Enter your birth date, time and place above and this free calculator finds the badhaka house of your chart, the house of obstruction, and its lord, the badhakesh or badhaka graha. You see whether your rising sign is movable, fixed or dual, which house and sign that makes the badhaka house, the sign and house its lord stands in, the other houses the lord rules, and any planets in the badhaka house. A table gives the badhaka house for all twelve rising signs.
How it works
The calculator works out your rising sign (Lahiri ayanamsa, from the NASA JPL DE440 tables) and the sidereal planets. Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra divides the twelve signs, from Aries, into movable, fixed and dual in turn (ch. 4, verse 5, in R. Santhanam’s edition):
- Movable (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn): the badhaka house is the 11th.
- Fixed (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius): the badhaka house is the 9th.
- Dual (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces): the badhaka house is the 7th.
The lord of the sign in that house is the badhaka lord. Houses are whole signs counted from the rising sign.
Reading the result
The answer at the top names the badhaka house, its sign and its lord, and says where the lord stands. The table below adds the other houses the lord rules, its dignity if it is exalted, in its own sign or debilitated, and the planets in the badhaka house.
In Prasna Marga the badhaka house and its lord are used above all in questions put to an astrologer, to trace the cause of a difficulty. In a birth chart they are one factor among many, read with the strength of the lord and the dasha running. The Mahadasha calculator shows when the badhaka lord’s own period runs.
Where traditions differ
Prasna Marga (ch. 15, verse 111, in B. V. Raman’s translation) gives the houses of harm as the 11th, 9th or 7th as the sign is movable, fixed or dual, counting from the Arudha of a question; Raman’s glossary to the same book gives the badhaka as the lord of the 11th for movable ascendants, the 9th for fixed and the 7th for dual ones, which is how this page counts from your rising sign. Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (ch. 50, verses 20 and 21) also names the 11th sign as the badhaka house of each movable sign.
Prasna Marga records two other views (verses 111 to 113). One counts the kendras from these houses as well, which it says only a few accept. The other is the list of verse 112: Aquarius for all the movable signs, Scorpio for Leo, Virgo, Scorpio and Sagittarius, Capricorn for Taurus, Cancer for Aquarius, and Sagittarius for Gemini and Pisces. Verse 113 says this list is accepted by all, as the first rule is, so the text ranks the two equally. This page uses the first rule, because Raman’s glossary applies that one to the ascendant; it does not apply the list of verse 112, which the text gives for the Arudha of a question. Teachers also differ on how much weight the badhaka lord carries in a birth chart compared with a question; the page leaves that to the reading.
What it does not do
It does not predict obstacles, illness or any event, and it offers no remedy. Every chart has a badhaka house and lord, because every rising sign is movable, fixed or dual, so finding yours says nothing unusual about you. It is a point of study, and nothing here is a reason for worry.
Frequently asked questions
↳ What is the badhaka house?
The badhaka house is the house of obstruction: the 11th from a movable rising sign, the 9th from a fixed one and the 7th from a dual one. Its lord is the badhaka lord, or badhakesh. Prasna Marga (ch. 15, verse 111) gives the rule.
↳ How do I find my badhaka lord?
Enter your birth date, time and place above. The calculator finds your rising sign, its class, the badhaka house and the lord of that sign, and shows where the lord stands in your chart.
↳ Which signs are movable, fixed and dual?
Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn are movable; Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius are fixed; Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces are dual. Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (ch. 4, verse 5) names the classes in turn from Aries.
↳ Is the badhaka lord always a bad planet?
No. Every chart has one, and it can be a strong, well-placed planet that also rules good houses. The calculator lists the other houses it rules. A reading weighs all of that together with the dasha.
↳ Is badhaka used in birth charts or only in prashna?
Prasna Marga uses it mainly in questions put to an astrologer, counting from the Arudha of the question. Many astrologers also apply it to the birth chart, counting from the rising sign, as B. V. Raman's glossary to Prasna Marga does and as this page does.
↳ Does it need my birth time?
Yes. The badhaka house is counted from the rising sign, which changes every couple of hours, so the time of birth decides it.