Specialty of Prasna Lagna by Iranganti Rangacharya

Article by Iranganti Rangacharya

Horary Astrology is a branch of predictive Astrology.  It is rational and scientific since it has all the parameters of predictive Astrology. The significance of Horary Astrology is mostly realised in the absence of natal horoscope and is relied upon by the clientele especially when the horoscope readings and the transit results go haywire because of mutual contradictions. Much interest was taken from time to time in Horary Astrology with the result different novel methods have been introduced by our classical authors and innumerable books on Horary Astrology have been brought to light.

Before I delve into the subject of Prasna Lagna and 7th house which is the next preferential Bhava, let me outline how to draw the Horary chart. Though there may be many ways of fixing Prasna Lagna, I give below two authentic methods in vogue with most of the astrologers.

Method 1

Note down the time of query and find out Lagna Sphuta and planetary longitudes with the help of any standard almanac. The Lagna so calculated is Prasna Lagna or Ascendant of query. Now draw the Horary chart.

Method 2

Ask the querent to give you any number between 1 and 108, both inclusive. Divide this number by 9, the quotient is the number of signs elapsed from Aries.

The next sign becomes Prasna Lagna. The remainder gives navamsa Lagna. Now find out planetary positions at the time of query and draw the Horary chart.

Example: The querent gives the number 78. Divide 78 by 9 which give the quotient 8 and remainder 6.

Counting from Aries 8 signs have elapsed and the 9th sign is Sagittarius which becomes Prasna Lagna. Virgo becomes Navamsa Lagna, the 6th sign from Aries.

Since I shall deal with Prasna Lagna and the 7th house exclusively, I shall quote what significations these two Bhavas hold, as enunciated by Padma Prabhu Suri in Bhuvana Deepika.

रूपलक्षणवर्णानां क्लेशदोषसुखायुषाम्।

वयः प्रमाणजातीनां तनुस्थानान्निरीक्षयेत्॥

rūpalakṣaṇavarṇānāṁ kleśadoṣasukhāyuṣām |

vayaḥ pramāṇajātīnāṁ tanusthānānnirīkṣayet ||

वाणिज्यं व्यवहारं च विवादं च समं परैः।

गमागमकलत्राणि पश्येत् प्राज्ञः कलत्रतः॥

vāṇijyaṁ vyavahāraṁ ca vivādaṁ ca samaṁ paraiḥ |

gamāgamakalatrāṇi paśyet prājñaḥ kalatrataḥ ||

The astrologer should look for figure, form, characteristics, colour or complexion, distress, blemish, happiness, longevity, age, birth or lineage etc. from Prasna Lagna which is Tanu Bhava. From the 7th house which is Kalatra Bhava, the astrologer should consider trade, business, dispute, litigation, going out and coming, wife etc.

Whichever Bhava is aspected or occupied by its own lord or by benefics, that Bhava prospers while that which is aspected or occupied by malefics, is spoiled. This is the general principle whether in Horary chart or natal horoscopy.

It is also said elsewhere

पुष्टन्ति शुभाः भावान् तन्वादीन् ………. संस्थिताः पापाः

puṣṭanti śubhāḥ bhāvān tanvādīn ………… saṁsthitāḥ pāpāḥ

Which means, that benefics improve generally all the Bhavas while malefics spoil them. The malefics are the weak Moon, the Sun, Mars, Rahu, Ketu, Saturn and Mercury in conjunction with malefics.

This is explained in Phala Deepika:

क्षीणेन्दर्क कुजा हि केतु रविजाः पापाः स पापस्य वित्

kṣīṇendarka kujā hi ketu ravijāḥ pāpāḥ sa pāpasya vit

But it may be a surprise to note that Prasna Lagna or Tanu Bhava in a Horary chart is not ruled rigidly by this principle. Prasna Lagna occupied by malefics responds favourably in some type of queries while in other queries responds unfavourably. Similarly Prasna lagna occupied by benefics responds favourably in some type of queries while in others, responds unfavourably, irrespective of the nature of the query the aspect of melefics on Prasna Lagna is conducive to negative results, beyond doubt, while the aspect of benefics on Prasna Lagna conduces to positive results. These preclusions from general principles form the speciality of Prasna Lagna as discernible from some queries dealt hereunder.

Let me begin with the general result based on the nature of Prasna Lagna and the aspect of planets.

1. If Prasna Lagna is a Seershodaya sign, favourable result of the query is expected.
2. If Prasna Lagna is a Prishtodaya sign, unfavourable result is expected.

शीर्षोदये समभिवांछित कार्यसिद्धिः।

पृष्टोदये विफलता बलविद्वश्च।

śīrṣodaye samabhivāṁchita kāryasiddhiḥ |

pṛṣṭodaye viphalatā balavidvaśca |

The above two are assured if connected with benefics and malefics respectively.

Seershodaya Signs: Kanya, Thula, Mithuna, Kumbha, Vrischika, Simha.

Prishtodaya Signs:  Mesha, Vrishabha, Kataka, Dhanus, Makara.

Ubhayodaya Sign:  Meena.

3. Prasna Lagna being a biped or quadruped sign, if aspected or occupied by benefics, gives favourable results. But, if aspected by malefics, it gives unfavourable result.

Biped Signs: Mithuna, Thula, Kumbha, Kanya, the first half of Dhanus.

Quadruped Signs: Mesha, Vrishabha, Simha, the first half of Makara, and the later half of Dhanus.

4. If Prasna Lagna is a male sign, good is expected. Male signs mean the odd signs which are Mesha, Mithuna, Simha, Thula, Dhanus, Kumbha. The rest are female or even signs.

General Query

The querent wanted to know whether the whole day would be good for him. If the Moon is the occupant of Prasna Lagna or 7th house, the querent will be happy all the day.

Concerning Marriage

1. If the Moon in the 7th house is aspected by Jupiter, marriage takes place soon. If the Moon is the occupant of Prasna Lagna and associated or aspected by a malefic, marriage does not take place.
2. If Prasna Lagna and the 7th house are occupied each by a malefic, the person dies in the 7th year of his marriage. The verse below echoes the same opinion.

एको लग्नगतः पापः पापोऽन्य सप्तराशिगः।

आसप्तमाब्दान्मरणं पुरुषस्य न संशयः॥

eko lagnagataḥ pāpaḥ pāpo’nya saptarāśigaḥ |

āsaptamābdānmaraṇaṁ puruṣasya na saṁśayaḥ ||

But Narada specifies the malefic as Mars in the 7th house concerning the above Yoga.

यदि मग्नगतः क्रूरः तस्मान्सप्तमगः कुजः।

विज्ञेयं मरणं पुंसः सप्तमाब्दान्तरे यदा॥

yadi magnagataḥ krūraḥ tasmānsaptamagaḥ kujaḥ |

vijñeyaṁ maraṇaṁ puṁsaḥ saptamābdāntare yadā ||

But Vasishta holds the opinion that death is not probable in case the malefics in Prasna Lagna and 7th house are weakly posited.

1. If the Moon is the occupant of Prasna Lagna and Mars is the occupant of 7th house, the person dies in the 8th month of his marriage. This is the opinion of Sripati. But Siddha Narayana Dasa in his Prasna Vaishnava attributes the same fate to the wife too.

चन्द्रे विलग्ने क्षितिजे कलत्रे

मासेऽष्टमे स्यान्मरणं वरस्त्रियोः।

candre vilagne kṣitije kalatre

māse’ṣṭame syānmaraṇaṁ varastriyoḥ |

But Narada differs from the above two views.

यदि लग्नगतश्चन्द्रः तस्मात्सप्तमगः कुजः।

विवाहानन्तरं भर्तात्वष्टवर्षं न जीवति॥

yadi lagnagataścandraḥ tasmātsaptamagaḥ kujaḥ |

vivāhānantaraṁ bhartātvaṣṭavarṣaṁ na jīvati ||

So Narada declares that the person does not survive more than 8 years after marriage.

2.Venus, or Mercury in Prasna Lagna and Mars in the 7th house, the bride dies after marriage.

3.The Sun in the 7th house makes the married bride bereaved of children. But according to Gnana Pradeepika, the Sun in the 7th house makes her ailing after marriage.

व्याधिग्रस्ता भवेन्नारी सप्तमस्थे रवौ यदि।

vyādhigrastā bhavennārī saptamasthe ravau yadi |

The Sun in Prasna Lagna makes the married bride unchaste. If the Moon and Venus are in the 7th house, she becomes an adulteress. If Mercury and Venus are in the 7th house, she becomes a widow.

4. The Moon in Prasna Lagna if aspected by Venus (Venus in 7th) expedites marriage. If aspected by a malefic, marriage is delayed.

Concerning Disputes, Litigation, Fights

A malefic in Prasna Lagna gives success to the querent. But if the malefic in Prasna Lagna is debilitated or combust, the querent gets defeated.

If both Prasna Lagna and 7th house are occupied by the malefics, the dispute continues for a long period. Success is probable to the querent if the malefic in Prasna Lagna is stronger than the malefic in the 7th house. Success is probable to the opponent if the malefic in 7th house is stron­ger than the malefic in Prasna Lagna.

According to Prasna Bhushana,

वादिनां विजय प्रश्ने लग्ने क्रूरे तदा जयः।

यदि स्यत्सप्तमे क्रूरे विजयः प्रतिवादिनः॥

vādināṁ vijaya praśne lagne krūre tadā jayaḥ |

yadi syatsaptame krūre vijayaḥ prativādinaḥ ||

Success goes to the querent by a malefic in Prasna Lagna. But success goes to the opponent by a malefic in the 7th house. This is the same as saying that a benefic in Prasna Lagna brings about defeat to the querent and a benefic in the 7th house brings about defeat to the opponent. Aspect of a benefic is beneficial to either of the two. And de­feat is inevitable to the querent by the aspect of a malefic on Prasna Lagna, while a malefic in Prasna Lagna brings success or victory to the querent.

Padma Prabhu Suri confirms this in his Bhuvana Deeplka:

विवादे शतृहरणे रणे संकरके तथा।

क्रूरे मूर्थी जयो ज्ञेयः क्रूरदृष्ट्या पराजयः॥

vivāde śatṛharaṇe raṇe saṁkarake tathā |

krūre mūrthī jayo jñeyaḥ krūradṛṣṭyā parājayaḥ ||

On Illness and Death

1. A malefic in the 7th house and the Moon in Prasna Lagna, the patient dies.
2. The Sun in Prasna Lagna and the Moon in the 7th house, death of 4he patient is probable.
3. One strong benefic in Prasna Lagna saves the patient.

एकश्शुभो बमी लग्न जायते रोगपीडितन्।

ekaśśubho bamī lagna jāyate rogapīḍitan |

4. The Moon in Prasna Lagna and the Sun in the 7th, death of the patient is probable.

विधौ लग्ने स्मरे भानौ रोगी ……………..

vidhau lagne smare bhānau rogī ………………

5. If the Full Moon is the occupant of Prasna Lagna and is aspected by Jupiter, the person will be cured of his disease soon. The Moon is said to be full from the 11th lunar day of the bright fort­night till the 5th lunar day of the dark fortnight.
6. If the Moon or Mercury occupies Prasna Lagna and is aspected by a malefic, the illness is nearly incurable.

Traveller—Safe or Dead

1. A strong malefic in Prasna Lagna indicates that he is neither dead nor imprisoned, but safe.
2. A malefic in the 7th house or malefics in both Prasna Lagna and 7th house indicate that he is either dead or imprisoned.
3. If Prasna Lagna being a Prishtodaya sign is aspected by a malefic, imprisonment or death may happen. But if it is aspected bya benefic, he is quite safe.
4. If Durdhara Yoga is formed by benefics in respect of the 7th house, the person is delayed from returning owing to the compulsion of his friends and superiors. But if it is formed by malefics, he is prevented from his return by his enemies, illness or thieves.

Return of Traveller

Find out the strongest planet, count the num­ber of signs from Prasna Lagna to the sign occu­pied by the strongest planet. The number of signs will be the number of months in which he will return. If the strongest planet is in a movable Navamsa sign, the above periods hold good. If he is in a fixed Navamsa sign, the number should be doubled. If he is in a dual Navamsa sign, the number should be trebled.

Theft, Stolen Articles, Their Recovery

1. If Prasna Lagna is occupied by a malefic, the thief will be successful in his attempt of theft. But if it is aspected by a malefic, he would be in trouble. If Prasna Lagna is occupied bya benefic, he would be safe but unsuccessful in stealing.
2. If Prasna Lagna is a Seershodaya sign and is occupied by the Full Moon or any benefic planet, the lost article will be recovered soon.
3. If both Prasna Lagna and 7th house are occupied by any of the benefics, namely, Jupiter,
   Venus, Mercury, Full Moon, the lost article will be recovered soon.
4. If Prasna Lagna is connected with malefics by aspect or occupancy, the lost article cannot be recovered.
5. If Prasna Lagna is a fixed sign and is in Vargottamamsa, the article must have been stolen by a relative of the querent. If it is a cardinal sign, the thief is an outsider. If it is a fixed sign, the article has not gone outside.
6. If the 1^st Drekkana of Prasna Lagna is rising, the lost article is in the vicinity of the main gate. If it is the 2nd Drekkana, it is inside the house. If it is 3rd Drekkana, it is in the backyard of the house.

आदिमध्यवसानेषु द्रेक्कणेषु विलग्नतः।

द्वारदेशे तथा मध्ये गृहान्ते वदेद्धनम्॥

ādimadhyavasāneṣu drekkaṇeṣu vilagnataḥ |

dvāradeśe tathā madhye gṛhānte vadeddhanam ||

7. To know which direction the article or money is taken away, judge the direction of the planet strongly placed in Kendra or consider the * direction assigned to the sign of Prasna Lagna.

Employment and Promotion

1. Prasna Lagna occupied by its own lord indicates gain of position like job, promotion etc.
2. If Prasna Lagna is a fixed sign and is occupied or aspected by any beneflc, the querent gets his desired object of securing a job.
3. If Prasna Lagna is a Seershodaya sign and occupied by a benefic, he is sure to secure job.
4. If Venus is the occupant of the 7th house, the querent gets a job. If Venus conjoins any other benefic in the 7th house, he is sure to get his desired post with pleasure. If associated with a malefic, he gets the post with difficulty after keen contest.

Timing Events

1. The number of signs between Prasna Lagna and the Moon will be the number of days for fulfilment.
2. Find out the number of Navamsa of Prasna Lagna and the lord of Navamsa. The number would be number of days, months etc., according to the planetary periods as follows:-

The Sun—Ayana (six months); Moon—minutes; Mars—days; Mercury—seasons; Jupiter— months; Venus—Paksha (fortnight);and Saturn— years.

Example: The Prasna Lagna is Mesha, it is in the 2nd Navamsa Taurus. The Navamsa lord is Venus. Hence two Pakshas i.e. one month is the period of fulfilment. So the querent has to wait for a month for fulfilment of his desire.

Degree of Success

1. Prasna Lagna if aspected by one benefic — 25%.
2. Prasna Lagna if aspected by its own lord — 50%.
3. Prasna Lagna if aspected by its lord and a benefic— 75%.
4. Prasna Lagna if aspected by its lord and two benefics— 85%.
5. Prasna Lagna if aspected by its lord and Jupiter, Venus/Mercury, Moon — 100%.

If the query is concerned with examination, the above range may be graded from pass to the highest distinction. Last but not least, there remains one more item left unanswered: Itis this, what should an astrologer do if he has to attend to two or more queries or querents ?

Chandeswara answers thus:

आदिमं लग्नतो ज्ञानं चन्द्रस्थानात् द्वितीयकम्।

सूर्यस्थानात् तृतीयं स्यात् तुर्यं जीवगृहाद्भवेत्॥

बुधभृगोर्बलीयान् स्यात् तद्गृहात् पंचमं पुनः।

ādimaṁ lagnato jñānaṁ candrasthānāt dvitīyakam |

sūryasthānāt tṛtīyaṁ syāt turyaṁ jīvagṛhādbhavet ||

budhabhṛgorbalīyān syāt tadgṛhāt paṁcamaṁ punaḥ |

The astrologer should base the 1st query on Prasna Lagna, the 2nd query on the sign occupied by the Moon, the 3rd query on the sign occupied by the Sun, the 4th query on the sign occupied by Jupiter, 5th by the stronger of Mercury and Venus. But Padma Prabha Suri in Bhuvana Deeptka holds the opinion that the 5th query is dependent on the stronger of Mercury, Venus, Mars and the 6th query on Saturn. But Jupiter cannot stand for Prasna Lagna if he is debilitated or combust. If Saturn is weakly placed, the stronger  of Mercury, Venus and Mars comes to the rescue of Prasna Lagna.

About Author : Iranganti Rangacharya is one of the oldest authorities on Jaimini alive today, born in 1927, he started astrology at the age of 25 in 1952. Later in 1960 he started meticulous study of Jaimini astrology & thus has 48 rich years of experience in Jaimini at this age of 81. Author of numerous articles since 4 decades, 9 books & an extremely humble soul who inspite of weak health contributes to the cause of Jaimini. His work Jaimini Sutramritam published by Sagar Publications, New Delhi is considered a classic by the serious student of Jaimini Astrology.