Bhavas (houses) in Vedic Astrology
Another important concept is “house” (Sanskrit name: bhava). In each chart, houses can be found with respect to several reference points and the reference points most commonly employed are lagna and special lagnas. Starting from the rasi occupied by the selected reference point and proceeding in the regular order across the zodiac, we associate each rasi with a house (first, second etc). Always the rasi containing the reference point chosen is the 1st house. Next rasi is the 2nd house. The rasi after that is the 3rd house. We proceed until the 12th house like that. Just remember that when we encounter Pisces, we go to Aries after it. If no reference point is specified when houses are mentioned, it means that lagna is used as the reference.
If, for example, horalagna is in Cn, first house with respect to horalagna is in Cn. Second house is in Le (see Table 1). Third house is in Vi. Ninth house is in Pi. Tenth house is in Ar. Eleventh house is in Ta. Twelfth house is in Ge.
Exercise 2:
(1) Lagna is in Cn, Sun is in Ar, Moon is in Ta and Mars is in Cp. Find the houses occupied by Sun, Moon and Mars.
(2) Repeat the exercise, taking Moon as the reference point when finding houses.
Different houses stand for different matters. Looking at the rasis and houses
occupied by various planets, we can say a lot of things about the person.
By P.V.R. Narasimha Rao