Inter Caste marriages and Vedic Astrology

We, as a society, irrespective of caste or religion, are fairly traditional and high premium is placed on conformance to a set of rules. As a result, we find it difficult to accept change and are not comfortable in unfamiliar situations and circumstances. Throughout our lives, we tend to maintain a very strong sense of “native” vs. “foreign”. Marriage is one such institution in our society which is subject to lot of customs and traditions. Compatibility of horoscopes, wealth, social stature etc. is given a lot of importance. The procedure of marriage is highly ritualistic and the entire family of bride and groom has a part to play.
Marriages outside of religion are still not accepted properly in our society. There is opposition from the immediate family. Spouses are expected to convert, but it is not easy to accept a faith or culture that one is not born with. If there is no conversion, couples usually reach a compromise on the faith children follow. Overall, inter-faith marriages present a lot of challenges that need to be worked out. The ratio of such marriages being entirely successful is also not very high.
Lifelong relationship
In Indian culture, more often than not, marriage is for a lifetime. We choose to share our life with one individual and the conduct, behavior and idiosyncrasies of one have a profound effect on the other. In a manner of speaking, the husband and wife share a destiny. An encouraging, sincere and devoted spouse is a blessing.
Relevant Astrological Combinations
Nitin Kashyap has done this research and he presents the following principles and logic behind the observations.
The karakas and bhavas for marriage, religion and “foreignness” are:

1. Jupiter and Venus: In female chart Jupiter represent husband and in male chart Venus represent wife.
2. Fifth House: Fifth house represent our mentality and love affairs.
3. Seventh house: Seventh house shows one’s married life.
4. Ninth House: Ninth house represent religion and luck. This is what you would see to judge “religion” in this context.
5. Saturn, Rahu and Ketu: These three planets indicate the separating influence in the chart. They represent the foreign element that we should be looking for.

Based on the above, some principles which have been observed in different combinations leading to inter religion marriages are:

1. Principle I: For males, Venus should be afflicted by Saturn, Rahu or Ketu. In charts of females, Jupiter should come under separating influence of Saturn, Rahu or Ketu.
2. Principle II: Fifth or seventh house should be afflicted by Saturn. Saturn in fifth house has a special influence and significance on inter religion marriages because from the fifth house, Saturn’s 3rd drishti would be automatically be on the seventh house.
3. Principle III: Ninth house and its lord should be affected by Trik bhavas and their lords. Since one is going “against” his/her religion, there should be some bad effect seen on the ninth house. Additionally, ninth house should be afflicted by Rahu/Ketu.
4. Principle IV: Seventh house and its lord should be connected with a debilitated planet or Rahu/Ketu.
5. Principle V: According to Jaimini System, the planet having lowest longitude in a birth chart is called Dara-karak graha (planet representing wife). This planet should be afflicted by Rahu/Ketu or Saturn.

Three or more rules can be observed to be in play in these charts of individuals who have married outside their religion. To protect the privacy, names are not provided and place of birth is obfuscated. The editor had thought that just the chart data should be provided here, but the realization came that a lot of you have your own methods to calculate the chart and may not agree with the calculation of nodes and values of ayanmsha correction used in the birth chart generation application on this site. All the times are in IST and the time zone is +530.

Date	Time	Latitude	Longitude	Gender
22 August 1969	0658 hrs	22N18	73E12	Male
25 June 1973	0610 hrs	28N40	77E13	Female
02 October 1973	2100 hrs	30N19	78E02	Female
03 Nov 1972	1745 hrs	28N27	80E51	Female
11 Sept 1967	0855 hrs	28N40	77E13	Male
31 October 1955	1832 hrs	26N55	75E49	Female
13 June 1978	1115 hrs	28N40	77E13	Female
31 October 1973	2200 hrs	28N40	77E13	Male