Every house in your kundli has a lord (bhavesh or bhavadhipati): the planet that rules the sign on that house. The lord is often more important than the house itself, because wherever the lord goes, it carries that house's affairs with it. This guide gives you the lord of every house for all 12 Lagnas in one table, explains yogakarakas and functional benefics, and shows how to read a lord placed in another house.
Find your Lagna and house lords. The free Kundli calculator shows your Lagna and the sign of each house, so you can read the lords straight from the table below. No sign-up.
How a house gets its lord
Each house holds one sign, and each sign has a ruling planet:
| Sign | Lord | Sign | Lord |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aries (Mesh) | Mars | Libra (Tula) | Venus |
| Taurus (Vrishabh) | Venus | Scorpio (Vrishchik) | Mars |
| Gemini (Mithun) | Mercury | Sagittarius (Dhanu) | Jupiter |
| Cancer (Kark) | Moon | Capricorn (Makar) | Saturn |
| Leo (Singh) | Sun | Aquarius (Kumbh) | Saturn |
| Virgo (Kanya) | Mercury | Pisces (Meen) | Jupiter |
So the lord of a house is simply the lord of the sign on it. If your 7th house is Aquarius, your 7th lord is Saturn. Because Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn rule two signs each, they usually rule two houses in your chart.
The house lords for every Lagna
Find your Lagna in the first column; the row gives the lord of each house. (Su = Sun, Mo = Moon, Ma = Mars, Me = Mercury, Ju = Jupiter, Ve = Venus, Sa = Saturn.)
| Lagna | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aries | Ma | Ve | Me | Mo | Su | Me | Ve | Ma | Ju | Sa | Sa | Ju |
| Taurus | Ve | Me | Mo | Su | Me | Ve | Ma | Ju | Sa | Sa | Ju | Ma |
| Gemini | Me | Mo | Su | Me | Ve | Ma | Ju | Sa | Sa | Ju | Ma | Ve |
| Cancer | Mo | Su | Me | Ve | Ma | Ju | Sa | Sa | Ju | Ma | Ve | Me |
| Leo | Su | Me | Ve | Ma | Ju | Sa | Sa | Ju | Ma | Ve | Me | Mo |
| Virgo | Me | Ve | Ma | Ju | Sa | Sa | Ju | Ma | Ve | Me | Mo | Su |
| Libra | Ve | Ma | Ju | Sa | Sa | Ju | Ma | Ve | Me | Mo | Su | Me |
| Scorpio | Ma | Ju | Sa | Sa | Ju | Ma | Ve | Me | Mo | Su | Me | Ve |
| Sagittarius | Ju | Sa | Sa | Ju | Ma | Ve | Me | Mo | Su | Me | Ve | Ma |
| Capricorn | Sa | Sa | Ju | Ma | Ve | Me | Mo | Su | Me | Ve | Ma | Ju |
| Aquarius | Sa | Ju | Ma | Ve | Me | Mo | Su | Me | Ve | Ma | Ju | Sa |
| Pisces | Ju | Ma | Ve | Me | Mo | Su | Me | Ve | Ma | Ju | Sa | Sa |
Yogakarakas and functional benefics
The houses a planet rules decide whether it acts as a friend or a challenge for your Lagna, whatever its natural reputation. This is called its functional nature:
- Lords of trikonas (1, 5, 9) are always favourable.
- Lords of kendras (1, 4, 7, 10) are neutral to favourable.
- Lords of dusthanas (6, 8, 12) tend to bring obstacles in their dashas.
- A planet that rules both a kendra and a trikona is a yogakaraka, the best planet in the chart.
| Lagna | Yogakaraka | Houses it rules |
|---|---|---|
| Taurus | Saturn | 9th and 10th |
| Libra | Saturn | 4th and 5th |
| Cancer | Mars | 5th and 10th |
| Leo | Mars | 4th and 9th |
| Capricorn | Venus | 5th and 10th |
| Aquarius | Venus | 4th and 9th |
The other six Lagnas have no single yogakaraka, but still have strong functional benefics: for Aries the Sun and Jupiter, for Scorpio the Sun and Moon, for Pisces the Moon and Mars, and so on.
What a lord in another house means
The basic rule: the lord of house A placed in house B joins the matters of A with the matters of B. A few examples:
- 10th lord in the 7th: career through partners, clients or business.
- 5th lord in the 9th: children, education and luck support each other; a classical blessing.
- 7th lord in the 12th: a spouse from a distance or abroad, or expenses through marriage.
- 9th lord in the 10th: a Dharma-Karmadhipati yoga, luck flowing into career.
- 6th, 8th or 12th lord in another dusthana: a Viparita Raj yoga, where difficulties cancel each other out and can turn into gains.
Then judge the lord's strength: is it exalted, in its own sign, combust, or debilitated? A strong lord delivers its house's promise; a weak lord delivers it with delay or effort.
A lord in its own house protects that house. A lord placed 6th, 8th or 12th from its own house weakens it: the 4th lord in the 9th, for example, is 6th from the 4th.
A worked example
A real chart from NavAstro's calculator, for an example birth (not a real person): 12 August 1994, 6:40 am, Lucknow. Leo Lagna, so from the table: 1 Sun, 2 Mercury, 3 Venus, 4 Mars, 5 Jupiter, 6 Saturn, 7 Saturn, 8 Jupiter, 9 Mars, 10 Venus, 11 Mercury, 12 Moon.
| Lord | Rules | Sits in | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | 1st | 12th (Cancer) | Self linked to foreign places, spending, solitude |
| Mercury | 2nd, 11th | 12th (Cancer), combust | Income and savings involve expenses or foreign sources |
| Venus | 3rd, 10th | 2nd (Virgo), debilitated | Career tied to money, family and speech; needs patience |
| Mars | 4th, 9th (yogakaraka) | 11th (Gemini) | Luck and property turn into gains |
| Jupiter | 5th, 8th | 3rd (Libra) | Learning and research through effort and communication |
| Saturn | 6th, 7th | 7th (Aquarius), own sign | A stable, committed 7th house; partnership is a central theme |
| Moon | 12th | 2nd (Virgo) | Spending on family, a mind focused on security |
The standout here is Mars, the yogakaraka, in the 11th house of gains: Mars periods are among the most productive in this chart.
Frequently asked questions
What is a house lord in astrology? The planet that rules the sign on a house. If your 10th house is Taurus, Venus is your 10th lord.
Which planet is a yogakaraka? A planet ruling both a kendra (4, 7, 10) and a trikona (5, 9) from your Lagna: Saturn for Taurus and Libra, Mars for Cancer and Leo, Venus for Capricorn and Aquarius.
What happens when a house lord is in the 12th house? That house's matters connect with expenses, foreign lands, isolation or spirituality. Whether that's difficult or rewarding depends on the lord's strength.
Do Rahu and Ketu rule houses? Not in the classical scheme. They act through the lord of the sign they occupy and the planets they join.
Related reading: Kundli Houses Explained · How to Read a Kundali · The 7th House and Marriage · Find your Lagna in the free Kundli calculator
This article is for general information about Vedic astrology. It is not professional advice.