Kendra Trikona Raja Yoga Explained

The word raja means king, and Raja Yoga is the general name for combinations that lift a person in rank, achievement and recognition. Many yogas carry the name, but one principle stands behind most of them: the meeting of a kendra lord and a trikona lord. This article explains that principle, shows the lords for every Lagna and sets out how to judge the result.

The principle

• The kendras are the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th houses. They are the houses of action and visible results. Tradition calls them the places of Vishnu.
• The trikonas are the 1st, 5th and 9th houses. They are the houses of merit, intelligence and fortune. Tradition calls them the places of Lakshmi.

When the lord of a kendra joins the lord of a trikona, effort meets fortune. That is Raja Yoga. The 1st house belongs to both groups, so the Lagna lord can play either part.

The house groups are described in Kendra Trikona and Dusthana Houses.

How the two lords can be related

1. Conjunction. Both lords are in the same sign.
2. Mutual aspect. Each aspects the other. For most pairs this means they are in opposite signs. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn have extra aspects, so a few other positions also work. See Planetary Aspects in Vedic Astrology.
3. Exchange of signs. The kendra lord is in the trikona lord's sign and the trikona lord is in the kendra lord's sign. This is a Parivartana Yoga.
4. One planet rules both. A single planet that owns a kendra and a trikona is a Raja Yoga by itself. It is called the yogakaraka.

Some astrologers also count a weaker form: one lord placed in the other's house, or one aspecting the other without return.

The lords for each Lagna

Lagna	Lagna lord	4th	7th	10th	5th	9th
Aries	Mars	Moon	Venus	Saturn	Sun	Jupiter
Taurus	Venus	Sun	Mars	Saturn	Mercury	Saturn
Gemini	Mercury	Mercury	Jupiter	Jupiter	Venus	Saturn
Cancer	Moon	Venus	Saturn	Mars	Mars	Jupiter
Leo	Sun	Mars	Saturn	Venus	Jupiter	Mars
Virgo	Mercury	Jupiter	Jupiter	Mercury	Saturn	Venus
Libra	Venus	Saturn	Mars	Moon	Saturn	Mercury
Scorpio	Mars	Saturn	Venus	Sun	Jupiter	Moon
Sagittarius	Jupiter	Jupiter	Mercury	Mercury	Mars	Sun
Capricorn	Saturn	Mars	Moon	Venus	Venus	Mercury
Aquarius	Saturn	Venus	Sun	Mars	Mercury	Venus
Pisces	Jupiter	Mercury	Mercury	Jupiter	Moon	Mars

The planets in bold rule a kendra and a trikona for that Lagna. They are the yogakarakas: Saturn for Taurus and Libra, Mars for Cancer and Leo, Venus for Capricorn and Aquarius. More on them in Yogakaraka Planet for Each Lagna.

To use the table, take any planet from the kendra columns and any planet from the trikona columns, and see whether the two are related in the chart in one of the four ways.

Which pairs are the strongest

By tradition the order is:

1. 9th lord with 10th lord. Fortune with career. This pair has its own name, Dharma Karmadhipati Yoga.
2. 5th lord with 10th lord. Intelligence and merit with career.
3. 9th or 5th lord with the 4th or 7th lord.
4. Lagna lord with the 5th or 9th lord. The person joined to fortune.

The 9th is the strongest trikona and the 10th is the strongest kendra, which is why their meeting leads the list.

Two worked examples

Aries Lagna. The Sun (5th lord) and the Moon (4th lord) are together in Leo, the 5th house. A kendra lord and a trikona lord are conjunct in a trikona, and the Sun is in his own sign. Raja Yoga is formed. One caution: the Sun and Moon together mean a birth near new moon, when the Moon is weak in light. The yoga holds, with the Sun as the stronger partner.

Scorpio Lagna. The Moon (9th lord) is in Leo and the Sun (10th lord) is in Cancer. Each is in the other's sign. This is an exchange between the 9th and 10th lords, the highest pair, and each planet sits in the other's house of fortune and career.

What reduces a Raja Yoga

Finding the yoga is only the first step. Its quality depends on several things.

• Other lordships. Most planets rule two signs. If the kendra lord or the trikona lord also rules the 6th, 8th or 12th house, the yoga carries some of that house's difficulty. For Aries, Jupiter is the 9th lord and also the 12th lord. For Gemini, Saturn is the 9th lord and also the 8th lord. The classification by Lagna is in Functional Benefics and Malefics for Each Lagna.
• The house where it forms. A Raja Yoga in a kendra or trikona gives openly. The same pair in the 6th, 8th or 12th gives less, or gives after struggle.
• Dignity. Planets in own, exalted or friendly signs deliver. Debilitated or combust planets deliver a fraction.
• Company. A third planet that rules a difficult house and joins the pair dilutes the yoga.
• Navamsa. The yoga is firm when the two planets are also well placed in the Navamsa.

How common is it?

Common. There are several kendra lords and trikona lords in every chart, and four ways for them to relate. A large share of horoscopes contain at least one such link. This is why the name should not raise expectations by itself. A Raja Yoga shows a rise from where the person started. For one person that is a seat in government, and for another it is being the first graduate in the family or the head of a small firm.

Timing

A Raja Yoga gives its main results in the dasha and sub-periods of the planets that form it. If the dasha of one planet and the sub-period of the other fall in the working years, the effect is clear. If those dashas come in childhood or very late, the yoga may show only as a general good standing.

Summary

Raja Yoga forms when a kendra lord and a trikona lord are conjunct, in mutual aspect or in exchange, or when one planet rules both. The 9th and 10th lords make the strongest pair. The result depends on the planets' other lordships, their dignity, the house where they meet and the dashas that run. Read this way, Raja Yoga is a measure of rise, not a promise of a throne.

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