A planet is vargottama when it sits in the same sign in the rasi chart and the navamsa chart. It happens in the 1st navamsa of a movable sign, the 5th of a fixed sign and the 9th of a dual sign. The varga grades are a separate count: in how many vargas does a planet hold its exaltation, moolatrikona or own sign? Two such vargas is Parijata, three Uttama, four Gopura, and so on.
☕ Two ways to count strength across charts
Vargottama means the best of the vargas. A planet earns it when its navamsa sign is the same as its sign in the rasi chart. Jataka Parijata places it exactly (Jataka Parijata (tr. Subramanya Sastri), ch. I, v. 34, p. 21): the first navamsa of a movable sign, the middle one of a fixed sign, the last one of a dual sign. Each of those navamsas carries the sign's own name, and a planet in it is read as strong.
The grades count something wider. Look at each varga of a set and ask whether the planet holds a good sign there: its exaltation, its moolatrikona or its own sign (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 6, vv. 42–53, pp. 87–91). The verse also counts a sign owned by the lord of an angle from the Arudha lagna, a rule its translator questions because it brings in many signs, and leaves out the vargas of a planet that is combust, beaten in a planetary war, weak or in a bad state such as Shayana. The translator trusts exaltation, moolatrikona and own sign more, and this page follows him. The number of such vargas gives the grade. Each set of vargas has its own ladder of names; the ten-varga ladder is in the card “Grades by count of good vargas” below; Jataka Parijata shares it up to seven.
Jataka Parijata gives the ladder as Parijata, Uttama, Gopura, Simhasana, Paravata, Devaloka and Airavata (Jataka Parijata (tr. Subramanya Sastri), ch. I, vv. 44–46, p. 29). For eight it repeats Devaloka, and it stops at nine. Parashara names eight, nine and ten separately.
In Nava, the rasi and navamsa charts sit side by side on the horoscope page, so a vargottama planet is the one in the same sign in both. Nava's reading uses vargottama as one of its facts. Nava does not count the varga grades.
The ten-varga ladder
- 2 good vargas: Parijata (both books)
- 3: Uttama (both books)
- 4: Gopura (both books)
- 5: Simhasana (both books)
- 6: Paravata (both books)
- 7: Devaloka (both books)
- 8: Brahmaloka in Parashara; Jataka Parijata repeats Devaloka
- 9: Shakravahana in Parashara; Airavata in Jataka Parijata, the same elephant of Indra
- 10: Shridhama in Parashara; Jataka Parijata stops at nine
- Mix-up: vargottama needs the planet to be in its own sign. Any sign will do, as long as the rasi and navamsa signs match.
- Mix-up: the grades count any sign of a friend. Here only exaltation, moolatrikona and own sign count, the three the translator trusts.
- Mix-up: Parijata is the top grade. It is the lowest named one, for two good vargas.
Frequently asked questions
Can the ascendant be vargottama?
Yes. If the rising degree's navamsa sign is the rising sign itself, the ascendant is vargottama, read the same way as a planet.
How do I spot vargottama in my chart?
Compare the two charts on Nava's horoscope page. A planet in the same sign in the rasi and navamsa charts is vargottama.
Why does Jataka Parijata name the eighth grade Devaloka again?
Its verse says the eighth is the same as the seventh. Its translator sets Parashara's list beside it, where the eighth is Brahmaloka. Whether the repeat is deliberate is not settled.
Deep dive: the other ladders
The six-, seven- and sixteen-varga names, and what this builds on.
🪜 Six, seven and sixteen
Parashara's six- and seven-varga ladders start Kimsuka, Vyanjana, Chamara, Chatra and Kundala; the seven-varga ladder adds Mukuta for all seven. The sixteen-varga ladder runs from Bhedaka for two good vargas to Shri Vallabha for all sixteen (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 6, vv. 42–53, pp. 87–91).
🧭 What this builds on
How the navamsa and the other vargas are counted is on how each varga is built. Exaltation, moolatrikona and own sign are on exaltation and debilitation.