Mars in the 3rd house: the significator in its own house

BPHS Ch. 32 names Mars the fixed significator of the 3rd house, the house of valour and younger siblings. A Mars in the 3rd is therefore the karaka sitting in its own house, and the texts read that two ways at once. As courage, it is one of the best placements Mars has: the 3rd is an Upachaya, where malefics do well, and Saravali calls the native unconquerable. As siblings, BPHS Ch. 14 Sl. 14 says Mars in the 3rd harms both elder and younger co-borns, and Saravali agrees that the brave native is without brothers.

The Bhrigu Sutras' commentator names the principle behind the second reading, "Karako Bhava Nashaya", the significator harming its own house, and rejects it for a Mars in its own sign, in exaltation or under benefic influence (Note, p. 49). This page sets out the verses, BPHS Ch. 14's method, the yogas that want a malefic here, and the two houses Mars rules for each rising sign. For the planet see Mars in Vedic astrology; for the house, the 3rd house, Sahaja Bhava.

The house of valour and co-born

BPHS Ch. 11 Sl. 4 lists valour, servants or attendants, brothers and sisters, initiatory instruction, journeys and the death of a parent. Ch. 32 narrows the family meaning to younger brothers and sisters and names Mars as the karaka, so the 3rd is always read through three things: the house, its lord and Mars. The Bhrigu Sutras' list (p. 14) adds memory, neighbours, short travels, correspondence, writings and signing contracts; those are later practice.

The 3rd is an Upachaya and an Apoklima (BPHS Ch. 7 Sl. 33-36), and with the 8th one of the two houses of longevity (Ch. 44). As a lordship it is on Ch. 34's short list of troublesome houses, the mildest of the three. Put simply: a natural malefic sitting in the 3rd is treated kindly; a planet ruling the 3rd is treated with suspicion. For Mars, BPHS Ch. 70 adds that co-borns, strength, qualities and land are judged from the planet itself.

Mars's own significations line up with the house unusually closely. BPHS Ch. 32: Mars indicates a younger brother, a sister and a brother-in-law; brothers are read from the 3rd counted from Mars; the stronger of the Moon and Mars indicates the mother; and Mars is karaka of the 3rd and the 6th. BPHS Ch. 3 makes it male, fiery and Tamasic, "one's strength", and Ch. 34 Sl. 8-10 rank it the most malefic of the natural malefics. Ch. 27 Sl. 30-31 deduct one Rupa of strength from any house Mars occupies. The Bhrigu Sutras' commentator calls the 3rd "an 'upachaya' house where malefics are said to give benefic results" (Note, p. 49), and it is the house where a malefic is most welcome by occupation.

What the verses say

Saravali Ch. 30 Sloka 28

"If Mars be in 3rd, the native will be courageous, unconquerable, bereft of co-born, be delighted, will have all virtues and be famous" (p. 102). It sits with the Sun and Saturn: the natural malefics all receive courage in Saravali's 3rd-house verses, and two of the three lose siblings in the same breath. That is the Upachaya principle and Ch. 14 Sl. 14 appearing together in one verse.

The Bhrigu Sutras, Sutras 16-25

The sutras (p. 48), as the text's statements: no younger brothers or sisters, and the wife "of questionable character", which "will not happen if Mars is aspected by a benefic"; financial gains; with Rahu or Ketu, association with prostitutes; inimical relations with brothers; few brothers and sisters; with or aspected by malefics, loss of brothers and sisters. In its own sign or exalted, the brothers long-lived and the native patient, brave and very valorous in battle; in a friend's sign, courageous. The commentator (p. 49) objects to Sutra 16, the wife clause, and Sutra 20, a clause about the wife's body, because the 3rd "has nothing to do with wife". The sutras keep the courage, make the sibling clause conditional, and give two exits: a benefic's aspect and Mars's own dignity.

BPHS Ch. 14: two verdicts on one planet

The 3rd-house chapter has fifteen slokas, almost all about siblings, and it treats Mars twice. Sl. 2: if the 3rd lord together with Mars aspects the 3rd, or if these two sit in the 3rd itself, good results follow from the house. This is the chapter's own version of the Upachaya idea, stated for the one planet that signifies the house. Sl. 14: the Sun in the 3rd "will destroy the preborn", Saturn the afterborn, and Mars both. Sl. 15 follows at once: the effects are to be announced only after estimating the strength and weakness of such combinations.

Read together, the house's two subjects, courage and co-born, do not always move together, and the text says so within a single chapter. Sl. 3 adds the reverse of Sl. 2: when the 3rd lord and Mars are with a malefic or in a malefic's sign, "destruction at once of co-born". Sl. 5-6 give the most checkable rule: happiness in sibling matters when Mars or the 3rd lord is in an angle, a trine, exaltation or friendly divisions; harm when the two are together in the 8th.

• For Aries and Virgo rising, where Mars itself rules the 3rd, a Mars in the 3rd is both the lord and the karaka at home, which Sl. 2 reads well. For Aquarius rising Mars rules the 3rd and sits there in Aries; for Virgo rising, in Scorpio.
• Mars in the 3rd is never in an angle or trine, so Sl. 5-6's favourable clause depends on exaltation (Scorpio rising, Mars in Capricorn) or on the 3rd lord's own position.
• Sl. 4 reads the sex of younger siblings from planet and sign genders; Mars is male. Ch. 14's gender and counting verses (Sl. 4, 7-13) are a record of large families of another era, and this app turns none of them into a prediction.

The Bhrigu Sutras' commentator names the principle in play, "Karako Bhava Nashaya", and holds that the sutras' line, good effects for brothers when Mars is in its own sign, exalted or under benefic influence, is "relevant, logical and correct" in spite of it (p. 49). Saravali Ch. 34 Sl. 21-24 add a sign-first rule: a 3rd that is a malefic's sign holding a malefic harms co-born, a benefic's sign holding benefics gives happiness from them; and among their pairings, Saturn in the 3rd aspected by Mars harms co-born.

Yogas that want a malefic in the 3rd

Three BPHS rules use the 3rd as a place where a hard planet does no damage. Ch. 39 Sl. 17: benefics in the 1st, 2nd and 4th with a malefic in the 3rd make a person a king or equal to one. Ch. 39 Sl. 19: debilitated planets in the 3rd, 6th and 8th while a strong Lagna lord aspects the Lagna, a Raj Yoga. Ch. 43 Sl. 65-66: malefics in the 3rd, 6th and 11th with benefics in the angles give long life. Mars in the 3rd fills the malefic slot of the first and third; a Mars debilitated in Cancer in the 3rd (Taurus rising) is the kind of planet the second asks for. The yogas calculator reports the yogas this app detects; it does not test every Ch. 39 verse.

Ruchaka Yoga needs Mars in an angle, so a Mars in the 3rd never forms it. The 3rd is also outside this app's six Mangal Dosha houses (1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 12), but Mars here aspects the 6th, 9th and 10th, none of which is a dosha house either.

Mars's aspects from the 3rd

From the 3rd, aspectedHouses('mars', 3) returns [9, 6, 10]: the house of fortune and the father by the 7th aspect, the house of enemies and the house of work by Mars's special 4th and 8th aspects (BPHS Ch. 26 Sl. 2-5). The engine counts each as a malefic aspect in Shad Bala. None of the three texts gives a separate verse for Mars aspecting these houses from the 3rd. The 6th and 10th are Upachayas too, where the texts welcome malefics as occupants. See the 9th house and the 10th house.

Two lordships for every rising sign

Mars owns Aries and Scorpio. It is in your 3rd when it occupies the third sign from your rising sign; the Lagna calculator finds yours. BPHS Ch. 24 gives a verse for each house lord placed in the 3rd; several mention valour and most mention co-born.

Read by house class: the lords of the 1st, 4th, 9th and 10th bring valour and good sibling relations into the 3rd; the lords of the 6th, 8th and 12th take them away. Mars carries one of each kind for several Ascendants, so one planet brings a warm verse and a harsh one: Aries (Sl. 3 and 87), Scorpio (Sl. 3 and 63), Sagittarius (Sl. 51 and 135). Ch. 34 Sl. 2-7 add that the 8th lord also owning the 3rd is specifically harmful, which is Mars for Virgo rising.

The 3rd lord, through the houses

Ch. 14 judges the house through its lord and Mars together. With Mars in the 3rd, the 3rd lord is the lord of Mars's sign, and BPHS Ch. 24 Sl. 25-36 read it through the houses: the 1st, 10th and 11th carry self-made wealth; the 3rd itself is the cleanest sibling reading; the 6th gives the sibling friction Ch. 14 warns of; the 8th matches Ch. 14 Sl. 5-6; and the 2nd, the 12th from the 3rd, removes valour. Ch. 24 Sl. 145-148 then scale every row by strength.

Saravali Ch. 25: Mars by sign

Saravali's chapter on Mars by sign (Ch. 25 Sl. 1-24, pp. 76-78) applies through the sign Mars occupies in your 3rd. Several of its lines speak to valour directly: Aries (Aquarius rising) truthful, valorous, fond of adventure, an army chief; Leo (Gemini rising) impatient, valorous, always active; Sagittarius (Libra rising) a warrior, happy in hard work; Capricorn (Scorpio rising) wealthy, famous, an Army chief or a king, a protector. Others are about means: Taurus (Pisces rising) little wealth, very harsh speech; Aquarius (Sagittarius rising) lost wealth, money lost in gambling; Cancer (Taurus rising) repeatedly anguished and always distressed. The chapter describes temperament and is blunt by modern standards; its harsh clauses are the text's statements.

Saravali Ch. 15, on conjunctions, reads Mars with the Sun as valorous, dull-witted, a liar and fierce (Sl. 3), with the Moon as valorous, brave in war and an artisan, with "bloody imbalances" (Sl. 8), with Jupiter as intelligent and expert in speech (Sl. 14), and with Saturn as deceitful and fond of quarrels (Sl. 16). A Jupiter in the 3rd with Mars is also the benefic that Ch. 14 Sl. 1 asks for in the house.

Second opinions on the house

BPHS gives the 3rd several companions in its technical chapters, and this app has a calculator for each. Ch. 7 Sl. 1-8 read happiness through co-born from the Drekkana, the D3. Ch. 29 names the Arudha of the 3rd the Vikram or Bhratru Pada, which the Bhava Padas calculator lists. Ch. 32 Sl. 13-17 rank the planets by degree, and the third, the Bhratru Karaka, is labelled "Siblings & courage" in the Char Karakas calculator; it can be Mars or any other planet, unlike the fixed karaka. Ch. 31 reads an unobstructed Argala aspecting the 3rd as happiness from co-born. A Mars in the 3rd is one input to each of these, not a change to how they are computed.

Saravali Ch. 25 Sl. 25-66 (pp. 78-79) read the aspect each planet casts on Mars by sign group: Jupiter's is the steadiest, learned and affluent on a Mars in Aries or Scorpio and famous even on a debilitated Mars in Cancer; Saturn's reads well on a Mars in Taurus or Libra and poorly on a Mars in Leo or Jupiter's signs. For a Mars in the 3rd, Jupiter's aspect comes from the 7th, 11th or 9th house, which is also the benefic aspect the Bhrigu Sutras ask for.

How this app grades it

The Kundali reading prints the favourable line when Mars's dignity is Exalted, Moolatrikona, Own sign or Friendly sign and the house is not the 6th, 8th or 12th. The 3rd is not a dusthana, so dignity alone decides. The code softens the source's harder language about siblings into strain or distance and makes no claim about anyone's survival.

Mars's natural relations: Jupiter, the Moon and the Sun friends, Mercury an enemy, Venus and Saturn neutral; the temporary half from the chart. In the code read for this page dignityOf() is given the chart, so:

• Always favourable: Virgo and Aquarius rising (Mars in its own signs) and Scorpio rising (exalted).
• Never favourable: Taurus rising (debilitated) and Aries and Cancer rising (Mars in Mercury's signs, Neutral at best).
• Favourable when the sign lord is in a temporary-friend position from Mars: Gemini, Libra and Capricorn rising (otherwise Neutral) and Leo, Sagittarius and Pisces rising (otherwise Enemy sign).

dashaQuality() is stricter: good for exalted, Moolatrikona or own sign; challenging for debilitated, enemy sign or a dusthana; neutral otherwise. The Mars Mahadasha page covers the period.

Strength in the 3rd

BPHS Ch. 27 Sl. 7 measures Mars from the 4th: no directional strength there, full at the 10th. The 3rd is one house short of the zero point, and this engine's even steps give Mars about one-sixth of its directional points. As an Apoklima the 3rd gives a quarter of Kendradi Bal. Mars is combust within 17 degrees of the Sun in this engine. The Shad Bala calculator shows all components.

Timing

Mars has 7 Vimshottari years. BPHS Ch. 47 Sl. 27-32 say a strong Mars in an angle or in the 3rd brings gain of wealth through valour and success over opponents, with some unfavourable effects possible at the end of the dasha. Ch. 48 Sl. 18-20 say the dashas of planets placed in the 3rd, 6th and 11th prove unfavourable, Rahu and Ketu excepted, while the sub-period chapters list the 3rd among the good places for an Antardasha lord. The specific verses nearly always add "with strength". The Vimshottari Dasha calculator gives the dates.

For Aries, Virgo and Aquarius rising Mars is also the 3rd lord, and this app attaches "effort-heavy, generally more testing period for courage and sibling matters" to its dasha, beside the theme of Mars's other house. Sub-periods are explained in Antardasha and Pratyantar. For transits, the Gochar calculator marks Mars favourable in the 3rd from your Moon, which is a different count from this house.

A worked chart

This app's engine output for 02:00 IST on 10 May 2011 in New Delhi, chosen because it is the Aquarius-rising case. It is an illustration, not a reading of any person.

Mars is the 3rd lord in its Moolatrikona in the 3rd: BPHS Ch. 14 Sl. 2's good condition (the 3rd lord and Mars in the 3rd, here one planet), the Bhrigu Sutras' own-sign clause (long-lived siblings, patient and brave), and the commentator's rejection of karako bhava nashaya for a dignified Mars all apply. Ch. 14 Sl. 14 still names Mars in the 3rd; Sl. 15 asks for strength first, and the engine rates it Strong. Ch. 24 Sl. 27 and Sl. 111 apply; Ch. 34 calls Mars a malefic and a Maraka for Aquarius rising.

Jupiter, a benefic, shares the 3rd, which is Ch. 14 Sl. 1's condition (a benefic joining the 3rd) and the company Saravali Ch. 15 Sl. 14 reads as intelligent and expert in speech; the Sun is there too (Sl. 3, valorous but dull-witted). Jupiter is at 0.18 degrees of Aries, only just inside the sign. Mars aspects Libra, Cancer and Scorpio, the 9th, 6th and 10th; the Moon in the 6th receives the aspect. Mars at 4.91 degrees is in the first ten of Aries, which by Ch. 47 Sl. 3-4 brings its results early in the Mars period. The page lists these and does not net them.

Your own chart

1. 1.Confirm Mars is in the third sign from your Ascendant in the birth chart calculator.
2. 2.Find the 3rd lord (the lord of Mars's sign): is it with Mars or aspecting the 3rd (Ch. 14 Sl. 2), in an angle, trine or exaltation (Sl. 5-6), or with Mars in the 8th?
3. 3.Is Mars in Aries, Scorpio or Capricorn? That is the Bhrigu Sutras' exit from the sibling clause.
4. 4.Does a benefic join or aspect the 3rd (Ch. 14 Sl. 1; the Bhrigu Sutras' other exit)?
5. 5.Read both houses Mars rules in the Ch. 24 table.
6. 6.For siblings, BPHS Ch. 7 points to the Drekkana; the Drekkana (D3) calculator builds it.

Method and limits are on the methodology page; the books are on the sources page.

Readings to avoid

• "Mars in the 3rd means losing a sibling." Ch. 14 Sl. 14 is followed directly by Sl. 15, which requires strength first; the Bhrigu Sutras reverse it for a dignified Mars or a benefic's aspect.
• "A malefic in the 3rd is bad." For the person's courage, the texts say nearly the opposite; Ch. 39 Sl. 17 builds a Raj Yoga on a malefic in the 3rd.
• "The karaka always harms its own house." The Bhrigu Sutras' commentator rejects that for an own-sign or exalted Mars.
• "Mars in the 3rd gives Mangal Dosha." The 3rd is not one of this app's six dosha houses.
• "A Mars dasha with this placement is always hard." BPHS Ch. 47 gives a strong Mars in the 3rd wealth through valour; Ch. 48's general rule is the cautious one, and the texts leave the two side by side.
• "The 3rd from my Moon in transit is my 3rd house." Transits count from the Moon; natal houses from the Ascendant.

Questions about Mars in the 3rd

Is Mars in the 3rd house good?

For courage, yes in every source checked: Saravali calls the native unconquerable, the Bhrigu Sutras patient and brave when dignified. For siblings the texts are cautious: Saravali says bereft of co-born, BPHS Ch. 14 Sl. 14 harm to both, the Bhrigu Sutras few or inimical brothers and loss with malefics, but long-lived brothers when Mars is dignified.

What is "karako bhava nashaya"?

The principle that a significator harms its own house. The Bhrigu Sutras' commentator names it for Mars in the 3rd and rejects it for an own-sign, exalted or benefic-influenced Mars (p. 49).

What does Mars aspect from the 3rd?

The 9th by its 7th aspect, and the 6th and 10th by its special aspects. The engine counts all three as malefic aspects.

Which rising signs give the strongest Mars in the 3rd?

By dignity, Scorpio rising (exalted, as Lagna lord), Virgo and Aquarius rising (own sign, as 3rd lord). By Ch. 34, Cancer rising makes Mars the Yoga Karaka, though in Mercury's Virgo.

Does Mars in the 3rd form a yoga?

It can fill the malefic slot of BPHS Ch. 39 Sl. 17 (with benefics in the 1st, 2nd and 4th) and Ch. 43 Sl. 65-66. It cannot form Ruchaka, which needs an angle.

Does Mars in the 3rd say anything about writing or short travel?

Not in the classical Mars verses. Writing, communication and short travel come from the Bhrigu Sutras' modern list for the 3rd; Parashara's list is valour, servants, co-born, instruction and journeys.

Why read the Drekkana for siblings?

BPHS Ch. 7 Sl. 1-8 assign happiness through co-born to the Drekkana (D3). It is a second opinion on the 3rd, beside the Vikram Pada and the Bhratru Karaka.

Is a Mars dasha good with this placement?

BPHS Ch. 47 gives a strong Mars in the 3rd wealth through valour and success over opponents. Ch. 48 Sl. 18-20 list dashas of planets in the 3rd as unfavourable. This app grades it by dignity and house.