The Study of Jyotisha · Chapter 31 of 54 · Part Six · Judging the houses
The sixth house: struggle, service and health
What the sixth house means
Varahamihira's word for the sixth house is enemies (ari, shatru); its technical name is Kshata, "wound" (Brihat Jataka I.15–16). Aiyar's note lists enemies, kinsmen and diseases. The later books add: debts and loans, disputes and lawsuits, obstacles, competition, service and servants, employees, daily work, pets and small animals, maternal relatives, and the effort and discipline that overcome difficulties.
The thread: what opposes us, and our capacity to overcome it. The 6th is a dusthana — one of the three difficult houses (6th, 8th, 12th) — but it is also an upachaya, a house that grows with effort (Brihat Jataka I.15). This double nature is the key to it. A strong 6th house does not mean many enemies and illnesses; it can mean the strength to defeat them.
Significators
- Mars is the natural significator (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra 32.31–34): conflict, injury, competition. Later authors add Saturn for chronic illness and service.
- Maternal relatives are judged from the 6th from Mercury (7.39–43).
A note on illness
The books associate each planet, sign and house with parts of the body and kinds of illness. This is part of the history of the subject, and of its links with Ayurveda. This course explains such associations where they help understanding, but it does not diagnose or predict illness. Health questions belong to doctors. A reader who tells someone they will suffer a particular disease can frighten them, delay real treatment, or both (Chapter 46).
Two opposite rules
The texts disagree about what kind of planet is good in the 6th.
Rule one: malefics are good in the 6th. Because the 6th is an upachaya, malefics there give the aggression and toughness to defeat enemies and illness. This is the view of most later astrologers, and it fits Varahamihira's transit rules, in which the Sun, Mars and Saturn are good in the 6th from the Moon (Brihat Samhita 104.4).
Rule two: benefics are good in the 6th. Aiyar's note to Brihat Jataka XX.10 records the view of Satyacharya and of Varahamihira's own Swalpa Jataka: "if a benefic planet occupy the 6th house, the enemies will meet with ruin, and if a malefic planet occupy it, the enemies will increase."
And Varahamihira's own list (below) gives benefics in the 6th the result "no enemies", while for the Sun in the 6th it records two readings: "subjugated by enemies", or, by another reading, "enemies meet with ruin" (Brihat Jataka XX.2, with Aiyar's note).
So the books do not agree. A sensible reconciliation, used by many astrologers: malefics in the 6th give the strength to fight and win; benefics in the 6th reduce the conflicts in the first place. Either can be good; the dignity and strength of the planet decides (XX.11).
Planets in the sixth house
| Planet in the 6th | Varahamihira says |
|---|---|
| Sun | powerful, but subdued by enemies — or, by another reading, enemies are ruined (XX.2) |
| Moon | many enemies, a delicate constitution, weak appetite, slow in work (XX.4) |
| Mars | as the Sun (XX.6) |
| Mercury | no enemies (XX.6) |
| Jupiter | no enemies (XX.7) |
| Venus | as Jupiter: no enemies (XX.8) |
| Saturn | as the Sun (XX.9) |
The lord of the sixth house
The 6th lord is a difficult lord by Parashara's rules (Chapter 19): it carries struggle, debt or illness wherever it goes. But two placements reverse this:
- the 6th lord in the 6th, 8th or 12th makes the Phaladeepika's Harsha yoga ("joy"): the difficulty weakens itself, and the person overcomes enemies and is healthy and happy (Chapter 21);
- a strong 6th lord in an upachaya can show success in competition, service or medicine.
| 6th lord in the … | Struggle and service are connected with |
|---|---|
| 1st | the self: health needs attention; a competitive nature |
| 2nd | money: debts, or earning through service |
| 3rd | effort; competition with peers |
| 4th | home, property disputes |
| 5th | children, studies |
| 6th | Harsha: struggles overcome |
| 7th | partners, open opponents |
| 8th | Harsha: struggles overcome |
| 9th | the father, teachers, beliefs |
| 10th | career: service, competition, problem-solving at work |
| 11th | gains through service or competition |
| 12th | Harsha: struggles overcome; spending on health |
The example chart: Pisces in the 6th
The house itself
- Sign: Pisces, a dual, watery sign of Jupiter: compassion, sensitivity, dissolution, service.
- Occupants: none.
- Aspects: only Jupiter, its own lord, from Cancer, by its special 9th-house aspect. Exalted Jupiter protects its own house.
- Ashtakavarga: 30 points: good.
Its lord: Jupiter
Jupiter rules the 3rd and 6th for a Libra ascendant, which is why Parashara counts it a difficult lord here (Chapter 19). It is exalted in the 10th. The 6th lord in the 10th: a career that involves service, problem-solving, competition or healing — work that deals with others' difficulties. With Jupiter's natural meanings (teaching, advice, law, ethics), this is a strong pointer to work as an advisor, teacher, counsellor, or in law or medicine. And because Jupiter is exalted, the person tends to handle conflicts at work from strength.
Its significator: Mars
Mars, the significator, is strong in its own sign in the 7th: courage to face opponents openly. Mars in the 7th also points to open opponents (a 7th-house meaning) as well as partners: the person meets conflict face to face.
The reading
An empty, well-protected 6th house (its exalted lord's aspect, 30 points): struggles are met from strength. The 6th lord's exaltation in the 10th directs the house's energy into the career — service, competition and problem-solving are part of the work, and handled well. Health, by the house alone, is supported (benefic aspect, good points); this course says no more than that.
Summary
- The sixth house is enemies, illness, debts, disputes, service and the strength to overcome them (Brihat Jataka I.15–16); it is both a dusthana and an upachaya.
- Its significator is Mars (and Saturn).
- The texts disagree about planets in the 6th: malefics give the strength to win; benefics, by another view, remove enemies (Brihat Jataka XX.2, 10 with Aiyar's notes).
- The 6th lord is difficult, but in the 6th, 8th or 12th it forms Harsha yoga.
- This course does not diagnose or predict illness.
- The example chart: an empty Pisces 6th protected by its exalted lord Jupiter, whose placement in the 10th puts service and problem-solving into the career.
Exercises
- Why can a malefic be good in the 6th house?
- What two readings does Aiyar record for the Sun in the 6th?
- For an Aries ascendant, which planet rules the 6th? If it is in the 12th, which yoga is formed?
- Why does this course not predict illness?
- In the example chart, what does the 6th lord in the 10th suggest about the person's work?
Answers: 1. Because the 6th is an upachaya, a house of struggle that grows: a malefic gives the toughness and aggression needed to defeat enemies and illness. 2. That the person is subdued by enemies, or that their enemies are ruined (XX.2 and note). 3. Virgo is the 6th from Aries: Mercury. Mercury in the 12th makes Harsha yoga. 4. Because health belongs to doctors; such predictions can frighten people and delay real treatment, and they have no demonstrated validity. 5. Work involving service, problem-solving, competition or helping with others' difficulties, done from strength because Jupiter is exalted — for example advising, teaching, law or medicine.