Mars in the 5th house: the hardest verses for children, and the Yoga Karaka exception

Of the seven planets in the 5th house, Mars receives one of the hardest pairs of verses. Saravali gives a native without happiness, wealth or sons, fickle and a talebearer. The Bhrigu Sutras give few or no children. Their commentator's Note is the reason this page exists: the authorities agree that Mars damages the significations of the 5th, "but Mars in the fifth is not always bad", and the sutras on Mars in its own sign give a good number of children and high office.

That exception lands on exactly the rising signs where Mars is the 5th lord: Cancer and Sagittarius. For Cancer rising Mars is also the Yoga Karaka, and BPHS has a Great Affluence yoga built on Mars in its own sign in the 5th. This page sets out the verses, the exception, the rule for planets beside Mars in the 5th, and the two houses Mars rules for each rising sign. For the planet see Mars in Vedic astrology; for the house, the 5th house, Putra Bhava.

The house of intelligence, children and standing

BPHS Ch. 11 Sl. 6 lists amulets, sacred spells, learning, knowledge, sons, royalty or authority, and fall of position. The list is worth noticing: only one of its items is children, three are about the mind and two about standing. The 5th is a trine and a Panaphara; BPHS Ch. 34 says the lord of a trine gives auspicious results and that the 5th and 9th are "specially for wealth"; Jupiter is the fixed significator (Ch. 32).

Mars's own significations sit mostly elsewhere: co-borns, strength, qualities and land (BPHS Ch. 70); younger siblings, the 3rd and 6th houses, and the mother jointly with the Moon (Ch. 32). It is the most malefic of the natural malefics in Ch. 34 Sl. 8-10, and the Bhrigu Sutras' commentator keeps asking when such a malefic turns benefic by sign or lordship. The 5th, where Mars is the Yoga Karaka's trine for Cancer rising, is one of the places where that question is answered.

What the verses say

Saravali Ch. 30 Sloka 30

"If Mars occupies the 5th, the native will be devoid of happiness, wealth and sons, be fickle-minded, be a talebearer, will incur evils, be wicked, distressed and mean" (p. 102). Unlike Saravali's Sun verse for the 5th, which keeps the intelligence ("scholarly"), the Mars verse gives the mind nothing.

The Bhrigu Sutras, Sutras 34-45, and the Note

The sutras (p. 51), as the text's statements: poor, few or no children, immoral, in the bad books of the Government, cuts or wounds in the sixth year, a liar but very shrewd. In its own sign or exalted: a good number of children, feeds others, high Government positions, but troubles from enemies. With a malefic or in a malefic's house: loss of children and mental disorders. With the 8th lord: sinful but brave, perhaps no children of his own and an adopted one. The commentator (p. 52) doubts the exaltation case, since for Virgo rising Mars rules the 3rd and 8th, and his concluding Note says: the authorities agree that Mars damages the significations of the 5th, "but Mars in the fifth is not always bad", pointing to Sutras 39-40 on Mars in its own sign.

The app's favourable line takes the Bhrigu Sutras' exception, "children and high office", and applies it to every strong dignity, including a friendly sign, where the sutras name only own sign and exaltation. Mars's own and exaltation signs in the 5th fall on three Ascendants: Cancer (Scorpio), Sagittarius (Aries) and Virgo (Capricorn).

Set the seven planets side by side and a pattern appears: the benefics (Moon, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus) read well in the 5th in both texts, and the Sun, Mars and Saturn read badly for children while often keeping the intelligence. Mars is the exception within the exception: its Saravali verse keeps nothing, and its Bhrigu Sutras passage is the one the commentator singles out to say the harsh verdict is not final. Saturn's sutras give daughters in its own sign; Mars's give children and high office in its own or exaltation sign.

Mars and the Lajjit state

BPHS Ch. 45, on planetary states, defines the Lajjit or "ashamed" state by the 5th house: a planet in Putra Bhava associated with Rahu or Ketu, or with the Sun, Saturn or Mars, is Lajjit (Sl. 11-18), and Sl. 19-23 say a Lajjit planet in the 5th brings "destruction of progeny, or there will be only one surviving child", after strength is weighed. Mars is one of the five named planets. So any other planet sharing the 5th with Mars is in the Lajjit state by the verse's wording, including a benefic such as Jupiter that the house's own chapter would otherwise count in its favour.

BPHS gives no method for weighing the rule against the house chapter beyond strength, and this app does not compute Avasthas. It is a check to make by hand: list the planets in your 5th and note whether Mars, the Sun, Saturn, Rahu or Ketu is among them.

Saravali's test for the house, and Ch. 16

Saravali Ch. 34 Sl. 25-26 (p. 127), the simplest rule in any of the texts: if the 5th holds a benefic, is aspected by one, or is a benefic's sign, the native "will surely beget children"; otherwise not; and the 5th may be counted from the Moon or the Ascendant, the stronger prevailing. Sl. 37 gives the reverse: a malefic's sign in the 5th, occupied by strong malefics, with no benefic aspect. Sl. 27 reads a malefic's Navamsa on the 5th with a malefic aspect as progeny "with difficulty". Sl. 41 names Mars itself: in the 5th, "the children of the native will pass away, as they are born", but with Jupiter's or Venus's aspect the loss relates only to the first child, and with all planets aspecting it there is no loss; Sl. 42 adds that Mars in the 5th makes one distressed (p. 128). These are the text's statements, not forecasts.

Mars is a malefic, so it fails the occupant clause. The aspect and sign clauses remain: Jupiter aspects the 5th from the 1st, 9th or 11th, and Mars sits in a benefic's sign in the 5th for Taurus (Virgo), Gemini (Libra), Leo (Sagittarius), Scorpio (Pisces), Capricorn (Taurus), Aquarius (Gemini) and Pisces (Cancer) rising. Sl. 37 applies in full only when Mars is in a malefic's sign, strong, and unaspected by a benefic.

• BPHS Ch. 16 Sl. 1-3 start with the Lagna lord and the 5th lord: both in their own signs, angles or trines promise "thorough happiness" through children; a 5th lord in the 6th, 8th or 12th gives "no offspring", and one combust or weak with malefics no children, or children who "quit the world soon", as the text's statements.
• Sl. 8 softens that to children "with difficulty", and Sl. 16 lists the 5th lord exalted, in the 2nd, 5th or 9th, or joined or aspected by Jupiter as conditions for children.
• Sl. 17, a check against over-reading: the severe verdict needs three or four malefics and a fallen 5th lord with no benefic present. A single Mars in the 5th is not that case.

Great Affluence: Mars in its own sign in the 5th

BPHS Ch. 41 Sl. 2-8 list seven Great Affluence yogas, each a planet in its own sign in the 5th with named planets in the 11th. Sl. 7 is Mars's: Mars in its own sign in the 5th with Venus in the 11th, which means Cancer or Sagittarius rising. Mars also appears in the 11th in two others (Sl. 2 with Venus in the 5th; Sl. 3 with Mercury in the 5th), which concern Mars in the 11th, not here. From the 5th Mars aspects the 11th, so in Sl. 7 it looks straight at the Venus it needs.

These are rare by construction, and the engine checks all seven exactly as written. Ch. 41 Sl. 16 states the broader rule: the 9th and 5th lords, and planets joined to them, give wealth in their dashas. The yogas calculator lists any that form, and what a yoga in your chart means explains how to weigh one.

BPHS Ch. 39 Sl. 3-5 judge Raj Yogas from the Ascendant lord with the 5th lord, and Sl. 33-34 from the 5th and 9th lords together. For Cancer rising Mars is the 5th lord, so a link between Mars and the Moon (the Lagna lord) is that pair. Ch. 34 Sl. 13 calls a planet owning an angle and a trine a Yoga Karaka, and for Cancer rising Mars owns the 5th and 10th; Ch. 34 Sl. 27-28 say Mars "is capable of conferring a full-fledged Yog".

Two lordships for every rising sign

Mars owns Aries and Scorpio. It is in your 5th when it occupies the fifth sign from your rising sign; the Lagna calculator finds yours. BPHS Ch. 24 gives a verse for each house lord placed in the 5th, so a Mars there carries two.

Sl. 53 settles Ch. 16's disagreement about a 5th lord at home: progeny when related to a benefic, none when related to a malefic, and "virtuous and dear to friends" either way. For Cancer and Sagittarius rising Mars is that lord at home, so the benefic or malefic relations of Mars decide the verse.

The 5th lord, through the houses

Saravali Ch. 25, by the sign Mars occupies

Saravali's chapter on Mars by sign (Ch. 25 Sl. 1-24, pp. 76-78) applies through the sign in your 5th. It describes temperament, is blunt, and has clauses on children of its own (Leo, Taurus, Pisces), reported as the text's statements.

Several of these touch the 5th's mind items rather than its children: "learned in shastras and arts" in Virgo, "very learned" in Gemini. Saravali Ch. 15 adds the conjunctions: Mars with Jupiter, intelligent and expert in speech (Sl. 14); with the Sun, valorous, dull-witted, a liar (Sl. 3); with Saturn, deceitful and fond of quarrels (Sl. 16). A Jupiter with Mars in the 5th is both the karaka of the house and, by Ch. 45, a Lajjit planet.

Two more BPHS rules use the house through its lord. Ch. 39 Sl. 37-38 build Raj Yogas from the 5th lord in the 1st, 4th or 10th with the 9th lord or Lagna lord, and from the 4th or 10th lord joining the 5th or 9th lord; for Cancer rising Mars is the 5th and 10th lord in one. Ch. 31 reads an unobstructed Argala on the 5th as "sons, grand sons and intelligence", which the Argala calculator checks.

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 5th is a trine, so dignity alone decides. The Lajjit state, Saravali's test and Ch. 16 are not part of that line.

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: Cancer and Sagittarius rising (own sign) and Virgo rising (exalted).
• Never favourable: Pisces rising (debilitated), Taurus and Aquarius rising (Mercury's signs, Neutral at best).
• Favourable when the 5th lord sits in a temporary-friend position from Mars: Aries, Leo and Scorpio rising (otherwise Neutral) and Gemini, Libra and Capricorn 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 and aspects

BPHS Ch. 27 Sl. 7 measures Mars from the 4th: no directional strength there, full at the 10th. The 5th is one house past the zero point, about one-sixth of the maximum in this engine's even steps, and as a Panaphara it gives half of Kendradi Bal. The Shad Bala calculator shows the figures.

From the 5th, aspectedHouses('mars', 5) returns [11, 8, 12]: the 11th by the 7th aspect, the 8th and 12th by Mars's special aspects (BPHS Ch. 26 Sl. 2-5). The 11th is the house the Ch. 41 yogas pair with the 5th; the 8th and 12th are two of the three Dusthanas. The engine counts each as a malefic aspect. None of the three texts gives a separate verse for them. See the 11th house.

Timing

Mars has 7 Vimshottari years. BPHS Ch. 47 Sl. 27-32 give a strong, well-placed Mars a dasha of position, wealth and land; Sl. 33 a weak one loss and distress. Ch. 47 Sl. 3-4 time results by decanate, reversed for a retrograde Mars. The Vimshottari Dasha calculator gives the dates.

For Cancer and Sagittarius rising Mars is also the 5th lord, and BPHS Ch. 48 Sl. 2-4 give that dasha "progress in educational sphere and happiness from the children"; this app shows "progress in education and happiness through children". Ch. 41 Sl. 16 adds that the 5th lord gives wealth in its dasha. Sub-periods are explained in Antardasha and Pratyantar. For transits, the Gochar calculator counts Mars from the natal Moon.

A worked chart

This app's engine output for 00:00 IST on 26 October 2010 in New Delhi, chosen because it is the Cancer-rising case. Two hours later the same Mars is in the 4th of a Leo Ascendant, worked on the Mars in the 4th page. It is an illustration, not a reading of any person.

This is the Bhrigu Sutras' exception exactly: Mars in its own sign in the 5th, which the commentator's Note says is not bad. Mars is the 5th lord at home and is aspected by two benefics, the Moon from the 11th and Jupiter from the 9th, so Ch. 24 Sl. 53's benefic relation holds and Saravali Ch. 34 Sl. 25-26's benefic-aspect clause is met. Ch. 16 Sl. 1-3 is met too: the Lagna lord, the Moon, is exalted, and the 5th lord is in its own sign in a trine. Sl. 16 is met by Jupiter's aspect on the 5th lord.

What is not met. Ch. 41 Sl. 7 needs Venus in the 11th; Venus is in Libra, the 4th, so no Great Affluence yoga forms. No other planet shares the 5th, so the Lajjit state does not arise. The Moon (Lagna lord) and Mars (5th lord) aspect each other across the 5th-11th axis, which is the pair Ch. 39 Sl. 3-5 judge Raj Yogas from; the engine lists both in its Kendra-Kona Raj Yoga. The engine's Vimshottari sequence opens with the Sun. The page lists these and does not net them.

Two further readings from the same figures. Saravali Ch. 25 Sl. 15-16, the Scorpio line, applies: attached to trade, skilful in duties, endowed with land. Mars at 4.20 degrees is in the first ten degrees of Scorpio, which by BPHS Ch. 47 Sl. 3-4 brings its dasha results early in the Mars period. Counted from the Moon in Taurus, as Saravali allows, the 5th is Virgo, your 3rd, where Saturn sits.

Your own chart

1. 1.Confirm Mars is in the fifth sign from your Ascendant in the birth chart calculator.
2. 2.Is Mars in Aries, Scorpio or Capricorn? That is the Bhrigu Sutras' exception.
3. 3.List any other planet in the 5th: with Mars there, it is Lajjit by BPHS Ch. 45.
4. 4.Run Saravali's test from the Ascendant and the Moon: a benefic aspecting the 5th, or a benefic's sign there.
5. 5.Find the 5th lord (the lord of Mars's sign) and the Lagna lord; apply BPHS Ch. 16 Sl. 1-3, 8 and 16.
6. 6.For a second look at children, the Saptamsa (D7) calculator computes the division BPHS Ch. 7 assigns to "sons and grandsons".

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

Readings to be careful with

• "Mars in the 5th means no children." Saravali Ch. 34 Sl. 41 says children pass away unless Jupiter, Venus or all planets aspect Mars; the Bhrigu Sutras say few or none in general and a good number in own sign or exaltation; their commentator says it is "not always bad". BPHS judges children mainly by the 5th lord and Jupiter.
• "A malefic in the 5th settles it." BPHS Ch. 16 Sl. 17 needs three or four malefics and a fallen 5th lord with no benefic.
• "Mars in the 5th affects only children." The 5th is also learning, judgement and standing; the app's favourable line speaks of standing through institutions.
• "Favourable in the app means children are assured." The line rests on dignity only.
• "A Great Affluence yoga forms whenever Mars is at home in the 5th." BPHS Ch. 41 Sl. 7 also needs Venus in the 11th, which the worked chart shows can easily be missing.
• "Mars here makes companions in the 5th useless." BPHS Ch. 45 calls them Lajjit, harmful to progeny; it does not cancel the rest of their reading, and BPHS gives no method for weighing the two beyond strength.
• "The 5th from my Moon in transit is my 5th house." Transits count from the Moon; natal houses from the Ascendant.

Questions about Mars in the 5th

Is Mars in the 5th house bad?

For children the verses are harsh: Saravali says without sons, the Bhrigu Sutras few or none. The sutras reverse it for Mars in its own or exaltation sign, and their commentator says Mars in the 5th "is not always bad".

Which rising signs give the best Mars in the 5th?

Cancer rising (Mars as Yoga Karaka in Scorpio, the 5th lord at home) and Sagittarius rising (Mars in Aries, the 5th lord at home). Virgo rising gives an exalted Mars, though as 3rd and 8th lord.

What is the Lajjit state?

BPHS Ch. 45 calls a planet in the 5th "ashamed" when associated with Rahu, Ketu, the Sun, Saturn or Mars. With Mars in the 5th, any other planet there qualifies. This app does not compute it.

Can Mars in the 5th form a wealth yoga?

BPHS Ch. 41 Sl. 7: Mars in its own sign in the 5th with Venus in the 11th, which exists for Cancer and Sagittarius rising. The engine reports it only when the full condition is met.

What does Mars aspect from the 5th?

The 11th, 8th and 12th houses. The engine counts all three as malefic aspects.

Does Mars in the 5th affect intelligence or learning?

Saravali's verse gives the mind nothing, unlike its Sun verse for the 5th. The Bhrigu Sutras call the native shrewd. Saravali's sign chapter gives learning for a Mars in Gemini or Virgo. BPHS lists learning and knowledge among the 5th's items, judged mainly through the 5th lord.

What does Mars rule when it is in my 5th?

It depends on the Ascendant: two houses in every chart, from the 1st and 8th for Aries rising to the 2nd and 9th for Pisces rising. BPHS Ch. 24 gives a verse for each of those lords placed in the 5th, listed in the table above.

Does Jupiter help a Mars in the 5th?

BPHS Ch. 16 Sl. 16 counts Jupiter joining or aspecting the 5th lord as a condition for children, and Saravali's test counts a benefic aspect on the 5th. Jupiter sharing the 5th with Mars is, by BPHS Ch. 45, also in the Lajjit state.

Is a Mars dasha good with this placement?

For Cancer and Sagittarius rising it is also the 5th lord's dasha, which BPHS Ch. 48 reads as progress in education and happiness from children. This app grades the dasha by dignity and house.