What is Lagna

Lagna is a Sanskrit word referring to the zodiacal sign rising at the eastern horizon at any time. In a birth chart it refers to the ascending sign at the time of birth, at a particular place. Hence it is called the Ascendant in Western astrology.

Meaning of Lagna

The literal meaning is connection or involvement,referring to the beginning of a person’s life on earth. Use the horoscope calculator to know your lagna/ascendant. It will be marked Asc. and the Graha table will have the name of the rashi/sign.

Lagna is the foundation

It is the foundation of the horoscope. If strong and fortified, it gives strength to all other significations of life indicated in the horoscope. It bequeaths a person with a lot of energy, drive, enthusiasm for an action filled life. Easy and good growth in status and social positions are difficult to obtain without an above average strength. The horoscopes of Mahatma Gandhi, Adolf Hitler, Aamir Khan are a few examples of a very strong lagna lifting a person to great heights.

Lagna represents you

It stands for oneself and all aspects about a person’s body, mind, mental outlook, appearance can be gleaned from it to a great extent. If very strong it can give a magnetic personality, strong physique or imposing height and weight. Narendra Modi and Salman Khan are 2 examples of a strong physique and ofcourse a stupendous rise in life. The other 3 mentioned above are all of smaller frame, but were compensated for it either with magnetic personalities or great looks. The planets placed or aspecting lagna will naturally give their flavour to the person’s personality. A strong Jupiter placed in lagna (Mysore king Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar) will mean a tendency to corpulence. Jupiter aspecting Lagna gives the same thing, as seen in the case of the actress and long-serving Tamilnadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha.

Lagna signifies health and longevity

A strong lagna gives good health, pleasing looks and the ability to tide over any physical setbacks. I have observed that if any one aspect is in great excess, the other significations get watered down. Marilyn Monroe is a good example.  Her Kataka Lagna / Cancer Ascendant bestowed great looks, accentuated by Moon aspecting lagna. But this excess on one thing maybe watered down her mental ability to withstand the vicissitudes of life, leading to her alleged suicide.

Different types of Lagna

What we have described above is the Lagna in the birth-chart of a person viz. the natal chart. Lagna occupies a similar pivotal position in choosing an auspicious time (Muhurtha). Under the Jaimini system of astrology, there are lagna(s) calculated for each aspect of a human’s life eg. Indu Lagna for wealth, Varnada Lagna for social personality etc.

In short, Lagna signifies the beginning of anything and since “Well begun is half-done”, it gets a pivotal position in astrology. Use the horoscope calculator to know your lagna/ascendant and see how strong your foundation is.

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