How and why upayas work: tradition and research

The tradition's answer

The grahas deliver the fruits of karma

Jyotish does not claim that planets "do" things to us by themselves. In the classical view the grahas are the channel through which the fruits of past actions, karma, arrive. The Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (84.2 in R. Santhanam's translation) says that the joys and sorrows of beings depend on the grahas. The text says that people seeking peace, prosperity, good health and long life should worship them. The same chapter (84.26–27) explains why, in its account, worship matters: Brahma gave the grahas the boon of responding to those who honour them. The Yājñavalkya Smṛti (I.307) puts it as pūjitāḥ pūjayiṣyatha, "being honoured, you will honour in return".

Not all karma is equally fixed

Later teachers of jyotish distinguish three kinds of karma:

• fixed (dṛḍha), which this model treats as nearly unchangeable;
• non-fixed (adṛḍha), which the model says effort can soften;
• mixed.

This teaching is later than BPHS. It explains why the tradition never promises that an upaya will "cancel" fate: in this model a remedy can touch only what is considered changeable.

What an upaya is made of

• Devata. A graha is approached through a deity. That is why the BPHS verses on dashas (ch. 52–60) name Shiva (Mrityunjaya and Rudra japa, the Shiva Sahasranama), Vishnu (the Vishnu Sahasranama), Durga (the Durga Saptashati) and Surya (the Aditya Hridaya) among the remedies.
• Sankalpa is the clear intention with which a practice begins: what, how much and for what purpose.
• Japa is repeating the mantra a set number of times: 7,000 for the Sun, 23,000 for Saturn (BPHS 84.17–20). In the tradition it is not the word alone that works, but the repetition done with attention.
• Dana is giving. It turns a person from taking towards giving, and that is its point.
• Shraddha is trust in the practice. Without it, the tradition teaches, the rite is empty.

The tradition explains a graha's gem differently: it does not propitiate, it strengthens its graha. So it is chosen from the whole chart and worn for a benefic graha, after that graha's mantra. G. S. Kapoor also describes the rite: purify the stone, wear it first on the graha's day after reciting its mantra 108 times.

What research knows

Research does not test whether Saturn has been propitiated. It studies individual practices that resemble parts of an upaya: repeating a mantra, the breathing rhythm of recitation, ritual actions, giving, and doing something regularly. Nobody has tested an upaya as a whole.

• Mantra meditation. A systematic review by Álvarez-Pérez and colleagues (2022) included 51 randomised trials. Meta-analyses of individual outcomes found small to moderate reductions in self-reported anxiety (25 studies, g ≈ −0.46), depressive symptoms (22, g ≈ −0.33) and stress (14, g ≈ −0.45) compared with control groups. The authors warn that no study was rated at low risk of bias and that long-term follow-up is scarce.
• Breathing rhythm. In a study published in the BMJ (Bernardi and colleagues, 2001; 23 healthy adults), reciting the rosary or a mantra slowed breathing to about six breaths a minute and increased baroreflex sensitivity, a measure linked to blood-pressure regulation. The sample was small, and the authors are cautious: the effect is "possibly physiological".
• Rituals. A review by Hobson and colleagues (2018) sets out proposed links between ritual and emotion regulation, performance goals and social connection. A prominent study reporting that rituals reduce anxiety (Brooks and colleagues, 2016) was retracted in 2024, so we leave its findings out.
• Giving. Dunn, Aknin and Norton (2008, Science) linked spending on others to greater happiness. A replication of their experiment (Kim and colleagues, 2022) was mixed: with the original measure and analysis the result did not reproduce, while a more direct, exploratory measure of happiness added by the researchers did show an effect.
• Regularity. Lally and colleagues (2010) tracked how everyday actions chosen by participants became automatic. The median was 66 days, with a range of 18 to 254. Japa was not studied, but the finding suggests that a daily practice can take weeks or months to settle.

In short: the individual practices that make up an upaya are linked in research to changes in anxiety, stress and breathing rhythm. How an upaya acts on the grahas and on events is explained by the tradition, in the section above.

How we put it together

• We say what the tradition prescribes and name the source.
• We give research findings as they are, with references.
• We promise no result.
• We put first the practices that need no special purchase: mantra, prayer, giving within your means, and attentive conduct. Right after them come the gems for your chart, chosen as the tradition chooses them, with its cautions: which stone not to wear and why.
• An upaya does not replace a doctor, a psychologist or a financial adviser. If you are struggling, please talk to a professional.
• A chart is not a verdict.

Sources

• Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, tr. R. Santhanam, vol. 2, ch. 52–60, 84 (54–62, 86 in G. C. Sharma); Yājñavalkya Smṛti I.295–308, verse 307.
• G. S. Kapoor, Remedial Measures in Astrology (Ranjan Publications), pp. 78–79.
• Álvarez-Pérez Y. et al. Effectiveness of Mantra-Based Meditation on Mental Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022;19(6):3380.
• Lynch J. et al. Mantra meditation for mental health in the general population: A systematic review. Eur J Integr Med 2018;23:101–8.
• Bernardi L. et al. Effect of rosary prayer and yoga mantras on autonomic cardiovascular rhythms: comparative study. BMJ 2001;323:1446–9.
• Brooks A. W. et al. Don't stop believing: Rituals improve performance by decreasing anxiety. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 2016;137:71–85 — retracted in 2024 (doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2024.104377); listed only to show what we excluded.
• Hobson N. M. et al. The Psychology of Rituals: An Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework. Pers Soc Psychol Rev 2018;22(3):260–84.
• Dunn E. W., Aknin L. B., Norton M. I. Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science 2008;319:1687–8.
• Kim G., Adams I., Diaw M. Prosocial spending encourages happiness: A replication of the only experiment reported in Dunn, Aknin, and Norton (2008). PLoS ONE 2022;17(9):e0272434.
• Lally P. et al. How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. Eur J Soc Psychol 2010;40:998–1009.

Questions

See also

• Upaya: what the classical texts actually prescribe
• Mantra, giving and gems: the order of the tradition
• Graha mantras

Positions and tables: sidereal zodiac, Lahiri ayanamsha — the same as professional Jyotish astrologers use, and the same calculation as the charts in JyotiSoft. Updated 2026-10-19.