Parashara calls the kendras, the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th houses, the places of Vishnu. He calls the trikonas, the 5th and 9th houses, the places of Lakshmi. The 1st house is a kendra and is often counted as a trikona too. When the lord of a kendra and the lord of a trikona are linked, the books name it a raja yoga. This page explains the names and the links.
☕ The one who holds up, and the one who brings fortune
In the tradition, Vishnu is the one who sustains the world. Lakshmi is fortune and plenty. Parashara gives these two names to two house groups (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 41, v. 28, pp. 409–410).
The kendras are the four pillars of the chart. They are named for Vishnu. The trikonas, the 5th and 9th, are named for Lakshmi. Read as a picture: the pillars hold the chart up, and the trines bring fortune into it. This is a way to remember the names, not a forecast.
Every house has a lord, the planet that rules its sign. Parashara's rule is about the lords. When a kendra lord and a trikona lord are linked, the two kinds of place work together. The books call this a raja yoga.
Sometimes one planet rules both a kendra and a trikona. Then it links the two places by itself. Parashara calls such a planet a yogakaraka (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 34, v. 13, p. 345).
At a glance
- Vishnu places (kendras): the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th houses
- Lakshmi places (trikonas): the 5th and 9th houses
- The 1st house: a kendra, and often counted as a trikona too
- Lords linked by exchange of signs, by sitting together, or by full mutual aspect
- One planet ruling both a kendra and a trikona: a yogakaraka
- The rule is about the lords of the houses, not only the planets sitting in them.
- The Lakshmi places are the trikonas: the 5th and 9th, and the 1st when it is counted as a trikona.
- A raja yoga here is a named pattern. It is not a promise of any result.
- The 1st house lord is not called a yogakaraka just for ruling the 1st.
Frequently asked questions
How are a kendra lord and a trikona lord 'linked'?
Parashara lists the ways: the two exchange signs, they sit together in a kendra or a trikona, one sits in the other's kind of house, or they fully aspect each other (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 34, vv. 11–12, pp. 344–345). His translator adds that exchange, mutual aspect and sitting together are the strongest (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 41, v. 28, pp. 409–410).
What is a yogakaraka?
A planet that rules both a kendra and a trikona. For Vrishabha (Taurus) lagna, Saturn rules the 9th and the 10th. For Kataka (Cancer) lagna, Mars rules the 5th and the 10th. Parashara also says a malefic that rules a kendra turns good only if it rules a trikona as well (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 34, v. 14, p. 345).
Does the Nava app look for these links?
In part. When you add your birth details, the app works out which planet, if any, rules both a kendra and a trikona, other than the 1st house. It names that planet a yogakaraka when it runs your dasha or bhukti. The app does not look for a separate pair of kendra and trikona lords. This page explains that rule only.
Deep dive: finding the lords
A worked example. What to read next.
🪷 A worked example
Take Vrishabha (Taurus) lagna. Count the signs from it:
- Kendras: 1st Vrishabha (Taurus), 4th Simha (Leo), 7th Vrischika (Scorpio), 10th Kumbha (Aquarius).
- Trikonas: 5th Kanya (Virgo), 9th Makara (Capricorn).
Saturn rules both Makara (Capricorn) (the 9th) and Kumbha (Aquarius) (the 10th). So it holds a Lakshmi place and a Vishnu place at once. That makes it the yogakaraka for this lagna. If instead Mercury, lord of the 5th, sat with Sun, lord of the 4th, a kendra lord and a trikona lord would be joined.
📚 Before and after this page
This page builds on the house groups and the twelve houses. For named patterns in a chart, read yogas in a birth chart.