Aspects (Drishti) in Vedic Astrology

In Vedic astrology, every planet casts its gaze on other houses relative to where it is placed in the chart. This concept is referred to as aspects or Drishti in Hindi. Normally, whenever a planet aspects another house, it transfers or copies a portion of its power to the other house, too. As such, the aspects shall have impacts as well.

Drishti can be of two types, normal and special. Sun, Moon, Venus, and Mercury have only normal Drishti, which means they look at the 7^th house from their placement. Then we have special Drishti which is explained below:

• Jupiter – aspects the 5^th, 7^th, and 9^th house from His placement
• Mars – aspects the 4^th, 7^th, and 8^th house from His placement
• Saturn – aspects the 3^rd, 7^th, and 10^th house from His placement
• Rahu & Ketu – aspect the 5^th, 7^th, and 9^th house from their placements

*Some astrologers say Ketu does not have a Drishti because He technically doesn’t have a head. However, practical experience says otherwise. To be safe, we will consider Ketu’s aspects as well for a more complete analysis of our charts.

Note that the houses are counted in the counter-clockwise manner for all planets. For example, for a Virgo ascendant, if Saturn is placed in the 2^nd house (Libra), then His 3^rd aspect will come upon the 4^th house (Sagittarius), 7^th aspect on the 8^th house (Aries), and 10^th aspect on the 11^th house (Cancer) of the chart.