What is a cusp sub lord?
KP astrology (Krishnamurti Paddhati) reads a chart through the cusps, the exact starting points of the twelve houses, worked out with the Placidus house system. Every cusp and every planet has three lords: the lord of its sign, the lord of its star (nakshatra), and the lord of its sub, a finer division of the star.
How the sub lords are worked out
Each nakshatra of 13°20′ is split into nine unequal subs, in the order and proportions of the Vimshottari dasha: the longest sub belongs to Venus (20 of 120 years), the shortest to the Sun (6 of 120). The first sub of a star belongs to the star's own lord. A sub is split again the same way into sub-subs. The calculator casts the cusps with the Placidus system and the planets with the Krishnamurti ayanamsa, as KP prescribes.
How KP uses them
- The cusp sub lord decides the promise: for marriage, KP checks whether the 7th cusp's sub lord signifies houses 2, 7 or 11.
- Planets act through their star lord: a planet gives the results of the houses its star lord occupies and owns.
- Timing then comes from the dasha periods of planets that signify the right houses.
Cusps move about one degree every four minutes of birth time, so a sub lord can change with a few minutes: KP needs an accurate time. Learn the method in our KP chapter.
Questions people ask
What is a sub lord in KP astrology?
Each nakshatra is divided into nine subs in the proportions of the Vimshottari dasha, and the planet ruling the sub a point falls in is its sub lord. In KP the sub lord of a house cusp decides what that house promises.
Which house system does KP use?
KP uses the Placidus house system for the cusps, with the Krishnamurti ayanamsa for the planets.
Why does KP need an exact birth time?
Cusps move about one degree every four minutes, and a sub can be less than a degree wide, so a few minutes can change a cusp's sub lord.