Digbala meaning in Vedic astrology: directional strength

BPHS (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, ch. 3, v. 35-38) assigns the directions like this: Mercury and Jupiter are strong in the east, the Sun and Mars in the south, Saturn alone in the west, and the Moon and Venus in the north.

P.V.R. Narasimha Rao (PVR) ties these directions to houses: east is the lagna (1st house), south the 10th, north the 4th and west the 7th. He adds that digbalas 'show the direction taken by one in one's life'.

In the same verses, BPHS lists other time-based strengths: for example, benefics are strong in the bright half of the month and malefics in the dark half.

Related terms

• Graha →Graha is the Sanskrit word for planet as used in Vedic astrology, where the Sun and Moon count as planets.
• Kendra →Kendra (also called quadrant or angle) refers to the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th houses of a chart.
• Paksha →A paksha is half of the lunar month: shukla paksha is the bright half, when the Moon waxes, and krishna paksha is the dark half, when it wanes.

Lessons that use this term

• Sun (Surya) in Vedic astrology: meaning and significations →
• Moon (Chandra) in Vedic astrology: meaning and significations →
• Mars (Mangala) in Vedic astrology: meaning and significations →
• Mercury (Budha) in Vedic astrology: meaning and significations →
• Jupiter (Guru) in Vedic astrology: meaning and significations →
• Venus (Shukra) in Vedic astrology: meaning and significations →
• Saturn (Shani) in Vedic astrology: meaning and significations →

Sources for this entry

1. P.V.R. Narasimha Rao, Vedic Astrology: An Integrated Approach
2. Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (R. Santhanam translation)