In Vedic astrology a planet is judged first by its foundations: the sign it occupies, the house it sits in, and its dignity. On top of those sits a set of passing conditions that fine-tune the verdict. The four that matter most are combustion (asta), when a planet stands so close to the Sun that its light is drowned in the glare; retrogression (vakra), when a planet appears to travel backward through the zodiac; planetary war (graha yuddha), when two planets crowd within one degree of each other; and the avasthas, the classical states of age, waking, and mood. Each one strengthens or softens a planet's voice. None of them rewrites its nature.
This page is the map of all four conditions. Each section gives you the working rule and the one idea you need, then links to a full guide that goes deeper.
What is a planetary condition?
A condition is a state a planet happens to be in, separate from where it stands. Two charts can both carry Jupiter in Sagittarius in the ninth house and still read differently, because one Jupiter is combust and the other is clear of the Sun's glare.
The classics treat these states the way you might treat mood or health in a person: real, felt, and changeable, laid over a character that stays the same. That framing sets the order of reading. Sign, house, lordship, dignity, friendship, and aspect come first and do the heavy work. The conditions on this page come last, as finer brushstrokes on a picture already drawn. The Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra builds them into its strength arithmetic for exactly this purpose: they adjust a planet's score rather than replace it.
The four conditions at a glance
The table below names each condition, its Sanskrit term, and its working rule in one line. Every row links to the full guide for that condition, where the orbs, the rules, and the reading method are laid out in detail.
| Condition | Sanskrit term | The working rule | Full guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combustion | Asta, "the setting" | A planet within a few degrees of the Sun is dimmed, its gifts delayed or made private | Combust planets |
| Retrogression | Vakra, "the crooked" | A planet in apparent backward motion is intensified, internalised, and unconventional | Retrograde planets |
| Planetary war | Graha yuddha | Two non-luminous planets within one degree fight; the winner gains, the loser is subdued | Graha yuddha |
| Avasthas | Avastha, "state" | A planet's age and alertness, read from its degree and dignity, scale how fully it gives results | The avasthas |
Combustion: a planet too close to the Sun
Combustion, called asta, the setting, happens when a planet draws within a set distance of the Sun and its light is drowned in the blaze. The picture is astronomical: a star near the rising or setting Sun cannot be seen. The classics read the planet's significations the same way, faint and strained.
Each planet has its own distance of safety. The Moon is combust within about 12 degrees of the Sun, Mars within 17, Jupiter within 11, Saturn within about 16, Mercury within roughly 14, and Venus within roughly 10. The Sun itself is the fire, never burned, only burning. Because Mercury and Venus never wander far from the Sun, they are combust far more often than the others.
A combust planet is dimmed, never destroyed. Its matters may arrive late, or be pursued quietly, out of the world's sight, and a planet that is also exalted or in its own sign keeps much of its power despite the burning. Burned is not broken. The combust planet guide covers the orbs planet by planet, the special case of Mercury and Venus, and what softens the condition.
Retrogression: the backward turn
Retrogression, called vakra, the crooked motion, is the stretch when a planet appears from the moving Earth to slow, stop, and travel backward through the zodiac before turning forward again. The reversal is an effect of perspective, like a slower train seeming to slide backward as yours overtakes it.
Five planets do it on a regular cycle: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, with Saturn retrograde for several months of every year and the swifter planets more briefly. The Sun and Moon never turn back, and Rahu and Ketu move in reverse by their very nature, so the term is reserved for the five.
On meaning, the classics genuinely differ, and an honest reading holds both views. By the motional strength score of the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, a retrograde planet is unusually vigorous. By behaviour, its results turn inward, repeat, and resolve off the beaten path. The retrograde planets guide walks through both readings, the cycle lengths, and the debated case of a retrograde planet in a difficult sign.
Planetary war: two planets within one degree
Graha yuddha, the planetary war, occurs when two of the five non-luminous planets come within one degree of each other in zodiacal longitude. The classics picture them as two travellers wrestling for the same narrow path: one prevails and is strengthened, the other is defeated and subdued for a time.
The Sun and Moon never fight; the Sun's closeness is combustion, and the Moon's close company is read as association rather than battle. By the usual classical rule the planet standing further north is the victor, and Venus, by long tradition, is said to be almost never defeated. The graha yuddha guide covers who can fight, how the winner is decided, and what defeat means for the loser's periods.
The avasthas: ages, waking states, and moods
The avasthas, literally states, paint a planet almost as a living being, with ages, degrees of wakefulness, and moods. The classics describe several sets, and one piece of triage saves every beginner: only the first set, the ages, is for daily use. The rest are colour, applied by a careful hand.
The workhorse set is the baladi, the five ages, read straight from a planet's degree within its sign: infant, youth, adult, old, and dead, giving a quarter, half, full, very little, and almost none of the planet's results. A second set, the jagradadi, grades a planet as awake, dreaming, or asleep by its dignity. Finer sets add nine moods and even twelve postures.
The avasthas guide gives the degree tables, the odd-and-even sign reversal that catches most newcomers, and the honest advice on which sets to use and which to admire in passing.
Where the classics treat these conditions
These are classical doctrines, not modern inventions. The Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra carries the avastha sets and folds motion and war into its six-fold strength scheme, where a retrograde planet scores high on motional strength and a defeated planet loses points. The Phaladeepika counts combustion and retrogression among the states that colour a planet's results, and it preserves the most provocative line in the retrogression debate, on what backward motion does to a planet in a weak sign, holding that a retrograde planet can act as though it were exalted even when placed in an inimical or depression sign. The guides linked above name these texts where each rule comes up.
Conditions modify a planet; they never cancel it
The principle that ties all four together, and keeps a reading out of error, is this: a condition refines the verdict on a planet, it does not overturn it. Nature, dignity, lordship, and house are the picture; combustion, retrogression, war, and avastha are brushstrokes laid on top.
So a strong, well-placed planet that happens to be combust is still a fine planet, only working a little harder and quieter. A weak planet that happens to be in its adult prime is helped, but not remade. Read the foundations first, in full, and bring in these conditions at the end to sharpen the judgment. A reader who reverses that order, and writes off a chart because one word like combust or dead appears in it, has read the brushstroke and missed the painting.
Two planets read end to end
Picture a planet that is exalted, angular, and strong, yet combust and in its infant avastha. By dignity it is powerful; by condition it is dimmed and young. The reading that honours both: a great gift, muted for now, arriving late and quietly, and growing surer with the years.
Now the reverse: a debilitated planet that happens to be retrograde and in its adult prime. Frail by dignity, loud and vigorous by condition. That planet reads as a struggler who insists on being heard: limited in what it can give, but far from silent, and capable of surprising results in its own periods. Neither chart is good or bad in one word. The conditions are what make the verdict precise.
Where to go next
Take the conditions one at a time: combustion first, since it is the most common question, then retrogression, planetary war, and the avasthas. The planets themselves, with their natures and significations, are mapped on the navagraha page. To see which of your own planets are combust or retrograde, run a free birth chart and check the planet table, where both flags appear next to each position.