In Vedic Astrology, the kendras are 1, 4, 7 and 10 houses in a natal horoscope.

These are
supposed to be the houses of action and govern some of the major aspects of life.
Kendradhipati dosha is the blemish of ownership of these kendras and works to negate the
natural characteristic of the planet owning the house. If the lord of such a house in a horoscope
is a natural malefic, then the harmful effects come down. Similarly the good effects of the
natural benefics comes down a notch.
The ascendant lord is not counted in this equation and continues to be a benefic for the person.
An ascendant is never a malefic. It will always define a person and will never harm him/her.
The ascendant lord, if if a natural malefic, will do good to the house it gets located in.
Natural Benefics as lord of Kendras in a jamna kundali given inauspicious results – Jupiter
and Venus get most blemish due to this dosha. This is a problem because the malefics
somehow do not lose all of their maleficence, but a benefic losing its power is a total bummer
for a janma kundali. It is like your trusted adviser or guardian angel suddenly lost his mind and
isn’t of much help anymore. Even worse, the adviser now starts working against you in its
dasha and antardasha. The problem with Jupiter and Venus is accentuated for Gemini and
Virgo, and Aries respectively.
The bad results are felt during the dasha/bhukti of the planet in question. The effects that
should be foretold are as per the natural characteristic of the planet as well as the
characteristics obtained through the lordship of the houses in a horoscope. The following table
provides more details:

Lagna Kendra Lords Effect/Comments

with Dosha
Aries (Mesha) Moon & Venus If Moon is waxing, only then there is dosha. Venus is
lord of both 2nd and 7th and hence is not just tainted
due to Kendradhipati dosha but maraka as well. Venus’
position in any house in the horoscope in its
dasha/antardasha will cause problems for the person.
The overall effects will be as per malefic characteristics,
e.g. reduction of grace, problems with spouse etc. The
maraka characteristics are accentuated due to
Kendradhipati dosha.
Taurus None Sun does not get this dosha, neither do Mars and
Saturn. Hence, there is no dosha for this lagna.
Gemini Jupiter Mercury itself due to lagna lordship in the horoscope
does not get the dosha. Jupiter is tainted badly. Due to
Jupiter’s malefic aspect, the person becomes
materialistic and loses the ability to bring in pious
aspects. There is loss of status and overall honour.
Cancer Venus Venus is the lord of 4th house and hence gets this
dosha. As explained earlier, this results in problem with
spouse and mother – both emotional as well as love
related aspects. The person would have difficulty in
being committed to a relationship and will have
propensity towards extramarital love affairs, especially
if there is other malefic influence
Leo Venus Venus is lord of 10th house and hence suffers from
Kendradhipati dosha. For details, see above.
Virgo Jupiter See Gemini above. For Virgo, Jupiter is lord of 4th and
7th house.
Libra Moon, only if A waning moon, i.e. for a birth in krishna paksha, there
waxing is no dosha.
Scorpio Venus Venus is 7th Lord. See the details for Aries where
Venus is again both the karaka for spouse as well as
the lord of 7th in a janma kundali indicating this karaka.
The situation is better for Scorpio persons because
Venus is not the single maraka.
Sagittarius Mercury, Only benefic Mercury gets this dosha – that manifests
unaspected by itself in problems relate to communication, skin
Saturn/Rahu etc. diseases etc.
Capricorn Moon – as it is A waning moon, i.e. for a birth in krishna paksha, there
10th Lord is no dosha.
Aquarius None Venus is lord of 4th house, but is simultaneously lord of
9th in the horoscope. Hence there is no Kendradhipati
dosha and at the same time, Venus becomes the best
benefic for Aquarians as it is capable of giving Rajyoga
without any other help.
Pisces Mercury, Only benefic Mercury gets this dosha – that manifests
unaspected by itself in problems relate to communication, skin
Saturn/Rahu etc. diseases etc.
Kendradhipati dosha is cancelled if the lord is placed in a trine. The planet gets back its own
original characteristic.
They do well if placed in dushatanas as well and this shows that they are treated like regular
malefics in the chart. They do well too if they are debilitated too. This is counterintuitive for a
student of astrology and hence we must pay attention as per the table above.
I must emphasize on one point though – a lot of importance should not be given to this factor.
The beneficence comes down, but does not go away altogether. Therefore, unless the other
Karakas are afflicted as well, this dosha by itself will not wreck havoc. As I said earlier in the
article, this is like your guardian angle going away. So unless there are other afflictions in the
chart, this by itself will not cause problems.