Rashi lords: which graha rules which sign
Each rashi has a lord, the graha that rules it. The lord of a sign is used in dasha and house reading, and each graha rules one or two signs.
What it is
Mesha and Vrishchika are ruled by Mars. Vrishabha and Tula by Venus. Mithuna and Kanya by Mercury. Karka by the Moon. Simha by the Sun. Dhanu and Meena by Jupiter. Makara and Kumbha by Saturn. Rahu and Ketu have no sign lordship in the standard table.
How it is worked out or read
The table is fixed by sign, not by the planet's position. For example, the lord of Karka is always the Moon, whatever the Moon's own sign is.
Where it appears on this site
The lords are listed on each rashi page. The rashi index shows the table in one place.
The pattern behind the table
The lordships follow a symmetrical pattern. The Moon rules Karka and the Sun rules Simha, the two signs at the height of summer in the era when the scheme was set. Moving outward in both directions from that pair, the planets follow in order of their speed: Mercury rules Mithuna and Kanya, Venus rules Vrishabha and Tula, Mars rules Mesha and Vrishchika, Jupiter rules Meena and Dhanu, and Saturn rules Kumbha and Makara. So each of the five planets rules two signs placed symmetrically around the Karka-Simha axis.
Rahu and Ketu
Rahu and Ketu do not rule signs in the standard scheme. Some texts and later practitioners give them co-lordship, commonly Kumbha for Rahu and Vrishchika for Ketu, alongside Saturn and Mars. This is not used in the standard house-lord calculations on this site, which follow the seven-planet scheme.
Using the table
Once the table is memorised, finding the lord of any house is a single step: read the house's sign, then name its lord. This is the most frequently used piece of information in chart reading, since nearly every rule about houses, yogas and dashas depends on knowing which planet rules which house in the particular chart.
How to memorise the table
The lord table is easier to learn in pairs. Mars rules Mesha, a fire sign, and Vrishchika, a water sign; both are Mars's own signs. Venus rules the two signs of its own, Vrishabha and Tula. Mercury rules the pair Mithuna and Kanya. Saturn rules the pair Makara and Kumbha. Jupiter rules Dhanu and Meena. The Moon and the Sun each rule one sign, Karka and Simha. Seeing the pairs helps the reader remember that the lord of a sign is also the lord of its partner.
Why Rahu and Ketu are left out
The standard table gives no sign lordship to Rahu and Ketu, because they are points rather than bodies. Some traditions assign them signs, such as Mithuna and Dhanu, or Kumbha and Simha, and the reader should check the source before using these. This site follows the standard table and notes the school-dependent assignments on each node page.