केतु Ketu
| Own signs | — |
|---|---|
| Moolatrikona | — |
| Exaltation | वृश्चिक Vṛścika ° |
| Debilitation | वृषभ Vṛṣabha ° |
| Friends | Mars, Venus, Saturn |
| Neutral | Mercury, Jupiter |
| Enemies | Sun, Moon |
Nature
Shadow graha (south lunar node), counted a malefic: fiery, headless, moksha-oriented — the flag of liberation. Ketu strips what it touches down to essence; its losses are graduations in disguise.
Significations (karakatvas)
Karaka of detachment and liberation (moksha): past-life mastery, intuition, mysticism and occult perception, ascetics, sudden severance, maternal grandfather, precision without ego. Where Ketu stands, you have been before — and are asked to hold lightly.
Cited fromBPHS, Ch. 3Parāśari traditionPhaladeepika, Ch. 8
Ketu in the 1st house (तनु भाव)
Tanu BhāvaAn enigmatic, self-contained presence: identity held lightly, intuition strong; the world may find them hard to read — depth is the reason.
Ketu in the 2nd house (धन भाव)
Dhana BhāvaNon-attachment around wealth and family patterns; speech that is spare but piercing. Security is rebuilt on inner ground, where it holds.
Ketu in the 3rd house (सहज भाव)
Sahaja BhāvaEffortless courage from old mastery: bold when it matters, indifferent to show; unconventional skills and a taste for solitary effort.
Ketu in the 4th house (बन्धु भाव)
Bandhu/Sukha BhāvaDetachment from conventional domesticity: the true home is sought within; ancestral and homeland ties resolve through acceptance rather than acquisition.
Ketu in the 5th house (पुत्र भाव)
Putra BhāvaIntuitive, past-life-flavored intelligence: mantra, mathematics and mysticism come easily; creative and child-related joys are spiritualized rather than possessed.
Ketu in the 6th house (अरि भाव)
Ari/Ripu BhāvaThe silent healer: uncanny ability to dissolve enemies, debts and diseases without fanfare; service performed with surgical detachment — a classical strength.
Ketu in the 7th house (युवति भाव)
Yuvatī/Kalatra BhāvaPartnership as a spiritual classroom: detachment in relating must be distinguished from distance; met consciously, it yields unusually pure, undemanding bonds.
Ketu in the 8th house (रन्ध्र भाव)
Randhra/Āyu BhāvaKetu at home in the depths: powerful occult intuition, fearlessness about mortality's mysteries, sudden transformations navigated with strange calm.
Ketu in the 9th house (धर्म भाव)
Dharma/Bhāgya BhāvaThe born pilgrim: skepticism of inherited doctrine, direct mystical inclination; the dharma is found off the marked trail — and it is genuine.
Ketu in the 10th house (कर्म भाव)
Karma BhāvaAmbivalence toward worldly ladders: excellence without attachment to titles; careers in research, spirituality or precision crafts where ego is optional.
Ketu in the 11th house (लाभ भाव)
Lābha BhāvaDetachment from gains that nonetheless arrive: modest wants, uncanny windfalls, few but true friends; desires thin out and satisfaction thickens.
Ketu in the 12th house (व्यय भाव)
Vyaya BhāvaThe moksha-karaka in the moksha house — the classical liberation signature: meditative depth, foreign or monastic affinity, and the final art of letting go, learned gladly.
Sources
- BPHS, Ch. 3Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (attrib. Maharshi Parashara), Ch. 3 'Graha Characters and Description' (97-chapter recension, R. Santhanam ed.): planetary natures, benefic/malefic doctrine, own signs, moolatrikonas, exaltation/debilitation with degrees, natural friendships. Sanskrit classic, public domain.
- Parāśari traditionCommon Parashari timing doctrine — 'a dasha delivers what the chart promises, when it promises it' — shared across the classical corpus and traditional teaching, not attributable to a single shloka.
- Phaladeepika, Ch. 8Mantreswara, Phaladeepika, Ch. 8: effects of the Sun and the other grahas in each of the 12 bhavas counted from the lagna. Sanskrit classic (medieval), public domain; synthesized in our own words.