Chapter 8 · बल Bala
Planetary strength: dignity and shadbala
Knowing what a planet signifies is only half the story; the other half is whether it is strong enough to deliver it. This chapter covers dignity, natural friendships, and the six-fold strength (shadbala) of Parashara.
- The seven levels of dignity, from exalted to debilitated
- The natural friendships between planets
- The six components of shadbala, with natural and directional strength in detail
1. Dignity: how comfortable a planet is
A planet’s strength starts with the sign it occupies. From strongest to weakest: exalted, moolatrikona, own sign, a friend’s sign, a neutral sign, an enemy’s sign, and debilitated. A strong planet can deliver what it promises; a weak one struggles.
Choose a planet, a sign and a degree to see its dignity.
2. Natural friendships
Each planet regards the others as friends, neutrals or enemies. These natural relationships decide whether a planet in another planet’s sign is comfortable. Select a planet.
3. Shadbala: six sources of strength
Parashara gives a fuller measure, shadbala (six-fold strength), adding up strength from position, direction, time, motion, nature and aspects. Its full calculation needs the engine, but two parts are easy to see. Naisargika bala, natural strength, is fixed for each planet; the Sun is naturally strongest and Saturn weakest. Dig bala, directional strength, is greatest when a planet sits in its best house: Jupiter and Mercury in the 1st, Moon and Venus in the 4th, Saturn in the 7th, Sun and Mars in the 10th.
Naisargika bala (natural strength, in virupas)
| Bala | What it measures |
|---|---|
| Sthana | Positional strength: dignity and divisional placements |
| Dig | Directional strength: the house occupied |
| Kala | Temporal strength: day or night, lunar phase and more |
| Cheshta | Motional strength, including retrogression |
| Naisargika | Natural strength, fixed for each planet |
| Drik | Strength from aspects received |
Worked example · Albert Einstein
Dignity of each planet
| Planet | Sign | Dignity |
|---|---|---|
| Sun | Pisces | Friend’s sign |
| Moon | Scorpio | Debilitated |
| Mars | Capricorn | Exalted |
| Mercury | Pisces | Debilitated |
| Jupiter | Aquarius | Neutral sign |
| Venus | Pisces | Exalted |
| Saturn | Pisces | Neutral sign |
The Sun in the 10th house also has full directional strength (dig bala).
Birth data: 14 March 1879, 11:30 local time, Ulm, Germany; Rodden rating AA (from the birth record), as listed by Astrotheme from Astro-Databank. Positions converted by LotusAstro to the sidereal zodiac (Lahiri ayanamsa, about 22°10′ in 1879), whole-sign houses. One famous chart illustrates a technique; it proves nothing on its own.
Worked example · Indira Gandhi
Dignity of each planet
| Planet | Sign | Dignity |
|---|---|---|
| Sun | Scorpio | Friend’s sign |
| Moon | Capricorn | Neutral sign |
| Mars | Leo | Friend’s sign |
| Mercury | Scorpio | Neutral sign |
| Jupiter | Taurus | Enemy’s sign |
| Venus | Sagittarius | Neutral sign |
| Saturn | Cancer | Enemy’s sign |
None of her planets is in its house of directional strength.
Birth data: 19 November 1917, 23:11 local time, Allahabad (now Prayagraj), India; source given as her own account (Rodden rating A), as listed by Astrotheme. Positions converted by LotusAstro to the sidereal zodiac (Lahiri ayanamsa, about 22°42′ in 1917), whole-sign houses. One chart illustrates a technique; it proves nothing on its own.
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