Pregnancy is seen from the 5^th house as it is the fruit of marriage. Fruits or lābha of any bhāva is seen from the 11^th house from the bhāva under consideration. The 7^th house is marriage and the fruits of marriage – children – therefore are seen in the 11^th from it, which is the 5^th house. This fifth house maybe reckoned in the reverse sometimes. Male charts have 5^th house as controller for children whereas female charts have 9^th house as controller for children. This rule of thumb is also observed in the saptāṁśa chart, the 1/7^th division of the rāśi, which is dedicated to the study of progeny.

The saptāṁśa varga is riddled with intricate rules, such as the ārambha rāśi for the pregnancy count which can be delicate to decipher as well as the determination of the sex of the child. The saptāṁśa varga can even detail the pregnancies form different spouses in the case of multiple marriages[1].

Determination of Gender

Jupiter is the naisargika putra-kāraka and the worship of Lord Śiva is always beneficial for children. The three signs Cancer, Libra and Pisces are termed fruitful signs due to the śakti of Durgā, Lakṣmī and Sarasvatī respectively. Keeping these two vital points in mind, one can proceed to say that:

• All odd-signs indicate male children except the two wind signs Gemini and Aquarius.
• All even signs indicate female children except the two water signs Cancer and Pisces.

We may conclude that signs indicating a male child are Aries, Cancer, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius and Pisces. Sings indicating a female child are Taurus, Gemini, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn and Aquarius.

Odd number planets indicate a male child, even number planets indicate a female child; whilst the rule is reversed for the nodes. The odd number planets are Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Ketu. So, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Rahu will give male births whilst Moon, Mercury, Venus and Ketu indicate female births. Exalted planets indicate male children obtained by the grace of Viṣṇu avatāra whereas debilitated planets indicate female children obtained by the grace of mahāvidyā Śakti.

Pregnancy Count

The pregnancy count in the saptāṁśa starts with the 5^th or the 9^th house and then follows a maņd̦uka gati for every subsequent pregnancy. If the 5^th house is the first pregnancy, then counting direct, the 7^th house is the second pregnancy, the 9^th house the third pregnancy.

Similarly, other pregnancies are known from subsequent 3rd houses. The reason being, from the 5^th house, the next pregnancy is the younger sibling (3rd) of the first pregnancy (5th) and is seen in the 3rd house counted from the 5th house, which is the 7th house (normally) when counted direct. In case of female horoscopes, the 9^th house, 7^th house and the 5^th house are the first, second and third pregnancies respectively as the counting is in reverse.

Everything about a child/grandchild is known from the lord of pregnancy. If the lord is conjoined other planets, then the conjoined planets shall indicate the sex of the child, else the sign of the pregnancy bhāva and dignity of the pregnancy lord decides. In case of parivartana involving the saptāṁśa lagneśa, the sex of all children is reversed. In case of parivartana involving only the pregnancy bhāva, the sex of the concerned child is reversed. As mentioned earlier, the 5^th and 9^th houses of the saptāṁśa chart are the controllers of pregnancy in male and female horoscopes respectively. The 2^nd house from these are the principal māraka sthāna for children. In male charts the 6^th house is putra māraka and for female charts the 10^th house is putra māraka.

Illustration – Albert, Prince Consort of England

Prince Albert was the husband of Queen Victoria, the Queen of the United Kingdom and the Empress of India. Together they had 9 children and its worthwhile to apply the saptāṁśa rules to track these pregnancies. Since it’s a male chart, the counting starts from the 5^th house.

1. P1: 1840 5^th lord Jupiter is in Scorpio, which is a female sign having rāśi dṛṣṭi of female planet Venus à Female, Empress Frederica
2. P2: 1841 7^th lord Venus is in the fruitful, male sign Cancer in the 9^th house of fortune à Male, King Edward VII
3. P3: 1842 9^th lord Moon in Sagittarius with graha and rāśi dṛṣṭi of 6^th lord Mars, who is putra māraka. This indicates a lost pregnancy [no record]
4. P4: 1943 11^th lord Mercury in male sign Pisces but Mercury is debilitated indicating a female child. Female, Princess Alice
5. P5: 1944 1^st lord Ketu in Leo, a male sign. Male, Prince Alfred
6. P6: 1946 3^rd lord Saturn is exalted and in male sign Libra, showing double make indications. However, the rule says if the pregnancy lord is conjoined other planets then the conjoined planet/s will determine the sex of the child. Saturn is joined a debilitated Sun indicating a female child. Female, Princess Helena

After completing the cycle of six signs, crawl from the 5^th house to the adjoining house in sarpa gati. In this case, the crawl will be from Pisces to the adjoining sign Aries. Maņd̦uka gati is resumed thereafter, with each pregnancy seen from every third house starting from Aries.

7. P7: 1847 6^th lord Mars in the 8^th house damages the pregnancy. This indicates a lost Pregnancy [no record]
8. P8: 1848 8^th lord Mercury in male sign Pisces but debilitated. Female, Princess Louise
9. P9: 1850: 10^th lord Sun debilitated in male sign Libra. It is conjoined an exalted Saturn which gave a male child. Male, Prince Arthur
10. P10: 1853 12^th lord Venus in male sign Cancer. Male, Prince Leopold
11. P11: 1957 2^nd lord Jupiter in a female sign Scorpio. Female, Princess Beatrice

Illustration—Three Sons, Male Nativity

P1: 5^th lord Mercury in male sign Sagittarius. Son who works in communications and business

P2: 7^th lord Sun exalted in Aries , a double male | Son who worked in the government and is a renowned astrologer

P3: 7^th lord Venus in male sign in Pisces and exalted once again indicating a double male. Venus is conjoined Ketu in its mūlatrikoṇa Pisces. Son who excelled in fish business

Illustration—Death of a Son

This is a male chart and the 6^th house is the putra māraka. The 6^th house has Rāhu, maraņa kāraka sthāna (MKS) Venus and exalted Mars. The 6^th lord Saturn is in the 5^th house indicating danger to the first born. The 5^th lord Jupiter is in the female sign of Virgo but it is conjoined male planet Sun and an exalted Mercury both including male child. His first born was a son Christopher born September 25^th, 1974 in the period of Rahu-Saturn-Venus. He died on 1^st march 1981 from a throat infection in Rahu-Venus-Mars.

Childless Yogas in Saptāṁśa

The key planet indicating childlessness in saptāṁśa is Saturn with the aid of rajas planets, Venus and Mercury. Some combinations for childlessness in the saptāṁśa chart are given below:

1. If Saturn, Mercury and/or Venus dominate the trines to saptāṁśa lagna, then the native cannot have children. Any two of these is also capable of giving these results
2. Saturn in lagna (maraņa sthāna) with Rahu or Ketu, generates śrāddha yoga indicating lack of progeny due to pitṛs
3. Moon in the 8^th bhāva (maraņa sthāna) shows lack of children due to inability to carry pregnancies
4. 8^th lord and other malefics afflicting Moon give similar results of rakta doṣa

In case these yogas re not present, then the lack of pregnancy should be examined in Rāśi and Navāṁśa using standard rules. Following are some examples.

Illustration—Pregnancy with Remedy for Female Nativity

In a female horoscope, the controlling house for pregnancy is the 9^th house and the putra māraka is the 10^th house.  The first pregnancy will therefore be seen from Scorpio. The 10^th lord Jupiter is in the 9^th house which should normally indicate a lost pregnancy but since the planet concerned is Jupiter, remedies will work. The 9^th lord Ketu is in the 8^th house with Venus which causes rakta doṣa [Venus + Ketu yoga]. Therefore, a remedy had to be given which would address both the negativity of Jupiter and that of the Venus-Ketu combination.  The Gayatri Mantra was prescribed with Jala Bīja samputana. A daughter was born.

Illustration—Mrs. Jayaram Jayalalitha

Saturn, Venus and Mercury are in trines to saptāṁśa lagna. It is not possible to have children. Even if children are adopted, they will only be a source of misfortune and suffering

Illustration—Dame Helen Mirren

Venus and Mercury are in trines to saptāṁśa lagna. It is not possible to have children. Rahu as 10^th lord in a female horoscope adds to the problem, being lord of the putra māraka. The exalted Mars in the 9^th house is a big help. Oscar-winner Dame Helen Mirren became a stepmother when she married a father of two in 1997, but she said she has “no maternal instinct whatsoever.”

Children from Multiple Marriages

The first spouse with whom the pregnancy shall happen is seen in the 7^th house of saptāṁśa chart. The second spouse with whom pregnancies happen is in the 8^th bhāva from 7^th house i.e. normally 2^nd house in direct count. The third spouse is seen from the 8^th from the 2^nd house, which is the 9^th house. Subsequent spouses who bring a fruitful union (children) are seen from every 8^th house. Marriages are not for producing babies only and can be for higher spiritual goals. One must therefore, not be judgmental about relationships. However, these marriages will not show in saptāṁśa. Marriages can also happen with the spouse having children from a previous marriage and these are also seen in saptāṁśa as the native’s children – like adopted children.

Illustration—Charles Bronson, First Marriage

Charles Bronson was married thrice.

M1: His first marriage was to Harriet Tender (1949 – 1967) and ended in divorce. They had two children.

P1: The first pregnancy will be seen from the 5^th house. The Mercury is in a male sign, Sagittarius but conjoined Moon, which gave him a daughter, Suzanne born about 1952

P2: The second pregnancy is seen from the 7^th house. The 7^th lord Sun is conjoined Ketu and should have given a daughter, but as was previously mentioned, the pregnancy lord Sun is in parivartana, which reverses the given result. The second pregnancy was therefore a boy, Tony born about 1957.

Illustration—Charles Bronson, Second Marriage

M2: His second marriage was to Jill Ireland (5 Oct 1968 – 18 May 1990) and it ended with her death. Jill was married before and had three children from her first marriage, Paul, Jason and Valentine.

Previous Marriage of Jill

1. Paul McCallum born1958
2. Jason McCallum Bronson born1962. He was adopted and died of drug overdose in 1989.
3. Valentine McCallum born 10 Oct 1963 Musician

Charles and Jill

1. P1: Zuleika b. 1972
2. A2: Adopted Katrina born 1968

The second marriage in saptāṁśa is seen from the 2^nd house, in this case, Pisces. For the ease of analysis, we will see examine the chart from Virgo. If Pisces is the spouse, Virgo will be the native vis-à-vis this marriage. The 5^th lord is Saturn in a female sign giving him their only natural child, a daughter, Zuleika. The 7^th lord Jupiter, is in a female sign Gemini giving them a daughter Katrina, who was adopted. Jupiter is in parivartana with Mercury and should have given a boy, but this was not a natural pregnancy.

Illustration—Charles Bronson, Third Marriage

M3: His third marriage was to Kim Weeks and they had no children. The third marriage is seen from the 9^th house, Libra. We will examine the native vis-à-vis this marriage from Aries. The 7^th lord Venus is in 5^th house afflicted by Rāhu who is in a very negative exchange with the Sun. The 5^th lord Sun has exchanged signs with Rāhu and has the dṛṣṭi of both Rāhu and Saturn. Jupiter, the putra-kāraka is in maraņa kāraka sthāna in the third house. There were no issues in this marriage.

[*] Principles discussed in the study of saptāṁśa is as per the paramparā teachings of Pt. Sanjay Rath, a lineage tracing back to Sri Acyutananda from Puri. The case data are from his research.

[1] Saptāṁśa and other vargas are taught in detail in the Parāśara Jyotiṣa Course conducted by Devaguru Brhaspati Center