Yoga Lookup
Functional nature by ascendant, Yoga Kārakas, the blocking conditions, and the yogas worth checking on every chart.
Drawn from BPHS 36, BPHS 37, BPHS 38, BPHS 39, BPHS 40, BPHS 41, BPHS 43, BPHS 44, BPHS 77, BPHS 81. Ch. 36 · Ch. 37 · Ch. 38 · Ch. 39 · Ch. 40 · Ch. 41 · Ch. 43 · Ch. 44 · Ch. 77 · Ch. 81
Three questions, every time
Is it formed? Does the required relationship actually exist?
Is it blocked? BPHS 36.14–15, and any condition attached to the specific yoga.
Can it deliver? Dignity, Ṣaḍbala, Avasthā, functional nature, house placement.
Popular practice answers the first and skips the other two. Counting yogas measures nothing.
Functional nature — the four-tier framework, BPHS 36.2–7
- A natural benefic ruling a Kendra does not give auspicious effects.
- A natural malefic ruling a Kendra does not give inauspicious effects.
- A Trikoṇa lord always gives auspicious effects, whatever its nature.
- The Lagna lord is especially auspicious, the 1st being both.
Trishadāya — the 3rd, 6th and 11th. Lordship of one compromises an otherwise favourable planet (36.15).
The twelve ascendants
Derived from the general rules and set beside what Parashara’s own entries at 36.19–44 say. Derive your own before trusting any table, including this one.
| Ascendant | Single-planet Yoga Kāraka | BPHS’s own entry (36.19–44) |
|---|---|---|
| Aries | — | Jupiter and Sun benefic; Saturn, Mercury, Venus malefic |
| Taurus | Saturn (9th + 10th) | “Saturn will cause Rāja Yoga” — agrees |
| Gemini | — | only Venus benefic |
| Cancer | Mars (5th + 10th) | “Mars is full Yoga Kāraka” — agrees |
| Leo | Mars (4th + 9th) | Mars called benefic; not named as Kāraka |
| Virgo | — | Mercury and Venus are Yoga Kārakas (relational) |
| Libra | Saturn (4th + 5th) | Moon and Mercury named as Rāja Yoga Kārakas; Saturn called benefic but not named as Kāraka |
| Scorpio | — | Sun and Moon are Yoga Kārakas (relational) |
| Sagittarius | — | Sun and Mercury are Yoga Kārakas (relational) |
| Capricorn | Venus (5th + 10th) | “only Venus is a superior Yogakāraka” — agrees |
| Aquarius | Venus (4th + 9th) | “Venus is the only Rāja Yoga Kāraka” — agrees |
| Pisces | — | Mars and Jupiter cause a yoga (relational) |
Two discrepancies, recorded not resolved. For Leo and Libra the general rule of 36.13 produces a single-planet Yoga Kāraka that Parashara’s own ascendant entry does not name. Either the entries are summaries, or they reflect a slightly different tradition. The course does not choose — it insists you derive.
Yoga Kāraka formation — BPHS 36.11–13
Relational — an angular lord and a trinal lord connected by exchange, conjunction, mutual house occupation, or full mutual aspect.
Single-planet — one planet ruling both a Kendra and a Trikoṇa, and occupying a Kendra or Trikoṇa.
Blocking — 36.14: a malefic gains from angular lordship only if it is also a trinal lord. 36.15: any angular or trinal lord that also rules a Trishadāya does not give Rāja Yoga from that relationship alone.
Rāja Yoga — BPHS 41
Core doctrine: a Kendra lord connected to a Trikoṇa lord. Kendras supply power, Trikoṇas supply merit; the yoga is their union.
Graded, not binary (41.13–14): if the Ṣaḍvargas of the Lagna are occupied or aspected by one planet, the yoga is full, half or quarter according to the strength of the aspect.
Mahārāja Yoga (41.6–7) requires four simultaneous conditions: an exchange between the Lagna and 5th lords; the Ātmakāraka and Putrakāraka in the 1st or 5th; those planets in exaltation, Navāṁśa or own sign; and benefic aspect.
Lunar and solar yogas
| Yoga | Condition |
|---|---|
| Sunāphā | a graha other than the Sun in the 2nd from the Moon |
| Anaphā | in the 12th from the Moon |
| Durudharā | in both |
| Kemadruma | in neither |
| Veśi | a graha other than the Moon in the 2nd from the Sun |
| Vośi | in the 12th from the Sun |
| Ubhayachari | in both |
BPHS 39.7–10, 40.1–3. Solar yogas reverse when formed by malefics (40.4).
Kemadruma is defined by absence and is therefore common. Read it as an unsupported Moon and check the usual offsets — the Moon’s dignity, benefic aspect, Kendra placement.
Adhi Yoga (39.5): benefics in the 6th, 7th and 8th from the Moon. Outcome graded by the strength of the participating planets — the delivery test is inside the verse.
Pañchamahāpuruṣa — BPHS 77.1–2
Both conditions, simultaneously: the planet in its own sign or exaltation, and in a Kendra.
| Yoga | Planet |
|---|---|
| Ruchaka | Mars |
| Bhadra | Mercury |
| Haṁsa | Jupiter |
| Mālavya | Venus |
| Śaśa | Saturn |
Luminaries excluded. Most common false positive: dignity without Kendra placement.
Wealth and penury — BPHS 43, 44
Read as a matched pair; never one without the other.
Dhana Yoga shape: a planet dignified in the 5th, with specified planets in the 11th. Production strong, delivery supported.
Penury shape: an exchange between the Lagna and a Duḥsthāna, with a Māraka lord connected. Notably more restrictive than the wealth combinations.
Renunciation — BPHS 81.2–3
Four planets, duly strong, in one house. The strength requirement is the qualifier and is routinely dropped.
The catalogues
Ch. 37 — thirty-two Nābhasa yogas: distribution patterns, grouped by how many signs the grahas occupy and in what arrangement. The only yogas identifiable by glancing at a chart.
Ch. 38 — a miscellany, including Gajakesari (Jupiter in a Kendra from the Moon). Weight its individual entries below Ch. 36’s framework and Ch. 41’s doctrine — a collected combination does not carry the authority of a developed principle.