Rahu in Vedic astrology

What Rahu signifies

Rahu is the graha of desire and of pushing past limits. Where it stands, a person wants more than the usual road gives and is willing to break rules for it. Rahu rules foreigners and emigration, technology, mass media, politics, poisons and medicines, as well as fears and obsessive thoughts.

Rahu has no body of its own, so it acts like the lord of the sign it occupies and amplifies the planets it joins. It is always retrograde and always exactly opposite Ketu.

Rahu by house

Rahu works well in the 3rd, 6th, 10th and 11th houses: courage, victory over competitors, career and income. In the 1st it gives a vivid, unconventional personality; in the 7th an unusual partner, often from another culture; in the 8th an interest in the hidden and sudden change. Schools differ on Rahu's exaltation (Taurus or Gemini); JyotiSoft sets the dignities of Rahu and Ketu by the chosen calculation profile.

Rahu's transit

Rahu takes about 18 months to cross a sign, moving backwards. On 25 November 2026 Rahu enters Capricorn and Ketu enters Cancer (sidereal, true node, JyotiSoft calculation). The signs and houses the nodal axis crosses become a zone of change for a year and a half.

The Rahu dasha

The Rahu mahadasha lasts 18 years: sudden rises, moves, a change of profession, work with foreigners or technology. It often brings what a person dreamed of, together with the restless feeling of “not enough”. It runs best when the lord of Rahu's sign is strong.

Questions

See also

• Saturn (Shani)
• Ketu

Positions and tables: sidereal zodiac, Lahiri ayanamsha — the same as professional Jyotish astrologers use, and the same calculation as the charts in JyotiSoft. Updated 2026-10-10.