Bhāva Bala
Bhāva Bala measures house strength from its lord, directional strength and received aspects. Mạghā ranks all twelve houses across five house systems. Scores use virūpas, with sixty virūpas to one rūpa, following the stated Raman-based method.
The 8th house adds Venus's 539.36 virūpas, 40 for direction and 93.73 for aspects, for 673.09 virūpas or 11.22 rūpas. The 11th adds the Sun's 305.55, 50 and 2.88, for 358.43 virūpas or 5.97 rūpas.
| Component | 8th house (Taurus) | 11th house (Leo) |
|---|---|---|
| Lord’s strength | Venus · 539.36 | Sun · 305.55 |
| Direction | 40 | 50 |
| Aspects | 93.73 | 2.88 |
| Total | 673.09 virūpas / 11.22 rūpas | 358.43 virūpas / 5.97 rūpas |
A house's score starts with the full strength of its lord
Bhāvādhipati Bala contributes the house lord's full Ṣaḍbala. Raman's directional component adds up to 60 virūpas: human signs favor house 1, quadrupeds 10, watery signs 4 and Scorpio 7, losing 10 per house of distance. Aspects add or subtract one quarter of benefic or malefic strength, with Jupiter and Mercury counted fully. Nila's eighth house totals 539.36 + 40 + 93.73 = 673.09 virūpas, or 11.22 rūpas.
Astrologers compare houses within one chart
Raman writes that when a house attains enough strength the native enjoys its significations fully, and otherwise not sufficiently. He sets no minimum for houses, though: his worked example compares all twelve totals and names the strongest and the weakest.
Parāśara treats house strength as one input. He says the results promised for a house come about through the strongest planet, and in the next chapter he judges a house by combining its strength with its lord's, then adjusting for occupants, aspects, dignity and Aṣṭakavarga points. Read that way, Bhāva Bala shows which houses the chart supports more strongly than others before those factors are weighed.
Mạghā shows Bhāva Bala inside the Ṣaḍbala tab
Bhāva Bala in the Ṣaḍbala tab compares rulers, rūpas, ranks and percentage of the strongest house. Choose Rāśi, either Equal system, Śrīpati or Placidus; the selected midpoint determines the lord, with cusps used for Placidus. A comparison graph is optional.
Mạghā follows Raman's three components. It omits Parāśara's additional occupancy and birth-time adjustments; his directional rule also differs. Percentage of strongest is a relative comparison, not a pass mark.
In house order the strengths are 9.71, 7.01, 7.23, 8.35, 7.47, 7.95, 9.15, 11.22, 9.78, 9.01, 5.97 and 9.15 rūpas. The 8th ranks first and the 11th, at 53.3% of it, last.
Nila's 8th house is strongest and her 11th weakest
In the Rāśi system, Nila's houses run from 11.22 rūpas for the 8th down to 5.97 for the 11th, which reaches 53.3% of the strongest. The 9th (9.78) and the 1st (9.71) come next, ruled respectively by Mercury and Venus, the two planets with the highest Ṣaḍbala-style totals. The 11th is weakest because its lord, the Sun, has the chart's lowest total, 305.55 virūpas, and aspects add only 2.88.
The house system can change a lord. In Śrīpati, the 9th house's midpoint falls at 29°48′ Taurus instead of in Gemini, so Venus rules it and the house rises to 11.13 rūpas, 98.2% of the strongest.
What people ask about Bhāva Bala
What is a good Bhāva Bala score?
There is no fixed pass mark. Raman sets minimums for planets but none for houses; he compares the twelve totals within one chart. Mạghā does the same with a rank and “% of strongest”, where 100% is simply the chart's strongest house. Because the lord's strength makes up most of each total, compare houses within a chart rather than against someone else's.
What is the difference between Ṣaḍbala and Bhāva Bala?
Ṣaḍbala scores the seven planets from six kinds of strength; Bhāva Bala scores the twelve houses. They are linked, because the first and largest part of a house's score is the full Ṣaḍbala of its lord. Bhāva Bala then adds the house's own directional strength and the aspects on its midpoint. In Mạghā both sit in the same tab.
What does Bhāva Bala indicate?
It indicates how well a house can deliver what it signifies. Raman writes that a house with enough strength lets the native enjoy its significations fully. Parāśara judges a house's actual results from its strength together with its lord's, its occupants, aspects and Aṣṭakavarga points, so Bhāva Bala is one part of that judgement, not a forecast on its own.
What is Bhāva Dṛṣṭi Bala?
It is the aspect part of a house's strength. Each planet's aspect on the house's midpoint is valued by its angle; a quarter of a benefic's aspect is added and a quarter of a malefic's subtracted, while Jupiter's and Mercury's aspects count in full. In Nila's chart, with Rāśi houses, it ranges from minus 20.53 virūpas for the 2nd house to plus 93.73 for the 8th.
Rank your houses in the Bhāva Bala view
See all twelve of your houses in rūpas, ranked, in the house system you prefer. Bhāva Bala is free for life, like every astrology feature in Mạghā.
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