Whenever one views or analyses a house result in Vedic astrology, observing it purely just from a singular bhava does not always yield the rightful result. There are 12 houses and in one way or other each and every house establishes a relationship with each another in producing a result. The pairings or groupings of like minded houses should always be at the back of the mind before interpretation. There are basically 12 houses in a horoscope and we know that the number 12 is divisible by 6,4,3 and 2.
Let us look at the different groupings or pairings of houses:
-> 6 House Grouping:
- Visible and Invisible Houses:
1-2-3-4-5-6 : Represent first 6 houses covering the invisible portion
7-8-9-10-11-12: Represent the last 6 houses covering the visible portion
In general the houses 1,2,3,4,5,6 are considered as the invisible portion and the remaining houses 7,8,9,10,11,12 are taken to be part of the visible half of the zodiac. The first house represents the rising sign on the eastern horizon and the 7th house represents the setting sign on the western horizon. The houses from the 7th are the ones that have already occurred before birth and hence said to represent results of the material world. The Lagna or the first house is basically the one you're born with and yet to experience the results. It is due to this reason that the base of Dharma trikona (1st house) and Moksha trikona (4th house) are in the invisible half and the base of artha trikona (10th house) and kaama trikona (7th house) fall in the visible half. The first 6 houses generally represent more of the private matters whereas the latter 6 houses depict more of the public matters. If more planets are placed in the visible half as opposed to the invisible half it can be interpreted as a native working more for his own self and development than for the good of a common cause and vice versa.
- Odd and Even Houses:
1-3-5-7-9-11: Odd Houses denoting more of internal perspective
2-4-6-8-10-12: Even Houses denoting more of external perspective
The odd houses in general are more self and relationship oriented by nature whereas all even houses denote material pursuits which involve wealth, reputation etc. The odd houses cover all the houses from the Dharma and Kama Trikona and the even houses take into account the Artha and Moksha significations. More planets in the even houses signify a native more focused towards his goals/objectives, achieving a status and looking towards comforts whereas a native with more planets in the odd houses works hard towards building relationships and enjoying bodily pleasures. A person with more planets in even houses can be said to be less emotional as opposed to one with more planets in odd houses as odd bhavas involve a lot of interaction and connection.
-> 4 House Groupings:
- Kendra, Panapara and Apoklima Houses
1-4-7-10: Kendra houses are the center houses denoting physical manifestation (Physical)
2-5-8-11: Panapara houses are money houses where emotions and creations are involved (Emotional)
3-6-9-12: Apoklima houses are expense houses where intellect and thoughts are involved (Mental)
The Kendra houses are like a foundation providing support to one other. All kendras will be like a pillar or support to each other and comprise of different element - Fire, Earth, Air, Water. They all will also belong to the same mobility (movable, fixed or dual) and influence one another. The Panapara as the name sounds denotes all the money related houses and also termed as the 'Anukendra'. The Apoklima houses are the houses towards which we expend or use for achieving our objectives and these are also called as 'Upakendra'. As per the Kala Purusha, these denote the planets Mercury and Jupiter who respectively rule the 3,6,9,12 houses where intelligence is conveyed. Thus more planets in Kendra can mean acquiring one's life goals whereas in Panapara can mean to attain material significance and in Apoklima can mean focus more on learning and growth. In an overview, we can say houses 1-4-7-10 to be houses of power whereas 2-5-8-11 to be houses of wealth and 3-6-9-12 denoting growth with 3-6 being more towards physical growth and 9-12 bordering towards spiritual growth.
- Sthana, Dhana and Dur Houses
1-4-7-10: Sthana
2-5-9-11: Dhana
3-6-8-12: Dur
The 'Sthana' Bhavas are root of one's existence. These are considered as pillars or stable houses and known as four petals of lotus. The 'Dhana' Bhavas are means through which we gain wealth and knowledge with wealth houses primarily being 2,11 and knowledge houses being 5,9. These are known as food of the lotus. The 'Dur' houses causes losses and misfortune, said to be unstable and shaky and known as prana of the lotus. From the above classification compared to the Kendra wise grouping, the only change happens to be the replacement of the 8th with 9th houses. Though 8th also happens to be an indirect money house, it is more associated with negative shades whereas the 9th despite being an expense related house is said to be more auspicious and fortunate by nature and hence for the Dhana to prosper one would also require the contribution of the 9th house.
- Part of Life Houses
1-2-3-4: Early Part of Life
5-6-7-8: Middle Stage of Life
9-10-11-12: Ending chunk of Life
These are basically at a very high level. The 1st represents the native himself whereas the 2nd denotes primary resources, the 3rd being neighbors, friends, younger siblings and the 4th is the early home environment. During the middle stages, the native acquires children (5th), incurs health issues (6th), gets into relationships (7th) and caring for longevity (8th). The last stage incurs higher level learning (9th), one's inherent karma (10th), attaining one's wishes and desires (11th) and going towards exit/emancipation/moksha (12th). The points through Ashtakavarga can also give a fair idea about which stage of life will be more beneficial to the native.
-> 3 House Groupings:
- Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha Trikona Houses
1-5-9: Dharma Trikona (Duty Bound, Rights, Knowledge)
2-6-10: Artha Trikona (Resources, Wealth, Possessions)
3-7-11: Kama Trikona (Desires, Pleasures, Excess)
4-8-12: Moksha Trikona (Comforts, Liberation, Release)
The Trikona Group denotes the aim of life. They work with each other towards a common cause. The 5th from any bhava originates as a product from the 1st and the 9th results as a creator of the first. Best way to understand is that the 5th is the off spring which is the product or creation of the first whereas the 1st is the self (you) which arose from the 9th (father). In this way the trikona bhavas are interlinked. The 2nd house (wealth) is a resultant or creation of the 10th house of profession which incidentally is a by product of the 6th that denotes day to day environment. Based on the planets placed in the Trikona Bhavas one can say whether one is more oriented towards Dharma or Artha or Kama or Moksha. An ideal mix of all the four trikonas is ideally preferred. In an outline however they can be classified as houses 1-5-9 being houses of influence, 2-6-10 as houses of material security, 3-7-11 houses gyrate towards a social connection and 4-8-12 houses indicating happiness and liberation.
-> 2 House Groupings:
- Axis
1-7: Self & Spouse
2-8: Family & Inheritance
3-9: Skills & Knowledge
4-10: Home Environment & Work Environment
5-11: Intelligence & Desires
6-12: Health & Expenses
As per the Axis group pair, each house and its opposite house is connected in one way or other. The 7th house from any house can be called as the significant 'other'. It can also complement the house placed opposite to it. Eg. 7th denotes spouse complements the Self and vice versa. It also shows the native's interest towards forging various kinds of relationships. Likewise the 4th denotes all our internal comforts enjoying the home life whereas 10th is working towards performing one's responsibilities to keep life moving. That is also one of the reasons 4th house is generally considered as homeland and 10th is about travelling away from one's comfort zone and hence denotes an external perspective. Hence it can be said that every planet or house has an influence on the 7th house from it.
- Pairs
1-1: Forming part of same house
7-7: Forming part of opposite houses
2-12: Maintains a for and against placement
3-11: Friendly placement
4-10: Kendra placement
5-9: Trikona placement
6-8: Obstruction placement
These are different pairs of houses which is checked especially for matching and synastry purposes. A 1-1 placement means planets placed in the same sign so there could be some similarity in behavior and traits. A 7-7 relationship denotes complementary one to each other and this is what is termed as 'Samasaptaka'. A 3-11 usually denotes a friendly understanding as the elements of the signs always happen to be friends. A 2-12 can be beneficial from one side but not from the other. A 5-9 rapport can said to be auspicious but belonging to the similar element. A 6-8 is more of a collision and in general not auspicious.
- Argala
Primary Argala
2-12
4-10
3-11
Secondary Argala
5-9
8-6
Other Argala
7-1
Argala means planetary or sign intervention. It means a bolt or lock. Any sign or planet placed in a house from a particular house has an obstructing influence. For instance if any planet is placed in 2nd from a particular house it boosts the signification of the planet but this can be counter effected if a planet is placed in the 12th to it. Hence more favorable planets need to be placed in the 2nd as compared to the 12th for the event to pass in a good manner. As a special argala rule, it is said that a malefic placed in 3rd does not cause any intervention irrespective of the Argala rule defined.
- Bhavat Bhavam:
1-1 (1st house itself expands result of 1st house because 1st from 1st is 1st)
2-3 (3rd house expands result of 2nd house because 2nd from 2nd is 3rd)
3-5 (5th house expands result of 3rd house because 3rd from 3rd is 5th)
4-7 (7th house expands result of 4th house because 4th from 4th is 5th)
5-9 (9th house expands result of 5th house because 5th from 5th is 9th)
6-11 (7th house expands result of 6th house because 6th from 6th is 11th)
7-1 (7th house expands result of 7th house because 7th from 7th is 1st)
8-3 (7th house expands result of 8th house because 8th from 8th is 3rd)
9-5 (7th house expands result of 9th house because 9th from 9th is 5th)
10-7 (7th house expands result of 10th house because 10th from 10th is 7th)
11-9 (7th house expands result of 11th house because 11th from 11th is 9th)
12-11 (7th house expands result of 12th house because 12th from 12th is 11th)
This is a house to house concept with the resulting bhava being the fruit of the bhava enhancing the effects of the initial house. For instance to check the results of the 5th house of children it is not enough if we only verify the 5th house matters. The 5th house from the 5th which is the 9th should also be checked as the 9th bhava happens to be the fruit yielding house for the 5th bhava. In the concept of Bhavat bhavam all the odd houses attain prominence as they happen to be the resultant bhava for the house being checked.
-> Special Category of House Classification / Other Unever Groupings etc:
In few cases there can also be an unequal grouping such as 8 of them belonging to one classification and another 4 belonging to another grading. One of the examples being the Apachaya/Upachaya group where houses 3,6,10,11 houses are said to be part of Upachaya (viz houses of growth) and all others forming part of remaining Apachaya houses. Similarly for marriage we take primarily the 7th of spouse, 2nd of family and 11th of desire fulfillment. All these may come under different grouping mechanism but a combination of all these three houses are key for marriage establishment along with few other houses as well. Like this in few other cases also a few bhavas can be clubbed when checking a signification.
In general, the houses of Vedic Astrology are viewed under this common parameter:
- The 1st, 5th and 9th houses form a triangle and they are known as “Konas” or “Trikonas” or “Trines”.
- The 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th houses form a rectangle and called “Kendras” or “Quadrants”
- The 2nd, 5th, 8th and 11th houses are called called “Panaphara” or “Succeedents”
- The 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th houses are called “Apoklima” or “Cadents”
- The 3rd, 6th, 10th and 11th houses are called “Upachayas”. These are called Growth houses and said to improve with time
- The 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 12th are called "Apachayas". These are the remaining houses not forming part of the Upachaya classification
- The 6th, 8th and 12th houses are called “Trik Sthanas” or “Dusthanas”. Generally these are termed as the bad, evil or negative houses
- The 3rd, 6th, 8th and 12th houses are called “Maraivu” or "Leena". These are the hidden houses. Here the 3rd is added over and above the 6th, 8th and 12th. The reason is all these bhavas become the 12th house of negation from the key houses of 4th (mother), 7th (spouse), 9th (father) and 1st (self)
- The 3rd, 6th and 11th houses are known as "Trishadaya". Here the lords of the houses are termed to be most malefic by nature
- The 4th and 8th houses are called “chaturasras” or the corner houses.
P.S: Picture pulled from internet
-> Conclusion:
Thus, on the whole when checking for a Bhava, it would be prudent to check the resultant bhava also that affects the bhava in question. Out of these the most powerful happen to be checking the odd/even houses in the 6 group category, the Kendra/Panapara/Apoklima in the 4 group category, the different Trikona houses in the 3 group category and the opposite pair of axis in the 2 group category. Apart from the number of planets and influence in the houses specified, it would also be wise to look at the Ashtakavarga points on an individual/combined based to understand which area of life the native is more inclined towards.
