A yoga is a specific combination of planets that classical Jyotish treats as meaningful — two planets in a particular relationship, or a house lord in a particular place. There are hundreds in the literature. This is a reference to the ones you are most likely to encounter, each with the exact chart condition that forms it, so you can check your own chart rather than take anyone’s word for it.
Two things worth saying up front. First, several of the most famous yogas are extremely common — Gajakesari occurs in roughly a third of charts and Budha-Aditya in a large share — so being told you have one is rarely the distinction it sounds like. Second, the difficult yogas are the ones most often used to sell remedies, and most of them have well-established cancellation conditions that go unmentioned. Both are noted on each page below.
Our free kundli detects 8 of these deterministically from your birth chart and will not claim any yoga it hasn’t actually verified. The rest are documented here as manual checks.
Mars in its own sign (Aries or Scorpio) or exalted (Capricorn), placed in a kendra — the 1st, 4th, 7th or 10th house from the Lagna.
Bhadra Yoga· auto-detectedMercury in its own sign (Gemini or Virgo) or exalted (Virgo), placed in a kendra from the Lagna.
Hamsa Yoga· auto-detectedJupiter in its own sign (Sagittarius or Pisces) or exalted (Cancer), placed in a kendra from the Lagna.
Malavya Yoga· auto-detectedVenus in its own sign (Taurus or Libra) or exalted (Pisces), placed in a kendra from the Lagna.
Shasha Yoga· auto-detectedSaturn in its own sign (Capricorn or Aquarius) or exalted (Libra), placed in a kendra from the Lagna.
A relationship — conjunction, mutual aspect, or exchange of signs — between the lord of a kendra (1st, 4th, 7th, 10th) and the lord of a trikona (1st, 5th, 9th).
Viparita Raja YogaThe lord of a dushthana (6th, 8th or 12th house) placed in another dushthana.
Neecha Bhanga Raja YogaA debilitated planet whose weakness is cancelled — most commonly when the lord of the sign it occupies, or the planet that would be exalted there, sits in a kendra from the Lagna or the Moon.
Amala YogaA natural benefic — Jupiter, Venus, or well-placed Mercury or Moon — occupying the 10th house counted from either the Lagna or the Moon.
Saraswati YogaJupiter, Venus and Mercury all placed in kendras, trikonas, or the 2nd house, with Jupiter in particular strong by sign.
Parivartana YogaTwo planets occupy each other’s signs — Mars in Venus’s sign while Venus sits in Mars’s, for example.
Chamara YogaThe Lagna lord exalted in a kendra and aspected by Jupiter; alternatively, two benefics together in the 1st, 7th, 9th or 10th house.
Kahala YogaThe lords of the 4th and 9th houses in kendras from one another, with the Lagna lord strong.
A connection between the lords of the wealth houses — the 2nd (accumulated assets) and 11th (gains) — and the lords of the 1st, 5th or 9th.
Lakshmi YogaThe 9th lord in its own sign or exalted, placed in a kendra or trikona, while the Lagna lord is also strong.
Vasumati YogaBenefic planets occupying the upachaya houses — the 3rd, 6th, 10th and 11th — counted from the Lagna or the Moon.
Parvata YogaBenefics occupying kendras while the 6th and 8th houses are either empty or occupied only by benefics.
Jupiter in a kendra — the 1st, 4th, 7th or 10th — counted from the Moon.
Chandra-Mangala Yoga· auto-detectedThe Moon and Mars occupying the same sign.
Sunapha YogaOne or more planets other than the Sun occupying the 2nd house from the Moon.
Anapha YogaOne or more planets other than the Sun occupying the 12th house from the Moon.
Durudhara YogaPlanets other than the Sun occupying both the 2nd and the 12th houses from the Moon.
Adhi YogaThe natural benefics — Jupiter, Venus and Mercury — occupying the 6th, 7th and 8th houses counted from the Moon.
The Sun and Mercury occupying the same sign.
Vesi YogaA planet other than the Moon occupying the 2nd house from the Sun.
Vasi YogaA planet other than the Moon occupying the 12th house from the Sun.
Ubhayachari YogaPlanets other than the Moon occupying both the 2nd and 12th houses from the Sun.
No planet other than the Sun in either the 2nd or the 12th house from the Moon, and no planet conjunct the Moon — the Moon standing entirely alone.
Shakata YogaThe Moon placed in the 6th, 8th or 12th house counted from Jupiter.
Grahan YogaThe Sun or the Moon conjunct Rahu or Ketu in the same sign.
Daridra YogaMost commonly described as the 11th lord (gains) placed in a dushthana — the 6th, 8th or 12th house — or afflicted lords of the 2nd and 11th.
Generate a free kundli to see which of these are actually present in your chart, alongside your Lagna, nakshatra and dasha timeline.
Create your free kundliRelated: doshas explained · the 27 nakshatras · the 9 mahadashas