Arudha Lagna Calculator - Upapada and Arudha Padas
A free Vedic Arudha Lagna calculator — the Arudha pada of every house (A1 to A12) plus the Upapada, computed from birth details, showing how each matter is projected and perceived.
The Arudha Lagna (AL, also written A1) is the image of the self — not who a person is, but how the world tends to perceive them. In Vedic astrology every one of the twelve houses casts such an image, called its arudha pada, and together they describe the visible, projected side of a chart as distinct from the house itself. Kundli Studio computes all twelve arudhas from exact planetary positions and places them on the rasi chart, so there is no manual counting.
The method is fixed: count from a house to its lord, note how many signs away the lord sits, then count that same number of signs onward from the lord — the sign you land on is that house's arudha pada. The Arudha Lagna is simply this pada taken for the 1st house. Enter a birth date, time and place and the calculator returns the Arudha Lagna and every graha arudha on its own screen, and marks the other bhava padas and the Upapada on the chart drawings.
The twelve arudha padas (A1-A12)
Every chart has twelve arudha padas, one projected from each house by the same rule: count from the house to its lord, then the same distance again from the lord. An arudha never rests on the house it measures or the 7th from it — in those two cases it is moved to the 10th from where it fell. Which sign each one lands on depends on the chart; what each one signifies does not.
| Bhava (house) | Arudha pada | Image it projects |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A1 — Arudha Lagna (AL) | Status and the image of the self |
| 2 | A2 — Dhana pada | Wealth and resources as others see them |
| 3 | A3 — Vikrama pada | Courage, effort and siblings, outwardly |
| 4 | A4 — Sukha / Matru pada | Home, mother and comforts, as perceived |
| 5 | A5 — Mantra / Putra pada | Children and learning, as they appear |
| 6 | A6 — Roga / Satru pada | Debts, disputes and rivals in the public eye |
| 7 | A7 — Dara pada (darapada) | The partner and business ties, as they appear |
| 8 | A8 — Maran pada | Mrityu (Kashta) pada, the 8th house's image |
| 9 | A9 — Pitru / Dharma pada | Fortune, father and belief, outwardly |
| 10 | A10 — Karma pada | Career, status and public role |
| 11 | A11 — Labha pada | Gains and network, as seen by others |
| 12 | A12 — Upapada (UL) | Marriage, the spouse and expenditure |
The 7th arudha (darapada, A7) shows the partner as others see them and the 2nd (A2) the image of wealth, while the 12th — the Upapada or UL — carries the classical significations of marriage and the spouse; each arudha is usually read alongside its house, and at times in its place.
How to read the result
The screen opens on a grid of cards. The opening card holds the Arudha Lagna (AL); the next nine give the arudha of each graha, Sun to Ketu, and the sign holding it. Below come two one-row tables, Surya Arudhas and Chandra Arudhas, each running 1st House to 12th House: the house padas counted with the Sun's sign, and then the Moon's sign, standing as the 1st house. The lagna-based padas A2 to A11 and the Upapada are not on this screen; they appear as amber labels on the Divisional Charts screen, on whichever division is selected.
To check a graha card by hand, follow P.V.R. Narasimha Rao's textbook: count from the planet to the sign it owns, then the same number of signs again — taking the stronger sign for a planet that owns two. A result on the sign the planet occupies, or the 7th from it, moves on to the 10th from there. P.V.R. Narasimha Rao's worked example counts Rahu to Aquarius and Ketu to Scorpio, and a house falling in either of those signs takes its pada from the stronger of its two lords.
Narasimha Rao reads three layers side by side: planets from the lagna for the real situation, planets from the AL for the world's perceptions and the material situation, and the graha arudhas from the lagna for how the native perceives it. For the AL itself he cites Parasara and Jaimini, who take the 11th and 12th from it for gains and expenditure.
Key terms
- Maya
- Narasimha Rao's word for what an arudha pada shows: the illusion of the material world, the factors on which people form impressions of a house's matters.
- Graha arudha
- The arudha pada of a planet rather than a house; the textbook reads it as the native's own perceptions of the world, of the self and of unfolding situations.
- Pada lagna
- Another name for the Arudha Lagna (A1); the textbook also lists Arudha and simply Pada as names for it.
- Gaunapada
- A name for the Upapada (UL, A12), which BPHS calls Gaun Pad; the textbook adds Vyayarudha and Moksha pada as further names.
- Rajya pada
- A name for A10, the pada of the 10th house, which the textbook also lists as Karma pada, Karmarudha and Swarga pada.
- Stronger co-lord
- For a house in Scorpio (Mars or Ketu) or Aquarius (Saturn or Rahu), whichever co-lord is judged stronger; that lord decides the arudha pada.
All twelve arudha padas
Every bhava arudha from A1 (the Arudha Lagna) to A12, each placed on the rasi chart with the sign it falls in.
Upapada and darapada
The Upapada (A12 / UL) tied to marriage and the darapada (A7) for partnership, computed with the classical 1st and 7th exception applied.
Graha arudhas too
Arudha padas for the planets as well as the houses, so the image of each significator can be read beside the bhava it projects.
Common questions
What is the Arudha Lagna?
The Arudha Lagna (AL or A1) is the arudha pada of the 1st house — the sign that stands for how a person and their life are perceived by others, as distinct from the ascendant itself, which is the person as they are.
How is the Arudha Lagna calculated?
Count from the Lagna to its lord and note the distance in signs, then count that same distance onward from the lord. The sign you reach is the Arudha Lagna. The same rule gives the arudha of any house from that house's lord.
Can the Arudha Lagna fall on the 1st or 7th house?
No. Classical texts hold that an arudha never rests on the house it measures or the 7th from it. If the count lands there, the arudha is moved to the 10th sign from that spot, so it always projects the matter elsewhere.
How is the Upapada different from the Arudha Lagna?
Both are arudha padas. The Arudha Lagna (A1) is the pada of the 1st house and images the self, while the Upapada (A12, or UL) is the pada of the 12th house and is used in the classical study of marriage and the spouse.
Why do the Rahu and Ketu arudhas show the same sign?
Because Ketu stands in the 7th from Rahu in the birth chart. Rahu's pada is counted to Aquarius and Ketu's to Scorpio, and from opposite signs both counts end on one sign; when the 1st-or-7th correction applies, it moves both alike. Narasimha Rao records that Ketu's arudha then sits with Rahu's.
Are arudha padas counted from the Sun as well as the lagna?
Yes. A method credited to Jaimini takes the padas of the 3rd and 9th houses counted from the Sun, written AS3 and AS9, beside A3 and A9 counted from the lagna. The Surya Arudhas row gives all twelve such padas from the Sun's sign, and the Chandra Arudhas row repeats the count from the Moon's sign.