Nabhasa Dala and Akriti yogas are based on the placement of the seven visible grahas, excluding Rahu and Ketu, in houses. There are 22 of these combinations – two under Dala yogas and the rest (20) under Akriti yogas.

Placement of Benefics and Malefics

Four of the Nabhasa Dala and Akriti yogas look at the placement of the benefics and the malefics. You can refer to the article on natural benefics and malefics to determine the grahas to consider. For simplicity, you can assume Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, and the waxing Moon as benefics and Saturn, Mars, Sun, and the waning Moon as malefics.

1. Maala – benefics occupy 3 kendra/angle houses. The native with Maala yoga will be happy and endowed with conveyances, robes, and food.
2. Sarpa – malefics occupy 3 kendra/angle houses. The native with Sarpa yoga will be crooked, cruel, miserable and poor.
3. Vajra – all benefics in (1,7) or all malefics in (4,10) – The native with Vajra yoga will be happy in the beginning and at the end of life. Will be valorous, charming and free of desires.
4. Yava – all benefics in (4,10) or all malefics in (1,7) – The native with Yava yoga will be happy in the middle of life. Will be religious, wealthy and charitable.

Placement of all 7 visible grahas

The rest of the yogas look at the placement of all the seven visible grahas in different houses. Ten of these are based on placement in a sequence of houses.

1. Yupa – all grahas in 4 consecutive houses starting from the 1st (1-4). The native with Yupa yoga will have spiritual knowledge, be interested in religious rites, strong, and distinguished.
2. Sara – all grahas in 4 consecutive houses starting from the 4th (4-7). The native with Sara yoga will earn through animals, eat meat and indulge in torture.
3. Sakthi – all grahas in 4 consecutive houses starting from the 7th (7-10). The native with Sakthi yoga will unsuccessful and lazy. He or she will have long life and be interested and skillful in war.
4. Danda – all grahas in 4 consecutive houses starting from the 10th (10-1). The native with Danda yoga will be unkind, lose his sons and wife, and serve mean people.
5. Nauka – all grahas in 7 consecutive houses starting from the 1st (1-7). The native with Nauka yoga will be wealthy, famous, and miserly.
6. Koota – all grahas in 7 consecutive houses starting from the 4th (4-10). The native with Koota yoga will be a liar, crafty, cruel, and will live in a fortress.
7. Chatra – all grahas in 7 consecutive houses starting from the 7th (7-1). The native with Chatra yoga be intelligent, helpful, kind, and long-lived.
8. Chapa – all grahas in 7 consecutive houses starting from the 10th (10-4). The native with Chapa yoga will be a liar, will protect secrets, and wander in forests.
9. Chakra – all grahas in odd houses (1,3,5,7,9,11). The native with Chakra yoga will be an emperor.
10. Samudra – all grahas in even houses (2,4,6,8,10,12). The native with Samudra yoga will wealthy with precious stones and dear to people.

Placement in Kendras

Four others are based on the placement of all grahas in kendra houses.

1. Gada – all grahas in 2 consecutive kendra houses (1,4) or (4,7) or (7,10) or (10,1). The native with Gada yoga will be wealthy, spiritual and skillful in Shastras and songs.
2. Sakata – all grahas in (1,7). The native with Sakata yoga will be afflicted by diseases, poor, and devoid of friends and relatives.
3. Vihaga – all grahas in (4,10). The native with Vihaga yoga will be fond of roaming, will live by sexual dealings, be shameful and quarrelsome.
4. Kamala – all grahas in 4 angles (1,4,7,10). The native with Kamala yoga will be rich, virtuous, long-lived, famous, and pure.

Placement in other houses

The rest are based on locations in other houses.

1. Sringataka – all grahas in trikona houses (1,5,9). The native with Sringataka yoga will be happy, rich, and dear to the king.
2. Hala – all grahas in (2,6,10) or (3,7,11) or (4,8,12). The native with Hala yoga will be a glutton, poor, and miserable.
3. Vapi – all grahas in (2,5,8,11) or (3,6,9,12). The native with Vapi yoga will be wealthy and happy.
4. Ardha Chandra – all grahas in (6,8,12). The native with Ardha Chandra yoga will lead an army, be strong and wealthy.

Some Examples

Vedic astrology provides a method to predict family members’ chart from a native’s main (D-1) chart. If you want to analyze the spouse’s chart, you would consider the 7th house as the lagna and read the chart. This is because the 7th house represents the native’s spouse.

To analyze all family members you only have to remember the following house significations

• 3rd house – immediately younger sibling
• 4th house – mother
• 5th house – first child
• 7th house – spouse
• 9th house – father
• 11th house – immediately older sibling

You can then apply these in sequence to find other relatives. For example, maternal grandfather is the mother’s father. So, you analyze from the 12th house as the lagna because the 12th house is the 9th house (father) from the 4th house (mother). Remember to always count inclusively in vedic astrology. Similarly, paternal grandmother would be 4th from the 9th house, which again is the 12th house. You take the quickest route, using the relations given above, to get to the person. To get to your mother’s father you don’t use – mother’s mother’s spouse.

When there are multiples – siblings, children, you start with the nearest and move from there until you reach the individual. The first child will be the 5th house. The second child is the younger sibling (3rd from) of the first child, so this would be 3rd from the 5th house or the 7th house. The next child will be the younger sibling of the 2nd child, so this would be 3rd from the 7th house or the 9th house. For siblings, the 3rd house from the native would be the younger sibling closest in age to the native. The 3rd from the 3rd would be the next younger sibling. The 11th house represents the elder sibling closest in age to the native. The 11th from the 11th would be the next elder sibling.

To predict family members like in-laws you would start with the spouse and sequence from there until you find the relation. Father-in-law would be 9th from 7th or 3rd. Mother-in-law would be 4th from 7th or 10th.

This approach is not always reciprocal. 7th is the house of spouse and 7th from 7th, or the 1st house, is the spouse’s spouse, you – this works! However, 4th is the house of mother and 5th from the 4th, or 8th, is the mother’s child. This should be you (1st house) if you are the only child!

There are only 12 houses, so many relations will be analyzed from the same house. For example, the following are some relations that would be analyzed from the 1st house (same as the native)

• The native (you)
• Sixth younger sibling
• Sixth older sibling
• Father’s second younger sibling
• Spouse’s younger sister’s first child

Gandanta points are astronomical in nature. Gravity is the scientific force that serves as the guiding principle in vedic astrology. Gravitational force is directly proportional to the mass of the objects and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the objects. Therefore, the Moon, which is closest to the Earth, is very important. Similarly, large objects like the Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn are also important while reading a vedic chart.

Planets moving around the Sun follow specific orbits. Earth does not have free will to take any path around the Sun. The further the object is from the Sun, the less influence the Sun has on the object. That is why Pluto has an erratic orbit. The idea of a fated destiny also comes from this concept.

Twelve constellations (zodiacs) and 27 nakshatras (stars) make up the vedic sky. Each constellation covers 30 degrees (360/12). Each nakshatra covers 13 degrees and 20 minutes (360/27). The constellations or nakshatras have the weakest influence at the extremities, which are also the areas between two constellations or nakshatras. “Sandhi” points are 1 degree on either side of such boundaries.

Gandanta Definition

There are three special points that serve as boundaries for constellations and nakshatras. These points are the “Gandanta” points. Graha in 1 degree on either side of the “Gandata” points are in the “Gandanta” zone. Gandanta points form at the boundary of

• Cancer/Leo and Ashlesha/Magha – 120 degrees
• Scorpio/Sagittarius and Jyeshta/Moola – 240 degrees
• Pisces/Aries and Revati/Ashwini – 360 degrees

Gandanta Effects

Grahas in the Gandanta zone (1 degree on either side of the Gandanta point) can be erratic and uncertain. So, there is some fear about them. I don’t give this too much importance because

1. Classical texts write very little about Gandanta. Graha weakness is a result of debilitation, combustion, planetary war, or position of the graha in an enemy sign.
2. The closest reference to vedic scriptures is the concept of bala avastas. In this, grahas in the first 6 degrees of odd rasis and the last 6 degrees of even rasis are like babies and so are not considered to yield their full power. The gandanta zone would fall under this window. Bala avastas can add color to interpretation, but should not be used exclusively. Sun in Aries at 2 degrees, is exalted and vargottama, but in bala avasta. This Sun is strong, maybe just a little immature!
3. Gandanta points are purely a mathematical artifact of choosing where the constellation and nakshatra boundaries fall. Therefore, the points are arbitrary.
4. In transits, grahas spend very little time in the gandanta zone. Five of the nine grahas would cross the zone in 2 days. These are Sun, Moon, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. Jupiter, Rahu and Ketu take about a month and Saturn takes about 2 months.
5. Jupiter gandanta is especially less worrisome because Jupiter is strong in all the gandanta signs. It is exalted in Cancer, in its own sign in Pisces and Sagittarius, and in its friend’s sign in Aries, Leo, and Scorpio.

Vedic astrology gives emphasis to three main reference points, or lagnas; the Sun, the Moon, and the Ascendant.

The Ascendant or the Udaya Lagna represents reality. If you want to look at what will happen in someone’s life you would analyze from the ascendant. That is why a lot of emphasis is given to the ascendant in vedic astrology.

The Moon or the Chandra Lagna represents our mind or feelings. If you want to look at how someone will feel you would analyze from the Moon sign. Essentially imagine that the ascendant is at the same degree as the Moon and use normal vedic techniques to analyze the chart.

The Sun or the Surya Lagna represents our ideals. If you want to understand someone’s ideals you can analyze from the Sun sign.

Lastly, if you want to look at what others think about you, you can use the Arudha Lagna and analyze the chart from that position.

For example, around children, whether or not one would have children and the number of children should be looked at from the Ascendant. This is factual. Whether the person will have a good or bad relationship with their children should be looked at from the Moon sign. This is at an emotional level. One’s ideals about having children should be looked at from the Sun sign. Someone could consider having children a burden to the environment (ideal), but still love children (emotional) and even have them (factual). Lastly, what other’s think about you and children should be looked at from the Arudra Lagna.

Out of these the ascendant and the Moon lagnas are the most important, hence the focus on these in vedic astrology.

Vargottama grahas are grahas that are in the same rasi (sign) in the Rasi (D-1) and Navamsa (D-9) charts.

Such grahas gain strength. They are stronger than the strength indicated in the D-1 chart. A strong (exalted, own sign, dig bala…) graha becomes stronger if it is in the same rasi in the D-9 chart. A weak (debilitated, combust…) graha in the D-1 chart increases its strength if it is in vargottama. Phala Deepika indicates that a vargottama graha’s strength is equivalent to that of the graha in its own sign. A chart with 2 or more such grahas is very strong.

Identifying grahas that would be vargottama is easy to do from the Rasi (D-1) chart itself. Every rasi (sign) has a 3 degree 20 minutes portion in which grahas will be vargottama.

• Movable signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) – 0:00 to 3:20
• Fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) – 13:20 to 16:40
• Dual signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) – 26:40 to 30:00

Example – Warren Buffet

In Warren Buffet’s chart, Sun, Venus, Rahu, and Ketu are in the same sign in D1 and D9. These grahas are in very important houses in his chart – 5th, 9th, 10th, and 11th houses. 5,9,11 indicates wealth and 10th indicates career.

Example – Winston Churchill

In Winston Churchill’s chart Rahu, Ketu, Jupiter, and Sun are in the same sign in D1 and D9. These grahas are in his 2nd and 8th houses. The 8th house produced unexpected turn of events in Churchill’s life which made him famous.

Vargottama is often overlooked because it is not obvious from the Rasi chart. Software programs show the D9 chart and a quick comparison can reveal vargottamas. It is easier to identify these using the south indian chart. In the north indian chart the rasis are not fixed, so it is harder to see this pattern.