How to read a Lagna Kundali ?

Mragank Shandilya
20 Min To Read
November 10, 2021
- Kundali

In our previous article, we already studied the very basics of Astrology and Kundali. If you haven’t read that article, then you may read it here.

But anyways, we are going to recap the most important concepts of Lagna Kundali here again. As in this article, we are going to dive much deeper in the reading and interpretation of Lagna Kundali.

Various charts

There are various charts that are used in Astrology:

Lagna Chart (लग्न कुंडली) or Janam Kundali or Birth Chart - It is the most important chart, and all other charts are made using this chart only. In a lagna kundali, you will see lagna (लग्न, or लₒ) written in the first house of the kundali.
Navamsa Kundali (नवमांश कुंडली) - This chart is used for more in-depth analysis of a person’s life. While Lagna Chart shows the positions of various planets, Sun and Moon, in Navamsa Chart we can find out their strength.
Chandra Kundali (चंद्र कुंडली) - It is based on the position of the Moon.
Chalit Chart (चलित कुण्‍डली)

Table of Contents

What is Lagna Kundali ?
Relation between Houses of Kundali and Zodiac Signs (Rashis)
Relation between Houses of Kundali and Planets
Relation between Planets
Relation between Zodiac Signs (Rashis) and Planets
Some Examples
A Case Study

What is Lagna Kundali ?

Lagna Kundali is the snapshot of the planetary positions at the moment of a person’s birth.

Lagna Kundali is basically a chart having 12 rhombus-shaped sections, called houses. It has been represented below:

The first house is the top centre section in the chart. The rest of the houses are numbered in counter-clockwise way in a zic-zag manner (as prepresented in the chart above).

Details of the 12 houses of Kundali

Each of the twelve houses (खाने या भाव) of a Lagna Chart stands for some particular aspects of the life of a person. Let’s learn what these houses represent.

House 1 - It tells about the personality, nature and appearance of a person.
House 2 - It tells about Finances, Voice, and initial education of a person.
House 3 - It tells about younger siblings, courage, resilience of a person.
House 4 - It is the house of happiness, i.e. things that brings happiness in our life, e.g. our mother, property, vehicles, etc.
House 5 - It gives us clues regarding our higher education, love, children, etc.
House 6 - It is the house of diseases, our enemies, competition, etc.
House 7 - It is the house of marriage, or partnership with anyone.
House 8 - It gives us indication of sudden happenings in our life.
House 9 - This house is of spirituality, luck, mentor/teacher, and long-distance travels.
House 10 - This is the house of our Karma, i.e. action. It gives us clues about a person’s profession, and also his father.
House 11 - It is the house of profit, income, achievements. It also gives us clues regarding our elder siblings and friends.
House 12 - This is the house of loss, expenditure, foreign travels and settlement in other countries, etc.

Houses 6, 8 and 12 are considered negative houses (as they are related to many negative aspects of our life). But there are some positives attached even with these houses. For example, house 12 is related to foreign travels, house 8 is related to deep research, and house 6 is related to success in competition.

Relation between Houses of Kundali and Zodiac Signs (Rashis)

We know that there are 12 zodiac signs (rashis). The numbers assigned to various zodiac signs are:

Aries (मेष) - 1
Taurus (वृषभ) - 2
Gemini (मिथुन) - 3
Cancer (कर्क) - 4
Leo (सिंह) - 5
Virgo (कन्या) - 6
Libra (तुला) - 7
Scorpio (वृश्चिक) - 8
Sagittarius (धनु) - 9
Capricorn (मकर) - 10
Aquarius (कुंभ) - 11
Pisces (मीन) - 12

One zodiac sign (rashi) will reside in each house of the Lagna Kundali.

The zodiac sign which is the lagna will be kept in the first house of the Lagna Kundali. All the other zodiac signs are placed in relation to the zodiac sign in the first house (i.e. the Ascendant or Lagna), in ascending order.

For example, if Cancer (i.e. 4) is the Lagna of a person and so is in the first house, we will keep Leo (i.e. 5) in the second house, Virgo (i.e. 6) in the third house, and so on. Lagna Kundali

Concept of Ascendant or Lagna

The entire zodiac belt is made up of 12 zodiac signs (e.g. Leo, Scorpio, Libra, etc.) and each zodiac sign takes 2 hours to rise on the eastern horizon. The sign that was rising on the eastern horizon at the time of your birth will be your Ascendant or Lagna. This will be placed in the first house.

Note

Kindly do not confuse the house numbers with the numbers of the zodiac signs. They need not be the same.

Every zodiac sign (rashi) has its own peculiar nature and character. So, it will impact the house in which it resides in its own peculiar way.

Note

In North-Indian Kundali, the position of houses remain the same, but the position of zodiac signs (rashis) may change. On the other hand, in South-Indian Kundali, the position of zodiac signs (rashis) remain the same, but the position of houses may change.

Here, we will be studying North-Indian Kundali only.

Relation between Houses of Kundali and Planets

There’s always exactly one zodiac sign (राशि) in each house of the Lagna Chart. However, there may be 0, 1 or more planets in any particular house.

There are nine planets - Sun (सूर्य), Moon (चंद्र), Mars (मंगल), Mercury (बुध), Jupiter (बृहस्पति), Venus (शुक्र), Saturn (शनि), Rahu (राहु), Ketu (केतु). Each planet has its own nature, and will impact the house in which they reside in that peculiar manner.

A few dimensions of the nature of the planets are given below:

Benign and Cruel - For example, Moon (चंद्र), Jupiter (बृहस्पति), Venus (शुक्र) are Benign (सौम्य) planets, while Sun (सूर्य), Mars (मंगल), Saturn (शनि), Rahu (राहु), Ketu (केतु) are considered Cruel (क्रूर) planets.
Exalted and Debilitated - These planets may be in Exalted (Uchcha, उच्च) state, or Debilitated (Neech, नीच) state. If a planet is in exalted state, then it will give good results (better than they would normally do). Planets in debilitated state give bad results (worse than they would normally do).
Degree of a Planet (ansh, अंश) - Each planet in your Kundali will have a certain degree between 0° and 30°.

Degree of a planet denotes the age of a planet.

0° to 6° denotes the childhood stage of a planet (बालावस्था), and a planet in this state will give only 25% of its intended results.
6° to 12° denotes the youth stage of a planet (युवावस्था), and a planet in this state will give only 50% of its intended results.
12° to 18° denotes the adult stage of a planet (पूर्ण युवावस्था), and a planet in this state will give 100% of its intended results.
18° to 24° denotes the mature stage of a planet (प्रौढ़ावस्था), and a planet in this state will give only 50% of its intended results.
24° to 30° denotes the old stage of a planet (वृद्धावस्था), and a planet in this state will give only 25% of its intended results.
In fact, as per many experts if a planet is between 0°-2°, or between 29°-30°, then it will give 0% of its intended results.

The rules regarding the Exalted (Uchcha, उच्च) state and Debilitated (Neech, नीच) state are as follows:

Sun is in exalted state if it is in Aries (मेष) zodiac sign (rashi), i.e. zodiac number 1. It will be in debilitated state in Libra (तुला) zodiac sign, i.e. zodiac number 7.
Moon is in exalted state if it is in Taurus (वृषभ) zodiac sign (rashi), i.e. zodiac number 2. It will be in debilitated state in Scorpio (वृश्चिक) zodiac sign, i.e. zodiac number 8.
Rahu is in exalted state if it is in Taurus (वृषभ), or Gemini (मिथुन) zodiac signs, i.e. zodiac numbers 2 or 3. It will be in debilitated state in Scorpio (वृश्चिक) or Sagittarius (धनु) zodiac signs, i.e. zodiac numbers 8 or 9.
Jupiter is in exalted state if it is in Cancer (कर्क) zodiac sign, i.e. zodiac number 4. It will be in debilitated state in Capricorn (मकर) zodiac sign, i.e. zodiac number 10.
Mercury is in exalted state if it is in Virgo (कन्या) zodiac sign, i.e. zodiac number 6. It will be in debilitated state in Pisces (मीन) zodiac sign, i.e. zodiac number 12.
Saturn is in exalted state if it is in Libra (तुला) zodiac sign, i.e. zodiac number 7. It will be in debilitated state in Aries (मेष) zodiac sign (rashi), i.e. zodiac number 1.
Ketu is in exalted state if it is in Scorpio (वृश्चिक) or Sagittarius (धनु) zodiac signs, i.e. zodiac numbers 8 or 9. It will be in debilitated state in Taurus (वृषभ), or Gemini (मिथुन) zodiac signs, i.e. zodiac numbers 2 or 3.
Mars is in exalted state if it is in Capricorn (मकर) zodiac sign, i.e. zodiac number 10. It will be in debilitated state in Cancer (कर्क) zodiac sign, i.e. zodiac number 4.
Venus is in exalted state if it is in Pisces (मीन) zodiac sign, i.e. zodiac number 12. It will be in debilitated state in Virgo (कन्या) zodiac sign, i.e. zodiac number 6.

Note

If a planet is in an exalted state in a zodiac sign number x, then it will be in a debilitated state in the zodiac sign number x+6, i.e. in the 7th zodiac sign from the earlier one.

No planet is in an exalted state in Leo (सिंह) or Aquarius (कुंभ) zodiac signs, i.e. in rashi number 5 or 11.

A planet not only influences the house it is in, it also influences the houses it has its eyes on (i.e. the houses where it lays its sight on). This sight may be Auspicious or Inauspicious (शुभ और अशुभ).

Here are the rules related to the sight of various planets:

All planets lay their sight on the 7th house from the house they are sitting in (while counting it, we start from the house in which that planet is sitting).
Mars (मंगल) also looks at 4th and 8th house from the house it is sitting in.
Jupiter (बृहस्पति) also looks at 5th and 9th house from the house it is sitting in.
Saturn (शनि) also looks at 3rd and 10th house from the house it is sitting in.
Rahu (राहु) and Ketu (केतु) also look at 5th and 9th house from the house they are sitting in.

Note

You can get your Kundali made for free by using many online Kundali-making software. You just need to provide your name, date and time of birth, and place of birth. Some of these may provide you the details of the degree of the planets too, some will not. You may have to explore a bit.

Relation between Planets

Planets in a Kundali have effect on each other too. They may be friends, enemies, or neutral based on their nature and their position in the Lagna Chart.

These planets are considered God planets (Dev, देव): Sun (सूर्य), Moon (चंद्र), Mars (मंगल), and Jupiter (बृहस्पति). All these planets are very friendly with each other.

These planets are considered Devil planets (Danav, दानव): Venus (शुक्र), Saturn (शनि), Rahu (राहु) and Ketu (केतु). All these planets are very friendly with each other.

However, God planets are enemies of Devil planets. For example, Mars will be an enemny planet of Rahu, Venus will be an enemny planet of Jupiter, etc.

In some cases, they may be neutral, but they will never be friends. For example, Mars represents our body and Venus represents our sex. So, they may be considered neutral to each other. Similarly, Jupiter (representing knowledge) and Saturn (representing research and justice) are neutral to each other.

Mercury (बुध) kind of lies in between, and has good relations with most of the other planets. So, it is a friend of all Devil planets, as well as Jupiter and Sun. However, it is an enemy of Moon and Mars. Mercury represents our wisdom, memory, voice.

If two or more planets are in a relation, it’s called conjunction (yuti, युति). Conjunction with an enemy planet will give negative results, while that with a friendly planet will give positive results.

Apart from all these, there are also some good and bad yogs that are formed in a Kundali, based on positions of the various planets. We must also be aware of these, e.g. Rajyog (they are of various kinds), Angarak Yog, etc.

Relation between Zodiac Signs (Rashis) and Planets

Planets are also related to zodiac signs (i.e. rashis). All planets (except Rahu and Ketu) are owners of one or two zodiac signs (rashis).

Sun (सूर्य) - It is the owner of Leo (सिंह) zodiac sign
Moon (चंद्र) - It is the owner of Cancer (कर्क) zodiac sign
Mars (मंगल) - It is the owner of Aries (मेष) and Scorpio (वृश्चिक) zodiac signs
Mercury (बुध) - It is the owner of Gemini (मिथुन) and Virgo (कन्या) zodiac signs
Jupiter (बृहस्पति) - It is the owner of Sagittarius (धनु) and Pisces (मीन) zodiac signs
Venus (शुक्र) - It is the owner of Taurus (वृषभ) and Libra (तुला) zodiac signs
Saturn (शनि) - It is the owner of Capricorn (मकर) and Aquarius (कुंभ) zodiac signs

Note

We already know that the rashi in the first house is called the lagna rashi. Moreover, the rashi having the moon, is called the chandra rashi. And the rashi having the sun, is called the surya rashi.

Now, there are some rules that you must know:

Rule 1

The planet that is the owner of your lagna rashi (called lagnesh) is always favorable to you. It will always give you good results, wherever it sits, whatever house it governs, and wherever it lays its sight on. For example, if Cancer is the zodiac sign governing the first house of your kundali, then it means Moon is your lagnesh and will always be favorable to you.

The planets which are enemies of your lagnesh, will be unfavorable (marak, मारक) to you and give you bad results. As Moon is a God planet, all Devil planets (Venus, Saturn, Rahu, Ketu) will be your enemy, and will give bad results wherever they sit, or have influence on. However, if some of them are sitting in all positive houses, then they may behave neutral. For example, even if Saturn is your enemy planet, but is sitting in houses 10 and 11, which are both positive houses, then it will not give you very bad results. It will be kind of neutral. You may think it as a minister who is against the government, but is give two good portfolio and so is content and won’t work against the government.

Similary, even a friendly planet (yogkarak grah, योगकारक) sitting in a negative house may give you some bad results. Imagine a minister of your own party, not happy with the ministry he has been given.

So, you will get good results only if a friendly planet is sitting in one of the positive houses (i.e. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11). You need Favorable Planet + Positive House combo.

Note

If a planet is in exalted state in your kundali, then it will give good results even if it is an enemy of your lagnesh.

Similarly, if a planet is in debilitated state, then it will give bad results even if it is a friendly planet to your lagnesh.

Rule 2

Even if the planet that is the owner of your lagna rashi (called lagnesh) is sitting in a negative house (i.e. 6, 8 or 12) too, it will not give negative results. For example, if Scorpio (वृश्चिक) zodiac sign is your lagna, then it means that the first house of your kundali is governed by Mars. Mars is also the owner of Aries (मेष) zodiac sign, that is assigned to the 6th house. So, you will not witness any bad results related to the 6th house in your life. Your lagnesh will take care of that aspect of your life.

Rule 3

Houses 1, 5 and 9 are called triangular houses. If a planet that is owner of a zodiac sign (rashi) in one of the triangular houses, is also the owner of a negative house, then also it will not give negative results. For example, if Sagittarius (धनु) is in the 9th house and so Pisces (मीन) is in the 12th house (both of whom are governed by Jupiter), then you will not get negative results of the 12th house.

Note

Central houses (i.e. 1, 4, 7, 10) and Triangular houses (i.e. 1, 5, 9) are considered powerful houses, as they govern the most important aspects of our life.

Mahadasha and Antardasha

The planet whose Mahadasha is on in your life right now, will be impacting your life the most. The second most influence will be made by the planet whose Antardasha is on.

When Mahadasha or Antardasha of a favorable planet comes, you will see many good results in your life (if that planet is sitting in a positive house). The Mahadasha or Antardasha time-period of unfavorable planets (or favorable planets sitting in negative houses) will give you bad results.

The rules stated above are just the general rules. There are various exceptions to the above rules, many rajyogs, and vipreet rajyogs that are formed in a kundali. However, we will not cover these in this article. Here our focus is only on learning the very basic rules of Lagna Kundali reading.

Now, we know the basics of Lagna Kundali. It’s time to practice, by seeing some examples.

Some Examples

We will not start interpreting whole Kundalis as of now. But we will have a look at some minor aspects of a Kundali, and try to decipher its meaning.

If Mercury (बुध) is in a house that is governed by Gemini (मिथुन) or Virgo (कन्या) zodiac sign, i.e. Mercury planet is in its own house, then it will mean that the person would probably be very good in speaking. That’s because Mercury (बुध) gives us good speaking skills. If the degree of Mercury is between 12° to 18°, then this effect will be even greater. If the lagna of a kundali (i.e. 1st house) is Gemini (मिथुन) or Virgo (कन्या), and Mercury is also in that house, then this effect will be much greater.
If Cancer (कर्क) zodiac sign is sitting in the first house of a kundali, then it means that Moon (चंद्र) is the lagnesh or the main governing planet of that kundali. Mars is in debilitated state in Cancer (कर्क) zodiac sign. So, Mars will give bad results in such a kundali if it is situated in the first house, even though it is a friendly planet of Moon. However, there are some yogs that neutralize the debilitated state, and even make that planet give positive results, e.g. Neechbhang rajyog (नीचभंग राजयोग). We will cover these special cases, and exceptions to the general rules in separate articles.

A Case Study

Let’s consider an example. Here’s a Kundali of a person who was born in the morning of 18th August, 1983, at 4:45 AM, at Meerut (UP). Lagna Kundali

In the above chart Su stands for Sun, Mo for Moon, Ma for Mars, Me for Mercury, Ju for Jupiter, Ve for Venus, Sa for Saturn, Ra for Rahu, and Ke for Ketu.

Note

Some Kundali generator software show three extra planets – Uranus (Ur), Neptune (Ne) and Pluto (Pl). However, you may ignore them for most practical purposes for now.

The kundali given above was made using the following online kundali software - Astrosage

Now, let’s analyse this kundali.

Which House is governed by which Zodiac Sign and Planet?

Can you point out the zodiac signs (rashis) in the various houses of the above kundali, and probably the planets that own those signs?

Here they are: Lagna Kundali

So, the Cancer Zodiac sign, which is sitting in the first house, is the Lagna of this kundali. As Cancer zodiac sign is owned by Moon planet, it will be called the Langesh of this kundali.

Position of Planets and their Strength

Now, can you also see the various planets and their degrees? Lagna Kundali

You can observe in the kundali given above that:

Sun has 0°, and Moon, Mercury, Ketu and Rahu have 28°. So, these planets will almost be ineffective, i.e. they will give almost 0% results.
Saturn has 5°, and so it will give 25% of its intended results.
Mars has 9°, and Jupiter has 8°, and so they will give 50% of their intended results.
Venus has 12°, and so it will give 100% of its intended results.

Influencing the strength of Planets

If a friendly planet in your kundali has very low degree, i.e. is weak, then it’s like having a weak friend – bad luck right! It won’t be able to do good to you, even if it wants too.

However, if an enemy planet in your kundali has very low degree, i.e. is weak, then it’s good for you. It won’t be able to do as much harm as it would otherwise have.

But you can influence the strength of the planets. Have you seen people wearing various stones?

That’s how it’s done. You can wear various stones for different planets and strengthen their effect on your life. For example, people wear White Pearl (Moti) for Moon planet. There are various other methods too though, e.g. various rituals, mantras, etc.

However, it should always be done under the supervision of an expert astrologer, and after thorough research. Strengthening the wrong planet at a wrong phase in your life may have adverse effects.

Sight of Planets

The next thing that we need to know is the sights of various planets. We know that each planet not only influences the house that it sits in, but also the house where it lays its sight (Drishti, दृष्टि) on.

The sights of various planets in the above kundali have been represented below:

All planets lay their sight on the 7th house from the house they are sitting in (while counting it, we start from the house in which that planet is sitting). That is, they lay their sight on the diagonally opposite house, as shown below.
Mars (मंगल) also looks at 4th and 8th house from the house it is sitting in, as represented below:
Jupiter (बृहस्पति) also looks at 5th and 9th house from the house it is sitting in, as represented below:
Saturn (शनि) also looks at 3rd and 10th house from the house it is sitting in, as represented below:
Rahu (राहु) and Ketu (केतु) also look at 5th and 9th house from the house they are sitting in, as represented below:

Exalted state and Debilitated state of Planets

Another thing that we should consider is the Exalted (Uchcha, उच्च) state and Debilitated (Neech, नीच) state of various planets in the kundali.

Can you find out which planets are in which state in the above kundali?

Let’s see.

Mars is in Cancer (कर्क) zodiac sign. Mars is in debilitated state in Cancer (कर्क) zodiac sign.
Sun, Venus and Mercury are in Leo (सिंह) zodiac sign. No planet is in exalted or debilitated state in Leo zodiac sign.
Saturn is in Libra (तुला) zodiac sign. Saturn is in exalted state in Libra (तुला) zodiac sign.
Moon, Jupiter, and Ketu are in Scorpio (वृश्चिक) zodiac sign. Moon is in debilitated state in Scorpio (वृश्चिक) zodiac sign. While, Ketu is in exalted state if it is in Scorpio (वृश्चिक).
Rahu is in Taurus (वृषभ) zodiac sign. Rahu is in exalted state in Taurus (वृषभ).

So, in the given kundali:

Exalted Planets – Saturn, Rahu, Ketu. (These planets are enemy planets of the Lagnesh Moon, but they will give good results, as they are in exalted state.)
Debilitated Planets – Mars, Moon. (Mars is a friendly planet of the Lagnesh Moon, but it will give bad results, as it is in debilitated state, unless there is some exceptional Yog like Neech bhang Raj Yog.)
Planets in normal state – Sun, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter.