Houses, Signs and Planets with reference to Vedic Astrology


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Categories : Astrology

Horoscope is the chart of planetary positions at a specific time and place. It contains three important details. The details are the houses, the signs and the planets.

The Houses

There are twelve houses in the horoscope. These houses rule over different aspects of life. The first house which is also known as Lagna or ascendant is the most important of all houses. The remaining houses are studied only as they are related to the first house. The various houses can be classified into certain groups as indicated below:

a) The Kendras (or Quadrants): Kendra houses are 1,4,7,10. Benefic and malefic influences on these houses are important considerations for judging health prospects.

b) The Panapharas (or Successant House): The houses 2,5,8 and 11.

c) The Apoklimas (or Cadent House): The houses are 3,6,9 and 12.

d) The Trikonas (or Trines): Houses 1,5 and 9. These are considered to be the most auspicious houses in the horoscope. These houses are also important to check health prospects.

e) The Ayu-sthanas (or Houses of Longevity): Houses 8 and 3. 3rd is important as it is 8th from the 8th. Being indicative of longevity, they indirectly also indicate death.

f) The Maraka-Sthanas (or Houses of Death): Houses 2 and 7.

g) The Upachayas: Houses 3, 6, 10 and 11. These houses, excluding the 10th, are sometimes considered adverse.

h) The Trika Houses: Houses 6, 8 and 12. They are particularly adverse to health prospects.

The signs (or Rashis)

The zodiac is divided into twelve equal parts which are known as signs or rashis. The extent of each sign is 30 degrees. The name and extent of the different rashis are given below.

The sign rising in the eastern horizon at a given moment is called the ascendant or the Lagna. The ascendant is the first house of the horoscope. The subsequent signs fall in regular order in the remaining houses of the horoscope.

RashisEnglish NamesExtent (degrees)
1. MeshaAries0 – 30
2. VrishaTaurus30 – 60
3. MithunaGemini60 – 90
4. KarkaCancer90 – 120
5. SimhaLeo120 – 150
6. KanyaVirgo150 – 180
7. TulaLibra180 – 210
8. VrishchikaScorpio210 – 240
9. DhanuSagittarius240 – 270
10. MakaraCapricorn270 – 300
11. KumbhaAquarius300 – 330
12. MeenaPisces330 – 360

Some Characteristics of the signs:

1. Malefic / Masculine: The odd signs, viz., 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11.

2. Benefic / Feminine: The even signs, viz., 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12.

3. Movable Signs: Signs 1, 4, 7 and 10. They are changeable. Ailments that occur involving these signs are of short duration and soon change for the better or the worse.

4. Fixed Signs: Signs 2, 5, 8 and 11. They don’t change easily. Ailments involving these signs last longer and tend to become chronic.

5. Mixed Signs: Signs 3, 6, 9 and 12. They have the qualities of both the movable and the fixed signs.

6. Dominant Nature:

a) Fiery – Signs 1, 5 and 9. They are the best for recovery from illness. They are, however, more accident-prone.

b) Earthy – Signs 2, 6, and 10. They are the next best.

c) Airy – Signs 3, 7 and 11.

d) Watery – Signs 4, 8 and 12. They generally tend to have poor resistance against disease.

The Chart types prevalent in India:

In India, a horoscopic chart is drawn in one of the following manners.

a) The North Indian Chart:

North Indian Chart

Here the houses are fixed. The four quadrants (corresponding to houses 1, 4, 7 and 10) are of rhombus shape while the remaining houses are triangular. The Lagna or ascendant is marked in the upper central rhombus. The remaining signs are marked in the regular order in an anticlockwise direction. The planets are then located in the houses bearing the appropriate signs.

b) The South Indian Chart:

South Indian Chart

In this chart, the signs are fixed. The first house or Lagna is marked in the sign which rises at the moment of birth, and the remaining house is counted (in a clockwise manner) from this first house.

c) The East Indian (Bengali, Oriya) Chart:

East Indian Chart

Here too the signs are fixed, and the Lagna has to be marked in the sign rising at the moment of birth. The signs and houses are counted in an anticlockwise direction.

The name of planets with their Hindi names:

PlanetsVedic Name
SunRavi (Surya)
MoonChandra
MarsMangala
MercuryBudha
JupiterGuru (Brihaspati)
SaturnShani
Rahu (Dragon’s head)Rahu
Ketu (Dragon’s head)Ketu

a) Planetary Lordship:

The seven planets, excluding Rahu and Ketu, own the twelve signs of the zodiac. The Sun and the Moon own a single sign each while the remaining planets own two signs each. This is being indicated below.

The Sun owns Leo

The Moon owns Cancer

Mars owns Aries and Scorpio

Mercury owns Gemini and Virgo

Jupiter owns Sagittarius and Pisces

Venus owns Taurus and Libra

Saturn owns Capricorn and Aquarius

b) Benefics and Malefics:

Jupiter, Mercury, Venus and the Moon are the natural benefics. The Sun, Mars, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu are natural malefics. The waning Moon and afflicted Mercury are also malefic. The natural malefics generally plays a crucial role in illness while natural benefics plays a crucial role in recovery from disease.

The planet can acquire also acquire benefic or malefic nature depending on their lordship of houses. There can be different benefics and malefics for different lagnas.

c) Exaltation, debilitation and the Mool Trikona signs:

Planets placed in their exaltation sign is the strongest. A planet placed in the Mool trikona sign is considered to be stronger. Planets placed in their own sign is strong. A planet placed in the sign of debilitation is the weakest.

PlanetExaltationDebilitationMool Trikona
SunAries 10*Libra 10Leo 0-20
MoonTaurus 3Scorpio 3Taurus 4-20
MarsCapricorn 28Karka 28Aries 0-12
MercuryVirgo 15Pisces 15Virgo 16-20
JupiterCancer 5Capricorn 5Sagittarius 0-10
VenusPisces 27Virgo 27Libra 0-15
SaturnLibra 20Aries 20Aquarius 0-20

* These figures represent degrees.

Natural Relationships:

The lords of the signs which are the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th and 12th from the Mooltrikona sign of a planet and the lords of the exalted sign of each planet are the friend of a particular planet. Lords of the signs other than these are his enemies. The planet which has got the features of both (friend and enemy) is neutral to the planets.

PlanetFriendsEnemiesNeutrals
SunMoon, Mars, JupiterVenus, SaturnMercury
MoonSun, MercuryMars, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn
MarsSun, Moon, JupiterMercuryVenus, Saturn
MercurySun, VenusMoonMars, Jupiter, Saturn
JupiterSun, Moon, MarsMercury, SunMars, Jupiter
VenusMercury, SaturnMoon, SunMars, Jupiter
SaturnMercury, VenusSun, Moon, MarsJupiter

Temporary Relationship or Horoscopic Relationships:

The planets situated in the 10th, 4th, 11th, 3rd, 2nd and 12th from another are mutual friends. If they are situated in any other place they act as his enemies. This has to be judged from the birth horoscope.

Five-Fold Relationship:

One relationshipAnother RelationshipNet Relationship
FriendshipFriendshipExtreme Friendship
NeutralityFriendshipFriendship
EnmityEnmityExtreme Enmity
NeutralityEnmityEnmity
EnmityFriendshipNeutrality

Understanding planetary friendship is very important in medical astrology. Enemies of Lagna lord may cause health-related issues while friends of Lagna lord will protect. Similarly, friends of the sixth lord can damage health.