Libra ascendant (Tula Lagna): the twelve houses, their lords, and what the texts say

The twelve houses from Libra 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).

Three features organise what follows. Saturn rules the 4th and 5th, an angle and a trine, the double lordship Ch. 34 Sl. 13 calls a Yog Karak. The Moon rules the 10th and Mercury the 9th, an angle lord and a trine lord, the pairing Sl. 11-12 treats as a Yog. And Venus, the lagna lord, also rules the 8th, which Sl. 2-7 calls not auspicious, though an 8th lord who also owns a trine "will bestow auspicious effects".

These lists feed the engine's yoga tests; Raj yoga for the Libra ascendant and Dhana yoga for the Libra 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 Tula Lagn

BPHS Ch. 34 is the chapter on yoga karakas. Its Sl. 33-34 is the verdict for Tula Lagn, laid out house by house on the Libra rashi page; the rules behind it are Sl. 2-14, and Sl. 8-10 names the natural benefics and malefics.

The verse settles Venus: the rules pull both ways, and Sl. 33-34 calls it neutral. It names the Moon only in its Raj Yog sentence, and Saturn is taken up below. In every other row the rules and the verse agree.

Is there a yogakaraka for Libra rising?

This page quotes the verse: Sl. 33-34 says "Candr and Budh will cause Raj Yog", the 10th lord with the 9th lord, without the words Yog Karak. The Kundali's full reading follows it, listing the Moon and Mercury with their signs and houses. Saturn, lord of the 4th and 5th, is a Yog Karak only by Sl. 13's general rule, a case the Libra rashi page sets out.

The Bhrigu Sutras translator's comments on Libra rising

The comments printed after the sutras are the translator's, not Bhrigu's. At least fifteen pages name Libra as the ascendant; the table gives five, and the Saturn passages on pp. 84 and 98 are on the Libra rashi page.

The Moon and Saturn rows agree with the verse. The Sun, Mars and Jupiter rows go the other way, since the verse calls all three 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 Libra among the four signs of long ascension, those that take longest to rise.

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

BPHS ties bodily comfort to the lagna lord: Ch. 12 Sl. 1-2 says it lessens when the lagna lord is joined to a malefic or sits in the 6th, 8th or 12th, and holds in an angle or trine. Its "malefic" is the natural class of Ch. 34 Sl. 8-10 (the Sun, Saturn, Mars, a weak Moon; Mercury by its company), so Saturn counts there although Sl. 33-34 calls it auspicious for this lagna. Venus is exalted in Pisces, the 6th, and weak in Virgo, the 12th (the rashi page's table gives every graha's strong and weak house from Libra).

Ch. 24 Sl. 1-12 reads the lagna lord in each house: in the 1st physical happiness and prowess (Sl. 1); 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). Venus in each house has a page, from Venus in the 1st house to Venus in the 12th house; the Shad Bala calculator shows its strength in a given chart.

Which lordship yogas the engine can test for Libra rising

The nine pairs are Venus with Saturn, Mercury, Mars and the Moon; 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 every pair with Venus (the 8th) or Mercury (the 12th), leaving Saturn with Mars and Saturn with the Moon. For the Moon with Mercury the per-lagna verse settles it: Sl. 33-34 says the two "will cause Raj Yog". The engine applies no Sl. 15 bar. Kendra-Kona Raj Yoga gives the general rule.

Worked example: Libra rising at 20.31 degrees, New Delhi, 8 May 1985

This is not a real person's chart. It is a birth moment, 18:38 IST on 8 May 1985 in New Delhi, that a deterministic search (a check script libra-ascendant) found because it rises in Libra; re-enter it in the Birth Chart calculator. The engine puts the ascendant at 20.31 degrees. Each nakshatra takes 13 degrees 20 minutes (four padas of 3 degrees 20): Chitra ends 6.67 degrees into Libra, Swati fills the next 13.33, and Vishakha pada 1 runs from 20.00 to 23.33. The ascendant is 0.31 of a degree past the end of Swati.

• The lagna lord. Venus is exalted in Pisces, the 6th, with Mercury 13.04 degrees ahead of it (28.65 minus 15.61). Ch. 12 Sl. 1-2 lists the 6th among the houses where the lagna lord's bodily comfort lessens. Ch. 24 Sl. 6 turns on malefic company there; Venus's only company is Mercury, a benefic beside a benefic by Sl. 8-10, and no graha aspects Pisces (the Kundali's full reading lists the houses each graha aspects), so that condition is not met.
• The verse's pair. The Moon is in Sagittarius, the 3rd, and Mercury, debilitated, in the 6th: neither joined nor in mutual aspect, so the engine lists no link between them. The full reading's Yoga Karaka panel reads "Moon - special source of rise, currently in Sagittarius (house 3)", and the same for Mercury in the 6th.
• Saturn. Lord of the 4th and 5th, it is retrograde in Scorpio, the 2nd, an enemy sign. The Bhrigu Sutras translator's comment on Saturn in the 2nd (p. 100) counts this placement for Libra rising among those where the native is well off financially; no other comment covers a placement here.
• Raj Yoga rows. Venus and Mercury are together in the 6th, neither an angle nor a trine, so Sl. 11-12 would not count them, and Sl. 15 read literally bars them. Mars (7th lord) and Saturn (5th lord) are in mutual aspect from the 8th and 2nd; Sl. 11-12's "full Drishti" clause names no house, and neither owns a dusthana. The engine lists both links in one row, by Ch. 41 Sl. 28.
• Dusthana yoga. Venus, lord of the 8th, and Mercury, lord of the 12th, sit in the 6th, so the engine lists Sarala and Vimala; the 6th lord Jupiter is in the 4th, so no Harsha.

The yoga list also carries Durudhura, Ubhayachari and Damini (placement patterns, not lordship), plus Argala Raj Yoga. The dosha list shows only Mangal Dosha (Moderate; Mars is in the 8th), which is not a lordship fact and has its own page. Nothing here is a verdict on a person.

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

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.

Do the Moon and Mercury need particular houses for the Raj Yog the verse names?

No. Sl. 33-34 sets no condition, and the Kundali's Yoga Karaka panel lists both in every Libra-rising chart. The engine's Kendra-Kona row needs them joined or in mutual aspect, in any house, and its Dharma-Karmadhipati row needs them together in an angle or trine; Sl. 11-12 would ask for an angle or trine if they are joined. Mercury also owns the 12th, which a literal Sl. 15 counts against a Raj Yog by mere relation, but for this pair the per-lagna verse settles it.

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

Nine. The engine counts an angle lord and a trine lord together or in mutual aspect (Ch. 41 Sl. 28). A literal Sl. 15 would set aside the seven that include Venus or Mercury, leaving Saturn with Mars and Saturn with the Moon, though Sl. 33-34 itself names the Moon with Mercury.

In which houses does BPHS favour Venus for a Libra ascendant?

Ch. 12 Sl. 1-2 counts an angle or trine in the lagna lord's favour and the 6th, 8th and 12th against it. From Libra the angles and trines are Libra, Capricorn, Aries, Cancer, Aquarius and Gemini; the 6th, 8th and 12th are Pisces, Taurus and Virgo.

Which grahas rule the dusthanas for a Libra ascendant?

Ch. 7 Sl. 33-36 names the 6th, 8th and 12th as the evil bhavas; from Libra they are Pisces (Jupiter), Taurus (Venus) and Virgo (Mercury). 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.