Zastrolo guide

How to read your kundli

A kundli (Vedic birth chart) is a map of the sky at your birth, divided into 12 houses. Once you know what each house and planet means, you can read the main story of any chart.

Tap a house in the chart

This is the North Indian kundli layout. The top diamond is always the 1st house (lagna). Tap any house.

Ask your question free →

Step 1: find the lagna

Start with the 1st house, the lagna. In the North Indian chart style it is the top centre diamond; in the South Indian style the signs stay fixed and the lagna is marked. Note the lagna sign and its ruling planet.

Step 2: learn the 12 houses

1st self, body, personality. 2nd family, speech, savings. 3rd courage, siblings, short travel, skills. 4th home, mother, property, inner peace. 5th children, studies, creativity, romance. 6th work routine, competition, debts, service. 7th marriage, partners, business deals. 8th sudden changes, research, inheritance. 9th luck, father, higher learning, faith. 10th career, status, public life. 11th gains, friends, wishes fulfilled. 12th expenses, foreign lands, rest, spirituality.

Step 3: know the nine planets

Sun self, father, authority. Moon mind, mother, emotions. Mars energy, courage, property. Mercury speech, intellect, trade. Jupiter wisdom, children, teachers, growth. Venus love, comfort, arts, marriage. Saturn discipline, effort, delays, endurance. Rahu ambition, the unusual, foreign things. Ketu detachment, insight, spirituality.

Step 4: read planets in houses

A planet brings its nature to the house it sits in. For example, Jupiter in the 5th is traditionally good for learning and children; Saturn in the 10th suggests success that grows slowly through hard work; Venus in the 7th favours a pleasant partner. Note which houses are empty too: an empty house is not bad; its lord tells its story.

Step 5: follow the house lords

Each house is ruled by the planet that rules its sign. Where that lord sits connects two areas of life. If the lord of the 10th (career) sits in the 11th (gains), work and income are linked. This is how astrologers move from single facts to a full reading.

Step 6: add the Moon and timing

Read the Moon's sign and nakshatra for the mind, then the current dasha (planetary period) and transits for timing. That is how a kundli answers "when", not just "what".

A worked example in plain words

Imagine a chart with Leo lagna, so the Sun is the lagna lord. If the Sun sits in the 10th house (Taurus), the person is likely to be career-focused and visible. Suppose Venus, ruler of the 10th, sits in the 11th. Then work connects to gains and friends. With Jupiter in the 5th, studies and children are traditionally blessed. Read this way, three placements already tell a clear story: a public career that brings income through a network, supported by learning.

Good and difficult houses

Traditional texts group the houses. The kendras (1, 4, 7, 10) are the pillars of life; the trikonas (1, 5, 9) bring luck and blessings; the dusthanas (6, 8, 12) bring challenges that also build strength; and the upachayas (3, 6, 10, 11) are houses where things improve with time and effort. Planets like Saturn and Mars often do well in upachaya houses.

Aspects: how planets look at houses

In Vedic astrology every planet aspects the house 7th from itself. Mars also aspects the 4th and 8th from itself, Jupiter the 5th and 9th, and Saturn the 3rd and 10th. A house with no planets can still be strongly influenced by planets aspecting it.

Mistakes beginners make

Judging one planet in isolation; panicking over a single "bad" placement; ignoring the dasha (timing) and reading the chart as if everything happens at once; and using an incorrect birth time. Read the whole chart, look for repeated themes, and treat every reading as tendencies, not fixed fate.

Read yours now

Zastrolo's free kundli draws your chart in the Vedic style and lists which planet sits in each house, with plain-English notes on what the placements mean.

Try it now →

Questions people ask

What is the difference between North and South Indian charts?

Only the drawing. North Indian charts keep houses fixed; South Indian charts keep signs fixed. The astrology is the same.

Which house is for marriage?

The 7th house, along with Venus (and Jupiter for women in traditional texts).

Which house is for career?

The 10th house, with support from the 2nd, 6th and 11th.