10th House (Karma Bhava)
कर्म भाव
What does the 10th house represent in Vedic astrology?
The 10th house, Karma Bhava, represents career, profession, public standing, authority and action in the world. It is a kendra and an upachaya house and it is the primary house in any career reading, alongside the D10 (Dashamsa) divisional chart.
The most-worked house in the chart
The 10th is the highest point of the chart wheel and the house of visible action. Uniquely, it has four karakas — Sun for authority, Mercury for commerce, Jupiter for knowledge-based work, Saturn for labour and service — which is a fair reflection of how many different things a career actually is.
A serious career reading looks at the 10th house and its lord, the Dashamsa (D10) divisional chart, the strongest planet influencing the 10th, and the dasha currently running. Any one of those alone is a guess.
Job or business?
The classical approach compares the 10th and 6th houses (service, employment, working under others) with the 7th and 11th (trade, independent dealing, gains from enterprise), and weighs the strength of the Sun and Saturn against Mercury and Mars. It gives a leaning, and it is honest to present it as a leaning rather than as an instruction.
Common questions
- Which house shows government jobs?
- Classically the Sun, the 10th house and the 6th house together, with support from the ascendant lord. A strong, well-placed Sun connected to the 10th is the combination most often cited. It indicates suitability and inclination, not an outcome.
- What is the D10 chart?
- The Dashamsa, the divisional chart made by dividing each sign into ten parts. In Parashari astrology it is the chart specifically used to examine career and profession in more detail than the main D1 chart allows.