Graha karakatva: how a graha's themes change by house
Karakatva means the signification a graha has. A graha's natural karakatva is fixed, but in a chart its themes shift with the house it occupies and the houses it rules.
What it is
For example, the Sun gives the self and the father naturally, and in the tenth house it is read for career and authority. Mercury in the fifth may be read for learning and children.
How it is worked out or read
The method combines the natural karaka, the house where the graha sits and the houses it rules. Schools differ on how much weight each receives.
Where it appears on this site
See graha in house reading and the natural karakas.
The fixed significators of the houses
Besides its lord, each house has one or more fixed significators, called bhava karakas, which are the same in every chart. In the common Parashari list, the Sun signifies the first house; Jupiter the second; Mars the third; the Moon the fourth; Jupiter the fifth; Mars and Saturn the sixth; Venus the seventh; Saturn the eighth; Jupiter, and the Sun for the father, the ninth; the Sun, Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn the tenth; Jupiter the eleventh; and Saturn the twelfth. Some lists add Mercury for education and Venus for vehicles under the fourth house.
The logic is usually easy to follow. Jupiter, the graha of wisdom and children, signifies the fifth house of intelligence and children. Venus, the graha of relationship, signifies the seventh house of partnership.
Reading a house through three sources
A careful reading of any house looks at three sources together: the house itself and the planets in it, the lord of the house, and the karaka of the house. If all three are strong and well placed, the house's themes are read as well supported. If two are strong and one weak, the reading is mixed. For example, a reader looking at the seventh house would look at the seventh house and its occupants, the seventh lord, and Venus.
This three-way check prevents a reading from hanging on one factor alone.
Karaka bhava nashaya
A well-known principle says karako bhava nashaya: the karaka in its own house harms that house. Jupiter in the fifth house, Venus in the seventh, or Saturn in the eighth are classic examples. The reasoning given is that a significator placed in the very house it signifies overloads that house. Not all authorities apply the principle the same way, and many hold that it is softened when the karaka is in its own or exaltation sign. Readers should treat it as one consideration rather than a fixed rule.
Natural karakas and chara karakas
The bhava karakas should not be confused with the natural karakas of the grahas themselves, such as the Sun for the father or the Moon for the mother, though the two lists overlap heavily. Nor should they be confused with the chara karakas of the Jaimini system, which change from chart to chart according to the planets' degrees. When a reading mentions a karaka, it helps to ask which of these three systems is meant.
Using this on the site
The house list on the chart page shows each house's sign and the planets in it, and the lord follows from the sign. Adding the karaka from the list above gives the three sources needed for a full reading of any house, and a reader can then check the karaka's own sign and dignity in the planet table.