The seven sankhya yogas define seven distinct types of character. Two astrological concepts may help explain some of their internal motivations, innate strengths and weaknesses. The first concept is essential dignity and should be familiar to all astrologers. The second concept is planetary war and might be relatively unknown outside of Jyotish.
First let us distinguish between power, our capacity to affect the environment, the scope of our existence and impact on the world, and character, the knowledge we have of ourselves, our awareness and the quality or strength defining how we use our power.
While an increase in knowledge yields a corresponding increase in power, it is not necessary to have full or even above average knowledge to wield power. Power that does not relate to knowledge reveals itself as arrogance, pride, pointless self-assertion, and abilities to take charge, override, and manipulate, or simply mislead. Higher powers which do relate to knowledge lead to happiness, satisfaction, and greatness. They include those of reason, understanding, grace, and knowledge itself.
In astrology, both power and character are primarily indicated by planets placed in their own realms of excellence. Such planets enjoy full essential dignity, and they bestow optimum results. Planets placed in the signs opposite their own enjoy no essential dignity and give no beneficial results at all. For the seven sankhya yogas, it is the essential dignity of Saturn in the sign (or signs) ruled by the planet associated with a given yoga that limits its ultimate expression.
When planets are joined together in a single sign, at least one is usually more or less out of place. To make things worse, they all have to share the same energy. In Jyotish, the internal power struggle is called a planetary war. How much character suffers as a result of such a conflict depends on the nature of the planets involved and the essential dignity of the winner. Nevertheless, considerable power is almost always lost.
Since the number of a sankhya yoga corresponds inversely to the number of planetary wars present in a chart, both power and character tend to increase one discrete step at the time from the first yoga – all planets in war (6 losers) – to the last – no planets in war (0 losers). However, this simple correlation is partly broken for the number four and five yogas, due to Saturn being mostly dignified in the signs of the former and mostly undignified in the signs of the latter.