Yogas in Vedic astrology · विपरीत राज योग

Viparita Raja Yoga

Viparita (reversed) Raja yoga is the name for the lords of the three difficult houses, the 6th, 8th and 12th, placed in those same houses. Phaladeepika names three forms after the lord involved: Harsha, Sarala and Vimala.

How it forms

Harsha yoga: the lord of the 6th house is in the 6th, 8th or 12th house, with the 6th house occupied or aspected by malefics.
Source: Phaladeepika of Mantreswara, Ch. 6, as summarised in R. Santhanam's notes to BPHS Ch. 48
Sarala yoga: the lord of the 8th house is in the 6th, 8th or 12th house.
Source: Phaladeepika of Mantreswara, Ch. 6
Vimala yoga: the lord of the 12th house is in the 6th, 8th or 12th house and is associated with or aspected by malefics.
Source: Phaladeepika of Mantreswara, Ch. 6

Conditions that weaken or cancel it

It is about the lord of the house, not a planet sitting in it: Saturn in the 8th is not Sarala yoga unless Saturn rules the 8th.
A dusthana lord that also rules a kendra or trikona (for some Lagnas one planet rules both) mixes good and difficult results, and the yoga reads less cleanly.
When the dusthana lord is strongly joined with the Lagna lord, the difficulty of that house touches the self as well.

Is Viparita Raja Yoga in your chart?

The Ishvaram kundali engine marks Viparita Raja yoga when the lord of the 6th, 8th or 12th house is placed in a different one of those three houses, and grades it strong when two or more lords do so. A lord in its own dusthana (the 8th lord in the 8th, for example), which Phaladeepika's rules include, is not flagged, and the malefic conditions for Harsha and Vimala are not checked.

The lords of the 6th, 8th and 12th houses depend on your Lagna, which changes every two hours or so, so the check needs your birth time.

Generate your free kundali: its Yogas section lists the yogas the engine finds in your chart, with the planets involved and a strength grade, and names the ones it checked that are not formed.

What it means

Phaladeepika, as summarised by Santhanam, gives Harsha as happiness, good fortune, a strong constitution and victory over enemies; Sarala as long life, resolve, fearlessness, learning and success; Vimala as spending little and saving much, good conduct and independence.
The logic is that a lord of a difficult house, placed in another difficult house, spends its harm on that house rather than on the rest of the chart.

What it does not mean

It is not a promise of sudden windfalls; none of the three verses speaks of that.
It does not remove the difficulties of the houses involved; it describes how the person comes through them.
It needs no remedy.

Viparita Raja Yoga questions

What are the three types of Viparita Raja yoga?

Harsha (the 6th lord in the 6th, 8th or 12th), Sarala (the 8th lord in one of those houses) and Vimala (the 12th lord in one of those houses), as named in Phaladeepika, Chapter 6.

Is Viparita Raja yoga good or bad?

The texts give it good results: health, long life, success over opponents and careful finances, depending on the form. It works through difficulty rather than removing it.

Does a planet in the 8th house form Viparita Raja yoga?

Only if that planet rules the 6th, 8th or 12th house. The yoga depends on house lordship, which changes with the Lagna.

Sources

Phaladeepika of Mantreswara, Ch. 6 (Harsha, Sarala and Vimala yogas).
Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (R. Santhanam translation), the translator's notes to Ch. 48, which summarise the Phaladeepika rules.

AI Kundali Analysis

Why does this pattern keep repeating in your life?

Your kundali names the house, planet, and dasha behind it. Then it gives the upay you can actually follow.