Sagittarius ascendant (Dhanu Lagna): the twelve houses, their lords, and what the texts say

The twelve houses from Sagittarius 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. Jupiter, the lagna lord, also rules the 4th, so it holds two angles. The Sun rules the 9th, a trine, and Mercury the 7th and 10th, two angles: a trine lord and an angle lord, the pairing of Ch. 34 Sl. 11-12. And Venus rules the 6th and the 11th, two houses whose lords Sl. 2-7 says give evil effects.

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

BPHS Ch. 34 is the chapter on yoga karakas. Its Sl. 37-38 is the verdict for Dhanu Lagn, laid out house by house on the Sagittarius rashi page; the rules behind it are Sl. 2-14, and Sl. 8-10 names the natural benefics and malefics.

The verse settles Jupiter as neutral, a case the rashi page reasons through. Mercury's angles count against it under Sl. 8-10, yet the verse names it, with the Sun, for the Yog. Saturn gets neither label and the Moon is not classed; in every other row the rules and the verse agree.

Is there a yogakaraka for Sagittarius rising?

The verse puts it differently: Sl. 37-38 says the Sun and Mercury are "capable of conferring a Yog", without the words Yog Karak. Sl. 13's rule, a graha owning an angle (4th, 7th, 10th) and a trine (5th, 9th), finds none, so this page quotes the verse. The Kundali's full reading prints a yogakaraka line for each of the two, with its sign and house. The rashi page covers the later books on Jupiter and Saturn.

The Bhrigu Sutras translator's comments on Sagittarius rising

The comments printed after the sutras are the translator's, not Bhrigu's. At least fifteen pages name Sagittarius as the ascendant; the table gives five, and the Jupiter and Saturn passages on pp. 73-74 and 99 are on the Sagittarius rashi page.

The Mars and Mercury rows agree with the verse. The Jupiter and Saturn rows rate those grahas well, where the verse calls Jupiter neutral and gives Saturn neither label. The Moon row runs against Sl. 2-7, which says the Moon's 8th lordship "is not evil"; Sl. 37-38 does not class the Moon. 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 Sagittarius among the four signs of medium ascension, between the quickest and the slowest to rise.

Jupiter 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 and Mars count there, whatever Sl. 37-38 calls them. Jupiter is a natural benefic. It is exalted in Cancer, the 8th, and weak in Capricorn, the 2nd; the rashi page's table lists every graha's strong and weak house from Sagittarius.

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 9th good fortune, skill and eloquence (Sl. 9); in the 10th royal honour, fame and self-earned wealth (Sl. 10). 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). Jupiter in each house has a page, from Jupiter in the 1st house to Jupiter in the 12th house; the Shad Bala calculator shows its strength in a given chart.

Which lordship yogas the engine can test for Sagittarius rising

The five pairs are Jupiter with Mars, the Sun and Mercury, and Mercury with Mars and the Sun. The test 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; Mars (the 12th) does, which would leave three pairs, among them the verse's own, the Sun with Mercury. Kendra-Kona Raj Yoga gives the general rule.

Worked example: Sagittarius rising at 23.10 degrees, New Delhi, 15 March 1985

This is not a real person's chart. It is a birth moment, 02:56 IST on 15 March 1985 in New Delhi, that a deterministic search (a check script sagittarius-ascendant) found because it rises in Sagittarius; re-enter it in the Birth Chart calculator. The engine puts the ascendant at 23.10 degrees. Each nakshatra takes 13 degrees 20 minutes (four padas of 3 degrees 20): Mula fills the first 13.33 degrees of Sagittarius and Purva Ashadha the next 13.33, so 23.10 is in Purva Ashadha, pada 3 (20.00 to 23.33), 0.23 of a degree before pada 4.

• The lagna lord. Jupiter is debilitated in Capricorn, the 2nd, alone in the sign. The 2nd is in neither of Ch. 12 Sl. 1-2's lists, and Ch. 24 Sl. 2 reads the lagna lord there as gain, scholarship and honour.
• The verse's pair. The Sun and Mercury are together in Pisces, the 4th, an angle, 18.07 degrees apart (18.67 minus 0.60). Sl. 11-12's location condition is met, and neither lord owns a dusthana, so Sl. 15 does not bar them. The engine lists Dharma-Karmadhipati Yoga for the 9th and 10th lords and one Kendra-Kona row for the pair, and the full reading's Yoga Karaka panel prints "Sun - special source of rise, currently in Pisces (house 4)" and the same line for Mercury.
• Mars. Lord of the 5th and 12th, it stands in Aries, the 5th, on its Moolatrikona, and the Bhrigu Sutras translator's comment on Mars in Aries in the 5th (p. 51) counts this placement for Sagittarius rising: the 12th lordship's evil effects are not felt and only good results follow. Rahu shares the sign. No other comment covers a placement here.
• Venus and the rest. Venus, lord of the 6th and 11th, is exalted in the 4th with the Sun and Mercury, so the engine lists Malavya Yoga. Saturn, lord of the 2nd and 3rd, is retrograde in Scorpio, the 12th; the Moon, lord of the 8th, is in the Lagna. The 6th, 8th and 12th lords stand in the 4th, 1st and 5th, so there is no Harsha, Sarala or Vimala row, and Mars and the Sun are in different houses, so no Raja Yoga row.

The yoga list also carries Durudhura, Vesi and Pasa (placement patterns, not lordship). The dosha list shows only Kaal Sarp Dosha (Present), which has its own page. Nothing here is a verdict on a person.

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

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 Sun and Mercury need particular houses to confer the Yog the verse names?

No. Sl. 37-38 sets no condition, and the Kundali's Yoga Karaka panel names both in every Sagittarius-rising chart. A yoga between them is another matter: 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.

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

Five. 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 two that include Mars, leaving Jupiter with the Sun, Jupiter with Mercury and Mercury with the Sun.

In which houses does BPHS favour Jupiter for a Sagittarius 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 Sagittarius the angles and trines are Sagittarius, Pisces, Gemini, Virgo, Aries and Leo; the 6th, 8th and 12th are Taurus, Cancer and Scorpio.

Which grahas rule the dusthanas for a Sagittarius ascendant?

Ch. 7 Sl. 33-36 names the 6th, 8th and 12th as the evil bhavas; from Sagittarius they are Taurus (Venus), Cancer (the Moon) and Scorpio (Mars). 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.