Adhi Devata worship

Sri Guru Raghavendraaya Namah
Hari Jeevottamah

Dear Jyotish Gurvis and gurujis,

Kindly enlighten me when is the propitiation of a planet preferred over
the adhi devata worship? What are the fundamental differences between
how the graha manifests the results in either of the above forms of
propitiation?

Also is the adhi devata different between the times when the graha
signifies a male form vs. a female form natally? (For example, Ketu
graha conjunct Venus in Taurus)

Thank you,

Jayashree

|| Om Gurave Namah ||
Dear Jayashree,
Let me try to explain this to you by my understanding. In Jyotish we use 9 prime factors to understand horoscope (+ Lagna), Each of the 9 parameters are further divided in 3 Levels. At the basic level these are graha, at the higher level they are Adhi devata and Pratyaadhi devatas. Just as we have three prime references to analyse chart namely, Sun, Moon and Lagna. We also have 3 Levels of each of the 9 parameters.

	Graha Devata	Adhi Devata	Pratyadi Devata
	Physical	Mental	Soul
Sun	Surya	Agni (Fire)	Shiva
Moon	Chandra	Apas (Water)	Gauri
Mars	Mangal	Prithvi (Earth)	Ksetrapal
Mercury	Budha	Visnu	Narayana
Jupiter	Brihaspati	Indra	Brahma
Venus	Shukra	Sachi	Indra
Saturn	Shanaischara	Prajapati	Yama
Rahu	Rahu	Pitris	Durga
Ketu	Ketu	Brahma	Chitragupta

(Table used from http://www.shrifreedom.com/jyotishNavagrahaSuktam.shtml ) Depending on the type of strength you want you can do the mantras of Graha, Adhi or Pratya adhi devata. Usually during complete pooja all the three are invoked together. For the third level you can use Karthikeya for Mars, Sadashiva (or Brahman) for Jupiter, Lakshmi for Venus and Ganesha for Ketu.

Warm Regards
Sanjay P