6th House in Vedic Astrology: Ripu Bhava - What It Rules and How to Read It

The 6th house, Ripu Bhava (the shashtham bhav, also called Shatru Bhava), rules illness and recovery, debts and loans, enemies and competition, and service and daily work. It is a difficult house, but also the house where you fight and win, and malefics often do well here. Its karakas are Mars and Saturn, and it is one of the twelve houses of the chart.

What the 6th house rules

Ripu and shatru both mean enemy. The house shows rivals and litigation, disease and its cure, debts and the ability to repay them, employees and service to others, daily routines, pets, and the maternal uncle. On the body it corresponds to the intestines and the waist. Doctors, lawyers, soldiers and anyone who solves problems for a living draw on the 6th.

The 6th is a dusthana and also an upachaya, a house that improves with effort, which is why Mars, Saturn, Rahu and the Sun in the 6th are often welcome: they give the push to overcome obstacles. Counted from itself, the 6th from the 6th is the 11th, so what you win against rivals becomes gain. A 6th lord in the 8th or 12th forms viparita raja yoga, and a strong 6th lord in the 6th itself is protective rather than harmful, a point that is often misread.

The 6th lord in each house

The 6th lord rules the sign on your 6th house. Its placement shows where struggle arises and how you overcome it.

• 6th lord in the 1st house: A fighter by nature, strong against rivals but prone to swings in health. You thrive on challenge and may work in service or medicine.
• 6th lord in the 2nd house: Money through service, loans or litigation, and family disputes to manage. Speech can be sharp, and diet needs attention.
• 6th lord in the 3rd house: Courage against rivals and success in competition. Disputes with siblings or neighbours are possible, and effort defeats obstacles.
• 6th lord in the 4th house: Work and worries come home: disputes with neighbours or over land, and a need to guard the mother’s health and your own peace with firm boundaries.
• 6th lord in the 5th house: Rivalry enters study, creative work or romance, and the mind thrives on problems to solve. Speculation and debt should be kept well apart.
• 6th lord in the 6th house: The lord in its own house is protective: enemies are defeated, illness is resisted and debts are managed, in proportion to its dignity.
• 6th lord in the 7th house: Disputes with partners, or a spouse who works in service, law or medicine. Contracts need care, and cooperation takes work.
• 6th lord in the 8th house: A viparita raja yoga: obstacles defeat themselves. Recovery from illness, and hidden enemies undone by their own actions.
• 6th lord in the 9th house: Faith tested, possible disputes with teachers or the father, and fortune through service and competition.
• 6th lord in the 10th house: A career in service, medicine, law, defence or competitive fields, with rivals at work and a steady rise through effort.
• 6th lord in the 11th house: Gains through competition, service, loans or litigation won. Rivals may even become sources of profit.
• 6th lord in the 12th house: A viparita raja yoga: enemies lose ground, and spending on health or disputes falls away. Service in hospitals or abroad suits.

Health readings especially depend on dignity: a 6th lord that is strong fights illness off, while an afflicted one in the lagna asks for regular care.

Planets in the 6th house

Sun in the 6th house. Victory over rivals and good resistance to illness. The Sun in an upachaya gives authority at work and success in government service.

Moon in the 6th house. Emotional stress tends to show in the body, especially digestion, and worry needs managing. Caring work and service to the public suit it.

Mars in the 6th house. Mars is strong here: courage, victory in competition and quick recovery. It suits surgery, the police, sport and defence.

Mercury in the 6th house. Analytical problem-solving, success in exams and accounts, and a talent for law or medicine. Nerves and skin can be sensitive.

Jupiter in the 6th house. Service, teaching and healing, and a fair-minded approach to rivals. Debt and weight need watching, and Jupiter’s generosity can be taken advantage of.

Venus in the 6th house. Comfort-seeking that can affect health through indulgence, and relationships that mix with work. Venus is debilitated in Virgo, the natural 6th sign.

Saturn in the 6th house. Saturn in an upachaya is strong: enemies are defeated, and patience wins long battles. It suits steady service and hard, unglamorous work.

Rahu in the 6th house. Rahu in the 6th is classically counted as good: victory over rivals, success in competition and cleverness in disputes.

Ketu in the 6th house. Resistance to hidden enemies and an interest in healing and research. Ketu here favours alternative medicine and spiritual service.

Mars and Saturn, the karakas of the 6th house

Mars signifies conflict, courage and injury, and Saturn chronic illness, debt and servitude, so both are read with the 6th house. A strong Mars helps you fight and recover quickly, and a strong Saturn gives endurance in long battles and steady service. Mars’s seven-year period is covered in the Mangal mahadasha guide and Saturn’s in the Shani mahadasha guide.

How to read your own 6th house

Open your birth chart, free with an account, and count six houses anticlockwise from the top diamond. The sign number in the 6th names your 6th lord (Mars rules Aries and Scorpio, Venus Taurus and Libra, Mercury Gemini and Virgo, the Moon Cancer, the Sun Leo, Jupiter Sagittarius and Pisces, and Saturn Capricorn and Aquarius), and the planets table shows where it sits and which planets occupy the 6th; the lagna lord’s placement, in the same table, tells you how much strength you bring to the fight.

With Plus, add each planet’s aspects (count which reach the 6th), its sign’s bindu total in the ashtakavarga and the dasha tree to the day; illness and disputes tend to flare in the periods of the 6th lord and ease in those of the lagna lord. Shadbala, which weighs each planet’s strength, and the divisional charts are on the Pro plan.

For example, with a Taurus lagna the 6th house is Libra and Venus is its lord, ruling the lagna as well. Venus in the 6th in its own sign makes the lagna lord a fighter: health and work are closely tied, and service, beauty or healing work suits. If Venus sat in the 12th in Aries, the 6th lord in another dusthana would form viparita raja yoga, though as lagna lord it would also ask for care with health.

The 6th house in a health reading

A health reading uses the 6th with the lagna, the 8th and the dasha, and it never replaces a doctor. Our health astrology page explains how our astrologers read constitution, vulnerable periods and remedies from your chart.

6th house: FAQs

Which house is for health in Vedic astrology?
The 1st for constitution and vitality, the 6th for illness and recovery, and the 8th for chronic conditions and longevity. They are always read together.

Is the 6th house bad?
It is a dusthana, but also an upachaya where you overcome obstacles. Malefics often do well there, and a strong 6th lord in the 6th is protective.

What does the 6th lord in the 12th house mean?
A viparita raja yoga: the lord of enemies in the house of loss, so rivals lose ground and spending on health or disputes tends to fall.

Which planet is good in the 6th house?
Mars, Saturn, Rahu and the Sun are classically counted as good there, because they help you defeat obstacles.

Which house shows debts and loans?
The 6th. Its lord and occupants show how debts arise and how well you repay them, read with the 2nd and 11th for income.

Does the 6th house show a government job?
The 6th shows service and employment, and a strong Sun linked to the 6th or 10th points towards government service. The 10th house guide covers career in full.

For your whole chart read together, get the ₹49 kundli report or talk to an astrologer.