The Horoscope

A horoscopic chart is the presentation of the zodiac and the planets of the solar system at any given moment for a particular location on the surface of the earth. As the beginning point of the zodiac is important for the divisions of the zodiac, so is the ascendant for the horoscope and, therefore, the individual.

Concept of the Lagna or Ascendant

Ascendant is the point of intersection of the ecliptic and the eastern horizon of a place at a given time. In Vedic Astrology it is referred to as the Lagna — the ‘point of joining’ or the ‘cutting point’ of the eastern horizon and the zodiac.

A horoscope is divided in twelve parts called Bhavas or houses. The Lagna represents the first house of the horoscope. It is also referred to as the rising sign.

The sign of the zodiac setting in the western horizon is the Descendant or the setting sign. It is exactly 180 degrees opposite to the ascendant and represents the seventh house of the horoscope.

The meridian of the place passing through the zenith cuts the ecliptic at a point which represents the midpoint of the tenth house of the horoscope. This is also referred to as Medium Coeli or MC.

The point on the ecliptic exactly 180 degrees opposite the midpoint of the tenth house represents the midpoint of the 4th house.

The Bhavas

The degrees of the lagna (ascendant), the 4th, the 7th (descendant) and the 10th represent (approximately) the central points of the first, fourth, seventh and tenth houses. Please refer to the diagram.

The arcs between the lagna and the fourth (∠a in the diagram), the fourth and the seventh (∠b), the seventh and the tenth (∠c), and the tenth and the lagna (∠d) are generally not ninety degrees each, their span varies depending upon the latitude of the place. In any case, the arc between the lagna and the fourth cusp is equal to the arc between the seventh and the tenth cusp (∠a = ∠c), and the arc between the fourth and the seventh cusp is equal to the one between the tenth cusp and the lagna (∠b = ∠d).

The arc between the lagna and fourth (∠a) is divided into three equal parts (∠al, ∠a2, ∠a3) to obtain the central points of the second and the third houses. One hundred and eighty degrees added to second and the third central points provides the central points of the eighth and the ninth houses respectively. Similarly the arc between the tenth and the lagna (∠d) is divided into three equal parts (∠d1, ∠d2, ∠d3) to obtain the central points of the eleventh and the twelfth houses. One hundred and eighty degrees added to these give the central points of the fifth and the sixth houses respectively. Each house extends on either side of its central point to an extent which falls exactly between the two adjacent central points; this point is known as Bhava Sandhi or the junctional point of the two bhavas. Although the central point is called the Bhava Madhya or the mid point of the bhava or the house, the actual extent of the house or bhava on either side of the central point may vary in case of the lagna, the fourth, the seventh, and the tenth houses. In any case, the extent of the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th bhavas will always be equal. The extents of the 2nd, 3rd, 8th and 9th will be equal among each other on one hand and of 5th, 6th, 11th and 12th will be equal among each other on the other hand. In the diagram, notice the difference between the extent of the second and the twelfth bhavas.

The Houses

The construction of a horoscopic chart on the basis of the above concepts, known as the Bhava Kundali , is a totally astronomical concept. In common astrological parlance, however, a bhava is taken to be synonymous with the house.

The sign coinciding with the ascendant is considered as the first house of the horoscope irrespective of the cusp of the ascendant which may fall at any particular point in that sign. The remaining signs falling in order represent the remaining houses of the horoscope.

North Indian Chart

The above diagram shows the North Indian system of presentation of the horoscopic chart with its twelve houses. The four central rhomboid areas represent the four kendras or quadrants consisting of the lagna or the ascendant, the fourth house, the seventh house or the descendant, and the tenth house. From the lagna, which is represented by the upper central rhombus, the twelve houses fall one after the other in an anti-clockwise direction. Since the order of the houses is fixed, they are not labeled as such but the signs falling in these houses are marked. Thus for example, if Simha (Leo), which is the fifth sign of the zodiac, happens to be the lagna then sign ‘5’ is marked in the lagna and the remaining signs marked successively in the successive houses.

South Indian Chart

The presentation of the South Indian chart is different. Here, instead of the houses, the signs are fixed and are counted in clockwise direction from the right box to the top left corner represented by Mesha (Aries). The sign that represents the rising sign is marked as the lagna and the remaining houses are counted from there considering the lagna as the first house. The South Indian chart here has been depicted showing Simha (Leo) as the lagna. The houses starting from Simha have been marked in Roman numerals while the rashies or signs have been marked in English numerals. In the actual South Indian horoscope, the houses and the rashis are not depicted by any numbers since the rashis are fixed and the houses are counted from the rashi coinciding with the lagna.

Presentation of the zodiac in the form of a horoscopic chart

The graphic representation below elucidates the correlation of the zodiac and its various signs with the different houses of the horoscopic chart.

Figure A indicates the location of a person at the equator. The east and west points for the individual as well as the horizon have been shown. Because of the spin of the earth in a west-to-east direction, different points of the zodiac will go on rising and setting.

Figure B clarifies the location of the cusps of the ascendant, the fourth house, the descendant, and the tenth house. The point where the zodiac and horizon intersect each other in the eastern direction is known as the lagna or the ascendant. In the western direction this intersection indicates the seventh house or the descendant. The point where the meridian passing through the zenith intersects the ecliptic is the cusp of the tenth house where as its opposite point is the cusp of the fourth house. It is also obvious from the diagram that the arc between the ascendant and the tenth house is not necessarily equal to the arc between the tenth and the seventh. The difference would be more pronounced at higher latitudes.

Figure C is the projection of the zodiac in the form of a north Indian horoscopic chart. The lagna indicates the east and the seventh house the west direction. Similarly the tenth indicates the mid-heaven and the fourth house the nadir. In interpretative astrology the tenth house indicates the southern direction probably because, for an individual situated in northern India (above 23.5 degrees latitude) where Vedic astrology is supposed to have originated, the tenth house cusp would always appear to be located southward (refer to pages 220-21). The fourth house because of its location exactly at 180° from the tenth (south) indicates the northern direction. The arc between the lagna and the seventh house constitutes the dark or invisible half of the horoscope whereas the arc between the seventh house and the lagna is the brighter or the visible half of the horoscope.

© Rajeev Jhanji, Vedic Astrology