Natural friendship is the same in every chart. Temporary friendship comes from the chart itself. Count from one planet's sign to the other's, the first sign as 1. If the other planet is in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th and 12th sign, it is a temporary friend. In the 1st, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th, it is a temporary enemy. The same sign counts as the 1st. Then add the two layers. A natural friend that is also a temporary friend is a great friend. A natural enemy that is also a temporary enemy is a great enemy. The rest fall between.
☕ Old friends, and where they happen to stand
Natural friendship says how two planets regard each other by their own natures. It never changes. But in a real chart the two planets sit in particular signs. The books add a second layer for that: temporary friendship.
Parashara gives the rule (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 3, v. 56, p. 40). A planet in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th and 12th sign from another is that planet's temporary friend. Anywhere else, including the same sign, it is a temporary enemy. Brihat Jataka gives the same six places (Brihat Jataka, ch. II, v. 18), and so does Jataka Parijata (tr. Subramanya Sastri), ch. II, v. 41, p. 71.
This layer works both ways. If the Moon is 4th from Mars, Mars is 10th from the Moon. Both places are friendly, so each is the other's temporary friend. The pairs are 2nd and 12th, 3rd and 11th, 4th and 10th.
Then the two layers are added (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 3, vv. 57–58, pp. 41–42). Natural friendship has three grades. Temporary has two. Together they give five: great friend, friend, neutral, enemy, great enemy. Jataka Parijata names the same five (Jataka Parijata (tr. Subramanya Sastri), ch. II, vv. 45–46, pp. 72–73).
At a glance
- Natural friend + temporary friend = great friend
- Natural friend + temporary enemy = neutral
- Natural neutral + temporary friend = friend
- Natural neutral + temporary enemy = enemy
- Natural enemy + temporary friend = neutral
- Natural enemy + temporary enemy = great enemy
- A natural neutral never stays neutral: placement always pushes it one way.
- Mix-up: two planets in the same sign are temporary friends. The same sign counts as the 1st, an enemy place.
- Mix-up: temporary friendship is one-way like the natural kind. It is mutual: 2/12, 3/11, 4/10.
- Mix-up: the 5th and 9th are friendly here because they are trines. For this rule they are enemy places.
- Mix-up: the five grades replace the natural table. They are built on top of it.
Frequently asked questions
Can you show one example?
The Sun regards the Moon as a natural friend. Say the Moon sits 5th from the Sun. The 5th is a temporary enemy place. Friend plus temporary enemy gives neutral. Now take Saturn, which regards Jupiter as neutral. If Jupiter sits 3rd from Saturn, that is a friendly place, so the grade is friend.
Is there a “neutral plus neutral” case?
No. The temporary layer has only two grades, friend and enemy. So a natural neutral always becomes a friend or an enemy.
Do all books count the same six places?
Parashara, Brihat Jataka and Jataka Parijata give the same six. Brihat Jataka adds that some others also count a planet placed in the other's exaltation sign as a friend (Brihat Jataka, ch. II, v. 18).
Where does the Nava app use the five grades?
In two places. When you have a full birth chart, the day score weighs your dasha and bhukti lords by this compound grade. And the horoscope page grades a planet in another planet's sign, from great friend to great enemy, by its relation to that sign's lord.
Deep dive: counting the places
How to count, and what Nava uses.
🔢 How to count
Number the signs Mesha = 1 to Meena = 12. Then:
place = ((other planet's sign − this planet's sign) mod 12) + 1
A place of 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th and 12th gives a temporary friend. A place of 1st, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th gives a temporary enemy.
What Nava follows: the six places of Parashara only. The extra exaltation-sign place that some add is not counted.
🧭 What this builds on
The first layer, and the rule that builds it, is on natural planetary friendship. The five grades are used again when a planet's dignity is read: dignity and the share of results.