Abhishek Soni Learn

The twelve bhavas (houses) of a Vedic birth chart

Also in: हिन्दी

A Vedic birth chart has twelve bhavas (houses). In the classical grouping, houses 1, 4, 7 and 10 are kendra houses; 1, 5 and 9 are trikona houses; 6, 8 and 12 are dusthana houses; 3, 6, 10 and 11 are upachaya houses. Each page gives the house's significations and its karaka.

The twelve bhavas (houses) of a Vedic birth chart: a North Indian birth chart with its twelve houses numbered

What is a bhava?

A bhava is a house: one of the twelve divisions of a birth chart, each standing for an area of life. The 1st house is the self and the body, the 4th is mother and home, the 7th is marriage and partners, the 10th is work and standing in the world. The house a graha sits in tells you which part of life it acts on; the sign on the house tells you how. Some houses share a theme from two sides, like the 2nd and the 11th: money that is kept, and money that comes in.

How are the houses of a kundli worked out?

The houses start from the lagna, the sign rising on the eastern horizon at the moment and place of birth. That sign becomes the 1st house, the next sign the 2nd, and so on round the chart. The charts on this site use whole-sign houses, the classical Parashari method, so each house is exactly one rashi. The rising sign changes about every two hours, so the birth time decides which sign becomes the 1st house, and with it the house every graha falls in.

What does each house signify?

Each house carries a classical list of significations, and a karaka, a graha that naturally stands for the same things. The table gives the short list and the group each house belongs to. Each house opens its own page.

HouseSignifiesGroup
1st houseself, body, personality, head, appearance, vitalityKendra, Trikona
2nd housefamily, wealth, speech, food, face, early childhood
3rd housesiblings, courage, communication, short travel, hands, skillsUpachaya
4th housemother, home, vehicles, education, comfort, real estate, heartKendra
5th housechildren, intelligence, creativity, romance, purva punya, speculationTrikona
6th houseenemies, debt, disease, service, litigation, daily routineDusthana, Upachaya
7th housespouse, partnership, business, public, trade, foreign tripsKendra
8th houselongevity, transformation, occult, inheritance, sudden events, researchDusthana
9th housefather, dharma, fortune, higher learning, long travel, religionTrikona
10th housecareer, status, authority, public role, achievements, father's longevityKendra, Upachaya
11th housegains, elder siblings, friends, fulfillment of desires, networksUpachaya
12th houselosses, foreign land, isolation, moksha, expenditure, bed pleasuresDusthana

What are kendra, trikona, dusthana and upachaya houses?

The texts group the houses. The kendras (1, 4, 7 and 10) are the angles, the pillars of a chart, and grahas there act strongly and visibly. The trikonas (1, 5 and 9) are the houses of merit and fortune. The dusthanas (6, 8 and 12) are the difficult houses, of illness, sudden change and loss, though a graha there is not doomed: the 6th is also where you beat competition, the 12th where you rest and let go. The upachaya houses (3, 6, 10 and 11) are the houses of growth, where things improve with time and effort.

Is an empty house in a kundli bad?

No. Nine grahas cannot fill twelve houses, so every chart has at least three empty ones. An empty house is read through its lord, the graha that rules the sign on it, and through any graha that aspects it. An empty 7th house does not mean no marriage, and an empty 10th does not mean no career. If a house matters to your question, its lord's sign, house and dasha are where the answer is.