Planet dignity: exaltation, debilitation and own signs
Jyotish judges a planet's strength first by the sign it occupies. A planet can be exalted (uchcha), in its own sign (swakshetra), in its moolatrikona sign, in a friend's or an enemy's sign, or debilitated (neecha). Exaltation and debilitation are always six signs apart.
| Planet | Exalted | Debilitated | Own signs | Moolatrikona |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | Mesha (deepest at 10°) | Tula | Simha | Simha |
| Moon | Vrishabha (3°) | Vrischika | Karka | Vrishabha |
| Mars | Makara (28°) | Karka | Mesha, Vrischika | Mesha |
| Mercury | Kanya (15°) | Meena | Mithuna, Kanya | Kanya |
| Jupiter | Karka (5°) | Makara | Dhanu, Meena | Dhanu |
| Venus | Meena (27°) | Kanya | Vrishabha, Tula | Tula |
| Saturn | Tula (20°) | Mesha | Makara, Kumbha | Kumbha |
For Rahu and Ketu the texts disagree: many give Rahu exaltation in Vrishabha (some say Mithuna) and Ketu in Vrischika (or Dhanu).
Vargottama
A planet in the same sign in the birth chart and in the navamsa (the ninth-division chart built from the nakshatra padas) is called vargottama and counted as strong, even without exaltation.
Cancelled debilitation
A debilitated planet is not always weak. Rules of neecha bhanga cancel the debilitation, for example when the lord of the sign it sits in is in an angle from the lagna or the Moon, and some astrologers read a cancelled debilitation as a source of great strength (neecha bhanga raja yoga).
Combustion
A planet too close to the Sun is asta, combust, and said to lose its strength. Typical limits are about 12° for the Moon, 14° for Mercury, 10° for Venus, 17° for Mars, 11° for Jupiter and 15° for Saturn.
Planetary friendship
Each planet regards the others as friends, neutrals or enemies (naisargika maitri). The Sun counts the Moon, Mars and Jupiter as friends and Venus and Saturn as enemies; Saturn counts Mercury and Venus as friends and the Sun, Moon and Mars as enemies. This friendship decides Graha Maitri in Guna Milan and how a sector's ruling planet relates to your Moon-sign lord on your Guna matches.
Six kinds of strength
Classical Jyotish also measures strength more formally as Shadbala, six-fold strength: positional (sthana, which includes dignity), directional (dig), temporal (kala), motional (chesta, which rewards retrograde motion), natural (naisargika, a fixed ranking from the Sun down to Saturn) and aspectual (drik). Computer programs add these up in units called rupas.
From dignity to a score
Because dignity is rule-based, it can be turned into a number: plus for exaltation and own sign, minus for debilitation, combustion and retrograde motion or a malefic conjunction. Scores like this are how a qualitative reading becomes something that can be checked against market data without anyone choosing the answer afterwards.
For learning and curiosity, not investment advice.