Fifth House/Putra Bhava:Children, love affairs and romance, creative
intelligence, poorvapunya(past life credit), and wisdom. Dharma house
(right action). Stomach (sometimes heart). Karaka: Jupiter.
Sixth House/Ripu Bhava:Service, detail work, medicine, catering, pets,
enemies, disease, effort and hard work, discrimination, debts. Artha
house (wealth). Navel and intestines. Karakas: Saturn and Mars.
Seventh House/Kalatra Bhava:Marriage partner, quality of married life,
love and passion, social nature, and business partnerships. Kama house
(desire). Below navel, kidneys, and veins. Karakas: Venus and Jupiter.
Eighth House/Ayu Bhava:Death, longevity, inheritance, mysticism and
psychic ability, psychology, delays, fears, and misfortune. Moksha house
(liberation). Reproductive systems and chronic illness. Karaka: Saturn.
Ninth House/Bhagya Bhava:Wisdom, guru, father, religion, philosophy,
long journeys, higher education, law and legal affairs, teachers, and
good fortune. Dharma house (right action). Thighs and hips. Karakas:
Jupiter and Sun.
Tenth House/Karma Bhava:Career or vocation (also first house), status,
power, house of action, achievement, and good deeds. Artha house
(wealth). Knees. Karakas: Sun, Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn.
Eleventh House/Labya Bhava:Friends, groups, profits and gains, sisters
and older siblings, goals, hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Kama house
(desire). Legs, calves, and ankles. Karaka: Jupiter.
Twelfth House/Moksha Bhava:Enlightenment, bed pleasures, sleep,
expenditures, confusion, sorrow, confinement, seclusion, and the next
life. Moksha house (liberation). Feet, left eye, and hearing. Karakas:
Saturn and Ketu.
To illustrate how the planets and houses are combined, consider pop singer
Madonna’s natal chart. In viewing her natal Vedic chart, one can see that the hous-
es/signs advance in clockwise fashion. The rasi, or the natal chart, is set up so that
each house contains a whole sign. As in Western astrology, there are 12 signs as well
as 12 houses. The sign interpretations of Tropical and Vedic astrology are quite simi-
lar. The ascendant (rising sign) is of extreme importance in Vedic astrology. In
Madonna’s Vedic chart, the ascendant, or lagna,is at 15° Leo and the entire first
house is therefore Leo. Thus, any planets that fall in the sign of Leo (e.g., her retro-
grade Mercury at 12° Leo) would be considered to be in the first house.
Madonna’s second house is the entire sign of Virgo and is empty. Its ruling plan-
et, Mercury, is placed in the first house, creating a dhana yoga(wealth producing). The
third house is Libra, with Jupiter retrograde at 3° conjoined with Rahu, the fourth
house is Scorpio, with Saturn retrograde at 25°, and so on throughout the zodiac. Thus,
each house equals 30° or one sign. The bhava chart is also used to fine-tune planetary
house positions. It calculates approximately 15° before and after the ascendant as the
first house and then uses an equal-house method. Another popular bhava chart calcu-
lation is called sripati,which takes into account the midheaven point (MC).Vedic Astrology (Hindu Astrology)
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