Planetary Dignity: Exaltation, Debilitation, Moolatrikona and Own Sign

A planet can show its full power in one sign and be nearly helpless in another. The texts call this its dignity. When reading a chart, "in which house" is always followed by "in what condition".

The ladder of dignity

From top to bottom: exalted, moolatrikona, own sign, friend's sign, neutral sign, enemy's sign, debilitated. An exalted planet shows its best face; a debilitated one struggles to deliver, or gives the opposite.

Full table

The debilitation sign is always the seventh from the exaltation sign, at the same degree: the Sun is deepest in debilitation at 10° Libra.

Note that the Moon's exaltation and moolatrikona are both in Taurus, and Mercury's exaltation, moolatrikona and own sign are all in Virgo. In such cases the degree decides: Mercury is exalted from 0° to 15° Virgo, in moolatrikona from 16° to 20°, and in its own sign for the rest.

Is exaltation always good?

No. An exalted planet is strong, but you still need to see which houses it rules and where it sits. An exalted lord of the sixth or eighth can strengthen illness or obstacles too. Some authorities also hold that an exalted planet in retrograde motion acts like a debilitated one, though this is disputed.

Neecha bhanga: release from debilitation

A debilitated planet is no cause for alarm on its own. The texts list conditions under which debilitation is cancelled (neecha bhanga). Common ones:

• The lord of the debilitation sign is in a kendra from the lagna or the Moon.
• The planet exalted in that sign is in a kendra from the lagna or the Moon.
• The debilitated planet is aspected by the lord of its exaltation sign, or sits with the lord of its debilitation sign.
• The planet is exalted in the navamsha chart.

Example: Mars is debilitated in Cancer. If the Moon, lord of Cancer, is in a kendra from the lagna, much of the weakness lifts. Such cases are sometimes called neecha bhanga raja yoga: hardship first, a rise later.

Directional strength (dig bala)

Planets also gain strength from houses. Mercury and Jupiter are strongest in the first house, the Sun and Mars in the tenth, Saturn in the seventh, and the Moon and Venus in the fourth. In the opposite house the directional strength is zero: the Sun in the fourth, for instance.

In practice

Suvolagna's birth chart page lists the sign and degree of every planet; keep this table beside it to see which planets are strong and which weak. Even so, one planet's dignity is never the whole story: houses, aspects and dashas have to be read together.