Kendra

KEN-dra

sanskrit: केन्द्र (Kendra)

Definition

Kendra is the Sanskrit name for the angular or quadrant houses of a chart — the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th, counted from the Lagna (your rising sign) or from the Moon. The word means centre or angle, and these four houses mark the angles of the horoscope. You'll also see them called Kantaka or Chatushtaya, and in English angular, quadrant or cardinal houses; the 1st of them is the Lagna, or ascendant. Several authors treat the kendras as the structural pillars on which the chart rests.

In Tradition

Across the classical and modern Jyotish literature, the kendras are read as the most powerful houses of the chart: a planet sitting in one gains strength and acts forcefully. Owning a kendra is also held to change a planet's functional nature — so lordship of one can turn a naturally benefic (helpful) planet harmful, and a naturally malefic (difficult) planet helpful.

In Practice

A jyotishi (Vedic astrologer) leans on the kendras when weighing how strong and prominent the planets are, since whatever sits in them delivers its results forcefully. Brihat Jataka adds that a kendra grows stronger still when the 1st is a biped (two-footed) sign, the 4th aquatic, the 7th centiped and the 10th quadruped (four-footed). Sutton and the Bhavartha Ratnakara note that owning a kendra makes natural benefics malefic and natural malefics benefic, and that a malefic owning or occupying one can produce Raja Yoga, a combination for prominence and power. Those kendra-trikona (angle-and-trine) links are central to how a Raja Yoga forms. Raman and Cole rank the kendras 10th, 7th, 4th, 1st in descending power, though Raman treats the Lagna kendra as an exception. Cole calls the four the Vishnu-sthanas, the pillars of dharma, artha, kama and moksha; Charak holds that the Lagna, being both kendra and trikona, is the single most significant house.

Historical Origin

The kendras are defined in the classical texts: Parasara's Brihat Parashara Hora Sastra (Ch.7 Sl.33) and Varahamihira's Brihat Jataka (Ch.I Sl.17), the latter supplying the synonyms Kantaka and Chatushtaya, with the Bhavartha Ratnakara recording the term in its index. Modern authors carry the idea forward — among them Raman, Frawley, Sutton, Behari, Charak, Cole, Rao, deFouw and Svoboda — alongside the glossary compilers Kannan and Rao.

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Further Reading