Clues to life after marriage

8th Bhava for a female

The 8th Bhava is considered the evilest of the three Dusthanas (evil Houses) in a Natal Chart, the other two being the 6th and the 12th ones.

This Bhava represents, among other things, longevity and death. In fact, it provides the key to determining the cause of death, the place of death and even the environs of where the death occurs. 

Mangalaysthana for a female
There is another significant factor that the 8th Bhava represents: the married life in the nativity of a female. Indian astrologers refer to the 8th Bhava as the Mangalaysthana for a female.
The 8th Bhava also denotes sex and love life. Affliction to this Bhava could lead to friction between the two partners. To say, in a nutshell, the sustenance of the marital bond depends on the 8th House for a female in particular. 

Classical works on the 8th House 
The strength of a Bhava depends mainly on its lord and the planet or planets occupying it. The influence that the planets exert on the 8th Bhava (as it is for any other Bhava for that matter) through aspects and angular positions should also be taken into account in the final analysis. 

The classical work, Prasna Marga (Chap. 14 Stanza 42) says that the House lord is more important than the planet occupying the Bhava. If the lord of the Bhava is well-placed and strong, its occupants too become strong and they would produce beneficial effects. On the other hand, if the dispositor (Bhava lord) is in debilitation, in a Dusthana or in an inimical Rashi or Navamsa, the occupant would become weak. Malefic aspects too may afflict and weaken the House and its occupants.

According to the classical work Jataka Parijata (Chap: 11 Stanza 6) that the dispositor in the 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th, 10th Houses from the Bhava concerned would render the Bhava strong. A Swakshetra or exaltation (Uchcha) position would render it stronger still. 

Now let us get familiar with the significations of the 8th House of a female in relation to several planetary positions:

• A weak or afflicted Jupiter or Venus in the 8th House at birth could result in abortions or miscarriages
• Mars or Moon in the 8th at birth indicates a life devoid of comforts for the husband
• Saturn in the 8th at birth indicates a husband subject to constant illness
• Sun in the 8th House could mean having to lead life without peace of mind after marriage.
• If Rahu is placed in the 8th House, the female may lack good manners and etiquettes.
• There are 8th House-related combinations that may lead to widowhood.  Some such combinations are given below.
• Conjunctions of the 7th and 8th lords in the 8th House with malefic aspects.
• Rahu and Moon in the 8th House with malefic aspects.
• Moon and Rahu in the 8th House and the 7th lord with Saturn aspected by Mars
• The conjunctions of the 1st and 8th lords in the 12th House and malefic aspects over the 8th House.