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KP cusp sub lords

KP assigns each house cusp a sign lord, star lord and sub lord. Mạghā calculates twelve cusps using Placidus houses and Krishnamurti ayanāṁśa, alongside the houses each sub lord signifies. These calculation tables are free and use no AI.

Libra's 21 KP sub-divisions, with Nila Raman's first cusp in Mercury's sub of Chitrā.Libra: three stars, twenty-one sub-divisions

Libra holds the last 6°40′ of Chitrā (star lord Mars), all of Svātī (Rāhu) and the first 10° of Viśākhā (Jupiter), cut into 21 subs sized by Vimśottarī years, from Mercury's 1°53′20″ at the start of the sign to the Moon's last 33′20″. Nila's first cusp, at 0°51′27″ Libra in Mạghā's chart, falls in that first Mercury sub.

Libra · 0°00′Libra · 30°00′

  • Star lord
    • Chitrā · Mars · 0°–6°40′
    • Svātī · Rāhu · 6°40′–20°
    • Viśākhā · Jupiter · 20°–30°
  • Sub lord
    1. 1. Mercury0°00′–1°53′20″
    2. 2. Ketu1°53′20″–2°40′
    3. 3. Venus2°40′–4°53′20″
    4. 4. Sun4°53′20″–5°33′20″
    5. 5. Moon5°33′20″–6°40′
    6. 6. Rāhu6°40′–8°40′
    7. 7. Jupiter8°40′–10°26′40″
    8. 8. Saturn10°26′40″–12°33′20″
    9. 9. Mercury12°33′20″–14°26′40″
    10. 10. Ketu14°26′40″–15°13′20″
    11. 11. Venus15°13′20″–17°26′40″
    12. 12. Sun17°26′40″–18°06′40″
    13. 13. Moon18°06′40″–19°13′20″
    14. 14. Mars19°13′20″–20°00′
    15. 15. Jupiter20°00′–21°46′40″
    16. 16. Saturn21°46′40″–23°53′20″
    17. 17. Mercury23°53′20″–25°46′40″
    18. 18. Ketu25°46′40″–26°33′20″
    19. 19. Venus26°33′20″–28°46′40″
    20. 20. Sun28°46′40″–29°26′40″
    21. 21. Moon29°26′40″–30°00′
    Ivory marker: Nila’s first cusp at Libra 0°51′26.8″, in Mercury’s sub of Chitrā. Every boundary is measured from the start of Libra; widths retain the original arcsecond proportions.

    Nine unequal subs in each nakṣatra make 249 divisions

    A nakṣatra spans 13°20′. Krishnamurti divided it in the proportions of the 120-year planetary period system (Vimśottarī Daśā), giving each planet 6⅔ minutes of arc for every year of its period: 40′ for the Sun, up to 2°13′20″ for Venus. The first sub belongs to the nakṣatra's own lord, and the others follow in daśā order.

    Twenty-seven nakṣatras of nine subs make 243. Six subs run across the start of a sign, where the sign lord changes, so each is counted in two parts, which gives 249.

    Nila Raman, has her first cusp less than a degree into Libra. Libra opens partway through Chitrā, a Mars nakṣatra, with Mercury's sub, which runs to 1°53′20″. Her first cusp therefore reads sign lord Venus, star lord Mars and sub lord Mercury.

    A grandmother cradling twin infants watches an astrologer lay two palm-leaf manuscripts side by side on a low desk.

    Krishnamurti made the sub lord the judge of each house

    Krishnamurti treated the lords of a degree as layers of one reading. The star lord shows which matters a planet or cusp will bring, and the sub lord decides whether they turn out favourable or not, much as a bhukti refines its daśā.

    He applied this to all 12 cusps. The sub lord of a cusp, he wrote, settles the question for that house, while the significators show when events arrive. To weigh marriage, for example, a KP astrologer asks whether the 7th cusp's sub lord signifies the 2nd, 7th or 11th house, the three Krishnamurti judged for marriage.

    He credited the sub lord with telling twins apart. Between two births minutes apart the Moon barely moves, but the ascendant moves about a degree every four minutes and the other cusps move with it, enough to change sub lords.

    An astrologer holds an open pocket watch beside a sundial's shadow while a student writes in a notebook.

    Mạghā lists all 12 Placidus cusps with their sub lords

    KP's Cusps table lists longitude, sign/star/sub lords, the sub's star lord and occupied/owned houses. Node agents appear separately under Significators → Planet → Houses; Sub signifies omits them. The reader always uses Krishnamurti ayanāṁśa, Placidus where calculable and mean nodes, regardless of main chart settings.

    Narrow subs make birth time important: in Nila's example, five minutes changes the first cusp from Mercury's sub to Ketu's.

    Questions about KP cusps and sub lords

    How do you find the sub lord in KP astrology?

    Take the cusp's sidereal longitude, using Krishnamurti's ayanāṁśa, and find its nakṣatra. Divide the nakṣatra's 13°20′ into nine parts in proportion to the Vimśottarī years, starting with the nakṣatra's lord and following the daśā order. The part holding the cusp gives the sub lord. A KP sub lord table gives the same answer by lookup, and Mạghā shows it for every cusp.

    Why does KP have 249 subs and not 243?

    Nine subs in each of 27 nakṣatras make 243. Krishnamurti split a sub in two wherever a sign begins inside it, because the sign lord changes there. That happens six times, at the start of Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn and Pisces, so the table has 249 rows. In KP horary, a number from 1 to 249 picks one of these rows.

    What is the difference between the star lord and the sub lord?

    In Krishnamurti's account, the star lord, the ruler of the nakṣatra, shows which matters a planet or cusp will bring. The sub lord, the ruler of the smaller slice, decides whether those matters turn out favourable or unfavourable. He compared the pair to a daśā and the bhukti within it.

    Why does KP use Placidus houses?

    Krishnamurti cast charts with the Placidus "semi-arc" system, using Raphael's Tables of Houses, which give the exact degree where each house begins. Placidus houses vary in size, and every cusp falls at its own degree, so each has its own star lord and sub lord. Mạghā's KP reader always uses Placidus, even when your chart pages use another house system.

    Read your cusp sub lords in Mạghā

    Nila Raman's prepared KP Cusps reader, scrolled to House 1's Mercury sub lord, with the Prepared KP sample notice above the table.
    Nila Raman's chart uses Krishnamurti ayanāṁśa and Placidus houses. The KP reader is prepared for 12 September 2026 at noon in Bengaluru; the natal chart stays Lahiri. The demo cannot calculate visitors' birth details or other moments. Sample moment:
    Bengaluru, India · Asia/Kolkata

    See sign, star and sub lords for all twelve KP cusps. The chart uses Krishnamurti ayanāṁśa and Placidus houses, as does the free, non-AI KP tab.

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