Bhava bala adds five parts for each house. A directional part, from the house middle's distance to a cusp chosen by its sign. An aspect part, as for a planet. Occupants: +60 for Jupiter or Mercury in the house, −60 for Saturn, Mars or the Sun. A time part: +15 when the house's sign rises the way that suits a day, twilight or night birth. And the full shadbala of the house's lord.
☕ Scoring a house, not a planet
Here a house is a bhava, measured from the ascendant degree: each one has a middle and two junctions. Its directional part is the middle's distance from a reference cusp, folded to 180° and divided by 3 (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 27, vv. 26–29, p. 286). The reference depends on the sign the middle falls in (in the card “The reference cusp by sign” below).
The aspect part adds a quarter of each benefic's aspect on the middle, takes off a quarter of each malefic's, and adds Jupiter's and Mercury's aspect in full. The lord's part is the whole shadbala of the planet that rules the middle's sign.
Two fixed amounts follow (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 27, vv. 30–31, p. 286). A house holding Jupiter or Mercury gains 60; one holding Saturn, Mars or the Sun loses 60. And a house gains 15 when its sign belongs to the rising group that matches the birth: head-first signs for a day birth, Meena for a twilight birth, rear-first signs for a night birth (in “Which signs gain 15 for the time of birth” further down). A twilight lasts 72 minutes before sunrise and after sunset (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 9, p. 112).
The books group the signs a little differently. A commentary on Varahamihira's stanza (Brihat Jataka, ch. I, v. 17) puts Kataka with the water signs, which would make its reference the 10th cusp (midheaven); Parashara puts it with Vrischika, whose reference is the ascendant. His translator glosses the twilight group as the dual signs, while his own chapter on the signs gives Meena alone as rising both ways. What Nava follows: Parashara's grouping, with Kataka beside Vrischika, and Meena alone for a twilight birth.
Nava computes bhava bala for every house as one of the facts its chart reading draws on. The horoscope page does not list it as a table.
Where the directional part is measured from
- Mesha (Aries): the 4th cusp
- Vrishabha (Taurus): the 4th cusp
- Mithuna (Gemini): the 7th cusp
- Kataka (Cancer): the ascendant (1st)
- Simha (Leo): the 4th cusp
- Kanya (Virgo): the 7th cusp
- Tula (Libra): the 7th cusp
- Vrischika (Scorpio): the ascendant (1st)
- Dhanu (Sagittarius): first half the 7th cusp, second half the 4th cusp
- Makara (Capricorn): first half the 4th cusp, second half the 10th cusp (midheaven)
- Kumbha (Aquarius): the 7th cusp
- Meena (Pisces): the 10th cusp (midheaven)
- Mix-up: a house with a malefic in it is spoilt. The −60 is one part of five; the lord's strength and the aspects can outweigh it.
- Mix-up: the book gives a band that marks a house strong or weak. It gives none; any line drawn on the total would be ours.
- Mix-up: the house is the whole sign. For bhava bala it is the bhava, measured from the ascendant degree, with its own middle.
Frequently asked questions
What are head-first and rear-first signs?
Signs said to rise head first (shirshodaya) or rear first (prishtodaya). Meena rises both ways. They are listed in “Which signs gain 15 for the time of birth” further down.
Why does a twilight birth count separately?
The verse gives a third group for it. A twilight is the 72 minutes before sunrise or after sunset.
Can I see my houses' strength in Nava?
Not as a table. Nava uses it inside the chart reading; the horoscope page shows the planets' shadbala.
Deep dive: rising groups, houses and the lord's part
The table “Which signs gain 15 for the time of birth”, then what a bhava is, and what this builds on.
🌅 Which signs gain 15 for the time of birth
| Birth | Signs |
|---|---|
| Day birth | Mithuna, Simha, Kanya, Tula, Vrischika, Kumbha (head-first signs) |
| Twilight birth | Meena (rises both ways) |
| Night birth | Mesha, Vrishabha, Kataka, Dhanu, Makara (rear-first signs) |
🏠 The twelve houses
What each house stands for is on the twelve houses. The aspect values used in the aspect part are on aspect strength in virupas.
🧭 What this builds on
The lord's part is the planet's total from shadbala.