House 10 · Karma bhāva · Karma bhava
Work, standing, and visible action
Profession, reputation, authority, and action taken in the world.
- Angularity
- Kendra — an angle
- Classified as
- Upachaya — a growing house, where difficulty builds capacity
- Kāraka
- Sun — signifies these matters wherever it falls
The tenth is the house of karma in its plainest sense: action performed in the world and visible to it. Profession, standing, reputation and dealings with authority all belong here.
It is the highest point of the chart and the strongest kendra for worldly matters. A graha placed here acts publicly whether or not the person wants it to — the tenth does not do private.
It is also an upachaya house, which is why tenth-house difficulty so often reads as a career that is hard early and substantial later. The classical statement is that malefics in upachaya houses improve with time; in the tenth that is nearly a rule.
Significations
- profession
- career
- reputation
- authority
- status
- visible action
- government
Source: BPHS ch. 12; Sārāvalī ch. 12