I am a Jyotish enthusiast and have been researching on this subject for more than 27 years. My mission in life is to bring Jyotish to its glorious state.

Jul 12, 2016

Understanding Lagnesha’s Placement in various Bhavas: Key Principles!

The original article was written here…

1. Introduction:

One of the most important aspects of Jyotish is Bhava analysis, while it is important to know the results attributed to the placement of Grahas in a Bhava, in my opinion, even more important is to understand the placement of the Bhava lord, also called Bhavesha, Bhavanatha or Bhavadhipati. According to Jyotish classics, even if a Shubha-Graha is powerfully placed in a Bhava, if the lord is not well placed, the good results of the Graha will not be felt (to a considerable extent). The bhavesha and its dispositors are extremely important. According to Jataka Parijata and other classics, if the dispositor of the Bhava lord is placed in a dusthana, that will give adverse results pertaining to the Bhava under consideration.

But, putting the first step first, we need to understand the results attributed to the placement of bhava lords in different Bhavas, some of them are difficult to understand and are even counter intuitive. Given below, are the explanations behind the results and some principles which can help not only in remembering these results but also enable one to apply them in diverse situations. One should remember that what classics give us, are the key principles, which need to be suitably modified based on other influences. It is hardly possible to find a horoscope with exact combination without any adulteration. Hence, the results can’t be applied in a real horoscope verbatim with its all purity. The ability to apply a principle in real life horoscope is something that one attains after years of practice. However, understanding the hidden principles behind the verses can immensely help in the quest of attaining real life skills.

2. The Hidden Principles pertaining to Bhavesha’s Placement:

1. The naisargika Kundali:

The importance of the Naisargika Kundali can’t be exaggerated. Most of the combinations can be understood by studying them in the naisargika kundali.
From a Bhava perspective, one needs to map the Bhava into the Naisargika Kundali and judge the results of a yoga on that Bhava. For instance, Lagna is mapped to Mesha Rasi, Dhana Bhava is mapped to Taurus and so on.

2. Naisargika Bhavesha:

The Bhavadhipati in a chart behaves considerably like the Naisargika Bhavadhipati.
When God created the zodiac, god gave some root impulses to the naisargika Bhava, Naisargika Bhavadhipati and the Naisargika Karaka.
One need to understand the Naisargika Karakatva (signification) before attempting to understand other aspects.
For instance, Lagnadhipati behaves like Mars, Dhanadhipati behaves like Venus and so on.

3. Naisargika Bhava Karaka:

Each Bhava is assigned at least one primary Bhava Karaka. Some are assigned more than one.
Although each Graha (Sun to Saturn) represent something pertaining to every Bhava, the primary significator are most important to understand the intrinsic nature of the Bhavadhipati.
The Bhava Karaka for the different Bhavas are (1) Lagna: Sun; (2) Dhana: Jupiter; (3) Sahaja: Mars; (4) Sukha: Moon, Mercury; (5) Santana: Jupiter; (6) Shatru: Mars, Saturn; (7) Jaya: Venus; (8): Mrtyu: Saturn; (9) Dharma: Sun, Jupiter; (10) Karma: Sun, Mars, Mercury, Saturn; (11) Labha: Jupiter; (12) Vyaya: Saturn.
Seeing this from a Graha perspective, Sun (1), Moon (4) and Venus (7) are the Karakas for only 1 Bhava each.
Mars (3,6) and Mercury (4,10) are the Karakas for 2 Bhavas each
Saturn is the Karaka for four Bhavas (6–8–12 and 10)
Jupiter is the Karaka for five Bhavas (2–5–9–11 and 10). The Bhavadhipati also behaves like the Bhava karaka to a considerable extent.
The Bhava lord should be treated as the Karaka and their results of placement in each bhava be judged as if the Karaka Graha is placed in those Bhava. For instance, when Lagnesha is placed in a Bhava, it should be treated as placement of Sun in the Bhavas.

4. Naisargika Mulatrikona, Svakshetra, Uccha and Neecha Bhava of the Naisargika Bhavadhipati and Karaka:

Each Graha gives some very specific results in the mentioned Bhavas i.e., the Mula-Bhava, Sva-Bhava. Uccha-Bhava and Neecha-Bhava.
The Mula-Bhava for the Bhava-dhipati is the Bhava which is mapped to the sign where the Naisargika Lagnadhipati attains its Mulatrikona. For instance for Lagnesha, the Mula Bhava is Lagna as Mar’s Mulatrikona is in Aries, which is the Naisargika Lagna. Similarlty, for Dhanesha, the Mula-Bhava is 7th house, which is mapped to Libra. On the other hand, the root impulse of 8th house is in the Lagna.
The Mula-Bhava for all the Bhavas are (1) Lagna = Lagna, (2) Dhana = 7th house, (3) Sahaja = 6th house, (4) Sukha = 2nd house, (5) Santana= 5th house, (6) Shatru = 6th house, (7) Jaya = 7th house, (8) Mrtyu = Lagna, (9) Dharma = 9th house, (10) Karma = 11th house, (11) Labha = 11th house, (12) Moksha = 9th house.
Among the four important Bhavas (Mula, Sva, Uccha and Neecha), the root impulse of the naisargika Bhavadhipati is related to its Mulatrikona (Mula=root).
The root impulses indicate the place which trigger the results pertaining to the Bhava, hence attains high significance. When a Bhavadhipati is placed in its Mula-Bhava, for instance 8th lord is placed in the Lagna, the 8th lord is connected to the place which represents the origin of life. Will it give long life or short life? We will see!
Similarly the Uccha and Neecha Bhava should also be properly understood.
Neecha Bhava: When the Lagna lord is placed in the 4th house, to certain extent, this is equivalent to placement of the Lagnesha in Neecha as 4th house is the Neecha-Bhava for the naisargika Lagnadhipati. Is this good or bad? From many aspects it will give good results, but there is a danger of the native become immoral (Moon = in sexual matters) as debility of Lagna lord indicate lack of principles. Again, everything is mere potentials which can get modified by other influences.
Uccha Bhava: On the other hand, when Lagnadhipati is placed in the 10th house, it is in its Uccha Bhava. Under this condition, the native is endowed with royal honor, fame and is capable to earning own wealth.
Neecha Bhava example involving bad bhava: Similarly, when 4th lord is placed in the 8th house, it is akin to fall of 4th lord (Moon in Scorpio). The result is lack of domestic happiness and comforts and lack sexual drive. This was easy as 8th house is a Dusthana and placement of the lord of happiness in a dusthana can naturally give unhappiness.
Neecha Bhava example involving good bhava: Lets look at a good bhava lord in another good bhava (but a neecha Bhava). When 10th lord is placed in the Lagna, it is said that, among various good things, the native will incur diseases in the childhood (especially for till the 10th year). Why? Because the naisargika Karamadhipati Saturn gets Neecha in the Mesha (naisargika Lagna).
Uccha Bhava example: The same Karmadhipati placed in 7th house (uccha bhava) gives results such as “Happy married life, high intellect, good virtues, eloquence, honesty and religiousness.”
Neecha Bhava example: Lets take the case of 5th lord in the 7th house which involve two good houses. Although most classics have given positive results such as “honourable, religious, progenic happiness, helpful to others”, Mantresvara of Phaladeepika gives a divergent view, viz., “death of spouse, devoid of children”. Mantrasvara’s view is usually applicable for the Lagnas falling in Agni Rasis whereby the 5th is either ruled by the Sun or Jupiter.
Summary: In summary, if the neecha bhava happens to be a good bhava (su-stana, Kendra, Kona), then the negative results are limited and occur only when the Bhavesha is weak or afflicted. On the other hand, when it involves a dusthana, for instance, 4L in 8H, 7L in 6H or 6L in 12H, the results can be very adverse. The results are even more adviser if there is involvement of a papa-graha.

5. Owner of the “other Bhava”:

Excluding Sun and Moon, all Naisargika Bhavadhipati is also the owner of another Bhava.
For instance, since Mars is the Naisargika Bhavadhipati for Lagna, we need to look at the other bhava ruled by Mars, which is the 8th house.
Thus wherever Lagnadhipati is placed, it will give some results pertaining to not only Lagna (Mesha) but also manifest some destructive energies of the 8th house (Vrischika).
Whether it is going to be Lagna or 8th house energy, that will predominate depends on the benefic or malefic influences on the Lagnesha.
Benefic influences strengthen the benefic potentcies of the Bhavadhipati and weaken the negative potencies. On the other hand Malefic influences strengthen the negative potencies and weaken the benefic ones.

6. Drsti of Naisargika Bhavadhipati and Karaka:

Since a Bhavesha behaves like the naisargika Bhavadhipati, we should also consider their aspects.
There are certain results attributed to the placement of a Bhava-lord in a horoscope, that can only be explained by the Drsti of the Bhavadhipati, including the special sights exerted by Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.
In fact the special sights are extremely powerful energies of the Grahas with which they can do feats which are otherwise not possible. Those who play chess, can equate this to the special powers given to the Knight.
When a Graha is placed in Bhava A and aspects Bhava B, then the way it should be interpreted as, “the Graha is directly affecting the results of Bhava A to indirectly influence the results of Bhava B.” This is a very important principle.
For instance when Mars is placed in the Lagna and aspects the 7th house, it can increase the libido of the native (Agni=strong libido) to have multiple sexual partner (7th house). Similarly when Mars is in the 11th house and aspects the 2nd house, it can make the native gain huge income (11H) to increase the bank balance or savings (2H). Thus a Graha influence the matters of the house where it is placed to impact the outcome of the house it aspects.

7. Influencing vs. influenced:

When a Bhavesha said “A” is placed in another Bhava, certainly there is an interaction between the significations of the two Bhavas.
The question is who is active, who is passive, who is at the giving end and who is at the receiving end, who is influencing who?
This is an important question and helps in distinguishing between situations such as Lagna lord in 5th house or 5th lord in Lagna. Will they give same results?
When Lagna lord is placed in the 5th house, then the results are “mediocre happiness from children, first child may die, be honorable, given to anger and be dear to king.” On the other hand, when the 5th lord is placed in the lagna, the results are “scholarly, be endowed with progenic happiness, be a miser, be crooked and will steal others’ wealth”.
When the Lagna lord is placed in the 5th house it harms the children, while when the 5th lord is placed in the Lagna, the native is blessed with happiness from children. Thus, the results are very distinct and should not be mixed up. Lets see why?
When the Lagna lord is placed in the 5th house, it is taking both the Lagna and 8th house energies (as well as Mars and the Sun) to the 5th house, thus causing death of children or unhappiness on account of them.
On the other hand, when the 5th lord is placed in the Lagna, it is bringing the energy of 5th lord (only one Bhava), Sun and Jupiter on the Lagna.
The primary influencer is the Bhava lord and the influenced is the Bhava. On the other hand, the Secondary influence is of the Bhava on the Bhava-lord.
Thus when Lagna lord is placed in the 5th house, the lagna (self) is influencing the 5th house (children). On the other hand, when the 5th lord is placed in the Lagna, the primary influence is that of 5th lord (memory, knowledge, gnana) on the Lagna bhava (self).
Usually, with regards to the primary influences, the Bhavesha carries the internal attributes of the bhava (Lagna: self-identity, 2H: Speech, ability to save; 3H: courage, enterprise, libido, etc.) to influence the external attributes of the Bhava (Lagna: family background, home land; 2H: wealth, family; 3H: Siblings etc).
The 80–20 rule: In a Bhava Bhavesha interaction, 80% on the results accrued from the Bhava where the Bhavesha is placed. Only 20% of the results are from the Bhavesha being influenced by the Bhava. For instance, when 2nd lord is placed in various Bhavas, it is all about how the native is using his speech and savings potential (internal attributes of the 2nd house) to influence the matters of the Bhavas it is placed.

8. Transfer of resources:

A Bhava lord always tries to fulfill the objectives of the bhava it owns by drawing resources from the bhava it is placed. For instance, when 2nd lord is placed in the 5th house, it tries to prosper the 2nd house i.e., wealth, family etc. by drawing resources from the 5th house i.e., knowledge, children, influence etc.
Thus, when 2nd lord is placed in the Lagna, the native gains wealth from self-effort, own people, homeland etc.; in the 3rd house, the gain is from siblings, enterprise, courage, sculpting, writing etc.; in he 4th house, from mother, real-estate, vehicles etc.; in the 6th house, from enemies, battles etc.
If the 2nd lord is weak and is placed in a bad house (say Dhanesha in Shatru Bhava), the native looses wealth instead of gaining. Here the lord is pertaining to the Bhavesha (2H, wealth), on account of significations of the Bhava where the Bhavesha is placed (6H: Enemies, litigation, battles, theft etc.)
Thus the strength of the Bhavadhipati determines whether the native will gain or lose due to circumstances governed by the Bhava where the Bhavadhipati is placed.

3. Lagnesha’s placements in Various Bhavas: key principles-

Lagna is mapped to Mesha, the 1st sign in the zodiac a.k.a., the naisargika Lagna. The Lagnadhipati behaves like Naisargika-Lagnadhipati Mars and Primary-Bhava-Karaka Sun.
Mars influence: The Lagnadhipati carries the energies of the Lagna (self-identification), the 8th house (destruction), which is akin the nature of Mars. From where it is placed, it capable of indirectly influencing the Bhava placed in the 4th-8th and 7th as it is where Mars has direct aspects. It uses the significations of the Lagna (being Lagna lord) to directly influence the Bhava where placed (Bhavesha direct impact place) and also push it to indirectly the Bhavas falling in the 4–7–8 from itself (Bhavesha indirect impact place). The actual results are positive, negative or neutral depends on the “Actual Lagna”. For instance if the Lagna is Taurus vs. Sagittarius, the results of Lagnesha in Lagna will vary significantly. For Taurus, the 7th from Lagna (strong libido) will be significant, while for Sagittarius, the 4th from Lagnesha (good heart, scholarship etc) will be significant.
Sun’s influence: The Lagnashipati also carries the energies of the Sun, Leo (kingship: power to influence and rule) and 5th house (knowledge).
Drsti of the Lagnadhipati: Depending on the Lagna, the aspects of the actual lagnadhipati (not naisargika) needs to be judged carefully. The places aspected by the Lagnadhipati are the placed where the native actively tries to influence and control. For instance, if Lagnadhipati is Jupiter, Mars or Saturn, their special aspects have strong impact on the Bhavas where the aspects fall.
Internal significations: The internal significations of Lagna Bhava is (1) Intellect (2) Sense of purpose, (3) Ability to discriminate right and wrong, (4) Ideals and principles, (5) Likes and dislikes, (6) Personality and belief system etc.
External significations: The external significations are (1) Body, health, comfort, (2) Native’s birth place or homeland (3) Native’s social identity i.e., Culture, Language, Religion etc.
When Lagnesha is placed in a Bhava, it influences the outcome of the Bhava through its own internal significations (likes and dislikes, ideals and principles etc.). The objective of the Lagna lord is to attain success in life and fulfil the purpose of birth.
The Lagnesha will always protect the signification of Lagna, sometimes even at the cost of the Bhava where it is placed. However, This is true when the Lagnesha is strong. If the Lagnesha is weak, the Bhava can sap away the resources from Lagna through the Lagnesha and gain at the cost of the Lagna.
The Lagnesha also get influenced by the Bhava where it is placed. For instance, the likes and dislikes, self-knowledge, abilities, personality etc. are influenced by (1) The Bhava, (2) The Rasi, (3) The yogas (both natural and functional) happening with the Lagnesha.
The placement of the Lagnesha can be in (1) Su-sthana or Duh-sthana, (2) Su-Rasi or Duh-Rasi or yoga with (2) Subha Graha or Papa Graha. The more the benefic influences, the more positive results there will be. On the contrary more the malefic influences, the results more will be the negative results.
The best placement of the Lagnesha is Susthana (Kendra or Kona) or Labha. The worst placement of the Lagnesha is Dusthana (6–8–12). Lagnesha in the remaining Bhava 2nd and 3rd also give positve results.
Lagnesha is like a power-cell (being carrier or Sun’s energy). It charges the Bhava where it is placed by bringing out the best qualities of the Bhava. Since Lagnesha carries the energies of the Lagna and the 8th house, the charging part is true when Lagnesha is strong. When Lagnesha is weak however, it manifests the energy of the 8th house which is highly destructive to the Bhava where the Lagnesha is placed. Lagna is like a controlled fire (lamp, yagna) while 8th house is like uncontrolled fire (forest fire). The same fire which can bring light to darkness (Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya), can also bring the biggest havoc, depending on the level of Purity (Sattva) or impurity (Tamas) respectively.
Lagnesha being the strength giver, it enhances the intrinsic (internal) significations of the bhava, where it is placed. The internal significations of the Bhavas are the abilities granted to a person by the various Bhavas. They are the various aspects of the native’s self, his or her personality. The internal signification are (1) Lagna: intellect, ability to discriminate between right and wrong, (2) Dhana: Ability to save, speech, ability to feed others (3) Sajaha: Valor, enterprise, writing, sculpting, wielding, sexual act, ability to conserve and grow resources (4) Sukha: Comfort, (5) Santana: Memory, harmonious mind, intellect, knowledge, (6) Shatru: Ability to fight and compete, ability to control sexual drive and be a celibate, (7) Jaya: Ability to interact with the world, make relationship (seduce) and partners (networking) (8) Mrtyu: Self-control (Yama), Control the prana (Pranayama), Ability to go deeper into hidden truth of life and death, occult, magical and healing powers, (9) Dharma: Faith, spirituality, religiosity, (10) Karma: Mental strength, determination, persevering, goal oriented, lead, rule, (11) Labha: Ability to gain from various circumstances, ability to make friends, (12) Vyaya: Ability to invest, ability to spend on rightful causes, ability to let-go, ability to be mentally free, ability to sleep peacefully.
Mahapurusha Yoga- Dikbala: Classics mention these yoga which grant the highest power of one of the Pancha-Tattvas (five primordial elements), Fire, Earth, Air, Water, Ether. This happens when a Tattva Graha (Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn) is placed in a Kendra (explicitly from Lagna, not Chandra Lagna) in Own sign or Exaltation. However, there are gradations of this yoga based on the Dikbala. Grahas also attain Dikbala in one of the four Kendras, (1) Lagna: Jupiter (ether), Mercury (earth); (2) 4th house: Venus, Moon (all water); (3) 7th house: Saturn, Rahu (all air) and (4) 10th house: Sun, Mars, Ketu (all fire). So Lagna is an Akasha-Prthvi Kendra, 4th house is the Jala Kendra, 7th house is the Vayu Kendra and 10th house is the Agni Kendra. The Mahapurusha yoga which embodies the Tattva energy are strongest when they occur in the appropriate Tattva Kendra. Thus, the Hamsa (Jupiter) and Bhadra (Mercury) are strongest when they occur in the Lagna (Akasha-Prthvi Kendra); Malavya (Venus) is strongest in 4th house (Jala Kendra); Sasa (Saturn) is strongest in the 7th house (Vayu Kendra) and Ruckala is strongest in the 10th house (Agni Kendra). When a Graha is placed in Dikbala, the strength of the Mahapurusha yoga is 100%; it is 50% in the 4th and 10th from the Dikbala Bhava and 25% in the 7th from the Dikbala Bhava. So, Jupiter (Lagna Dikbala) gives 100% results of Hamsa Mahapurusha yoga in the Lagna, 50% in 4th and 10th and 25% in the 7th house. On the other hand Venus (Sukha Dikbala) gives 100% results in the 4th house, 50% in 7th house and Lagna and 25% in the 10th house. Similarly, the strength of Mahapurusha yoga can be understood for other Grahas.
Importance of Mulatrikona: The Mulatrikona of a Graha embodies the root impulses of the Graha. Hence the Pancha Mahapurusha yoga is strongest when it happens in the Mulatrikona sign of the Graha. Each graha owns two signs and gets exalted in another sign. Each has the 3 signs has potential to give rise to a Mahapurusha yoga, however, the strongest among them is the Mulatrikona.
Lagna Mahapurusha Yoga: When Lagna lord is placed in the Lagna, it causes the Mahapurusha yoga for all Lagnas excluding those owned by the Luminaries. However, the strongest among them are in the signs owned by Mercury and Jupiter i.e., Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces. Among them, the ones with exceedingly high strength are in Virgo and Sagittarius as they happen to be the Mulatrikona of Mercury and Jupiter respectively.