifies chronology; it does not prove the chart calculation or astrological method.

Queen Elizabeth II: Ketu to Venus

Sticking with the royal family, let's take the example of Queen Elizabeth II. In the selected chart used by the source, she also has no major combination for late marriage. She does, however, have a strong Rahu influence on her marriage: Rahu is in the seventh house. The source reads this as possibly one of the reasons why she married someone from a different place or background. Prince Philip was born into Greek and Danish royal families; that biographical fact does not establish my Rahu interpretation. Now, she was married during the transition from Ketu to Venus. After having spent seven years under Ketu's Mahadasha, she moved into Venus's Mahadasha, and right at the beginning of this Venus's Mahadasha she was married.

Venus's Mahadasha in her case started on 12 December 1946, and the very next year, on 9 July 1947, they were engaged. By late November the same year they were married, on 20 November 1947. If we look at the transits at the time of marriage of Queen Elizabeth, Mercury, which is the ruler of the house of marriage in her selected Lahiri whole-sign chart, was transiting over the 11th house. This is one of the combinations I shared with you. The chronology illustrates the method; it does not prove causation.

Ramanujan: Jupiter Antardasha

Now let's study Srinivasa Ramanujan's chart. In the selected chart used by the source, he was married very young as well. In his chart too you'll not find any major combinations for late marriage but he wasn't going through a major Mahadasha change. So within Mercury's Mahadasha he was going through we have to identify a promising Antardasha. I say the ruler of the house of marriage is Jupiter which incidentally is also the Darakaraka. So naturally in his case Jupiter is very strongly linked to the house of marriage and is also representing the partner. He was married under Jupiter's Antardasha. If we were to study the transits now, Jupiter at the time of marriage was also transiting over Purva Phalguni. In my reading, the Dashas and the transits at the time of his marriage are making sense and I hope I was able to convey that.

Srinivasa Ramanujan married Janaki Ammal on 14 July 1909. This historical marriage involved a child bride; it is not contemporary relationship guidance. The civil date confirms chronology, not the chart calculation or timing method.

Bill Gates: delay factors

Now let's study a more complicated birth chart from the calculation of time of marriage point of view and this is the selected chart of Bill Gates used by the source. I say he is likely to attract a partner who's going to be Saturn and Jupiter like, because Jupiter is identified as Darakaraka and Saturn as ruler of the house of marriage. This is a symbolic chart description, not a verified description of a person. So immediately he has a combination for late marriage. If you recall, the first combination for late marriage I shared was a Cancer Ascendant, and he is a Cancer Ascendant. Moreover I find Saturn and Venus in conjunction in his chart which is a contributing factor and I also find Saturn as a ruler of the house of marriage in the D9 chart.

So naturally I'm going to look at time phases close to the age of 30 in his chart and beyond that for time of marriage. I would be studying the Antardashas of Saturn, Jupiter and Venus. Why these three? Saturn is the ruler of the house of marriage, Jupiter is the Darakaraka and Venus is a traditional significator of a wife in a man's chart and Venus is also a significator of relationships and marriage. So now I'm studying Bill Gates's Mahadasha sequence. He started Venus's Mahadasha, moving from Ketu to Venus, on 12 March 1982. This could have created the possibility of marriage; however, since he has many combinations for late marriage in the selected chart, it might still be early for him.

Under Venus Mahadasha, I would not look at Venus and Sun, as I do not find Sun linked to his marriage-related house. Neither would I look at Venus and Moon, or Venus and Mars; Mars might be more linked to his career, as Mars in his chart is the ruler of his career house. I would look at Venus and Rahu very closely as I pointed out to you I have found out Venus and Rahu as a combination which can fulfill our desire to be married.

In his case, Rahu is also present in the house of marriage; not in the main chart, but it is present there in the Navamsha chart. Using the selected 10:00 p.m. birth time in the source, you find Rahu placed in the house of marriage. Therefore Venus and Rahu could have been a very promising time frame as far as marriage is concerned. And this is the time frame from mid-May 1989. But what I also discovered was Saturn transiting over his house of marriage from 15 December 1990. The reproduced Rahu Antardasha ran until 12 May 1992, so that is the verified overlap. Due to Saturn's transit there could have been some delay in the source's framework. The alternative published birth time changes the Ascendant and D9 placements, so these house claims belong only to the selected 10:00 p.m. chart.

Bill Gates: January 1994 marriage

During Rahu's Antardasha, the source says he was in a relationship with his life partner. Later, when he entered Jupiter's Antardasha, they were married. Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates were married on 1 January 1994, and so he was married under Venus Mahadasha and Jupiter Antardasha. Jupiter in his selected chart is the Darakaraka under the declared seven-classical-planet convention, which represents the partner in this method. Incidentally, on the date of marriage, transit Jupiter in Libra was placed 11 signs away from transit Venus in Sagittarius when counted inclusively. So you see how everything got together. Everything we've learned in the methodology I had shared with you is helpful in identifying the time of marriage for him within this framework.

We had seen a possible late-marriage reading, then we looked into a phase change around his 30s. There wasn't a Mahadasha phase change, so we stayed with the main Mahadasha, which is Venus, and we looked at the Antardashas. We studied the Antardasha of Rahu, where we found that there was a transit over the house of marriage by Saturn, which could have led to further delay in the source's method. The reproduced calculation places Rahu Antardasha from 12 May 1989 to 12 May 1992 and Jupiter Antardasha from 12 May 1992 to 11 January 1995. When he entered the favourable phase of Jupiter, which is Darakaraka in the selected chart, he was married. These chart relationships are not presented as proven causes.

Indira Gandhi and free will

Now let's take another example and study the selected chart of Indira Gandhi. You'll find it very interesting that despite having Saturn as the ruler of the house of marriage, she decided to be married in her mid-20s. What could be the reason? I believe that we all have free will to decide when we choose to be married.

Even if you find combinations for late marriage in your chart, my broad approach is to look close to the age of 30 or beyond, but this is not universal advice. You can still choose to be married earlier than that because we all have free will to decide when we choose to be married. The timing framework is an interpretive lens, not an order about when someone must marry.

In many of my readings, when people contact me and disclose their time of marriage, and I see they have combinations for late marriage, I generally see that they were married after the age of 30 or close to the age of 30. These combinations that I've shared are based on my experience, not a measured success rate. Even though I'm sharing an example of a person who was married early, it does not mean that if you have combinations for late marriage I am advising that you get married early. Let's study her chart now.

Now, if we study Indira Gandhi's day of marriage, she was married under Rahu Mahadasha and Saturn Antardasha. Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi married on 26 March 1942. Using the selected 11:11 p.m. birth time, the independently reproduced calculation confirms those periods. Saturn is the ruler of the house of marriage in that selected chart. In my method, a person may have an active personal life during the Antardasha of the ruler of the house of marriage, even if it is Saturn. No conclusion about relationship quality or private motive follows from that calculation.

If we specifically look at the day when she was married, Rahu, which is in a broad same-sign conjunction with Venus in her selected birth chart, is also the Mahadasha she was going through. Both the mean-node and true-node calculations place Rahu transiting over Purva Phalguni on the wedding date, and this is a rare occurrence because Rahu's nodal cycle is about 18 years. Saturn Antardasha and Saturn's relationship with the house of marriage, Rahu Mahadasha, Rahu's same-sign conjunction with Venus and therefore a relationship with marriage, and Rahu's transit over Purva Phalguni together created a possibility of marriage in my reading.

At that time, from the transit, I also see Venus transiting over Capricorn, the house of marriage in the selected chart. What I see from her chart is the reason why she could have been married at that time within this method, not proof of cause or whether it was the right time for her. Family opposition cannot establish why Indira Gandhi married, so no private motive is assigned here. The final lesson is that astrology does not remove free will or replace consent, readiness and judgement.