Vipareeta Raja Yoga, the reverse royal combination, is formed by association among the lords of the three dusthana or difficult houses, the sixth, eighth and twelfth, which carry illness and enemies, obstruction and death, and loss and expenditure respectively. The doctrine holds that when the lords of these houses are placed in one another's houses, or are conjoined, the difficulties they signify undermine one another and the result is unexpected success, often arising out of adversity or from the failure of an opponent.
Three named forms are given: harsha from the sixth lord, sarala from the eighth and vimala from the twelfth. The logic is that of a double negative, and the classical texts apply it cautiously; the yoga is generally read as producing gain through difficulty rather than as a straightforward benefit, and its timing, as with all yogas, is governed by the dasha periods.