Your natural duty (profession)

Introduction

What is your natural duty from a career point of view? That can be seen in your birth chart from the sixth and the tenth house.

Why sixth and tenth houses matter

Why these two houses particularly? The sixth and the tenth houses are directly linked to the actions we have to perform to fulfil our responsibility at work. Before getting to these two houses, I'd like to share some ancient Vedic mythology.

Begin with the learned category

On the basis of this mythology, society was divided into four Varnas or categories. The first one was for Brahmins, the learned class or caste as they call it in India. This caste belongs to teachers, mentors, trainers, educators, philosophers, advisers, consultants and counsellors—basically anyone who's guiding us.

Courage and leadership category

The second one was for Kshatriyas who are known to display courage, determination, leadership and therefore soldiers, the ones who are in sports, political figures, police officers, administrators and lawyers also fall in this category of Kshatriyas.

Merchant category

The third Varna or category was that of the merchants, Vaishyas. Anyone who's an entrepreneur, business adviser or financial consultant can belong to this caste—basically anyone involved in any kind of business.

Service category

The fourth caste belonged to Shudras, service providers. Caretakers, cleaners and assistants belong to this caste. The idea was that society will remain balanced if there are a sufficient number of people fulfilling their duty.

Natural duty in the Bhagavad Gita

I'd like to share a quotation from the Bhagavad Gita which says it's much better to fulfil your natural duty, even if you're doing it imperfectly, than to fulfil someone else's duty perhaps perfectly. It's much better to stick to your own natural duty, and by doing so you're worshipping the creator of this creation.

Another learning I had from the Bhagavad Gita is that all kinds of work and duty we are meant to perform will always have something imperfect about them, just as the flame of a fire will always have smoke associated with it. There's no such thing as perfect work. All kinds of work must agree with you if you feel that's your natural duty.

Modern categories

I'd like to introduce three other categories of Varnas which are relevant in the modern world: one belonging to researchers, a second belonging to artists and a last one for those who don't conform to any societal norms.

Alongside the first four main categories and these three additions are corresponding Nakshatras and planets. This is how we link Vedic mythology to Vedic astrology.

Two house rulers

For example, Sun and Mars belong to the caste of a Kshatriya, a warrior. How do you identify your natural duty? Look at the sixth and the tenth house in your birth chart, identify their rulers and see where they are placed.

If, for example, Venus and Jupiter rule the sixth and tenth houses, your natural duty would be more linked to the learned class. If you also have a strong influence of Purva Ashadha, Purva Phalguni, Purva Bhadrapada or Krittika, all four constellations belong to the learned class and therefore your natural duty would be more linked to that class. The entire chart has to be analysed, but you can narrow down your analysis by looking at the planets placed in the sixth and tenth houses, starting with the rulers of those houses.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's chart

In this example, he has a lot of planets placed in Purva Phalguni, corresponding to the caste of a merchant, so he could be involved in business. I also find elements of him being a bit of an outcast and someone who might be an artist of some kind. We don't have to look at all of them. We can narrow down our analysis to the sixth and tenth houses.

The sixth house is ruled by Mars, and Mars is in Mrigashirsha. Together, I see a combination of a Kshatriya, someone who has to exhibit courage, determination and perhaps physical strength, while the field is more artistic because Mrigashirsha belongs to the caste of creative individuals. Jupiter rules the tenth house and is in the fifth house in Vishakha. The individual might be an inspiration to people around oneself in the art and entertainment sector, while the profession might be uncommon because Vishakha belongs to the caste of an outcast.

This birth chart belongs to Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Bodybuilding, display and inspiration

He spent a lot of his early days building his career by extracting and refining his body. Think of a diamond: the extraction and mining of the diamond, and its polishing and cutting to make sure it maximises its brilliance, are linked to this constellation. In his case, his diamond was Mars-linked: his body.

Mars is in Mrigashirsha, and that happened in a foreign place. Why did he do that? It was for public display, which is linked to Mrigashirsha and the fifth house. With the passage of time, he has been seen as a motivational figure of some kind, which agrees with Jupiter's rulership of the tenth house.

From the rulers of the sixth and tenth houses, I see his natural duty as inspiring people in an entertaining manner, with Jupiter, ruler of the tenth, in the fifth. His duty was also about extracting, refining, purifying and exhibiting physical strength, with Mars in Mrigashirsha in a foreign place.

Career activity and natural duty

If you look at his chart in totality, he also has a very strong Punarvasu influence. He spent a lot of his time investing in real estate, which is directly linked to Punarvasu. Punarvasu is also about looking after society, so he has spent a significant amount of time motivating people and raising awareness about mental health.

Sun in his chart is in Pushya, which links his career to politics, but Sun is not directly linked to the sixth or tenth house. Maybe Sun in Pushya, which links his career to politics, was not his natural duty.

Career changes across Dashas

Pushya is ruled by Saturn, and Saturn is in Ashlesha. He might have found himself entangled in the political arena. By identifying the rulers of the sixth and tenth houses, you can determine your natural duty.

It might be a good idea to continue following that natural duty. I also want to clarify that the ruler of the tenth house in his birth chart was in the eighth house from the tenth house, and that's a sign that his career was meant to go through several changes.

You may have different duties in life at different phases, based on the Dashas.