Skip to content
Astral Atlas
Wiki concept · Indian astrology

Dusthana

Also called difficult houses

Dusthana names houses 6, 8, and 12 in the Jyotish house scheme.

In this entry

Your selected period

Add a birth profile or explore the example to see a selected period reading.

Open Vimshottari periods →

Place the term in its method

Rao places houses 6, 8, and 12 in this category.

Sixth house also appears in upachaya, so a single verdict would erase overlap.

P. V. R. Narasimha Rao, Vedic Astrology: An Integrated Approach, §7.4 (physical pp. 86–89) ↗

Count it for yourself

Atlas worked example: Scorpio is eighth from Aries, while Aries is sixth from Scorpio. Reverse the selected reference and the count changes even though the same two placements are being compared.

The interface names the reference beside each count. Do not turn a house-category label into a statement about a person’s health, longevity or a particular event.

Use it with your chart

Use the Dusthana chip to trace the classification to its source and worked example. Missing natal longitudes suppress this relationship; an unavailable reading is not a negative chart judgement.

The personal reading above follows your current period selection. The JSON download retains the calculation choices, source references and glossary entries so the same reading can be reviewed later.

Word origin · etymology

Dusthana is the romanized Jyotish label used for this house group; its Sanskrit compound derivation remains uncertain here.

The cited dictionary headword duḥ-stha describes an adverse condition, but it is a different headword. It does not by itself establish the technical term’s origin or earliest use.

Monier-Williams, p. 483, duḥ-stha ↗Benfey, p. 405, duḥstha ↗

How we know · epistemology

Traditional Jyotish house-category convention.

The label is not a standalone prediction of illness, loss, death, or any event.

P. V. R. Narasimha Rao, §7.4 (physical pp. 86–89) ↗

Explore it in your atlas

Connected concepts

Read alongside this entry

Terms used in this explanation

These links connect subjects and terminology. They do not establish a shared historical origin.

Sources & provenance

Use the citations beside each section to distinguish a calculation convention, a historical teaching and an editorial example.

Find these sources across the wiki →

  1. P. V. R. Narasimha Rao, Vedic Astrology: An Integrated Approach, §7.4 (physical pp. 86–89) ↗
  2. Monier-Williams, p. 483, duḥ-stha ↗
  3. Benfey, p. 405, duḥstha ↗