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KP & Nadi Astrology Glossary
Sub Lord, Star Lord, Positional Status, Bhukti, Cuspal Interlink — KP earns its precision honestly, but the vocabulary stops most beginners cold. Every term defined plainly, with real examples, not textbook copy.
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This page defines every term you'll run into across our KP, Nadi and KCIL articles — bookmark it, every deep-dive article on this site links back here for anything it doesn't re-explain. Jump to: Foundations · Chart Structure · Significators · Dasha System · KCIL / Khullar · Judgment Terms · Classical Vedic Terms
Foundations
Nakshatra (Star)
One of 27 divisions of the 360° zodiac, each spanning 13°20'. Every planet and every house cusp falls in exactly one Nakshatra, and that Nakshatra's ruler is the single most important filter on how it behaves.
Sign Lord
The planet that classically rules the zodiac sign a planet or cusp falls in (Mars rules Aries). The weakest of the four layers used to judge a planet in KP.
Star Lord (Nakshatra Lord)
The ruler of the Nakshatra a planet or cusp occupies. In KP, a planet delivers results through its Star Lord, not purely its own nature.
Sub Lord
Each Nakshatra divides into nine unequal Subs. The ruler of the specific Sub a planet falls in is its Sub Lord — the final, decisive authority in standard KP. See our
full Sub-Lord Theory guide.
Sub-Sub Lord (SSL)
Each Sub divides again into nine Sub-Subs — Khullar's KCIL extension, one level finer than standard KP. See KCIL / Khullar Terms below.
Ruling Planets
The planets co-ruling the Ascendant and Moon's position at a specific moment. Powers Horary/Prashna answers. See
Ruling Planets Explained.
Chart Structure
Lagna Chart
The birth chart showing planetary positions at the exact moment and place of birth — what most people picture as "a horoscope."
Bhava Chalit (Nirayana Bhava Chalit)
A house chart cast from the native's birth latitude and longitude, used in KP to determine which house a planet actually occupies.
Cusp
The starting degree of a house. Its Cuspal Sub Lord is what gets judged for promise or denial. See
Cuspal Sub-Lord Explained.
Ayanamsa
The correction value converting tropical to sidereal zodiac positions. KP, Lahiri and Khullar's KCIL each use a different value.
Placidus
The house-division system KP uses for calculating cusps, as opposed to Equal House or Whole Sign systems used elsewhere.
Significators
Occupant
A planet physically placed within a house — the most literal, weakest on its own, of the four significator levels.
Owner (House Lord)
The planet ruling the sign on a house's cusp — one of four channels through which a planet signifies it.
"Signifies" / "Appears In"
A planet signifies a house if placed there, rules it, or links to it through the sign/star/sub chain. See
Significators in KP.
The Four-Level Chain (A–D)
Weakest to strongest: (D) owns the house, (C) in the star of the owner, (B) occupies the house, (A) in the star of an occupant. See
Significators Guide.
Rahu & Ketu Significations
The nodes signify via placement, dispositor, Star Lord, and conjunct/aspecting planets — tested at ~91% accuracy against real charts. See
Rahu & Ketu in KP.
Dasha System
Vimshottari Dasha
The 120-year planetary period cycle used to time events, derived from the Moon's Nakshatra at birth. See
Vimshottari Dasha.
Mahadasha (Dasa)
The largest period in the cycle. The Dasha lord must permit an event before any smaller period under it can deliver it.
Antardasha (Bhukti)
A sub-period within a Mahadasha — usually the primary period judged for recurring events. See
Dasha-Bhukti Timing Guide.
Pratyantardasha (Antar)
A sub-period within a Bhukti — rarely delivers a major event entirely on its own.
Sookshma & Prana
Two further, finer sub-periods used mainly in KCIL for narrowing an already-promised event to a specific window.
Dasha Sandhi
The junction period between two Mahadashas. Results tend to be mixed or delayed — a poor window for major decisions.
Chidra Dasha
When the Dasha, Bhukti and Antar lords are all the same planet at once — classically, no major event is expected.
Yogini Dasha
An alternative 36-year dasha cycle around eight ruling Yoginis — useful for near-term timing within the current decade.
KCIL / Khullar Terms
Khullar's Cuspal Interlink Theory (CIL/KCIL) is a genuine extension of KP, used here mainly for birth time rectification and fine-grained event timing. See KCIL vs KP — 5 Key Differences before assuming a term here matches its closest KP cousin above.
Sub-Sub Lord (SSL)
In Khullar's system, always the Sub-Sub Lord — the finest of the four levels (Sign → Star → Sub → Sub-Sub), the most decisive in his framework.
Positional Status
A planet has it if no other planet occupies its own Star zone, it sits in its own Star, or it's in a mutual Star-lord exchange. See
Stellar Status Explained.
The Permission Principle
A finer Dasha period can only produce what every level above it has already left open.
Judgment Terms
Promise vs. Denial
Does the Cuspal Sub Lord promise an event, or does it deny it outright regardless of how favorable other factors look?
Combination
The specific set of houses that must link together for an event — marriage classically needs 2, 7 and 11 working together, not any one alone.
Badhaka
The obstruction house and lord for a given Ascendant: 11th for movable signs, 9th for fixed signs, 7th for dual signs.
Marak (Marak Sthana)
The "death-inflicting" houses in longevity analysis — classically the 2nd and 7th in every chart.
Classical Vedic Terms You'll See Referenced
Not KP-specific, but they show up across our Precision Chart and Vedic Parashari analysis.
Shadbala
A six-fold classical strength score for each planet — positional, directional, temporal, motional and natural strength combined.
Ashtakavarga
A classical point-scoring system (bindus) measuring which houses receive beneficial support from transiting planets.
Dig Bala
"Directional strength" — each planet has one house of maximum natural strength and one where it's weakest.
Bhava Bala
Overall house strength, combining the house lord's strength, planets' directional strength within it, and the lord's Shadbala.
Vargottama
A planet occupying the same sign in both Rashi (D-1) and Navamsa (D-9) — a mark of unusual consistency and strength.
Neecha Bhanga
"Debilitation cancellation" — classical conditions under which a debilitated planet's weakness reverses.
Arudha Pada
The "public image" of a house, calculated by counting from the house to its lord and the same distance again.
Jaimini Karakas
Ranks the seven classical planets by degree within their sign — highest becomes Atma Karaka (soul significator).
Sade Sati
Saturn's ~7.5-year transit cycle relative to natal Moon. Actual intensity varies enormously by chart.
Tithi
The lunar day — 30 per lunar month, each with its own presiding deity and favorable or unfavorable activities.
A note on how to actually use this glossary: knowing what a Sub Lord is doesn't tell you what your Sub Lord says. These definitions are the vocabulary, not the reading — for that, you need your actual chart, with your own Sub Lords, significators and Dasha timeline computed directly.
Is "Sub Lord" the same thing as "Sub-Sub Lord"?
No — Sub Lord is the standard-KP term (Taneja-style), the third layer in Sign → Star → Sub. Sub-Sub Lord (SSL) is one layer finer still, specific to Khullar's KCIL system. They're related in role — both are treated as the most decisive layer in their respective systems — but they're computed one division apart, so don't use them interchangeably.
Why do KP and classical Vedic (Parashari) astrology sometimes disagree on a reading?
They're reading different layers of the same chart. Parashari leans on sign placement, house lordship and yogas. KP leans on the Sign → Star → Sub chain and treats the Sub Lord as decisive. Both are internally consistent systems — see
KP vs Parashari vs Jaimini for how they actually differ in method, not just vocabulary.
See These Terms On Your Own Chart
Cast your free chart to see your own Sub Lords, significators and Dasha timeline — not just the final verdict.
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