Reference
The 12 Houses (Bhavas) of Vedic Astrology
A birth chart is a wheel of twelve bhavas — houses — each holding one department of life: the body, wealth, siblings, home, children, health, marriage, transformation, fortune, career, gains, and release. The sign rising in the east at your birth becomes the first house, and the other eleven follow in order around the sky.
The twelve houses
- 1st House (Tanu Bhava)The self · lagna · the body
- 2nd House (Dhana Bhava)Wealth · family · speech
- 3rd House (Sahaja Bhava)Siblings · courage · communication
- 4th House (Sukha Bhava)Home · mother · inner peace
- 5th House (Putra Bhava)Children · creativity · intellect
- 6th House (Ari Bhava)Service · health · obstacles
- 7th House (Kalatra Bhava)Marriage · partnership · the other
- 8th House (Ayu Bhava)Transformation · longevity · the hidden
- 9th House (Dharma Bhava)Fortune · the guru · higher purpose
- 10th House (Karma Bhava)Career · status · public life
- 11th House (Labha Bhava)Gains · friends · networks
- 12th House (Vyaya Bhava)Release · foreign lands · moksha
How the houses are counted
Jyotish uses whole-sign houses: the rising sign is the whole first house, the next sign the whole second, and so on — no uneven cusps. A planet in Cancer is in the fourth house for an Aries ascendant and the tenth for a Libra ascendant. The same wheel is also counted from the Moon sign (chandra lagna) for a second reading, which is why your daily horoscope here is written by Moon sign.
Kendras, trikonas and dusthanas
The houses fall into families. The kendras (1, 4, 7, 10) are the angles — the pillars of the chart, where planets act with full strength. The trikonas (1, 5, 9) are the trines of fortune and dharma. The dusthanas (6, 8, 12) are the houses of difficulty, where life resists — though the upachayas (3, 6, 10, 11) improve with effort and time, so difficulty there tends to be overcome. A planet ruling both a kendra and a trikona is a yogakaraka, the most helpful planet in that chart.
The nine grahas are read through this frame: which house a planet occupies, which houses it rules, and which houses it looks at. The houses are the stage; the planets are the actors.
Common questions
How many houses are there in Vedic astrology?
Twelve. Each bhava governs one area of life, beginning with the first house (the ascendant, or lagna) and continuing in order around the zodiac.
Does Vedic astrology use whole-sign houses?
Yes. The rising sign is the entire first house and each following sign is the next house, so every house is exactly one sign wide. Some astrologers also consult the bhava chalit (unequal) chart for fine placements.
Which houses are the most important?
The kendras (1, 4, 7, 10) and trikonas (1, 5, 9). The first house — the ascendant — is the strongest of all, since every other house is measured from it.
See this for your own chart
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