Capricorn ascendant (Makara Lagna): the twelve houses, their lords, and what the texts say

The twelve houses from Capricorn and the lords that rule them

Each house takes the lord of its sign. Rahu and Ketu own none in this engine, so seven grahas share twelve houses, five of them ruling two each. BPHS Ch. 7 Sl. 33-36 sorts the houses into angles (kendras), trines, succedents (panapharas), cadents (apoklimas), dusthanas and upachayas; the Lagna counts as both angle and trine (Ch. 34 Sl. 2-7).

Two features organise what follows. Venus rules the 5th and the 10th, a trine and an angle, the double lordship Ch. 34 Sl. 13 calls a Yog Karak. Mercury rules the 9th, a trine, and the 6th, a house whose lord Sl. 2-7 says gives evil effects.

These lists feed the engine's yoga tests; Raj yoga for the Capricorn ascendant and Dhana yoga for the Capricorn ascendant take them lord by lord. They colour each period too; the Mahadasha pages for this ascendant are Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu.

What the texts say: BPHS Ch. 34 for Makar Lagn

BPHS Ch. 34 is the chapter on yoga karakas. Its Sl. 39-40 is the verdict for Makar Lagn, laid out house by house on the Capricorn rashi page; the rules behind it are Sl. 2-14, and Sl. 8-10 names the natural benefics and malefics.

Where the rules pull both ways or say little, the verse settles it: Saturn, lagna lord and natural malefic, gets neither label; Venus, despite its angle, is auspicious and the one graha for a superior Yog; Mercury, despite the 6th, is auspicious; the Sun, whose 8th lordship "is not evil", is neutral. The Moon, Jupiter and Mars rows agree with the verse, and the rashi page gives the reasons in its own words.

Is there a yogakaraka for Capricorn rising?

This page quotes two rules. The verse, Sl. 39-40, says "Only Śukr is capable of causing a superior Yog", without the words Yog Karak. Sl. 13's general rule, by the double lordship above, reaches the same graha. The Kundali's full reading prints a yogakaraka line for Venus with its sign and house, while the free Birth Chart tool shows only the yoga list. The rashi page sets out the later books' line on Venus.

The Bhrigu Sutras translator's comments on Capricorn rising

The comments printed after the sutras are the translator's, not Bhrigu's. At least seventeen pages name Capricorn as the ascendant; the table gives five grahas, and the passages on pp. 71, 87, 99 and 107 are on the Capricorn rashi page.

The Venus and Mercury rows agree with the verse; the Saturn rows sit beside a verse that gives it no label. The Mars and Jupiter rows go the other way, since the verse calls both malefic. The verse classes a graha and the comments judge a placement; where they pull apart, the sources disagree, this page does not choose, and the engine follows BPHS. Saravali Ch. 3 Sl. 37-38 files Capricorn among the four signs of medium ascension, between the quickest and the slowest to rise.

Saturn as lagna lord: BPHS Ch. 12 and Ch. 24

BPHS ties bodily comfort to the lagna lord. Ch. 12 Sl. 1-2 says it diminishes when the lagna lord is joined to a malefic or stands in the 6th, 8th or 12th, and that an angle or trine keeps it. Its "malefic" is the natural class of Ch. 34 Sl. 8-10 (the Sun, Saturn, Mars, a weak Moon; Mercury by its company), so the Sun counts there although Sl. 39-40 calls it neutral, and Jupiter, which it calls malefic, does not. The rashi page's last column counts each graha's exaltation and debilitation house from Capricorn; Saturn's are the 10th and the 4th.

Ch. 24 Sl. 1-12 reads the lagna lord in each house: in the 1st physical happiness and prowess (Sl. 1); in the 2nd gain, scholarship and honour (Sl. 2); in the 10th royal honour, fame and self-earned wealth (Sl. 10); in the 11th gains, good qualities and fame (Sl. 11). In the 6th the verse turns on malefic company and a benefic's aspect (Sl. 6), and in the 12th on whether a benefic aspects or joins it (Sl. 12). Saturn in each house has a page, from Saturn in the 1st house to Saturn in the 12th house; the Shad Bala calculator shows its strength in a given chart.

Which lordship yogas the engine can test for Capricorn rising

The nine pairs are Venus with Saturn, Mars, the Moon and Mercury; Saturn with Mercury, Mars and the Moon; and Mercury with Mars and the Moon. The engine follows BPHS Ch. 41 Sl. 28 (any relationship). Ch. 34 Sl. 11-12 counts lords joined together only in an angle or trine, and Sl. 15 sets the yoga aside for a lord who also owns a dusthana. Read literally, that removes the four pairs that include Mercury, lord of the 6th, and leaves five. Venus, the verse's graha, owns no dusthana. Kendra-Kona Raj Yoga gives the general rule.

Worked example: Capricorn rising at 17.60 degrees, New Delhi, 10 January 1985

This is not a real person's chart. It is a birth moment, 08:37 IST on 10 January 1985 in New Delhi, that a deterministic search (a check script capricorn-ascendant) found because it rises in Capricorn; re-enter it in the Birth Chart calculator. The engine puts the ascendant at 17.60 degrees. Each nakshatra takes 13 degrees 20 minutes (four padas of 3 degrees 20): Uttara Ashadha ends 10.00 degrees into Capricorn and Shravana runs to 23.33, its pada 3 from 16.67 to 20.00, so the ascendant is 0.93 of a degree into pada 3.

• The lagna lord. Saturn is in Scorpio, the 11th, with Ketu in the same sign. The 11th is in neither of Ch. 12 Sl. 1-2's lists, and Sl. 8-10 names no node among the malefics, so that clause finds no company, and Ch. 24 Sl. 11 applies. The Bhrigu Sutras translator's comment on pp. 107-108 counts this placement among those giving "very powerful Dhana yogas"; no comment covers any other placement here.
• The verse's graha. Venus is in Aquarius, the 2nd, a friendly sign, with Mars, and the Kundali's full reading prints it as the "special source of rise" in Aquarius (house 2). The engine's Raj Yoga row holds two links. Mars (4th lord) and Venus (5th lord) are together in the 2nd, neither an angle nor a trine, so Sl. 11-12 would not count them as joined; the Moon (7th lord) and Venus are in mutual aspect from the 8th and the 2nd, and Sl. 11-12's "full Drishti" clause names no house. Neither pair holds a dusthana lord, so Sl. 15 bars neither.
• The exchange. Mars and Saturn stand in each other's signs, Aquarius (the 2nd) and Scorpio (the 11th), so the engine lists Parivarthana Yoga. Sl. 11-12 also counts an exchange between an angle lord and a trine lord, which Mars (the 4th) and Saturn (the Lagna) are, though the signs exchanged here are neither; the Kendra-Kona row tests no exchange.
• Dusthana lords. Mercury (6th), the Sun (8th) and Jupiter (12th) all stand in Sagittarius, the 12th, so the engine lists Harsha, Sarala and Vimala. Jupiter is in its own sign, and the engine flags it combust, the Sun being 3.78 degrees behind it (29.96 minus 26.18).

The yoga list also carries Vasi and Kedara (placement patterns, not lordship). The dosha check returns Kendradhipathya Dosha (Mild, as in every Capricorn-rising chart, since Venus owns the 10th but not the 1st) and Mangal Dosha (Mild; Mars is in the 2nd); those are not lordship facts and have their own pages. The Yogas calculator lists the yoga rows for any chart.

My birth time is only approximate. Is my ascendant still Capricorn?

It may not be. Compute the chart at both ends of your time range with the Lagna calculator and see whether the sign changes; if it does, read when the birth time is unknown.

Does Venus need a particular house to cause the Yog the verse names?

No. Sl. 39-40 sets no condition, and the Kundali's Yoga Karaka panel prints Venus's line in every Capricorn-rising chart. The yoga rows differ: the Kendra-Kona row needs Venus joined to, or in mutual aspect with, another angle or trine lord, in any house; the Dharma-Karmadhipati row needs Mercury and Venus, the 9th and 10th lords, together in an angle or trine. Sl. 11-12 would ask for an angle or trine if the lords are joined.

How many Kendra-Kona pairs can a Capricorn ascendant form, and would BPHS count them?

Nine by the engine's test (Ch. 41 Sl. 28), which takes an angle lord and a trine lord together or in mutual aspect; five if a literal Sl. 15 sets aside the four that include Mercury, lord of the 6th.

In which houses does BPHS favour Saturn for a Capricorn ascendant?

From Capricorn, the angles and trines that Ch. 12 Sl. 1-2 counts in the lagna lord's favour are Capricorn, Aries, Cancer, Libra, Taurus and Virgo; the 6th, 8th and 12th, which it counts against, are Gemini, Leo and Sagittarius.

Which grahas rule the dusthanas for a Capricorn ascendant?

Ch. 7 Sl. 33-36 names the 6th, 8th and 12th as the evil bhavas; from Capricorn they are Gemini (Mercury), Leo (the Sun) and Sagittarius (Jupiter). When one of these lords sits in any of the three, the engine lists Harsha (the 6th lord), Sarala (the 8th) or Vimala (the 12th) Yoga.