Sign 7 of 12

Libra (Tula)

तुला

180° to 210° of the sidereal zodiac

Libra, Tula, is the seventh sign, and its name means the balance, the trader's scales. It begins exactly opposite Aries, and in the Lahiri reckoning the site uses the star Spica stands at its very first point. The tradition reads Libra as the sign of balance, fairness, partnership, trade, beauty and the weighing of one thing against another. It is the sign of Saturn's exaltation and of the Sun's fall, and the Sun passes through it from mid-October to mid-November, the season of Diwali. In a chart the sign colours how the planets in it act, and its lord carries the sign's affairs to the house where that lord is placed. This page gives what the site's own tables hold for Libra: its lord, element and quality, the nakshatras within it, the planets whose dignity it decides, and what each graha is for a Libra Lagna.

At a glance

Lord
Venus
Span
180° to 210°
Element
Air
Quality
Movable
Opposite sign
Aries
Nakshatras
3 in whole or part

Lord, element and quality

Libra is ruled by Venus, who also rules Taurus. Wherever Venus stands in a chart, it carries the affairs of the house Libra falls in. It is a sign of the air element and of the movable quality. The twelve signs cycle through the qualities in order, movable, fixed and dual, so every fourth sign shares one: Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn are movable. The birth report describes the sign's theme as balance, relationship and harmony.

The nakshatras in Libra

Each sign holds two and a quarter nakshatras, nine quarters in all, since the twelve signs and the twenty-seven nakshatras share the same circle.

  • Chitra: 0°00′ Libra to 6°40′ Libra, padas 3 and 4, the rest of it lying in Virgo.
  • Swati: 6°40′ Libra to 20°00′ Libra, all four padas.
  • Vishakha: 20°00′ Libra to 30°00′ Libra, padas 1, 2 and 3, the rest of it lying in Scorpio.

Planets whose dignity Libra decides

The site's table of dignities, which follows Parashara's ranges for the signs he divides by degree, gives these in Libra:

  • Sun: Sun is in its fall (debilitated) throughout the sign.
  • Venus: Venus is in its moolatrikona from 0° to 15°; Venus is in its own sign from 15° to 30°.
  • Saturn: Saturn is exalted throughout the sign.

For every other planet Libra is the sign of a friend, a neutral or an enemy, as that planet counts Venus. The table: Moon — neutral, Mars — neutral, Mercury — friend and Jupiter — enemy.

Libra as the Lagna

When Libra is rising at birth it is the first house, and each graha's nature for the chart follows from the houses it rules. The site takes this from Parashara's own list for each rising sign (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, ch. 34, tr. R. Santhanam), and goes by the chapter's general rules for a graha the verse does not name. For a Libra Lagna:

  • Sun, lord of the 11th: inauspicious.
  • Moon, lord of the 10th: neutral.
  • Mars, lord of the 2nd and 7th: inauspicious.
  • Mercury, lord of the 9th and 12th: auspicious.
  • Jupiter, lord of the 3rd and 6th: inauspicious.
  • Venus, lord of the 1st and 8th: neutral.
  • Saturn, lord of the 4th and 5th: the Yogakaraka, ruling an angle and a trine.

The Yogakaraka, the single graha that rules both an angle and a trine and so is the chart's best friend, is Saturn.

Rahu and Ketu are not classed by the verse: they act for the lord of the sign they occupy and the house they are in.

Varahamihira on each planet in Libra

The Brihat Jataka gives a reading for a birth with each of the seven planets in each sign; the nodes are not given any. The site's birth report quotes these as they are paraphrased here. Varahamihira adds that a sign's effects come in full only when the planet, the sign and its lord are strong.

The Sun in Libra. With the Sun in Libra, Varahamihira gives a hard reading: a wandering life, work with metals, chemistry or spirits, and a warning against dishonest dealings. (Brihat Jataka 18.3, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

The Moon in Libra. With the Moon in Libra, Varahamihira describes a devout, honest and clever person who respects the learned and the holy and never covets what is another's: fond of travel, at home in trade and prosperous, honoured by learned company and protective of the family, though not always valued by relatives in return. Health needs care. (Brihat Jataka 17.7, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

Mars in Libra. With Mars in Libra, Varahamihira describes someone swayed more by a partner than by friends' advice, fond of dress and adornment and of games of skill and illusion, and more timid than Mars usually makes one. (Brihat Jataka 18.5, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

Mercury in Libra. With Mercury in Libra, Varahamihira describes a teacher and speaker, generous and respectful of teachers and elders, always busy earning, with a large family. (Brihat Jataka 18.8, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

Jupiter in Libra. With Jupiter in Libra, Varahamihira describes good health, comfort and wealth, friends and children, a generous hand and the goodwill of all. (Brihat Jataka 18.12, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

Venus in Libra. With Venus in Libra, Varahamihira describes wealth earned by one's own ability and intelligence, the favour of those in power, a leading place in the family, renown and courage. (Brihat Jataka 18.14, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

Saturn in Libra. With Saturn in Libra, Varahamihira describes a well-known and prosperous person who leads a group, in a town, a force or a village. (Brihat Jataka 18.18, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

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