Houses or Bhavas

Now we know what a horoscope looks like, the 12 Signs (Rashis) representing each 30 degrees and how the nine planets are marked in the horoscope. We also know that in addition to the nine planets, there will an additional marking called "Ascendant" which is determined based on the Date, Place and Time of birth and Sun rise time at the place of birth.

The Ascendant is very very important in a horoscope. On a given day, all planets will be almost in the same sign. But, the Ascendant will change the sign for every two hours.

All horoscopes will be judged based on the placement of Ascendant only. This is the reason why two people born two hours apart on the same day live two different lives.

Now, let us take the sample chart shown below. The Ascendant is placed in Sagittarius. As the Ascendant is very important, it is traditional to mark two lines in the corner of the sign where the Asc is placed so that it can be easily identified.

There are 12 houses in Vedic astrology and each house represents different arena of life. Among these 12 houses, the first house is the house in which Lagna is placed. Starting from 1st house, each house in clockwise direction is 2nd house, 3rd house and so on till 12th house.

In the above sample chart, Sagittarius is the First house. Jupiter is the Ascendant Lord. Capricorn is the 2nd house and Saturn is the 2nd house Lord. Moon is posited in the 2nd house. Now, locate the other houses, house lords and planets posited in each house.

In case the Native is born two hours later, say at 20.22 hrs, then "Asc" will be Capricorn and Ascendant Lord will be Saturn. All the houses, the house lords and the planets posited in each house will be different. This explains the importance of Ascendant.

Significance or Karakatwa of Houses : Having discussed about the Karakatwa of all the nine planets, now let us discuss about the Significance of Houses. All the 12 houses are assigned with certain responsibilities, similar to Planets. This is also known as Bhava Karaka. They are given below briefly.

1. First House - Ascendant or Lagnam. It represents one's life, Body, Time of birth, Physical appearance, Childhood, Health, Overall strength of the horoscope, Character and Personality. If Benefic planets are posited in Ascendant or gets the aspect of Benefic, then the life of the Native can be judged as well protected. The longevity of the Native can be judged with the dignity of the Ascendant and Ascendant Lord
2. Second House - Wealth, Family and Speech. It represents the Family, Speech, Income, Financial Status, Savings, Right Eye, Friends, Relatives, Bank Balance, Initiatives, Primary Education, Health of Father and Business
3. Third House - Younger Siblings, Valor and Courage. It represents the Valor, Courage, Younger Brother and Sister, Neighbors, Short distance Travel, Expenses related to Mother, Letter Correspondence, Information Exchange, Public Relation (PR), Instruments and work related to PR, Writing Skill, Wandering in vain, Right Ear and Chest
4. Fourth House - Comfort and Mother. It represents Comfort, Mother, Feeling safe and secured, Facility, Self earned Prosperity, Comfortable life, Acquisition of House, Land, Vehicles, Personal Life, Chastity, Honesty, Secondary Education, Neck and Shoulder
5. Fifth House - Punya Sthana, Progeny and Creativity. 5th house is considered as Auspicious as it is the one of the Trine houses. It is called as Purva Punya Sthana meaning meritorious deeds of one's previous life. It represents Progeny, Pregnancy, Creativity, Art and Culture, Love Affair, Romance, Sexual Pleasure, Sports, Intelligence, Adoption, Family Deity, Faith in God, Teaching / Learning good stuff, Self discipline, Intuition, Graduation, Upper part of Stomach and Matters related to Uterus
6. Sixth House - Debt, Disease and Enemy. 6th house is one of the Evil houses. It represents Debt, Diseases, Enemies, Imprisonment, Paternal relatives, Mental Illness, Wounds, Sinful deeds, Theft, Enmity, Childhood Malnutrition, War, Disappointment and Damage by fire
7. Seventh House - House of Marriage. It represents Marriage, Husband / Wife, Marital Life, Kidney, Venereal diseases, Business, Speculations, Signing contracts, Desire, Lust, and Love affairs
8. Eighth House - Longevity. It represents Native's Longevity, Spouse Longevity, Type of death, Cause of death, Drowning, Attack by animals, Attack by weapons, Heart attack, Suicide, Unnatural death, Small pox, Posthumous birth, Death in foreign land, Defeat, Insult, Accidents, Insurance, Slander, Court case and Judicial Matters, Sudden Change, Occult Knowledge and Blind luck
9. Ninth House - Bhagya sthana or Fortune house 9th house is considered as Auspicious as it is the one of the Trine houses. It is also known as Bhagya Sthana meaning house of Fortune. It represents Ancestor property, Father, Religious Faith, Wisdom, Philosophy, Ethics, Science, Literacy, Law, Long distance travel, Foreign travel, Spirituality, Spiritual leader, Uprightness, Salvation (Moksham), Post graduation and Doctorate, Generosity and Service minded
10. Tenth House - House of Profession. 10th house is the most important house as it tells about the career. It is known as Karma Sthana. It also represents Honor, Dignity, Respect, Self-esteem, Social status, Success, Livelihood, Spiritual engagement, Worshipping God, Beatification, Religious knowledge, Income through Medicare, Teaching profession, Judge and Judicial work.
    We know that the 4th house represents the mother and the 7th house the husband / wife. So, the 7th house from the 4th house, which is the 10th house, becomes Mother's husband i.e., Father's house
11. Eleventh House - House of Profit. It represents Profit, Friends, Elder brothers and sisters, Expectations, Sponsors, Fulfillment of desires, Recovery from illness, Jewelries, Gaining fame as a Philosopher / Lecturer, Influence in community, Economic Status, Foreign connection, Doing business in Foreign and Acquaintance with Celebrities
12. Twelfth House - Spiritual Liberation. It represents liberation from endless cycle of birth and death. It is also known as Moksha Sthana (Salvation). . It also represents Travel (Ayana), Sleep (Sayana), Boga (Bed pleasure), Viraya (Expense), Mental depression, Prodigality, Extravagance, Living away from family, Confinement, Foreign travel, Foreign Job, Bed ridden, Inferiority complex, Life after death and Stingy clandestine affair

Significator of Houses : We know what each house signifies. Now, who will be responsible for giving the result of what each house signifies?. Naturally, the respective house lords will be the responsible for providing the results. The house Lords are called Significator of Houses or Bhava Karakas.

For instance, in case of Virgo ascendant, the Second house (Libra) Lord Venus will be responsible for Wealth, Family and Speech. Similarly, each house lord will be responsible of implementing the significance of its house. These are temporary responsibilities in nature assumed by each planet, based on its positional role.

In addition to temporary responsibilities, each planet is assigned with certain permanent responsibilities as well. These responsibilities are independent of positional lord responsibilities a planet may assume.

For instance, Jupiter is the significator of wealth and children. So, regardless of who is the second house lord, Jupiter is will also be significator of Wealth. Similarly, regardless of who is the fifth house lord, Jupiter will also be significator of children.

Therefore, eventhough the second house which signifies Wealth is afflicted in one's horoscope, if Jupiter's dignity is good, then the native will not have money problem. Same goes with 5th house too. So, while judging a horoscope, if the significance of a house is afflicted, then the Planet that represents the same significance, should also be analyzed before making prediction.

The table below shows the Primary responsibilities of each house and its Significator.

Karako Bhava Nasthi : If the significance of the house and that of the planet posited in the house are the same, then the significance will be lost or result will be delayed. This is known as Karako Bhava Nasthi because "Too many cooks, spoil the broth".

For instance, if Jupiter, the significator of Wealth / Money, is posited in the 2nd house which signifies Wealth, then the Native will experience problem with Wealth. Similarly, if Jupiter is posited in the 5th house, then the Child birth will be delayed because 5th house represents Progeny and Jupiter is the significator of Children.

Functional Benefic and Malefic : We already discussed about the Natural Benefic such as Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Waxing Moon and Natural Malefic planets such as Saturn, Mars. Now, let us discuss about Functional Benefic and Malefic planets.

When a Natural Malefic becomes the Lord of Auspicious house such as Trine, they become functionally benefic. Similarly, when a Natural Benefic becomes the Lord of Evil house such as Maraka house, they become functionally Malefic.

Also, the 6th, 8th and the 12th house Lords will be functionally malefic as these houses represent Dusthana or Evil houses.

Example : For Taurus Ascendant, Saturn is functionally benefic because it is Quadrant and Trine Lord. And for Cancer Ascendant, Mars is functionally benefic. Similarly, for Aries Ascendant, Venus is functionally malefic (Marakathipathi). And for Virgo Ascendant, Jupiter is functionally malefic (Badhakathipathi and Marakathipathi).

The table below shows Ascendants, their Lord, Quadrant Lord (Kendrathipathi), Trine Lord (Trikonathipathi), Badhakathipathi and Marakathipathi.

Note : If the Quadrant lord is Benefic, it will lose its strength and will be less benefic. And if it is Malefic, it will be less malefic but still malefic. This is known as Kendrathipathya Dosh (केंद्राधिपत्य दोष) or "Blemish of Quadrant Lordship". This is discussed in detail under "Yoga and Dosha".

Remember, all the nine planets form two groups among themselves? If you take a close look at any Sign Lord and its Trine Lords, you will notice that they all belong to same group.

For instances, Aries Lord Mars, and its Trine Lords Sun and Jupiter belong to same group. Capricorn Lord Saturn, and its Trine Lords Mercury and Venus belong to same group.

We know the Lords of same group help among themselves. And, that is the very reason why Trines are always Auspicious houses and their Lords pronounce best result upon the native.

Now that you know about the significance of Planets and Houses, Calculating the dignity of Planets, you can give a try judging your own horoscope.

However, to know when an event will occur in life, one needs to know about Dasha Bhukthi as the result of the planets is pronounced only during its period. So, let us discuss about it next.