Bhavas

Bhavas

How do we know that an object is moving and how far it has moved from its original position? Think about the movement of a Car from one point to another. We can say that the Car has moved from one point to another, because of relativity of state of motion between the movement of the Car and fixed background.

Similarly, we track the movement of 12 Rashis (division of moving group of stars) and 9 Grahas (planets), against the fixed background. This fixed background is known as Bhavas (arbitrary division of space around Earth) and serves as plan of reference for moving Rashis (division of moving group of stars) and Grahas (planets).

Earth is suspended and surrounded by space. This imaginary infinite space surrounding the Earth is called Celestial sphere. Celestial sphere is like an Orange, which is equally divided in to 12 slices called Bhava (arbitrary division of space around Earth) and the Earth is situated in the center of this Orange. Each Bhava (arbitrary division of space around Earth) is 30 degree wide and stays fixed.

Imagine that you are standing facing towards North, raise your right arm parallel to ground, extend your right hand towards East. This is called Horizon at 0 degree. Now you are pointing towards 30-degree zone, which is called Lagna (ascendant). This Lagna (ascendant) is also known as 1st Bhava (arbitrary division of space around Earth), which is 1st sector of your Kundali (horoscope) and starts from zero degree. Now rotate your arm up 30 degree in anticlockwise direction. Now you are pointing to 2nd Bhava (arbitrary division of space around Earth), which is 2nd sector and so on. 4th Bhava will be on the top of your head, which is directly 90 degree above your head and is called Zenith. 7th Bhava will be opposite to 1st Bhava (arbitrary division of space around Earth) in the West, which is also known as Descendant. 10th Bhava (arbitrary division of space around Earth) will be opposite to 4th Bhava (arbitrary division of space around Earth) and space below our feet. 12th Bhava (arbitrary division of space around Earth) will be just before 1st Bhava (arbitrary division of space around Earth) and completes the 360-degree circle.

Now imagine a compass on the Earth’s surface. North is at 0 degree, East is 90 degree, south is 180 degree, west is 270 degree and again north is 360 degree. These are azimuth coordinates.

Bhava	Sankrit (English) Name	From degree	To degree
1	Tanu (Body)	0	30
2	Dhana (Wealth)	30	60
3	Sahaja (Siblings)	60	90
4	Sukha (Happiness)	90	120
5	Suta (Children)	120	150
6	Ripu (Enemy)	150	180
7	Jaya (Spouse)	180	210
8	Mrityu (Death)	210	240
9	Dharma (Religion)	240	270
10	Karma (Work)	270	300
11	Labha (Gain)	300	330
12	Vyaya (Loss)	330	360

The basic template of Kundali (horoscope) is graphical representation of these 12 Bhavas (arbitrary division of space around Earth). The 1st Bhava (arbitrary division of space around Earth) is at middle top of the graphical representation. Then the rest of the houses are placed in anti-clock wise directions in North Indian style Kundali (Horoscope).

Bhava and Graha

Each Bhave (arbitrary division of space around Earth) is owned by a Graha (planet) and controls group of attributes of our life. In fact each and every tangible or non-tangible things related to our life is assigned to these Bhavas (arbitrary division of space around Earth), which will be discussed later.

Bhava	Sanskrit (English) Name	Lord of Bhava
1	Tanu (Body)	Mangal (Mars)
2	Dhana (Wealth)	Shukar (Venus)
3	Sahaja (Siblings)	Budh (Mercury)
4	Sukha (Happiness)	Chander (Moon)
5	Suta (Children)	Surya (Sun)
6	Ripu (Enemy)	Budh (Mercury)
7	Jaya (Spouse)	Shukar (Venus)
8	Mrityu (Death)	Mangal (Mars)
9	Dharma (Religion)	Bhraspati (Jupiter)
10	Karma (Work)	Shani (Satrun)
11	Labha (Gain)	Shani (Satrun)