The Study of Jyotisha · Chapter 28 of 54 · Part Six · Judging the houses
The third house: courage, effort and siblings
What the third house means
Varahamihira's word for the third house is brothers (Brihat Jataka I.15); its technical name is Vikrama, "prowess" or "valour", and it is also called Dushchikya (I.16, I.19). Aiyar's note lists brothers, bravery and meals. The later books add: younger brothers and sisters, courage and initiative, effort and enterprise, short journeys, communication and writing, the hands, arms and shoulders, neighbours, skill with the hands, and the arts (especially music and performance).
The thread: one's own effort and the energy to act, and the people who stand beside one in that effort — siblings and companions.
The 3rd is one of the four upachaya houses (3rd, 6th, 10th, 11th), "houses of growth" (Brihat Jataka I.15): what they signify improves with time and effort.
Significators
- Mars is the natural significator (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra 32.31–34): courage, energy, siblings.
- Siblings can also be judged from the 3rd from Mars (7.39–43; 32.22–24).
- The drekkana chart (D3) is read for siblings (Chapter 12).
How to judge the third house
- The house: sign, occupants, aspects.
- Its lord: placement and strength.
- Mars: strength and placement.
- The drekkana chart.
- Ashtakavarga points.
Malefics in the third
The 3rd house has a special rule. Because it is an upachaya, a house of struggle that grows, malefics do well in it. Varahamihira gives the Sun, Mars and Saturn the same result in the 3rd: the person "will be intelligent and powerful" (Brihat Jataka XX.2, 6, 9). And his transit rules agree: the Sun, Mars and Saturn are good in transit only in the upachayas, and the 3rd is the first of them (Brihat Samhita 104.4, Chapter 24). A malefic in the 3rd gives the drive and toughness that effort requires.
Benefics, by contrast, are said to make a person gentler but less enterprising in the 3rd: Varahamihira's rule for Jupiter there is that the person will be careful with money, even miserly (XX.7), and Venus likewise (XX.8).
Planets in the third house
| Planet in the 3rd | Varahamihira says |
|---|---|
| Sun | intelligent and powerful (XX.2) |
| Moon | a harsh line about cruelty to animals (XX.4) — one of the rules best read as outdated |
| Mars | as the Sun: intelligent and powerful (XX.6) |
| Mercury | a harsh line ("very wicked") (XX.6) |
| Jupiter | careful with money, miserly (XX.7) |
| Venus | as Jupiter (XX.8) |
| Saturn | as the Sun: intelligent and powerful (XX.9) |
The harsh lines for the Moon and Mercury are among those the course quotes only for completeness. Later astrologers generally read the Moon in the 3rd as a changeable but enterprising mind, and Mercury in the 3rd as a gift for communication, writing and trade — a reading that fits the house's later meanings better.
The lord of the third house
The 3rd lord is classed as a difficult lord by Parashara (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra 34, Chapter 19), because the 3rd is a house of struggle. But a strong 3rd lord in a good house gives courage and successful enterprise. The 3rd lord in the 6th, 8th or 12th makes the Phaladeepika's "Mriti" (Chapter 21).
| 3rd lord in the … | Effort and initiative go into |
|---|---|
| 1st | self-made, courageous |
| 2nd | earning; speech and voice |
| 3rd | strong initiative; good relations with siblings if dignified |
| 4th | home, property, vehicles |
| 5th | creative and intellectual work |
| 6th | competition, overcoming opponents |
| 7th | partnerships, trade |
| 8th | research, risk |
| 9th | travel, higher learning, religion |
| 10th | career built by one's own effort |
| 11th | gains through effort and through siblings |
| 12th | travel abroad, effort that is spent |
The example chart: Sagittarius in the 3rd
The house itself
- Sign: Sagittarius, a dual, fiery sign of Jupiter: aspiration, principle, travel, learning.
- Occupant: Saturn, at 26°08′, retrograde.
- Aspects: none.
- Ashtakavarga: 31 points — above 30, good (Chapter 16).
Saturn in the 3rd
By Varahamihira's rule, Saturn in the 3rd makes a person "intelligent and powerful" (XX.9). Saturn is in Sagittarius, a neutral's sign; it is retrograde, which gave it high motional strength (Chapter 14); and it is the yogakaraka for a Libra ascendant, ruling the 4th and 5th houses (Chapter 19).
Saturn in the 3rd gives persistence: effort that is slow, disciplined and sustained. As lord of the 4th and 5th, it brings those houses' matters — home, property, education, intelligence, children — into the 3rd: they are achieved by the person's own long effort.
Its lord: Jupiter
Jupiter, lord of the 3rd (and the 6th), is exalted in the 10th. The 3rd lord in the 10th: a career built by one's own effort and enterprise, and through communication, teaching and skill. Strong.
Its significator: Mars
In its own sign in the 7th. Strong. Courage and drive are well supported.
Siblings
Counting the 3rd from Mars (in Aries) gives Gemini, which is empty; its lord Mercury is in Leo, in the 11th house of the chart — the house of elder siblings and friends. The 3rd house itself holds Saturn, a planet that often describes few siblings, or older-seeming, responsible ones, or a sibling relationship that matures slowly. The house has good ashtakavarga points and a strong lord. A reasonable reading: sibling relationships that are serious, perhaps limited in number or closeness early in life, improving over time (the 3rd is an upachaya). Questions about the number of siblings are where astrology's claims are most easily checked, and Chapter 52 discusses how such claims fare.
The reading
A strong 3rd house: courage and initiative are well supported (Mars strong, 3rd lord exalted, 31 points), with Saturn giving the effort its particular character — patient, disciplined, long-term. The yogakaraka's presence ties the person's effort to the 4th and 5th houses: home, learning and intelligence are built by their own persistence.
Summary
- The third house is courage, effort, younger siblings, skills, communication and short travel (Brihat Jataka I.15–16); it is an upachaya.
- Its significator is Mars; siblings are also judged from the 3rd from Mars and the drekkana chart.
- Malefics do well in the 3rd: Varahamihira gives the Sun, Mars and Saturn there the same result — "intelligent and powerful" (Brihat Jataka XX.2, 6, 9).
- The 3rd lord is a difficult lord by Parashara's rules, but a strong one gives successful enterprise.
- The example chart: Saturn, the yogakaraka, in Sagittarius in the 3rd, with 31 points and its lord exalted in the 10th — persistent, disciplined effort.
Exercises
- Why do malefics give good results in the 3rd house?
- Mars is in the 3rd house in Capricorn. What does Varahamihira's rule say, and how does Mars's exaltation affect it?
- In a Virgo-ascendant chart, which planet rules the 3rd? Where is the 3rd from Mars if Mars is in Leo?
- What is the Phaladeepika's name for the yoga formed when the 3rd lord is in the 8th?
- In the example chart, how does Saturn's lordship colour the 3rd house?
Answers: 1. Because the 3rd is an upachaya, a house of struggle that grows with effort; malefics give the toughness and drive it needs. 2. "Intelligent and powerful" (XX.6, as for the Sun); exaltation (Capricorn) gives this good result in full (XX.11). 3. Scorpio is the 3rd: Mars. The 3rd from Leo is Libra. 4. Mriti. 5. Saturn rules the 4th and 5th, so home, property, education and intelligence come into the house of effort: achieved by the person's own long work.