Special Categories of Houses in Astrology

1. The 1st, 5th and 9th houses form a triangle and they are known as “konas” or “trikonas” or “trines”.
2. The 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th houses are called “kendras” or “quadrants” or “angles”.
3. The 2nd, 5th, 8th and 11th houses are called “panapharas” or “succedants”. These are basically the quadrants from the 2nd house.
4. The 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th houses are called “apoklimas” or “precedants”. These are basically the quadrants from the 3rd house.
5. The 3rd, 6th, 10th and 11th houses are called “upachayas”.
6. The 6th, 8th and 12th houses are called “trik sthanas” or “dusthanas” (bad/evil houses).
7. The 4th and 8th houses are called “chaturasras”
8. The Ayusthanas (or houses of longevity): Houses 8 and 3 (8th from the 8th). They indicate the length of life and, therefore, also the death.
9. The Maraka: (or killer houses): Houses 2 and 7.

• Planets are very powerful generally in Kendras, moderately powerful in Panapharas and least powerful in Apoklimas
• Lords of the 6th, 8th, 12th, 3rd and 11th houses produce evil.
• Evil planets in the 3rd, 6th and 11th houses are very powerful and produce success, wealth and health.

We can find trines, quadrants etc from lagna or other references or even from houses.We can find houses with respect to a reference and then find trines, quadrants etc with respect to those houses. For example, let us take the 3rd house from lagna. Trines from it are the 1st, 5th and 9th houses from it. The 5th house from the 3rd house is the 7th house (count 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 starting from the 3rd house. We get 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th. So the 5th from 3rd is 7th). The 9th house from the 3rd house is the 11th house. So 3rd, 7th and 11th houses are the trines from the 3rd house. Similarly, the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th houses are the quadrants from the 3rd house. And the 5th, 8th, 12th and 1st houses are the upachayas from the 3rd house. The 8th, 10th and 2nd houses are the dusthanas from the 3rd house. Thus we can find trines, quadrants etc from any house.

Trines are the abode of Goddess Lakshmi, who rules prosperity.
Trines from any reference are houses that are beneficial to the reference. They bring prosperity and well-being to the reference. For example, trines from lagna shows prosperity of self.

In Hinduism, there are 4 purushaarthas (purposes/goals of man) – (1) Dharma: righteousness and adherence to one’s duty, (2) Artha: money and career, (3) Kaama: desiring things and getting them, and, (4) Moksha: final liberation of soul.

Dharma is shown by the trines from the 1st house – 1st, 5th and 9th – and they show prosperity of self, intelligence and dharma15. They are called “dharma trikonas” (trines of duty). The character of a person, his intelligence and his righteousness decide how one follows dharma – the first purpose of human existence.

Trines from the 2nd house are called “artha trikonas” (trines of money) and they show money related activities. The 2nd house shows wealth. The 6th house shows service. The 10th house shows career and activities in society. These three houses show money related activities and how one follows artha – the second purpose of human existence.

Trines from the 3rd house are called “kaama trikonas” (trines of desire) and they show one’s desires and how one gets them. The 3rd house shows one’s persistence. The 7th house shows relations and sex. The 11th house shows gains. These three houses show how one follows kaama – the third purpose of human existence. Trines from the 4th house (4th – harmony, 8th – occult studies and spiritual awakening and 12th – moksha) are called “moksha trikonas” (trines of liberation) and they show how one follows moksha – the fourth purpose of human
existence. Digbala of planets who attain full digbala in various of these trines shows the strength of different purushaarthas in one’s life. Dasas like “Trikona Dasa” which are based on trines show how one follows the four purushaarthas in life.

Planets in mutual trines make each other prosper.

Quadrants are the abode of Sri Maha Vishnu, the Supreme Lord who sustains this universe as per Hinduism. Quadrants from any reference show its sustenance. The 1st house (self), 4th house (comforts), 7th house (marriage and relations with others) and the 10th house (profession) sustain each other.

Planets in mutual quadrants have a sustaining effect on each other.

Upachayas from a reference show forces causing gains and growth to the matters signified by the reference.

These houses indicate struggle, competition and material achievement.

Houses 6, 8 and 12 are known as Trik houses. While these houses, their lords, as well as the planets that associate with these houses and their lords are productive of adverse results, they are particularly adverse in relation to health.

The sixth house and the sixth lord, among other things, indicate disease and accidents.

The eighth house and the eighth lord indicate chronic disease, incurable disease, or death.

The twelfth house and its lord indicate suffering and also hospitalization.

The dasha periods of the planets associated with these houses and their lords must be carefully watched for determining illness.

Dusthanas from a reference show forces causing setbacks to the matters signified by it. They indicate debt, disease, loss and misery.

If a dusthana is fortified or afflicted by malefics, it may show serious obstacles. If a dusthana is weak, it shows that obstacles will be easily overcome. For example, exalted 8th lord may show a lot of troubles and debilitated 8th lord may show easy sailing.

The Marakas are planets which are supposed to cause death. It has already been stated that the eighth house governs longevity. The eighth from the 8th (i.e., the third house) is the alternate house of longevity. We are also aware that the twelfth house from any house signifies the loss of that house. Twelfth from the eighth house is the 7th house; twelfth from the third house is the 2nd. The 2nd and the 7th houses thus indicate loss of longevity, in other words death. These houses are called the Maraka houses. Planets which (i) own these houses, (ii) occupy these houses, or (iii) associate with the lords of these houses assume the role of Marakas or death inflictors. The dashas and antardashas of these planets are significant in causing death. It may be remembered, however, that death does not occur every
time the dashas and antardashas of these planets operate; under normal circumstances, these dashas disturb health.

The zodiac is divided into two halves in every chart: The 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th houses form the “visible half” of the zodiac. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th houses form the “invisible half” of the zodiac. The houses in the visible half of the zodiac with respect to a reference give results that can be seen in the material world and the houses in the invisible half of the zodiac give results that cannot be easily seen. It is for this reason that the bases of dharma trikona (1st house) and moksha trikona (4th house) are in the invisible half and the bases of artha trikona (10th house) and kaama trikona (7th house) are in the visible half.