Almost every marriage question eventually becomes this one. The classical answer is cleaner than most people expect, because love and arrangement live in two different houses, and the chart simply shows which of them is connected to the other.
The core rule: 5th and 7th
The 5th house governs romance and affection. The 7th governs marriage and formal partnership. When the lords of these two houses are connected — conjunct, aspecting each other, in each other's signs, or exchanging places — the person you love becomes the person you marry. That is the love-marriage signature, and it is the single most reliable indicator in the chart.
When the 5th and 7th have no relationship, marriage arrives through a different door: the 9th house of family, elders and dharma. A strong 9th-to-7th connection is the arranged-marriage signature — the match comes through family, community or an introduction.
The supporting factors
- ✦Venus strong and connected to the 7th: attraction leads the process. Venus in the 5th or 7th tilts toward love.
- ✦Rahu with Venus, or Rahu in the 7th: an unconventional match — different community, region, language or background.
- ✦Mars linked to the 5th and 7th: a fast, decisive courtship, sometimes against resistance.
- ✦Saturn dominating the 7th: a slower, more formal route — often arranged, often later than expected, usually durable.
- ✦The Moon involved: an emotionally-led choice rather than a considered one.
The Navamsha check
The D9 chart refines the verdict. A love signature in the birth chart that collapses in the Navamsha often describes a passionate relationship that does not become a marriage. Conversely a modest birth-chart indication that strengthens in D9 describes a quiet beginning that lasts.
What this does not decide
None of this rules on whether a particular person is right for you, and none of it is a verdict on your family's wishes. It describes the route by which marriage tends to arrive in your life — a map of likely paths, not permission or prohibition.