Sannyasa yoga
Sannyasa yoga is a classical yoga in which several grahas are placed in one sign, or in a particular pattern, and the result is described as a renunciant or withdrawn life.
What it is
Some texts say four or more grahas in one sign; others describe a particular set of kendra placements. The traditional readings associate it with detachment and a spiritual or withdrawn life. The conditions differ between texts.
How it is worked out or read
The site does not check sannyasa yoga. The signs of each graha are in the birth chart, so the count can be checked by hand.
Where it appears on this site
The signs are in the birth chart. The caution article gives advice on reading such yogas.
The classical definition
Sannyasa yoga, also called pravrajya yoga, is the classical combination for renunciation. Varahamihira's Brihat Jataka gives the best-known form: when four or more strong grahas occupy a single sign, the person is said to take up the life of an ascetic. The texts go on to say that the strongest of those grahas determines the type of ascetic order, with each planet linked to a particular tradition of renunciants as they existed in the author's time.
Several other combinations are also given, for example involving the Moon in a drekkana of Saturn aspected by Saturn, or the Lagna lord aspected only by Saturn.
Conditions that strengthen or cancel
The texts attach conditions. The grahas involved should be strong, not combust or defeated in planetary war. If the strongest graha is combust, the person is said to take up renunciation and then abandon it, or to be drawn to it without completing it. If the strongest graha is aspected by other planets, the yoga may not fully operate. These conditions mean that a mere cluster of four planets in a sign is not, on its own, read as sannyasa yoga by careful readers.
How common the pattern is
Four or more planets in one sign is less rare than it sounds, because Mercury and Venus are always close to the Sun, so the three of them often share a sign. Add the Moon, which passes through every sign each month, and four planets in one sign occurs for a day or two in many months. This is a strong reason not to read the combination literally: very many people born under such a cluster lead ordinary family lives.
Reading it today
Modern readers usually interpret sannyasa yoga as an inclination rather than a destiny: a strong pull towards inner life, spiritual study, simplicity, service or detachment from conventional ambitions. Such a person may be drawn to meditation, philosophy or charitable work while living fully in society. Read this way, the yoga describes a temperament that families can understand and support, rather than something to fear.
A caution for families
Parents are sometimes told that a child's chart shows sannyasa yoga, and become anxious that the child will leave home. A balanced view helps: the yoga is common in partial forms, its full classical conditions are strict, and in any case the choice of a spiritual path belongs to the adult who makes it. There is no need for remedies or pressure; respect and conversation serve far better.