Sign Aspects and Argalā: How Jaimini Sees Influence in Your Chart

Two kinds of "looking"

In everyday Vedic astrology, influence is mostly described through planet aspects (graha dṛṣṭi): every planet looks at the 7th sign from itself, and three planets have extra glances — Mars the 4th and 8th, Jupiter the 5th and 9th, Saturn the 3rd and 10th (BPHS 27). That is a planet-by-planet rule.

The sage Jaimini, and Parāśara in a short chapter of his own (BPHS 8), describe a second and simpler system: sign aspects (rāśi dṛṣṭi). Here it is the signs that face one another, and any planet sitting in a sign looks wherever its sign looks. Next to it, Jaimini adds argalā — literally the bolt of a door — the idea that planets in certain houses from a sign take hold of that sign, unless something on the other side pushes back.

You do not need either idea to enjoy your chart. But if you have wondered why the site says a planet "aspects" a house the usual rules would not allow, or what "unobstructed argalā on your lagna" means, this article is for you.

The rule of sign aspects

The twelve signs come in three kinds:

Movable (cara): Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn

Fixed (sthira): Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius

Dual (dvisvabhāva): Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces

The rule (BPHS 8.2–5; JS 1.1.2–3) fits in three lines:

A movable sign aspects the three fixed signs — except the fixed sign right next to it.

A fixed sign aspects the three movable signs — except the movable sign right next to it.

A dual sign aspects the other three dual signs.

So every sign aspects exactly three others, and sign aspects are always mutual: if Libra looks at Aquarius, Aquarius looks back at Libra. A planet does not "aspect" the sign it sits in — sharing a sign is a conjunction, a different relationship. The site also lets Rahu and Ketu cast sign aspects, following JS 1.1.3 (BPHS gives the nodes no settled planet aspect of their own).

Argalā: the bolt on the door

An argalā is the bar that holds a door shut. In Jaimini's picture, planets placed in certain houses counted from a sign take hold of that sign and pull its affairs their way. Count from the sign you are studying (it is the 1st):

The 2nd, 4th and 11th give argalā; planets in the 12th, 10th and 3rd obstruct them, in that order (BPHS 32.3; JS 1.1.4).

The 5th also gives argalā, obstructed by the 9th (BPHS 32.6).

Many malefics in the 3rd give an argalā of their own (BPHS 32.4–5; JS 1.1.5–6). Following the commentary, the site counts "many" as three or more; the 11th then obstructs.

When does the obstruction win?

The texts compare numbers. If the obstructing house is empty, or holds fewer planets than the argalā house, the argalā stands; if the obstructors are as many or more, it is blocked (the site reads a tie as blocked). Strength grows with numbers: one planet gives a small argalā, two a medium one, three or more the best (BPHS 32.7). Nature matters too: an argalā made of natural benefics brings many kinds of comfort to that house, one of malefics brings less, a mix a middling result (BPHS 32.16).

Ketu counts backwards

Ketu is the exception. Because the nodes move backwards, Ketu's houses are counted in reverse for argalā (JS 1.1.9; BPHS 32.6 names the nodes). Ketu in the 12th acts as if in the 2nd, in the 10th as the 4th, in the 3rd as the 11th, in the 9th as the 5th — and the other way round. A Ketu that looks like an obstructor may in fact be giving argalā.

A worked example

The site's sample chart (25 December 1990, 03:20, Paris) has Libra rising. Saturn and Rahu sit in Capricorn (4th), Jupiter and Ketu in Cancer (10th), the Sun, Mercury and Venus in Sagittarius (3rd), the Moon in Pisces (6th) and Mars in Taurus (8th). Its ārūḍha lagna (AL), the sign of the public image, is Aquarius.

Sign aspects on the lagna. Libra is movable, so it is aspected from Taurus, Leo and Aquarius. Only Taurus is occupied: Mars aspects the lagna by sign.

Argalā on the lagna. The 4th from Libra is Capricorn, holding Saturn and Rahu. Ketu is in Cancer, the 10th — normally an obstructing house — but counted backwards Ketu acts as the 4th and joins the argalā. The only obstructor left in the 10th is Jupiter. Three against one: the argalā stands, with the "best" strength, and it is malefic in nature (Saturn, Rahu, Ketu), which BPHS 32.16 reads as giving less comfort than a benefic one.

Argalā on the AL (Aquarius).

The 11th from Aquarius is Sagittarius, with the Sun, Mercury and Venus. The 3rd (Aries) is empty, so this argalā stands at full strength. Its nature is mixed: Venus is a natural benefic, the Sun is not, and Mercury counts as a malefic here because it shares a sign with the Sun (BPHS 3).

The 4th (Taurus) holds Mars and the 10th (Scorpio) is empty: a small malefic argalā stands.

The 2nd (Pisces) holds the Moon, but the 12th (Capricorn) has Saturn and Rahu: two against one, so this argalā is blocked.

Aquarius also receives sign aspects from Jupiter and Ketu in Cancer.

Argalā on the 7th (Aries). Mars in Taurus (the 2nd) meets the Moon in Pisces (the 12th) — one against one, blocked. Jupiter in Cancer (the 4th) faces Saturn and Rahu in Capricorn (the 10th) plus Ketu, which, counted backwards from Aries, now stands in the 10th. Three against one: blocked.

In plain words: this person's self (the lagna) is held firmly by the slow, serious planets of the 4th; their public image (the AL) is supported by a busy group from its 11th, the house of gains; and partnerships receive no standing argalā at all — they will be read from other factors.

How the site uses this

On the birth chart, the Jaimini section lists, for every house, the planets aspecting it by sign and the argalās that stand or are blocked (BPHS 32.12–16).

The verse-cited readings look at standing argalā on three places: the lagna, the AL and the 7th (BPHS 32.10–17). A planet that gives argalā and also aspects the lagna is read as adding strength (32.11), and standing argalā on the lagna, the 5th and the 9th together is the fortunate combination of BPHS 32.17.

Timing: the texts say an argalā gives its result in the period of the sign or planet involved (BPHS 32.9) — which is why these placements come back in the two daśā clocks.

In your own chart

Find your rising sign, count 2, 4, 5 and 11 signs from it and see who lives there; then look at the 12th, 10th, 9th and 3rd for blockers, and remember to count Ketu backwards. Or let the site do it: your birth-chart page shows the sign aspects and argalās on every house. Calculate your chart.

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Ārūḍha lagna: the image the world sees

Reading a chart from several starting points

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