The cuspal sub-lord is the planet that rules the sub where the beginning of a house falls. In KP, it is the one that indicates whether the matters of that house come to pass. K. S. Krishnamurti writes that "it is the sublord of the cusp of a house which indicates whether the matters of the houses are positive or negative" (KP Reader III, p. 226).
From the cusp to the three rulers
The cusp is the point where the house begins, calculated by Placidus for the time and place of birth (KP Reader I, p. 44). The post on houses and Placidus covers that part.
Every cusp has a longitude, and every longitude has three rulers:
- the ruler of the sign it falls in
- the ruler of the star (nakshatra) it falls in
- the ruler of the sub, one of the nine parts of the star
Each layer answers a question. The ruler of the cusp's sign is the owner of the house. In an example from KP Reader VI, the 11th cusp falls in Scorpio, so Mars is the owner of the 11th house (p. 272). The sub-lord is the one that gives the answer about the house: "The sub lord of the cusp above offers correct solution of that house" (KP Reader III, p. 433).
The calculation of each sub's size is in the post sub-lord in KP: how to calculate it. Here the focus is the cusp.
Example: a cusp at 2° Aries
| Layer | Where it falls | Ruler |
|---|---|---|
| Sign | Aries | Mars |
| Star | Ashwini, from 0° to 13°20′ Aries | Ketu |
| Sub | second sub of Ashwini, from 0°46′40″ to 3°00′ | Venus |
Ashwini begins at 0° Aries. The first sub belongs to the star's ruler, Ketu, and runs to 0°46′40″. The second belongs to Venus and runs to 3°00′. The cusp at 2° falls in it.
Suppose this is the 7th cusp, the house of marriage and partnerships. Mars is the owner of the 7th house. Venus is the sub-lord of the 7th cusp. What decides the matter are the houses Venus signifies in the chart, through the star Venus is in and the house it occupies. The rules for this step are in the post on house significators.
For marriage, Krishnamurti examines houses 2, 7 and 11 (KP Reader III, p. 300). In a horary question about a marriage that did not happen, he points to the sub-lord of the 7th cusp connected to houses 1, 6, 10 or 12 (KP Reader III, p. 431). The same Venus can show a path in one chart and an obstacle in another. It depends on the houses it signifies in each one.
An example from the book itself
In KP Reader VI, someone asks whether they will manage to repay a loan. The 12th cusp is at 21°3′ Pisces: sign of Jupiter, star of Mercury, sub of Venus (p. 223). We checked: Revati, Mercury's star, runs from 16°40′ to 30° Pisces, and within it the Venus sub runs from 19°20′ to 21°33′20″.
Krishnamurti's reading uses all three layers. Venus, the sub-lord, is in direct motion and in the star of the Moon, which is never retrograde, and this shows that the debt will be paid. Since the sub-lord is Venus, the settlement comes through agreement and conversation. Saturn in the 12th house aspects Mercury, the ruler of the cusp's star, and this indicates that the amount paid will be a little less than the total (KP Reader VI, p. 223).
The cusp and the planet have different sub-lords
Every point in the chart has its own sub-lord. "The sub-lord of the 7th cusp is Venus" talks about the beginning of the 7th house. "The sub-lord of Venus is Saturn" talks about the position of the planet Venus. The two sentences use the same word for different things, and a KP reading uses both at different steps. Mixing one with the other sends the analysis to the wrong house.
Why the birth time matters so much
The whole zodiac passes across the horizon in one day. Krishnamurti gives the average: about 1 degree every 4 minutes (KP Reader I, p. 42). The cusps move along with it. The smallest sub, the Sun's, measures 40′ of arc, which comes to less than 3 minutes of clock time. A small error in the time can change the sub-lord of a cusp.
That is how the sub was born. Krishnamurti studied twins and noticed that, between one birth and the other, the Moon barely moves, while the ascendant changes (KP Reader III, p. 432). The difference between the two lives was in the cusps. That is why he asks readers to take the exact position of the ascendant and of the twelve cusps (KP Reader III, p. 433).
At Vedik
Vedik's engine calculates the sub-lord of the twelve cusps of your chart, with the position of the planets from the Swiss ephemeris and Krishnamurti's own ayanamsa. When you ask about a matter, the answer about what the chart promises starts from the sub-lord of the main cusp for that matter and the houses it signifies. The chart page shows the sign, house and star of each planet, without the degrees of the cusps. In the chat, VedikAI explains the full path. The method shows what the house promises. The last word on what to do is always yours.
To have your chart calculated with KP cusps, create your free reading.
