Lal Kitab remedies, called totke in the original 1939 grantha, are the practical heart of this tradition. Instead of long Sanskrit mantras or expensive yagnas, the system prescribes simple daily acts, donations, and household routines tied to the position of each planet in the birth chart. The remedy fits the planet's condition and the house it occupies, which is why no two charts receive the same set of totke even when the same planet is afflicted.
How Lal Kitab Remedies Work
Lal Kitab remedies are built on a single principle: a karmic imbalance is corrected by performing the opposite outward act in everyday life. A planet that signifies the father is supported by acts of respect toward elders, by donations linked to the father's body, and by avoiding objects that the planet considers hostile. The remedy is not symbolic. It is meant to be done at fixed intervals, usually for forty-three days or a multiple thereof, and is expected to shift the running pattern within one or two planetary cycles. The text repeatedly warns that incomplete remedies, or remedies done with the wrong intent, do not work.
Per-Planet Remedies
Each of the nine grahas has a core set of totke, applied when the planet is weak, hostile, or sitting in an inimical house in the chart.
- Sun — offer water to the rising sun, donate jaggery and wheat on Sundays, keep a copper coin in the wallet, and respect the father and elder men.
- Moon — feed milk and rice to the unattended, place a silver square at home, avoid accepting milk products as gifts, and serve the mother.
- Mars — distribute sweets to siblings, feed dogs, plant a neem tree, and avoid arguing with younger brothers.
- Mercury — donate green moong and green cloth, feed grass to a cow, and refrain from gambling and idle gossip.
- Jupiter — apply saffron tilak, donate yellow gram and gold-coloured cloth on Thursdays, and water a peepal tree without bowing to it.
- Venus — donate white sweets and curd to young girls, keep a clean kitchen, and refrain from accepting clothes as gifts.
- Saturn — feed crows and stray dogs, donate black sesame and mustard oil on Saturdays, and avoid alcohol and meat.
- Rahu — flow barley or coconut in running water, donate radish at sunset, and never keep a broken idol or photograph at home.
- Ketu — keep a black-and-white dog, donate a striped blanket, feed sweet bread to street dogs, and serve sadhus and the elderly.
House-Position-Specific Totke
Beyond the per-planet list, Lal Kitab gives a remedy keyed to the exact house a planet occupies. The text describes what each placement produces and what to do about it. Sun in the seventh, for example, is read as a stress on marriage and is remedied by avoiding the use of copper utensils for water and by not performing one's own father's last rites with copper. Mars in the fourth disturbs domestic peace and is remedied by keeping a vessel of sweet water at the head of the bed. Saturn in the second harms family wealth and is countered by a specific donation of iron utensils on a Saturday. Rahu in the ninth troubles paternal karma and is remedied by flowing coconut and barley in a river. The chart reading lists every such placement found in the native's horoscope and the matching action.
The Discipline of Performing Totke
Lal Kitab prescribes strict rules around the act itself. Donations are made before sunset, never after dark. Items meant for flowing in water are sent into a moving river or stream, not a still pond. Remedies linked to animals are done before the native's own meal, not after. Once a remedy is begun it is finished without interruption, and if a day is missed the count restarts from one. These rules are part of the system. The same donation done casually does not produce the same effect, because the remedy is read as a karmic transaction in which sincerity and timing are part of the price being paid.
Choosing the Right Set
A complete Lal Kitab remedy report ranks the totke from most urgent to least, based on which planets are running in the current dasha or transit, which houses are under stress, and which karmic debts have been identified. The native is usually advised to begin with one or two remedies linked to the strongest current affliction, complete the prescribed cycle, and only then take up additional remedies. This staged approach is what gives Lal Kitab its reputation for visible, time-bound results in everyday life.