An aspect (drishti) is a planet's look at another sign. Count the planet's own sign as 1. Every planet looks at the 7th sign in full. Mars also looks fully at the 4th and 8th. Jupiter also looks fully at the 5th and 9th. Saturn also looks fully at the 3rd and 10th. The old books also give smaller aspects: a quarter, a half and three quarters.
☕ A planet looks across the chart
A planet sits in one sign. But the tradition says it also looks at other signs. This look is called drishti, or aspect. A sign that a planet looks at is said to be aspected by it.
Always count from the planet's own sign, and count that sign as 1. The sign straight across the chart is the 7th. Every planet looks at its 7th in full. This is the rule in Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 26, vv. 2–5, pp. 254–255.
The same verses give smaller aspects too. A quarter on the 3rd and 10th. A half on the 5th and 9th. Three quarters on the 4th and 8th. Three planets have special aspects on two more signs, which Brihat Jataka calls full: Mars at the 4th and 8th, Jupiter at the 5th and 9th, Saturn at the 3rd and 10th.
Brihat Jataka, ch. II, v. 13 gives the same scheme and calls the three special aspects full. Jataka Parijata (tr. Subramanya Sastri), ch. II, vv. 30–31, p. 65 gives the same quarters, and says each of the three is strongest on its special houses. These books come from one line of tradition, so their agreement is one voice, not three.
At a glance
- Mars: the 7th, and also the 4th and 8th houses from itself
- Jupiter: the 7th, and also the 5th and 9th houses from itself
- Saturn: the 7th, and also the 3rd and 10th houses from itself
- Sun, Moon, Mercury and Venus: the 7th only, in full.
- Every planet, by the verses' quarters: the 3rd and 10th a quarter, the 5th and 9th a half, the 4th and 8th three quarters.
- Counting from the 1st house of the chart. Count from the planet's own sign instead.
- Counting the planet's own sign as 0. It is 1, so the sign straight across is the 7th.
- Thinking an aspect runs both ways. Mars aspects its 4th. A planet in that 4th sign aspects Mars only if its own rule reaches Mars's sign.
- Giving Rahu and Ketu aspects. The verses on this page give the nodes no aspect.
Frequently asked questions
Which planets have special aspects?
Three. Mars looks fully at the 4th and 8th. Jupiter looks fully at the 5th and 9th. Saturn looks fully at the 3rd and 10th. All three also look at the 7th, like every planet.
What are quarter, half and three-quarter aspects?
They are the smaller looks every planet casts. A quarter on the 3rd and 10th, a half on the 5th and 9th, three quarters on the 4th and 8th. The 7th gets the whole. The special aspects raise Mars, Jupiter and Saturn's share on their own houses to the whole.
Do Rahu and Ketu aspect?
The verses on this page give them no aspect. The translator's note to the Jataka Parijata verses mentions another passage that gives Rahu one. Nava's chart readings give the nodes no aspect.
Is an aspect counted by sign or by degree?
On this page, by sign. The whole 7th sign is aspected. The same chapter also measures an aspect by degree, as a curve. The aspect-strength page explains that.
Deep dive: counting an aspect
Three worked examples. What Nava's readings use.
🔭 Three worked examples
- Mars in Mesha (Aries): the 4th is Kataka (Cancer), the 7th is Tula (Libra), the 8th is Vrischika (Scorpio). All three are aspected in full.
- Jupiter in Kataka (Cancer): the 5th is Vrischika (Scorpio), the 7th is Makara (Capricorn), the 9th is Meena (Pisces).
- Saturn in Tula (Libra): the 3rd is Dhanu (Sagittarius), the 7th is Mesha (Aries), the 10th is Kataka (Cancer).
The count starts at the planet's own sign, as the commentator's note on Brihat Jataka, ch. II, v. 13 says. It is not the count of houses from the lagna.
📐 What Nava's readings use
When Nava's chart readings ask whether one planet aspects another, they count by whole signs. They use the 7th for every planet, and the three special aspects as full aspects. Rahu and Ketu cast none.
Before this, read the twelve houses. Next, aspect strength as a curve measures the same aspects by degree.