Argala and Virodhargala Calculator
A free argala calculator — for every sign of the birth chart, the planets that intervene from the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 11th, and the planets that obstruct them from the 12th, 10th, 9th and 3rd.
Argala means a bolt or bar, the piece that holds a door shut. In Vedic astrology it names a decisive intervention: planets placed in certain houses from a sign take a hand in that sign's affairs. Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra sets the rule out in its chapter on argala, and the Jaimini tradition reads it alongside arudha padas and sign dashas. Jagannatha Hora lists the argala and its obstruction on all twelve signs of the rasi chart from exact planetary positions, so nothing has to be counted by hand.
Counting from any sign, planets in the 2nd, 4th and 11th cast primary argala on it, and planets in the 5th cast a secondary one. Each place has a counterpart that blocks it: the 12th obstructs the 2nd, the 10th the 4th, the 9th the 5th and the 3rd the 11th. That blocking is called virodhargala. Parashara weighs the two sides against each other by the number and the strength of the planets on each, and treats an argala left unobstructed as the one that holds.
A planet is counted from the sign it occupies, so the row for a sign also gives the argala on every planet in it. The tables count zodiacally for every sign and use the nine grahas; the ascendant and the outer planets are left out. Two classical refinements are left to the reader: Parashara counts the argala of the nodes in reverse, which P.V.R. Narasimha Rao applies to any sign holding Ketu, and the same chapter treats three or more malefics in the 3rd as argala (vipareeta argala) rather than obstruction.
A worked example: argala on Gemini
The illustration in P.V.R. Narasimha Rao's textbook places Mercury in Gemini, Saturn in Virgo, Jupiter in Pisces and Venus in Aries. Take the other grahas to sit outside the signs below and count from Gemini: the four argala places and the place that obstructs each read as follows, in the calculator's column order.
| House from Gemini | Argala: sign and planets | Obstruction: sign and planets |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Cancer — empty | Taurus (12th) — empty |
| 4 | Virgo — Saturn, papargala | Pisces (10th) — Jupiter: obstructed |
| 5 | Libra — empty | Aquarius (9th) — empty |
| 11 | Aries — Venus, subhargala | Leo (3rd) — empty: unobstructed |
Saturn, a natural malefic in the 4th from Gemini, casts papargala (malefic intervention) on Gemini and on Mercury in it, and Jupiter in the 10th from Gemini obstructs it. Venus, a natural benefic in the 11th, casts subhargala (benefic intervention), and with Leo empty nothing blocks it. The Gemini row of the calculator lists the same planets for this placement.
How to read the result
Start from the matter, not the table. Narasimha Rao's textbook takes the house or the karaka of the question and finds the argala on it, so step one is finding the sign that holds that house or that planet. His worked charts also read argala on points — an arudha pada, the ghati lagna (GL) — and for those the row is the sign the point occupies, which the AL and GL labels on the Divisional Charts screen give.
In that row, count the chips in each argala cell: one chip is one graha. BPHS grades an argala by how many planets cause it — one gives a limited effect, two a medium one, more than two an excellent one. Then turn to that sign's row in the virodhargala table and read its four cells the same way.
The tables work at sign level and from the birth chart alone. BPHS adds a quarter rule: an argala from a planet in the opening quarter of its sign is countered by an obstructor in the fourth quarter of the obstructing sign, and the second quarter by the third, so check the degrees on the chart before treating a cell as blocked. Narasimha Rao also reads argala inside divisional charts — on A3 in the dasamsa, for one — which these tables do not cover.
Key terms
- Karaka
- A planet that signifies a matter; the textbook reads the argalas on Saturn, significator of livelihood and karma, as the decisive influences on them.
- Rasi drishti
- Sign aspect: movable signs aspect the fixed ones except the adjacent sign, fixed signs the movable ones likewise, dual signs each other; a planet shares its sign's aspects.
- Graha drishti
- Planetary aspect: every planet aspects the 7th from it, Mars also the 4th and 8th, Jupiter the 5th and 9th, Saturn the 3rd and 10th.
- Ghati lagna (GL)
- A special lagna; Narasimha Rao reads argalas on GL as decisive influences on fame, just as argalas on the lagna bear on one's nature.
- Arudha pada
- The sign imaging a house's matters; BPHS lists argala on the arudha pada, on the natal lagna and on the 7th from both among its argala effects.
Every sign in two tables
Argala and virodhargala for all twelve signs of the rasi chart, so the intervention on any house, or on any planet through the sign it sits in, can be read straight off.
Each block beside its argala
The obstruction columns line up with the argala they block — 2nd with 12th, 4th with 10th, 5th with 9th, 11th with 3rd — which turns the classical count-and-compare step into reading the same row of the two tables.
Works on shared charts
The tables come from the same birth chart as every other screen and open on shared chart links too, so an astrologer and the person who shared the chart look at the same counts.
Common questions
What is argala in Vedic astrology?
Argala is the decisive intervention of the planets in one sign on the affairs of another. Planets in the 2nd, 4th and 11th from a sign cast primary argala on it and planets in the 5th a secondary one; the word itself means a door's bolt.
What is virodhargala?
Virodhargala is the obstruction of an argala. Planets in the 12th, 10th, 3rd and 9th from a sign block the argala from the 2nd, 4th, 11th and 5th respectively. Parashara lets an argala prevail when its planets are stronger or more numerous than the obstructing ones; Narasimha Rao compares the numbers first and the strengths only when they are equal.
What do subhargala and papargala mean?
The name follows the planet that casts it. Argala from a natural benefic such as Jupiter or Venus is called subhargala, a benefic intervention; argala from a natural malefic such as Saturn or Mars is papargala, a malefic one. The calculator lists the planets, and their nature is read from each planet.
How do the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 11th argalas differ?
In P.V.R. Narasimha Rao's reading, argala from the 2nd shows what sustains a matter, from the 4th what drives its state and progress, and from the 11th the catalyst for gains in it, while the secondary argala from the 5th adds further contributing factors.
When does an argala give its results?
Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra places the results of an argala in the dasha periods of the sign or planet concerned, and Jaimini practitioners read argala together with sign-based dashas such as chara dasha.
Is argala counted from houses or from planets?
From both. Parashara says to count argala from a sign or from a planet as the case requires. A planet's argala is counted from the sign it occupies, so a sign's row in the table applies to every planet placed in that sign.
Is argala the same as an aspect (drishti)?
No. Narasimha Rao's textbook treats argala as a third influence beside rasi drishti and graha drishti. It rates rasi drishti a small influence and graha drishti a more concrete one, while planets with argala decide parts of the matter, an influence it calls decisive. The two tables list argala and its obstruction; aspects are not shown there.
Why is the lagna's row not at the top of the argala table?
The rows follow the zodiac, Aries to Pisces, whatever sign is rising, and each row belongs to its sign. The 1st house's argala is read in the row for the rising sign, and any other house's in the row of the sign that house occupies — the 10th from a Leo lagna, for instance, in the Taurus row.