1st lord in the 4th house: the Lagna lord in the house of home, mother and comforts

What the placement means

When the ruler of the rising sign stands in the fourth sign from it, the chart has its 1st house lord in the 4th house. The planet that represents the person sits in the house of home, mother, land, vehicles and inner contentment, at the bottom of the chart.

Both houses are Kendras, and the 4th is the first angle the Lagna lord reaches after leaving the Ascendant. BPHS treats a Lagna lord in any angle as well placed for the body, so this placement starts from a favourable position before the planet's own dignity is considered.

The two houses involved

The 1st house (Tanu Bhava) holds the body and temperament in BPHS Ch. 11 Sl. 2.

The 4th house (Sukha Bhava) is, in Ch. 11 Sl. 5, the house of conveyances, relatives, mother, happiness, treasure, lands and buildings. BPHS gives it a whole chapter (Ch. 15) on housing, mother and vehicles. The house page explains those; this page asks what changes when the Lagna lord moves in.

What BPHS says about the Lagna lord in the 4th

BPHS Ch. 24 Sl. 4 says that with the Lagna lord in the 4th the native "will be endowed with paternal and maternal happiness", will have many brothers, and will be lustful, virtuous and charming. bphs-alt.txt has the same text.

The verse is notable for naming both parents. The 4th is the house of the mother in Ch. 11, and the 10th (directly opposite) the house of the father; the Lagna lord in the 4th casts its seventh-house aspect onto the 10th, which may be why the verse reaches for both, although the text itself gives no reason. "Many brothers" is a 3rd-house matter; the verse states it without explanation, and this page does not supply one. The adjectives at the end describe temperament: warm, attractive, given to pleasure.

The more specific statement comes from the 4th-house chapter. BPHS Ch. 15 Sl. 2 says one will have residential comforts "in full degree" if the 4th is occupied by its own lord or by the Lagna lord, and aspected by a benefic. This is one of the few verses in the corpus that names the Lagna lord in the 4th directly as a condition. Ch. 15 Sl. 10-14 adds that a benefic related to the 4th house, by occupation, aspect or conjunction with its lord, gives good results for conveyances, and a malefic the opposite.

Two more general rules apply because the 4th is an angle. Ch. 12 Sl. 1-2 says a Lagna lord in an angle or trine gives bodily comfort at all times, and Ch. 12 Sl. 5-7 that a Lagna lord in an angle or trine makes one long-lived, wealthy, intelligent and liked by the king. Ch. 24 Sl. 145-148 then scales all of this by the planet's strength. The Saravali and Advanced Predictive Astrology in the corpus add no verse for the placement.

Which planet it is, Ascendant by Ascendant

The table is the engine's lordship arithmetic, with the dignity its rule gives the planet in the 4th sign when no chart is supplied.

Gemini and Sagittarius rising give the strongest cases, because for those two signs the Lagna lord also owns the 4th: Mercury in Virgo (where it can be exalted, in moolatrikona or in own sign by degree) and Jupiter in Pisces. These charts satisfy both of the occupation conditions (its own lord, the Lagna lord) of Ch. 15 Sl. 2 at once. The weakest are Aries rising, with Mars debilitated in Cancer, and Capricorn rising, with Saturn debilitated in Aries; for both, Ch. 12 Sl. 1-2's warning about a debilitated Lagna lord sits beside the favourable angle. See dignity for how the engine ranks these labels.

For Gemini and Sagittarius rising one other text speaks to the same planet. In the commentary on its Sun-in-the-4th sutras, the Bhrigu Sutras translation in the corpus says that if the lord of the 4th is strong, by exaltation or own sign, and placed in a quadrant or trine, the native acquires high-class conveyances; and that a 4th lord with malefics or in the 3rd, 6th, 8th or 12th gives the reverse. That statement is about the 4th lord, not the Lagna lord, but for these two Ascendants they are the same planet sitting in its own sign in an angle, so the two readings coincide. For the other ten Ascendants the 4th lord is a different planet, and its own position has to be checked separately.

The luminary Ascendants are a quieter pair. For Cancer rising the Moon goes to Libra, a neutral sign; for Leo rising the Sun goes to Scorpio, the sign of its friend Mars. Neither luminary owns a second house, so their reading is uncomplicated by a second lordship, which is unusual in this table.

Strength changes the reading

Ch. 34 Sl. 2-7 says benefics owning Kendras lose some of their benefic quality, and malefics owning them lose some of their malefic quality. For the Lagna lord this is overridden by the same passage's statement that the Lagna lord is specially auspicious, so the nature of the planet matters more through Ch. 15 Sl. 10-14: a benefic Lagna lord in the 4th is itself a benefic related to the 4th in that verse's sense, while a malefic one is not. Jupiter, Venus, Mercury and the Moon are the engine's benefics; Mars, Saturn and the Sun its malefics.

Aspects are the second lever. Ch. 15 Sl. 2 asks for a benefic's drishti on the 4th. Planets in the 10th aspect the 4th by the seventh-house aspect; Jupiter also aspects it from the 8th and 12th, Mars from the 1st and 9th, and Saturn from the 2nd and 7th under the engine's aspect rule.

Worked example: Scorpio rising, Mars in Aquarius

The engine's deterministic search returned this chart: 1 January 1985, 06:00 IST, New Delhi, Ascendant Scorpio 28.81. It can be re-entered in the birth chart calculator.

• Scorpio rising makes Mars the 1st lord; Mars also rules Aries, the 6th.
• Mars is in Aquarius at 11.51 degrees, Shatabhisha pada 2, in the 4th house. Not retrograde, not combust. The sign-only table says Neutral, but in this chart the engine returns "Friendly sign", because its dignity rule adds the temporary relationship from where Mars and Saturn (Aquarius's lord) actually sit.
• Venus shares the 4th at Aquarius 2.74. For Scorpio rising Venus rules the 7th and 12th.
• Saturn, the 4th lord (it owns Aquarius), is in Scorpio at 1.09, in the 1st house. Mercury and Ketu are also in the 1st.

The chart shows the placement in its fullest form: the 1st lord is in the 4th while the 4th lord is in the 1st. The two lords have exchanged signs, a parivartana between two angles. Venus, a natural benefic, is in the 4th with the Lagna lord, the conjunction Ch. 15 Sl. 10-14 counts as a benefic relation to the house. What the chart lacks is the benefic aspect Ch. 15 Sl. 2 asks for: under the engine's aspect rule no graha other than the nodes aspects the 4th. Mars also carries its 6th-house lordship into the 4th, which Sl. 145-148 says must be read alongside the first.

Neighbouring placements

The reverse placement, the 4th lord in the 1st house (Sl. 37), speaks of learning, virtues, ornaments, land, conveyances and maternal happiness. The adjacent placements are the 1st lord in the 3rd and the 1st lord in the 5th; the other angles are covered by the 1st lord in the 7th and the 1st lord in the 10th. For the worked example's planet see Mars in the 4th house. The Lagna calculator gives your rising sign.

Questions about the 1st lord in the 4th house

What does BPHS say about the 1st lord in the 4th house?

Ch. 24 Sl. 4: happiness from father and mother, many brothers, and a lustful, virtuous and charming nature. Ch. 15 Sl. 2 adds full residential comfort if a benefic aspects the 4th.

Does this placement mean I will own property?

BPHS ties residential comfort to the Lagna lord or 4th lord occupying the 4th with a benefic aspect. That is a classical rule about positions; this app does not forecast property from it.

What if the 4th lord is in the 1st at the same time?

Then the two lords have exchanged signs, as in this page's worked example. The engine flags any such exchange as Parivartana Yoga, and frames it as favourable when both planets own an angle or trine, which the 1st and 4th lords always do.

Which Ascendants give the strongest version?

Gemini and Sagittarius rising, where the Lagna lord also owns the 4th and sits in its own sign there.

How common is it?

248 of 3,000 sampled birth moments 1985-2060 (8.3%) in the engine's sample.