Sixth, eighth and twelfth houses are considered to be inimical because of the traits they represent in a horoscope. Sixth house represents enemies, obstacles, debt, and diseases. Eights house is representative of death and destruction. Twelfth house represents loss, unnecessary expenditure etc.
Owners of such houses are inclined to do evil as much as natural malefics. Any association or yoga with natural and temporal benefics in a chart is not considered to be good. Planets occupying such houses are rendered weak and give bad results in relation to their own houses. When the lords of such houses are rendered powerless through their position within one of these houses itself – along with other debilitating combinations – it is said to constitute opposite of a raja yoga – vipareeta raja yoga and we have Vipareeta raja yoga as “a raja yoga with disclaimers”.
The effects on an individual are the very good – windfall, success in a venture, etc. Success does not come with the grace and fame usually associated with hard work and raja yoga. It comes at cost of others and not by one’s own efforts, i.e., when others lose, the individual gains. It becomes important to have such a yoga in a horoscope wherever competition is involved and people like businessmen, politicians would gain tremendously due to this yoga.
By itself, vipareeta raj yoga gives sudden results and cannot sustain riches for an individual for a long time. Other factors that strengthen the horoscope are necessary to build upon this success. In military parlance, this yoga gives a capability of surgical air strike deep within enemy territory. But if the enemy is still able to retaliate, one’s own defenses should be strong. Vipareeta raja yoga is like the first stage of a missile. It gives the propulsion for first stage, but if the second stage and the guidance system is imperfect, the missile is most likely to miss its intended target.
The following are important conditions for constitution of a vipareeta raj yoga:
1. Lord of one of these houses should be situated within 6th, 8th and 12th house only.
2. They should not associated with lords of 1st, 5th, 10th and 9th house.
3. No association with any natural benefic planet should exist.
4. The lords of these houses should not be located in their own houses.
Specific yogas are:
1. If 6th house is affected by malefic planets and/or if the lord of 6th house is situated in 8th/12th, it is called “Harsha yoga”.
2. If this is the yoga for 8th lord, it constitutes “Sarala yoga”.
3. For 12th house, the corresponding yoga is “Vimala yoga”.
Though the the names of these yogas sound very pleasant, it is seldom the case. Few caveats that ensure that above four points and three yogas are not taken literally:
1. Twelfth house is a little less important here. In case of dual ownership of signs, it is opined that the planet owning twelfth house behaves more like the lord of the other house it is owner of. Therefore, in case of Aries lagna, Vipareeta raj yoga cannot be formed by association with Jupiter, which is a natural benefic and becomes even more beneficial by ownership of 9th house.
2. The location is not 6th/8th/12th from lagna only. Based on principles explained in Uttara Kalamrita, JN Bhasin specifically takes an example of a Cancer lagna horoscope where Mercury is a lord of 12th and 3rd house and its position in 5th house along with aspects from natural malefics causes vipareeta raja yoga. It is interesting to note that 5th house is considered an auspicious house in general. The explanation provided is that Mercury is situated in 3rd from 3rd house and 6th from 12th house, thereby harming the prospects of these houses.
3. Natural benefics should not be involved. They tend to be ineffective in giving results of this yoga. Think about it this way – if you want to hit your enemy hard, then you want the baddest guys working for you. Goodness should not be involved.
This yoga does nothing but extend the logic of a negative of negative being positive. Therefore, an astrologer should consider a vipareeta raja yoga when lords of 6th/8th/12th are powerless not just by virtue of occupancy of such houses, but also by other means viz. debilitation in rashi andnavamsha, occupation of enemy rashi, hemming/aspects from natural malefic planets etc.
An astrologer should be very careful while considering vipareeta raja yoga because of parivartana yoga. An parivartana yoga between 6th and 12th lords will end up planets fortifying their own house through full drishti. In case of 8th and 12th, they are 5th/9th to each other and such a location is considered to be advantageous to the planet. That is precisely the reason why Harsha Yoga, Sarala Yoga and Vimala Yoga defined earlier in this article do not fructify and function as expected.
Table: Likely combinations of Vipareeta Raja Yoga for various Lagnas
| Lagna | Comments |
| Aries (Mesha) | Mercury is lord of 3rd and 6th. Its association with Mars, lord of 8th will constitute this yoga. Please note that involvement of Jupiter cannot be considered here because of Jupiter’s simultaneous ownership of 9th house. |
| Taurus(Vrishabha) | Venus is the lord of both Lagna and 6th house. Its placement in 8th with Jupiter in 6th will cause vipareeta raja yoga, but because both Jupiter and Venus are natural benefics, the effect will be less. |
| Gemini (Mithuna) | Venus is lord of both 12th and 5th. It will behave more like a 5th lord and hence cannot take part in this yoga. Mars and Saturn are the likely candidates and being natural malefics, they will be able to give good results. |
| Cancer (Karka) | Jupiter is both 6th and 9th lord. Naturally, it will be less effective. If Mercury (3rd and 12th lord) comes under influence of Saturn (8th lord), it would be good for vipareeta Raja yoga. Mercury can given sudden results as it is a fast moving planet. For cancer, debilitation of Saturn as 8th lord can cause vipareeta raja yoga. However, this debilitation would happen in 10th house, it will necessarily harm career prospects. |
| Leo (Simha) | Saturn and Moon are important, especially if Moon is waning (Krishna Paksha) |
| Virgo (Kanya) | Saturn getting debilitated in 8th house. Sun’s position in 6th house will strengthen 12th house and its occupation of 8th house will be under exaltation. |
| Libra ( | Jupiter/Venus can give a vipareeta raja yoga. Mercury is simultaneously lord of 9th and 12th and hence is a benefic. Overall, not a great lagna for this type of yoga. |
| Scorpio (Vrishchika) | Mars, Mercury can give this yoga. Especially if Mercury is under adverse influence of other malefics, it will tend to behave like one. Venus can also contribute to vipareet raja yoga. |
| Sagittarius (Dhanu) | Venus is important, so are Moon and Mars. Based on example in Uttara Kalamrita, Saturn occupation of 5th house will also give vipareeta raja yoga. The explanation is that Saturn will behave more like the third house lord in this case and its location in 3rd from 3rd will harm the prospects of 3rd house. |
| Capricorn (Makara) | Jupiter can give vipareeta raja yoga, but then the natural goodness of Jupiter will come into picture. |
| Aquarius (Kumbha) | Saturn, Moon and Mercury have the capabilities of giving this yoga, especially if Moon and Mercury are badly afflicted and if Moon is in Krishna Paksha. |
| Pisces (Meena) | A combination between Sun and Venus, who are the 6th and 8th Lords respectively will give vipareeta raja yoga. Saturn too is evil for Pisces because of its ownership of 12th house. Its association with Venus, however may not be beneficial from our current point of view since they are friends by default. Saturn’s association with Sun would definitely help though. |
These are general comments about a lagna. Of course, one has to look at the exact location of each of the planets before arriving to any conclusion.
