What is Arudha lagna in Indian astrology ? (Concept of Arudha pada)

Arudha Lagna - The Personal image

Calculation of Arudha for any house :

1. Count houses between the house (which you want to know the Arudha for) and the lord of that house, including the house which you want Arudha for and house in which lord of that is placed. For example : For Arudha of 1st house (Lagna) - count houses from 1st house (including 1st house) to the house in which lagna lord sits. If lagna lord is in 5th house the count will be 5.

2. Now count same number of houses from house in which House lord is sitting (inclusive counting as before). The house arrived is the Arudha of that house. Example : Count 5 houses from 5th house we arrive at 9th house. So 9th house is the arudha for Lagna.

3. Exceptions : Whenever after doing step 1 and 2, the arrived house is 1st (the same house), or 7th house. Just count 10 more houses from arrived house (1st or 7th), then you will get the proper Arudha is those cases. This means the same house and 7th house from the house in question cannot be Arudha for that house.

Contribution to work by famous Astrologer Sanjay Rath below

1. Arudha lagna (AL) is the image of a person (or any body) which is the reflection of the ascendant about the lord of the ascendant. The ascendant is the physical personality & intelligence while the ascendant lord is the applied intelligence (Paka lagna). The arudha shows the way we are viewed in this world due to our overall personality and resources as well as due to its use and modifications.

2. There are arudha for each of the twelve houses and they represent the images that exist in our minds. For example, the arudha of the fourth house represents the home environment at childhood. If this is in a sign of Venus then it indicates a strong presence of mother and her family in shaping childhood.

3. The arudha lagna represents the final record of all events of ones life that form the image of the person. This implies images of other houses adding to the image of AL. Impact of darapada (A7) is crucial for relationships, finances and social success.

Planets and the Arudha lagna

Moon is the significator of AL.

Planets like Moon & Jupiter who have a good reputation associating with arudha lagna protect the reputation and image while planets like Saturn & Rahu with a bad name spoil the image.

In general the relationship of planets with the Moon determines their ability to influence the arudha in a good or bad manner.

The status of the arudha lagna lord is the status of the native. Planets exalted in the arudha lagna or the 7th from it promise reputation and success in their fields as well as consequent good fortune. Debilitated planets in arudha ruin the image.

Benefic planets in the 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 & 8 houses and malefic planets in 3 & 6 houses give good results if they are strong in rasi & navamsa. Instead if the planets are weak in debility in the rasi or navamsa, the results will be contrary. On the other hand, weak benefic planets in the 3 & 6 houses from arudha lagna give rajayoga.

The tenth house is good for benefic planets only and even exalted malefic planets in this house cause trouble. Any planet in the 9th house from arudha lagna gives good results and protects the image while they give good income in the 11th house and losses and expenses in the 12th.

Transits and Arudha lagna

Transit of Saturn in the 1st, 4th, 8th & 10th houses from lagna and arudha are inauspicious.

Transit of Jupiter in quadrants from arudha lagna is a blessing.

Transit of Rahu in trines to arudha lagna gives rajayoga and material blessings while that of Ketu in trines is excellent for spiritual pursuits and renunciation.

The Sun and Moon in trines to any arudha causes it to manifest.

Change of image with time

1. The image or arudha is maya or untruth and cannot be permanent. It changes with time based on dasa.
2. Every dasa affects the arudha by (1) house placement from it and (2) argala (planetary intervention)
3. Narayana dasa, Vimsottari dasa and other such methods of progression are useful tools to decipher the changes in image.
4. Natural years of carakaraka replacement also cause major changes in the arudha.
5. Change in jobs, attainment of position and authority, marriage and various other events cause changes in the image depending on the association of their respective images with the arudha lagna.
6. Study dasa from standard texts.

Contribution below by well-known B.V.Raman

What are the different kinds of Arudhas ?

Jaimini emphasizes 12 Arudhas : Lagna Arudha, Dhana-arudha, Vikram-arudha etc.. . one for each Bhava. Arudhas are to be determined as follows :

Note where the lord of the ascendant stands and count as many signs from this Rasi as the ascendant lord is removed from the ascendant.

(1)The Rasi so got is Arudha or Pada or Lagna Arudha. Similarly note where the lord of 2 is from the 2nd house and the number of Rasis passed by him. Calculate the same number from the Rasi occupied by the lord of 2.

(2) The Rasi so got is Dhana Arudha. In the same way work for other 'houses' and we get

(3) Vikrama Arudha (3rd),

(4) Matru Arudha (4th),

(5) Santana Arudha (5th),

(6) Vyadhi Arudha (6th),

(7) Bharya Arudha (7th),

(8) Niryana Arudha (8th),

(9) Bhagya Arudha (9th),

(10) Karma Arudha (10th),

(11) Labharudha (11th) and

(12) Upapada or Vyaya Arudha (12th).

The following is an exact quotation from the works of esteemed Jyotishi Pt. Narasimha Rao

What can be predicted from A-1?

A-1 = arudha lagna = lagna pada reveals how Others perceive one's personality. It shows how one projects one's own illusion or 'glamour' into the world.

If the lord of the arudha lagna is favorable, these projections are well received in the minds of others.

Famous persons and Entertainers frequently have highly favorable lords of A-1.

Lagna pada = arudha lagna is a good key to finding out how a person is perceived by the outside world. While the lagna may give a good profile of physical appearance, the arudha lagna shows the native 's psychic projection upon others - how the native strikes the minds of others.

If the arudha lagna is favorable, even a person with a poorly supported rashi lagna can be quite successful, getting job promotions and celebrity recognition etc. Arudha means illusion or image.

If the radix lagna itself is strong and vibrant but the lagna pada is weak, even quite a remarkably vital and attractive person will be missed by the public. he more interesting cases are people who rather unaccountably become celebrities. These folks experience their image being broadcast day and night over all media - their personal goings-on becomes of great interest to the common herd. Such people frequent have a a powerful lagna-pada. Their celebrity periods, often flash-in-the-pan, are expected during the bhukti of their Lord of Lagna-pada, called the karakamsha.

Similarly, Dhana pada shows how others perceive one's wealth. A person might be buried in consumer debt or paying huge medical loans or tax liens - but if A-2 is favorable, they could still be looking/acting wealthy. A-2 which contrasts favorably with the realities of actual bhava-2 is common in westerners who become "house poor" after buying a home that is too expensive for their income, or folks who become "car poor" after buying a prestige vehicle that looks good but leaves them without grocery money!

And so forth for the other arudha lagnas. Check for disparities, if the person seems to be faking it or living a lie of some type, you will see the gap between reality and illusion by checking the arudha lagna for the house in question.

What can be predicted from the A-7?

A-7 Dara pada = kalatra pada shows the glamour or charm of the spouse's personality, what people think of one's husband or wife.

Perhaps the native has married a person of high moral caliber who nevertheless lacks some social graces. The general public may, if the A-7 is poorly situated, have a lower opinion of such a spouse than is truly warranted - and the native may suffer on this account.

By contrast some people find it difficult to sue for divorce when, despite their deep unhappiness in their marriage, their spouse is well thought-of in their community. This dilemma would also show up in the gap between A-7 and the reality of kalatra bhava and L-7.

"Dara"means "wife". Darapada is the arudha lagna of the radix seventh house. Darapada tells about the physical communion of the marriage, which is mainly the physical lovemaking.

Consideration of upapada and darapada are especially valuable for understanding the conditions applying in marriage and the behavior of the spouse.

Arudha lagna of the bhava reveal the illusions, or what the sleepwalking public believes, about the goings-on of the bhava. One of the most important meanings of the dara-pada is therefore the illusory purpose of marriage which is physical sexuality.

Dara-pada can be analyzed to distinguish the physical dimension of marriage and describe how the spouse behaves physically. For example, is the partner's behavior sensed by the native as qualitatively affectionate, passionate, or withholding, distant?

The fleshly psycho-sexual dimension of marriage whilst often demeaned in body-reviling cultures as inferior or delusory, is in fact absolutely vital to marital well-being. There must be bona fide nurturing, appreciative, pleasuring affection between the spouses in order for marriage to succeed.

1. To find the dara-pada, count from yuvati bhava to the lord of yuvati.
2. Then count the same number of houses forward again, to reach the dara-pada. (see example below)
3. If L-7 is in swakshetra (his own house) then darapada = bhava-10.

Darapada for second spouse

Darapada for the second spouse counts from dhana bhava to L-2. Then count the same number of houses forward again, to reach the second-marriage dara-pada.

Upa-pada

What can be predicted from the A-12?

A-12 = Upa pada or Vyaya pada = the second-most-consulted arudha lagna.

A-12 shows the aura of glamour or bubble of charm which surrounds the native 's marriage, as seen by the minds of others.

Gauna Pada shows what people believe about the native 's marriage -- which may be quite different from what is really going on.

Upa pada particularly indicates the psychic projection into "public image" of matters of the private bedroom. Do people think you have a happy marriage? Are they sure that communication and satisfaction is being delivered and received in the private bedroom? Or is there speculation that one's marriage is not satisfying, not balanced, not adequately pleasurable on a private, intimate level?

the public are usually quite sure that they can determine these matters and everyone will have an opinion -- that opinion is based on the appearance of the Upapada.

Nativities of politicians, business people, and others in public life who successfully project a loving marriage upon the public consciousness, frequently have a strong A-12. These folks often have a reputation, not really based on fact, for being reflective thinkers, prayerful and meditative, and some strong affinity with religious retreat and long-term foreign residence (such as university student study-abroad).

Given the stresses of public life and a certain required narcissism that accompanies high- profile leadership positions, there is frequently a factual gap between A-12's illusion- projection about matters of vyaya bhava - the good and the bad -- vs the reality of their private bedroom, sanctuary retreat, and meditation practice

Nevertheless, the public thinks they know. People will say "I have the impression that ...." and they do. Their impression is the psychic work of the arudha pada. Psychic projections are usually quite compelling and in the absence of fact - or indeed in the presence of fact - people will often adhere to their "first impression" which was not a rational conclusion but rather an apprehension based entirely on a first intuitive "hit"

Upapada = arudha lagna of the 12th house. It shows the public impression of your marriage.

Consideration of upapada and darapada are especially valuable for understanding the dynamics of a marriage. It is often said that Upa-pada represents "the institution of marriage" as practiced by the couple (with all the inherent conflict institutionalized into a stable format that Vyaya sthana being 6th-from-7th does imply).

To find the upa-pada, count the houses starting from vyaya bhava going forward to the twelfth-lord. Then count the same number of houses forward again, to reach the upa- pada.

Married couples who are secretly miserable whilst enjoying a smooth public presentation, as is so common in the instrumental marriages of politicians and senior executives, will often display a successful upapada but trouble appears in darapada.