Jupiter in Capricorn: debilitated, and what the texts read into it

Jupiter in Capricorn is Jupiter in its sign of debilitation, the lowest of the sign dignities in BPHS, and this engine labels it Debilitated across the whole sign. That label is only the starting point. What the placement does in a chart is a separate question, answered by the house Capricorn occupies from your Lagna, the houses Jupiter rules from there, and the planets that aspect it. This page sets out each of those, with the classical statement for this exact combination.

It covers the combination only. For Jupiter as a graha - its significations, strength and dashas - start with Jupiter in Vedic astrology. For the sign itself - its lord, its nakshatras and what a rising Capricorn means - see Capricorn, Makara Rashi. What follows is a map of rules and of what the texts say, not a forecast about anyone.

Jupiter in Capricorn: dignity, and how this app decides it

BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 49-50 lists the exaltation signs of the seven grahas and their deepest degrees; for Jupiter (Guru) the sign is Cancer and the deepest point 5 degrees. The same sloka puts debilitation in the 7th sign from exaltation, at the same degree, which for Jupiter is Capricorn at 5 degrees. Saravali Ch. 4 Sl. 35-36 gives the same signs and degrees. So Capricorn is where Jupiter is debilitated (neecha), with the lowest point at 5 degrees.

How the engine decides

The function that labels every planet in your chart, dignityOf, runs its tests in a fixed order: exaltation first, then Moolatrikona, then debilitation, then own sign, and only then the relationship between the planet and the sign's lord. For Jupiter in Capricorn the debilitation test decides it at every degree of the sign, so the label is Debilitated from 0 to 30 and no other planet's position can change it. Whether a classical cancellation applies is a separate rule, covered under neecha bhanga; this page does not apply it.

The scoring is the engine's, not the text's. BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 59-60 grades the results - exaltation full, Moolatrikona three quarters, own sign half, a friend's sign a quarter, a neutral's an eighth, an enemy's sign or debilitation nil. The engine gives Exalted and Moolatrikona a sthana strength of 10, Own sign 7.5, Friendly sign 6.25, Neutral 5, and Enemy sign and Debilitated 0. The order is the same; the gaps between the steps are not. The general idea is under dignity. Neighbouring placements show the contrast: Jupiter in Sagittarius and Jupiter in Aquarius, the exaltation case Jupiter in Cancer.

The nakshatras Jupiter moves through in Capricorn

Capricorn holds padas 2, 3, 4 of Uttara Ashadha, all four padas of Shravana and padas 1, 2 of Dhanishta. Each pada is 3 degrees 20 minutes, so the spans below follow from the pada count. The dignity label is the same in all of them; the nakshatra adds its own lord and pada to the reading, which the nakshatra pages take up: Uttara Ashadha, Shravana and Dhanishta.

What the classical texts say about Jupiter in Capricorn

Saravali Ch. 27 Sl. 19-20

Capricorn is Jupiter's debilitation and Saravali's line is among the harshest in the chapter: grief and difficulties, mean conduct, dullness, poverty, service to others, a want of mercy, purity and affection for relatives, a thin body, timidity, life in other countries and low spirits. It is reported here briefly, as the text's claim.

The lines on either side make the contrast clear. For Sagittarius (Sl. 17-18) the chapter gives teaching, lasting wealth, office and pilgrimage; for Aquarius (Sl. 21-22) it gives loss through one's own words, and bad company. For Capricorn the short form is grief, want and service to others. See Jupiter in Sagittarius and Jupiter in Aquarius for those lines in full.

Saravali Ch. 27 Sl. 61-66: the aspect lines

Saravali then reads Jupiter in Capricorn or Aquarius under the aspect of each other planet. These lines often change the verdict more than the sign line does, because they are where the chapter turns praise into censure or the reverse. In paraphrase:

• Aspected by the Sun: learning, kingship, inherited wealth, many pleasures and great courage.
• Aspected by the Moon: devotion to parents, high birth, learning, wealth, virtue and great charity.
• Aspected by Mars: valour, command of an army under the king, splendour, fine dress, fame and honour.
• Aspected by Mercury: strong passions, importance among his folk, wealth in conveyances, fame and many friends.
• Aspected by Venus: food and drink, an excellent house, comforts, wealth, conveyances, an excellent spouse, ornaments and robes.
• Aspected by Saturn: incomparable learning, supremacy, kingship of his country, attendants and cattle, and pleasures.

The pattern is the useful part: the same sign reads well or badly depending on what aspects it, so the sign line is only half of Saravali's verdict. Which of these lines applies to a given chart is a matter of counting houses, as the worked example below shows.

Saravali Ch. 45 on the dignity itself

Saravali Ch. 45, "Effects of Planetary Dignities", adds a short line for each class of dignity, independent of the sign. For Jupiter debilitated (Sl. 15-18) it gives uncleanliness, dishonour and poverty. These are the text's statements; this app reports them and does not turn them into predictions.

BPHS and Bhrigu Sutras

BPHS does not give a sign-by-sign line for Jupiter. Its Ch. 75 Sl. 1-2 rule for Hamsa Yoga needs Jupiter in its own or exaltation sign in a Kendra, so Jupiter in Capricorn never forms it, whatever the Lagna. The Jupiter section of the Bhrigu Sutras commentary agrees on the signs (own Sagittarius and Pisces, exaltation Cancer at 5 degrees, debilitation Capricorn at 5 degrees) and on the friends (Sun, Moon, Mars), enemies (Mercury, Venus) and neutral (Saturn). It differs on one number: it gives only the first 5 degrees of Sagittarius as Moolatrikona, where BPHS gives the first one third, 10 degrees. This engine follows BPHS. The Bhrigu Sutras proper is arranged by house rather than by sign, so it has no line for Jupiter in Capricorn as such.

Where the texts agree, and where they part

• Agreed: Jupiter's exaltation is Cancer and its debilitation Capricorn, deepest at 5 degrees (BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 49-50, Saravali Ch. 4 Sl. 35-36, the Bhrigu Sutras commentary).
• Agreed: dignity is not the whole reading. Saravali weighs it by the aspecting planet (Ch. 27 Sl. 61-66); BPHS by rules such as the Kendra test for Hamsa Yoga.
• Silent: BPHS has no character line for Jupiter in Capricorn as such. Of the texts used here, Saravali is the only one that writes one.
• Different numbers: the Moolatrikona span in Sagittarius is 10 degrees in BPHS and 5 degrees in the Bhrigu Sutras commentary. This engine uses BPHS.
• Different scales: BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 59-60 puts Moolatrikona a step below exaltation; this engine gives both the same sthana strength.

What Jupiter rules from each Lagna, with Jupiter in Capricorn

Jupiter rules Sagittarius and Pisces. With whole-sign houses the table below is mechanical: the second column is where Capricorn falls, the third and fourth are the houses Jupiter rules. The planned house pages, such as Jupiter in the 1st house and Jupiter in the 10th house, take each house further.

Two groups of rows are worth singling out. For Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn rising, Capricorn is a trikona (the 1st, 5th or 9th). For Gemini, Leo and Aquarius rising, it is a dusthana (the 6th, 8th or 12th), and the engine's planet table names that house type alongside the dignity. Neither fact changes the dignity label; both change how the planet is read.

Worked example: 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi

An illustrative birth, not a real person, computed in this app's engine and found by a deterministic search. Pisces rises at 23.04 degrees. Jupiter is at 2.09 degrees of Capricorn, in Uttara Ashadha pada 2, in the 11th house, not retrograde and combust. The engine labels it Debilitated. Anyone can re-enter the date, time and place in the Birth Chart calculator and see the same chart.

Why Debilitated. At 2.09 degrees Jupiter falls in the 0 to 30 degree band, and because the label comes from Jupiter's own dignity table, no other planet's position enters into it.

Lordship. For a Pisces Lagna, Sagittarius is the 10th house and Pisces the 1st, so Jupiter rules the 1st and the 10th and sits in the 11th.

Aspects. Saravali's aspect lines need a planet whose drishti reaches Capricorn. Using the rule this engine applies - every graha aspects the 7th house from itself, Mars also the 4th and 8th, Jupiter the 5th and 9th, Saturn the 3rd and 10th - Saturn in the 9th aspects the 11th. So this Saravali line applies alongside the sign line: for Saturn, incomparable learning, supremacy, kingship of his country, attendants and cattle, and pleasures. Where lines pull in different directions, the text does not say which wins, and this page does not decide it.

Company. Sun (5.46 degrees) shares Capricorn with Jupiter. Saravali's Ch. 27 sign and aspect lines cover aspects, not planets in the same sign, so this page adds no reading of its own for the conjunction. Combustion. Jupiter is flagged combust: it is within 11 degrees of the Sun, the orb astrologyEngine.js uses for Jupiter. The engine's planet-strength reading sets the position component to zero for a combust planet, following its source's line that a planet in combustion has no strength; the sign label itself is unchanged. The term has its own entry: combustion.

How often Jupiter is in Capricorn

Across 3,000 sampled birth moments 1985-2060, Jupiter was in Capricorn in 265 of them, 8.8 per cent. That is a property of the sky in the sample, not a count of people. The Bhrigu Sutras commentary notes that Jupiter takes a little less than twelve years to go once round the Sun, so it spends roughly a year in each sign. Over the 75 years of the sample that means several separate passes through the sign, which is why the share sits near one in twelve.

Checking Jupiter in Capricorn in your own chart

1. 1.Cast your chart with the Birth Chart calculator. Confirm Jupiter is in Capricorn and note the label the planet table gives it.
2. 2.Note the house Capricorn occupies and the houses Sagittarius and Pisces occupy: those are where Jupiter sits and what it rules.
3. 3.The label will not move with other planets, so go straight to the aspects.
4. 4.List the planets that aspect Capricorn: anything in the 7th sign from it, Mars when the sign is 4th or 8th from Mars, Jupiter when it is 5th or 9th from Jupiter, Saturn when it is 3rd or 10th from Saturn. Only those bring a Saravali Ch. 27 Sl. 61-66 line into play.
5. 5.Look at strength with the Shad Bala calculator, the ninth-part chart with the Navamsa calculator, and timing with the Vimshottari Dasha calculator and the Jupiter Mahadasha page.

Is Jupiter debilitated in Capricorn?

Yes. Capricorn is the 7th sign from Jupiter's exaltation in Cancer, so it is the sign of debilitation, deepest at 5 degrees (BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 49-50). This engine labels it Debilitated at every degree. Classical cancellation is a separate rule; see neecha bhanga.

Does the degree of Jupiter in Capricorn matter?

Not for the label, which is the same at every degree of Capricorn. The degree still sets the nakshatra and pada, and how close Jupiter is to the Sun for combustion.

Can another planet change the dignity of Jupiter in Capricorn?

No. The label comes from Jupiter's own dignity table, so the engine never reaches the relationship test. Other planets change the reading through aspect, as in Saravali Ch. 27 Sl. 61-66, but not the label.

Does Jupiter in Capricorn give Hamsa Yoga?

No. BPHS Ch. 75 Sl. 1-2 needs Jupiter in its own or exaltation sign in a Kendra, and Capricorn is neither for Jupiter.

Which nakshatras can Jupiter occupy in Capricorn?

Uttara Ashadha (padas 2, 3, 4), Shravana (padas 1, 2, 3, 4) and Dhanishta (padas 1, 2), per this engine's nakshatra table.

How common is Jupiter in Capricorn?

In this app's sample it was in Capricorn in 265 of 3,000 sampled birth moments 1985-2060, 8.8 per cent. That describes the sky in the sample, not a share of people.