Ask about a kundli and “raj yoga” soon comes up. Some people are told they have one and expect a great deal from it. Others are told they have Kemadruma or Kala Sarpa and leave worried. Both reactions assume that a yoga is rare and decisive.
We counted how often the best-known yogas appear in 200,000 random births in India between 1950 and 2010. Most of them turn out to be common, which changes how they should be read.
What is a yoga?
In a horoscope, a yoga is a named combination of placements: a planet in a particular house from the Moon, two house lords in the same sign, a planet in its own sign in a kendra. The classical texts, among them Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, Phaladeepika and Saravali, describe hundreds of them, and they are always weighed against the strength of the planets that form them.
They fall into a few broad families:
- Raja yogas, links between the lords of the kendras and the trikonas, read as supporting status and achievement.
- Dhana yogas, links among the lords of the houses of wealth (the 2nd, 11th, 5th and 9th), or between them and the lagna lord, read as supporting resources.
- Lunar and solar yogas, such as Sunapha, Anapha and Durudhara (planets beside the Moon) and Vesi, Vosi and Ubhayachara (planets beside the Sun).
- The Pancha Mahapurusha yogas, five yogas of a strong planet in a kendra.
- Nabhasa yogas, 32 patterns formed by how the planets are spread across the chart.
- Yogas of reversal and exchange, such as Viparita Raja yoga and parivartana, a sign exchange between two planets.
The word has a second meaning that causes confusion: the yoga of the panchang is one of 27 periods worked out from the combined longitudes of the Sun and the Moon, and has nothing to do with the yogas in a birth chart.
How common is each yoga?
We took 200,000 random births across India and checked each one for the best-known yogas, using the common form of each definition:
| Yoga | Definition counted (the common form) | Share of charts |
|---|---|---|
| Raja yoga, basic | Two different planets in the same sign, one ruling a kendra (1st, 4th, 7th or 10th house) and the other a trikona (1st, 5th or 9th) | 67% |
| Viparita Raja yoga | The lord of the 6th, 8th or 12th house placed in the 6th, 8th or 12th | 56% |
| Budhaditya yoga | The Sun and Mercury in the same sign | 51% |
| Kemadruma yoga, bare definition | None of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus or Saturn in the 2nd or 12th sign from the Moon | 45% |
| Kemadruma yoga, with one cancellation | As above, and none of those five planets in a kendra from the lagna or the Moon | 1% |
| Pancha Mahapurusha yoga, any of the five | Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus or Saturn in its own or exaltation sign, in a kendra from the lagna | 34% |
| Gaja Kesari yoga | Jupiter in a kendra from the Moon | 33% |
| Neecha bhanga, basic | A debilitated planet, with the lord of its debilitation sign in a kendra from the lagna or the Moon | 27% |
| Kala Sarpa, counted by sign | All seven planets in the signs from Rahu to Ketu (or Ketu to Rahu), the nodes’ own signs included | 14% |
| Kala Sarpa, strict | All seven planets within the half of the zodiac from Rahu to Ketu (or Ketu to Rahu) | 7% |
Share of 200,000 random births in India (latitudes 8.5° to 31° N, longitudes 70° to 92° E), 1950 to 2010. Computed with Swiss Ephemeris: Lahiri ayanamsa, mean nodes, whole-sign houses from the lagna, classical sign lords (Rahu and Ketu rule no sign). Placement only: no strength conditions, and no cancellations unless stated. For Mars debilitated in Cancer, whose sign lord is the Moon itself, neecha bhanga counts the lagna only.
Three things stand out. Yogas often presented as rare blessings, such as raja yoga and Budhaditya, are in half or more of all charts. Kemadruma, a lunar yoga often presented as a misfortune, is in 45% of charts by its bare definition but in about 1% once a single classical cancellation is applied. And Kala Sarpa doubles or halves depending on the definition.
Taken together, almost every chart (98%) has at least one of the six favourable yogas in the table in its basic form, and more than half (55%) have three or more. That does not make a chart special; it is what charts are like.
Why presence alone means little
The texts do not read a yoga as a switch that is either on or off. Three things decide how much it is said to give:
- The strength of the planets that form it. A planet that is exalted or in its own sign is read as giving its results fully; the same planet debilitated, combust or in a difficult house is read as giving less. A raja yoga formed by weak lords is read as a weak raja yoga. The dignity of each planet is the first thing to look at.
- Cancellations and stricter forms. Many yogas come with conditions that cancel or weaken them, and stricter versions of the same yoga add requirements. Kemadruma has a long list of cancellations, Gaja Kesari has stricter forms, and debilitation itself can be cancelled.
- The dasha that brings it into play. A yoga is read as giving its results mainly in the dasha and antardasha of the planets that form it. The same yoga can be quiet for decades and prominent for a few years.
The birth time matters too. Yogas counted from the lagna, such as raja yogas, the Mahapurusha yogas and Viparita Raja yoga, need a birth time good enough to fix the lagna. Yogas counted from the Moon or the Sun usually survive a rougher time, unless the Moon is close to the edge of a sign.
Is raj yoga rare?
Not in its basic form. A raja yoga links the lord of a kendra (the 1st, 4th, 7th or 10th house) with the lord of a trikona (the 1st, 5th or 9th), joining the prominent angular houses to the houses of fortune. The texts allow several kinds of link: being together in one sign, aspecting each other, or exchanging signs.
We counted the simplest form: two different planets in the same sign, one ruling a kendra and the other a trikona, counted from the lagna by whole signs. Two charts in three (67%) have at least one. Counting mutual aspects (each planet aspecting the other by Parashari graha drishti) and sign exchanges as well, 87% do. The lagna lord rules a house that is both a kendra and a trikona, so it pairs with every other such lord; even leaving it out, half of all charts (50%) still have a raja yoga by conjunction alone.
So a raja yoga on its own is not rare. What the texts weigh is the quality of the planets that form it: their dignity, the houses they occupy, whether they are combust or afflicted, and whether their dashas run. A planet that rules both a kendra and a trikona by itself is called a yogakaraka, for example Saturn for Taurus and Libra lagnas, Mars for Cancer and Leo, and Venus for Capricorn and Aquarius. It is read as especially able to give the results of a raja yoga.
Gaja Kesari yoga
In its common form, Gaja Kesari yoga is Jupiter in a kendra from the Moon: in the same sign, or the 4th, 7th or 10th sign from it. It is read as wisdom, reputation and the support of others. Jupiter is in a kendra from the Moon in four of its twelve possible positions relative to the Moon, so a third of charts is just what you would expect, and our count gives 33%.
Stricter versions also require Jupiter to be joined or aspected by a benefic, and not to be debilitated, combust or in an enemy’s sign. Each condition removes charts, so two astrologers can disagree about Gaja Kesari in the same chart simply because they use different versions.
Software can disagree too, when a program implements a definition slightly differently from the texts. JyotishiVani uses the common definition and checks it against an independent calculation.
Budhaditya yoga
Budhaditya yoga is the Sun and Mercury in the same sign. Mercury is never more than about 28 degrees from the Sun, so the two share a sign in about half of all charts: 51% in our count. Astrologers usually weigh it only when Mercury is not combust (too close to the Sun to show its own results) and the sign and house are strong.
The five Pancha Mahapurusha yogas
The five “great person” yogas form when Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus or Saturn is in its own or exaltation sign and in a kendra from the lagna. Each is read as giving the qualities of that planet prominence.
| Yoga | Planet | Own or exaltation signs | Share of charts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruchaka | Mars | Aries, Scorpio; exalted in Capricorn | 7% |
| Bhadra | Mercury | Gemini, Virgo (Virgo is also its exaltation) | 5% |
| Hamsa | Jupiter | Sagittarius, Pisces; exalted in Cancer | 8% |
| Malavya | Venus | Taurus, Libra; exalted in Pisces | 9% |
| Sasa | Saturn | Capricorn, Aquarius; exalted in Libra | 9% |
| At least one of the five | 34% | ||
| Two or more | 5% |
The planet must also be in a kendra (1st, 4th, 7th or 10th house) from the lagna. Same sample and settings as the table above.
About a third of charts have at least one, and about one in twenty has two or more. Bhadra is the least common because Mercury has only two qualifying signs: Virgo is both its own sign and its exaltation sign, while each of the other four planets has three. Some astrologers also count kendras from the Moon, which makes these yogas more common still; others add conditions about the planet’s strength.
Neecha bhanga raja yoga
A planet is debilitated (neecha) in the sign opposite its exaltation: the Sun in Libra, the Moon in Scorpio, Mars in Cancer, Mercury in Pisces, Jupiter in Capricorn, Venus in Virgo and Saturn in Aries. Debilitation is common. In our sample, 46% of charts had at least one of the seven planets debilitated.
Neecha bhanga means cancellation of debilitation. The texts list conditions under which a debilitated planet’s weakness is cancelled, and some say it can then produce a raja yoga. The best known is that the lord of the sign the planet is debilitated in sits in a kendra from the lagna or the Moon. By that condition alone, 27% of charts have a neecha bhanga.
Texts differ on which further conditions count, for example the lord of the planet’s exaltation sign in a kendra, and on when a cancelled debilitation becomes a raja yoga, so readings vary. Each added condition makes it more common.
Kemadruma yoga
Kemadruma is the name the texts give to a Moon with none of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus or Saturn in the signs on either side of it; the Sun, Rahu and Ketu are not counted. Classical texts describe it as unfavourable, and it is sometimes quoted in a way that frightens people. They also list many cancellations, and the numbers show how much those matter. In our count, 45% of charts meet the bare definition, but only about 1% still do once one of those cancellations is applied: any of the five planets in a kendra from the lagna or the Moon. That is why Kemadruma is rarely read in isolation.
Its opposite is common too: more than half of all charts (55%) have at least one of Sunapha, Anapha or Durudhara, the yogas of planets beside the Moon.
JyotishiVani does not bring Kemadruma up on its own. If you ask about it by name, Vani explains it in neutral terms.
Kala Sarpa: a later idea
Kala Sarpa, often written kaal sarp dosh, describes all seven planets falling on one side of the axis between Rahu and Ketu. It is a later concept not found in the major classical texts, and astrologers disagree about its significance.
The count depends heavily on the definition. In our sample, 7% of charts have all seven planets strictly within the half of the zodiac from Rahu to Ketu, or from Ketu to Rahu. Counted by sign, with planets in the nodes’ own signs included, 14% do. JyotishiVani’s check, shown on your kundli, uses the by-sign form, and its glossary says plainly that it is a later concept.
Remedies for it, usually a costly ritual, are widely advertised. A pattern the major classical texts do not describe, met by one chart in seven or one in fourteen depending on the rule, is not a reason for fear. JyotishiVani sells no remedies for it, or for anything else.
Definitions vary, and so does software
The same yoga can be defined in more than one way, and software adds its own errors. When we tested the calculation code JyotishiVani builds on against an independent calculation, several yoga checks disagreed with every textual definition, for example by counting Rahu and Ketu as planets beside the Moon. All of them are corrected in the app. Any reading built on an uncorrected program inherits mistakes like these, which is why calculations need to be tested against an independent reference. The accuracy page explains how JyotishiVani is tested.
Yogas JyotishiVani does not volunteer
Some classical yogas have harsh readings: illness, harm to relatives, loss, poverty, judgements of character. JyotishiVani never shows the yogas that describe harm. Others with harsh classical readings, Kemadruma among them, are mentioned only when you name them, in neutral terms.
Sign exchanges are a good example of the difference wording makes. When two planets each sit in the other’s sign, Phaladeepika gives some of these exchanges names that suggest misery or wickedness, depending on the houses involved. Vani states the exchange itself, which two planets have swapped signs, rather than the frightening label.
And when the Yogas screen in the app finds none of the classical yogas it checks clearly present, it says so in plain words: “None of the classical yogas we check are clearly present. That is common and says nothing bad about your chart.”
How JyotishiVani checks yogas
- One chart, fixed conventions. Your birth chart is calculated with the Lahiri ayanamsa, mean nodes and whole-sign houses, then checked against several hundred classical yoga definitions, sign exchanges included.
- The condition is shown. Each yoga found appears in your kundli with the condition that forms it, so you can see why it is there.
- Nothing your birth time cannot support. The check needs a birth time within about 15 minutes. A yoga that appears or disappears within the uncertainty of your birth time is counted as uncertain, not shown as present.
- No fear. Yogas that describe harm are never shown, and those with harsh readings only when you ask.
To put a yoga in context, read how to read a kundli step by step. For why two astrologers can disagree about the same yoga, see why astrologers disagree.