n this article I want to talk about various methods available in astrology for p redicting profession of a person. This article will give summary of the some of the popular methods available as well as my view on vocation astrology. Please n ote that the methods mentioned here is no way exhaustive as there are hundreds o r may be thousands of different methods available in astrology. Popular view is that the 10th is the house of profession and the planet influenc ing 10th house gives the idea of the nature of the profession. If there is no pl anet in 10th house and also 10th house is not aspected by any planet, Parashar, Kalyan Varma and Varahamihira as suggested that the sign occupied by the lord of 10th house in Navamsa gives indication to the nature of profession. This is amo ng the popular classical views. J.N.Bhasin and several other Vedic astrologers give importance to 1st house more than 10th house for ascertaining profession. Dr. B. V. Raman in his How to Judge a Horoscope says that the lordship, aspects, lo cation and the general strength of a planet capable of influencing the 10th hous e determine the nature of the results of the planet produce in its dasa. In most of his examples, he has used 10th house only that too from the birth chart for d etermining the nature or profession. Brihad Yavana Jataka suggests the sign in 2nd house, 4th house and 11th house gi ves the clue of the profession. Brihad Yavana Jataka talks signification of each sign in above houses in detail. Saravali and Jatak Bharanam gives more important to house number 2, 11 and the K endra houses 1, 4, 7 & 10. We must note that generally in Vedic astrology, a house needs to be judged from ascendant or Moon whichever is powerful. Mantreshwara suggests taking 10th house from the most powerful of ascendant, Sun and Moon. Though Bhattotapala suggeste d using all three charts i.e. Lagna, Sun and Moon and then combining the results for conclusion. This view of Bhattotapala is also supported by Garga. Some astrologers also suggested judging 10th house in Navamsa chart the same way we judge the 10th house in birth chart. I don t agree to this view as it goes aga inst my understanding of the varga judgment rules. Some classical texts suggest using Karakamsa the same way as Lagna chart, and he nce some astrologers consider 10th house from Karakamsa as well. Sephariel, one of the most popular western astrologers, has given importance to planet in angles and the planets aspecting the Sun and the Moon. Of course, when he is talking about aspects, he means western aspects and not the Vedic aspects . Some astrologers also pay special attentions to the yogas for judging the profes sion. For example, presence of Rajyoga in a chart gives a clue of authority and higher position. In some Marathi editions of Parasari Hora Sastra predictions about profession in respect of each Shasti Amsa of Janma Lagna are made. There is a table which giv es possible profession for each Shasti Amsa (1/60 of a sign). This is a ready re ckoner but my success rate with this table is not very high. I believe that this table needs to be rewritten keeping modern professions in mind. K. Subramaniam, son of KS Krishnamurti, suggested judging 2nd, 6th and 10th hous e. He also suggested studying rasi, nakshatra and sub lords of the 10th cusp. A table having professions related to 249 subs can be found in various KP texts. This table, though gives some idea of professions related to a group of planet, c annot be used as a ready reckoner. SP Khullar, astrologer who popularized Cuspal Interlink system, suggests examining 1st, 10th and 11th houses for profession. Though while examining, his emphasis is more on the house linked to above mentioned houses and not the permanent (nai sargaika) nature of planets and signs. My experience Classical text suggests various methods, but I didn t find any systematic approach for identifying the nature of profession. There are so many rules and almost no ne of them work uniformly. Based on my own experience I have found following met hods work well Method 1. One important observation that I have made is that the Dasamsa lagna lord gives very good clue of the nature of profession. In the Dasamsa chart, check the plan et influencing lagna and lagna lord and it will give you very good indication of the nature of the profession. Method 2. In KP System, I check the 2nd, 6th and 11th house. This is similar to K Subraman iam s method, though in place of 10th house, I found that 11th house gives better results. I use cuspal positions only if there are no planets in the above said h ouses. For example, if there are not planets in the second house, I use rasi, na kshatra and sub lord of 2nd cusp and so on. I generally mix above to methods and got satisfactory results. We must note thou gh that knowing the planets, signs and houses that will influence profession is not sufficient enough for predicting profession. These all needs to be combined to come up with the conclusion. The above method can give you some indications o f the profession but still predicting profession precisely is going to be a diff icult task for an astrologer. If you have any question to above methodology, please feel free to leave a comme nt with your email id and I ll try to answer your question.