Benefic and Malefic Planets in Vedic Astrology

In Vedic astrology, planets are classified either as benefic or malefic; benefic planets are good by nature and malefic planets are harmful or evil by nature. Going by this definition –

• Sun, Moon, Jupiter, Mercury, and Venus can be considered naturally benefic, and
• Mars, Saturn, Rahu, and Ketu can be considered naturally malefic

However, it is not guaranteed that benefic planets will only give good results and malefic planets will only give bad results. To ascertain that, we look at another characteristic – functionally benefic and functionally malefic planets.

• A planet is said to be functionally benefic if it owns the zodiac signs of the 1^st, 2^nd, 4^th, 5^th, 7^th, 9^th, and 10^th houses.
• A planet is said to be functionally malefic if it owns the zodiac signs of the 3^rd, 6^th, 8^th, 11^th, and 12^th houses.

As you can tell, the 1^st, 2^nd, 4^th, 5^th, 7^th, 9^th, and 10^th houses are benefic houses while the 3^rd, 6^th, 8^th, 11^th, and 12^th houses are malefic houses. Now, you might ask me, what is so malefic about the 11^th house – well, the truth is, I have no clue. Nobody knows why is the house of gains and profits considered to be malefic or negative. However, Maharishi Parashara said it is, and I’m sure we all know less than the great sages, so we will go by this explanation.

Now, if you are wondering why we care about functionally benefic and functionally malefic planets, well it is because depending on their placements, their Dasha periods will give us good or tough times accordingly.

*Note that if a planet owns both a benefic and a malefic house, then it is considered to give mixed results during its Dasha periods. Also, the ascendant lord can never be a functionally malefic planet as it will always protect the native irrespective of whatever zodiac signs it owns.

In the event that a planet owns a benefic and a malefic house, its placement decides your fate during its Mahadasha. For example, for Virgo ascendants, Saturn owns both the 5^th house (Capricorn) and the 6^th house (Aquarius), but if it is placed in the 6^th house, then the person’s Mahadasha of Saturn would be difficult as the planet would turn functionally malefic due to house placement. The same logic can be applied to Antardasha and Pratyantardasha.

Similarly, consider a Taurus Ascendant. Jupiter is considered to be a naturally benefic planet; however, for Taurus, Jupiter is the lord of the 8^th house (Sagittarius) and the 11^th house (Pisces) in their ascendant chart. So, Jupiter is a functionally malefic planet in this situation.