Houses in Vedic Astrology
A Vedic birth chart is divided into twelve houses (Bhavas), each covering a specific area of life — from the self and wealth to marriage, career and liberation. The first house begins at your Ascendant (Lagna), the sign rising at your birth, and the houses then run counter-clockwise through the zodiac.
Where a sign is the quality and a planet is the actor, the house is the arena where the action plays out. To read any matter — say marriage — you look at its house (the 7th), the planet that rules it, the planets sitting in it, and its natural karaka (Venus). This is the core of horoscope interpretation.
The 12 Bhavas at a glance
How houses are classified
Houses are grouped by the kind of results they give:
- Kendra (angular): 1, 4, 7, 10 — the pillars of the chart; strong, action-oriented houses of Vishnu.
- Trikona (trine): 1, 5, 9 — the most auspicious houses, of dharma, fortune and grace.
- Dusthana (difficult): 6, 8, 12 — houses of struggle, obstacles, loss and transformation.
- Upachaya (growing): 3, 6, 10, 11 — houses that improve with time and effort; even malefics do well here.
- Maraka (2, 7) — the 'killing' houses used in longevity analysis.
Houses, signs and lords
Each house has a natural sign and lord (1st = Aries/Mars, 2nd = Taurus/Venus, and so on around the zodiac), but in YOUR chart the actual sign on each house depends on your Lagna. The strength of a house's lord and the planets placed in it decide how that area of life turns out. Generate your free birth chart to see the sign and planets in each of your houses.