Taurus ascendant (Vrishabha Lagna): the twelve houses, their lords, and what the texts say

The twelve houses from Taurus and the lords that rule them

Each house takes the lord of its sign. Rahu and Ketu own no sign in this engine, so seven grahas share twelve houses: Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn rule two each, the Sun and Moon one 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 9th and 10th, a trine and an angle, the double lordship that Ch. 34 Sl. 13 calls a Yog Karak. Venus is the lagna lord and also rules the 6th, a dusthana whose lord Sl. 2-7 says gives evil effects. And Jupiter rules the 8th and 11th: Sl. 2-7 calls an 8th lord who also owns the 11th "specifically harmful".

The engine's yoga tests draw on these lists: Raj yoga for the Taurus ascendant and Dhana yoga for the Taurus ascendant take them lord by lord. The same facts colour each period; 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 Vrishabh Lagn

BPHS Ch. 34 is the chapter on yoga karakas. Its Sl. 23-24 is the verdict for Vrishabh Lagn, laid out house by house on the Taurus rashi page; the rules behind it are Sl. 2-14, and Sl. 8-10 names the natural benefics and malefics. Read against the lordships above, they give this.

Three rows pull against the rules, and in each the verse settles the matter for this lagna. Venus holds the Lagna, which Sl. 2-7 calls specially auspicious, and the 6th, whose lord it says gives evil effects; Sl. 23-24 lists Venus with the malefics and gives no reason. It calls the Sun auspicious, though Sl. 14 wants a trine beside the angle, and Mercury "somewhat inauspicious", though it rules a trine. The engine follows the verse but does not encode the Mercury phrase; the Taurus rashi page sets out how the later books read Venus.

Is there a yogakaraka for Taurus rising?

Yes: Saturn. Sl. 23-24 says it "will cause Raj Yog", and Sl. 13 agrees, since Saturn owns the 9th, a trine, and the 10th, an angle. The Kundali's full reading prints "Saturn - special source of rise" with Saturn's sign and house. How the later books and the engine's yoga tests treat Saturn is on the rashi page.

The Bhrigu Sutras translator's comments on Taurus rising

The comments printed after the sutras are the translator's, not Bhrigu's. At least ten name Taurus as the ascendant; the table gives five, and those on Venus, Mercury and Saturn in other houses (pp. 63, 87, 100, 106) are on the Taurus rashi page.

The Saturn row agrees with Sl. 23-24, and the Moon row is cautious where the verse is negative. The Mercury and Venus rows go the other way: the verse calls Mercury somewhat inauspicious and Venus malefic, yet the comments rate these placements highly. 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 Taurus among the four signs of short ascension, those that take least time to rise.

Exalted and debilitated signs, counted as houses from Taurus

BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 49-50 gives the exaltation signs of the Sun to Saturn as Aries, Taurus, Capricorn, Virgo, Cancer, Pisces and Libra, each with debilitation in the seventh sign from it; Saravali Ch. 3 Sl. 35-36 agrees. Counting from Taurus turns that into a house map.

The yogakaraka Saturn is exalted in the 6th and weak in the 12th, both dusthanas. The lagna lord is exalted in the 11th and weak in the 5th, with Mercury the reverse. Venus is Moolatrikona for the first 15 degrees of Libra, the 6th house, and in its own sign for the rest of Libra and all of Taurus (Ch. 3 Sl. 51-54). The app's "Friendly sign" and "Enemy sign" labels depend on the chart and cannot be tabulated by house. See exaltation and debilitation.

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. Venus is a natural benefic (Sl. 8-10), so the malefic would have to be another graha. Ch. 24 Sl. 1-12 reads the lagna lord in each house: in the 2nd it names gain, scholarship and honour (Sl. 2); in the 3rd valour and wealth (Sl. 3); in the 10th royal honour, fame and self-earned wealth (Sl. 10); in the 11th, where Venus is exalted, gains, good qualities and fame (Sl. 11). In the 6th, Libra, which holds Venus's Moolatrikona, the verse turns the result on malefic company and a benefic's aspect (Sl. 6).

House and dignity are separate facts, so a lagna lord can be strong in one and weak in the other. 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 Taurus rising

The Kendra-Kona 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, here Venus (6th) and Mars (12th); both are narrower than the engine. Kendra-Kona Raj Yoga gives the general rule.

Worked example: Taurus rising at 20.77 degrees, New Delhi, 28 January 1985

This is not a real person's chart. It is a birth moment, 13:51 IST on 28 January 1985 in New Delhi, that the helper found by a deterministic search because it rises in Taurus; re-enter it in the Birth Chart calculator. The engine puts the ascendant at 20.77 degrees. Each nakshatra takes 13 degrees 20 minutes (four padas of 3 degrees 20): Krittika ends 10 degrees into Taurus and Rohini fills the next 13.33, so 20.77 falls in Rohini, pada 4 (20.00 to 23.33). The next sign is 9.23 degrees away.

• The yogakaraka. Saturn, lord of the 9th and 10th, is in Scorpio, the 7th, an angle, in an enemy sign. The engine lists Dharma-Karmadhipati Yoga and names Saturn twice, since one graha holds both lordships; the Kundali line reads "Saturn - special source of rise, currently in Scorpio (house 7)". The Bhrigu Sutras translator's comment on Saturn in the 7th (p. 104) counts this placement for Taurus rising among powerful Dhana yogas. Ketu shares the sign and Rahu is in the Lagna.
• The lagna lord. Venus is exalted in Pisces, the 11th, where Ch. 24 Sl. 11 reads the lagna lord as gains, good qualities and fame and the Bhrigu Sutras translator calls it a gainful position (p. 97). Mars shares the sign, 0.68 of a degree on (2.3 minus 1.62).
• Raj Yoga rows. The Sun (4th lord) and Mercury (5th lord) share Capricorn, a trine, so Ch. 34 Sl. 11-12's location condition is met and Sl. 15 does not bar the pair. Mars (7th, 12th) and Venus (1st, 6th) share the 11th, which is neither angle nor trine, so Sl. 11-12 would not count them, and read literally Sl. 15 bars them, each lord owning a dusthana. The engine lists both pairs in one row, by Ch. 41 Sl. 28.
• Capricorn, the 9th. The Sun, Mercury and Jupiter share it. Jupiter (8th, 11th) is debilitated and 10.50 degrees from the Sun (14.72 minus 4.22), and the engine marks it combust. Mercury, lord of the 2nd and 5th, in the 9th is a placement the translator's comment (p. 70) counts among powerful Dhana yogas.

The yoga list also carries Anapha Yoga (Mars and Venus in the 12th sign from the Moon), Kedara Yoga (the seven grahas in exactly four signs) and Argala Raj Yoga; those come from placement patterns, not lordship. The dosha list shows only Kaal Sarp Dosha, which has its own page. Nothing here is a verdict on a person. Carry three questions to your own chart: where Saturn is, where Venus sits against its strong and weak houses, and which Raj Yoga links hold under Sl. 11-12.

Who is the lagna lord for a Taurus ascendant?

Venus, because Vrishabha is Venus's sign, so Venus is the first graha to check under BPHS Ch. 12 and Ch. 24. It also rules the 6th, a dusthana.

Which grahas rule the dusthanas for a Taurus ascendant?

BPHS Ch. 7 Sl. 33-36 names the 6th, 8th and 12th as the evil bhavas. From Taurus they are Libra (Venus), Sagittarius (Jupiter) and Aries (Mars). Ch. 34 Sl. 15 says an angle or trine lord that also owns one does not cause a Raj Yog by mere relation, which touches Venus and Mars; the engine applies no such bar.

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

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.

Where are Saturn and Venus exalted and debilitated in a Taurus-rising chart?

Counted from Taurus: Saturn is exalted in the 6th (Libra) and debilitated in the 12th (Aries); Venus is exalted in the 11th (Pisces) and debilitated in the 5th (Virgo) (BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 49-50).

Does a Taurus-rising chart show Kendradhipathya Dosha?

No. The engine tests only Jupiter and Venus, and only when one owns an angle without owning the 1st. Venus owns the 1st, and Jupiter, lord of the 8th and 11th, owns no angle. The worked chart above shows Kaal Sarp Dosha for a different reason, the positions of Rahu and Ketu.