Astrology glossary

The D45 — each sign divided into 45 parts of 40 arcminutes. Read for paternal inheritance and general character.

A sub-period inside a dasha, also called bhukti. Each mahadasha is divided among all nine grahas in the same 120-year proportions, so a 20-year Venus mahadasha contains a Venus–Venus antardasha of 3 years 4 months, and so on down.

Nakshatra 17 of 27, spanning 213°20′–226°40′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: a lotus; Mitra. Friendship and devotion. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Saturn.

Nakshatra 6 of 27, spanning 66°40′–80°00′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: a teardrop; Rudra. The star Betelgeuse. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Rahu.

Nakshatra 9 of 27, spanning 106°40′–120°00′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: a coiled serpent; the Nagas. Embrace and entwining. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Mercury.

A scoring system that awards each sign points (bindus) from the perspective of each graha, producing a numerical map of where a chart is strong. Widely used for transit judgement because it turns a qualitative reading into a comparable number.

Nakshatra 1 of 27, spanning 0°00′–13°20′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: the horse's head; the Ashvin twins, physicians of the gods. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Ketu.

Combustion — a graha too close to the Sun to be visible, and therefore held to be weakened. Mercury and Venus are combust most often because they never travel far from the Sun. The permitted distance differs by graha and by text.

The "soul significator" — the graha at the highest degree within its sign, excluding Ketu in most schools. Central to Jaimini methods, where it is read as the chart's governing theme.

The angle between the tropical zodiac (measured from the equinox) and the sidereal zodiac (measured from the fixed stars). It grows by about 50 arcseconds a year because of the precession of the equinoxes, and is currently around 24°. Choosing a different ayanamsha shifts every position in a chart, which is the single largest source of disagreement between two Jyotish readings of the same birth.

The fourth house. Home, mother, land, vehicles and inner comfort. The lowest point of the chart, and the base a person returns to.

The D27 — each sign divided into 27 parts of 66.7 arcminutes. Read for strengths and weaknesses of body and mind. Also called Nakshatramsha.

Nakshatra 2 of 27, spanning 13°20′–26°40′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: the yoni; Yama, who bears away. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Venus.

One of the twelve divisions of a chart counted from the ascendant. A rashi says *what kind* of energy; a bhava says *which area of life* it acts on. Most Indian traditions use whole-sign bhavas, so the first bhava is the whole rising sign.

Mercury. Signifies intellect, speech, calculation, trade and learning. Rules Gemini and Virgo, and is the one graha exalted in a sign it also rules (Virgo); debilitated in Pisces. Never appears far from the Sun, so it is often combust.

Mercury conjunct the Sun. Read as intelligence and articulacy. Very common, because Mercury never strays far from the Sun in the first place — and the same closeness usually means Mercury is combust, which classical texts read as a weakening.

The Moon. Signifies the mind, emotion, mother and nourishment. Rules Cancer (Karka), exalted in Taurus, debilitated in Scorpio. The fastest graha — about 2¼ days per sign — which is why the Moon sign changes so often and why birth time matters.

The four movable signs — Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn — which begin each season. Associated with initiation and change. The Western equivalent is "cardinal".

The D4 — each sign divided into 4 parts of 450 arcminutes. Read for property, home and fixed assets.

The D24 — each sign divided into 24 parts of 75 arcminutes. Read for learning and education.

"Shadow planet" — Rahu and Ketu, the two lunar nodes. They are geometric points where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic, not objects, so they are never seen, never rise or set as bodies, and are always exactly opposite each other.

Nakshatra 14 of 27, spanning 173°20′–186°40′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: a bright jewel; Tvashtar the artisan. The star Spica. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Mars.

Giving, prescribed as an upaya — typically an item associated with the graha in question, on its weekday, to someone who needs it. Of all the classical remedies this is the one whose worth does not depend on the astrology being true.

A period ruled by one graha. Dashas are Jyotish's timing system and its clearest structural difference from Western astrology, which has no equivalent built in. Dozens of dasha schemes exist; Vimshottari is the one in general use.

The D10 — each sign divided into 10 parts of 180 arcminutes. Read for career and standing in the world.

The second house. Accumulated wealth, speech, food, family of origin and what a person holds on to.

Nakshatra 23 of 27, spanning 293°20′–306°40′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: a drum; the Vasus. Rhythm and wealth. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Mars.

Sagittarius, the ninth rashi. Fire, dual, ruled by Jupiter.

The ninth house. Fortune, father, teachers, higher learning, long journeys and pilgrimage. Held to be the most auspicious house in the chart.

A named difficult configuration. The word means "fault" or "blemish", and that framing is worth noticing: most doshas are ordinary planetary positions that a large fraction of the population shares, and the language of defect is what makes them sellable. Nothing on this site treats a dosha as a verdict on a person.

The D3 — each sign divided into 3 parts of 600 arcminutes. Read for siblings and courage. Its ancestor is the Egyptian decan.

Aspect — the influence a graha exerts on another place in the chart. Every graha aspects the seventh house from itself. Mars additionally aspects the 4th and 8th, Jupiter the 5th and 9th, and Saturn the 3rd and 10th; these three special aspects belong to exactly the superior planets among the classical seven. Note that Jyotish aspects count whole signs, where Western astrology measures degrees.

The difficult houses — 6, 8 and 12. Classically read as conflict, upheaval and loss. Worth reading with care: these are also the houses of medicine, research and renunciation, and a chart with grahas here is not a chart with a bad life in it.

The four dual or common signs — Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces — which close each season. Associated with adaptability. The Western equivalent is "mutable".

The D12 — each sign divided into 12 parts of 150 arcminutes. Read for parents and ancestry.

Jupiter in a kendra from the Moon — that is, in the 1st, 4th, 7th or 10th from it. Read as intelligence, standing and support. Four positions out of twelve means roughly a third of charts have it.

Transit — where the grahas are now, as against where they stood at birth. Read against the birth chart, usually from the Moon sign in Indian practice rather than from the ascendant.

The nine bodies Jyotish reads: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu. The word means "seizer" or "one that grasps", not "planet" — which is why the Sun, the Moon and two lunar nodes belong to the list and Uranus, Neptune and Pluto do not.

Jupiter. Signifies wisdom, teachers, expansion, dharma and children. Rules Sagittarius and Pisces, exalted in Cancer, debilitated in Capricorn. Spends about a year per sign, which is why Jupiter transits are the ones most commonly discussed.

Nakshatra 13 of 27, spanning 160°00′–173°20′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: an open hand; Savitr. Skill and craft. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Moon.

The D2 — each sign divided into 2 parts of 900 arcminutes. Read for wealth and resources.

Nakshatra 18 of 27, spanning 226°40′–240°00′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: an earring or umbrella; Indra. The star Antares. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Mercury.

Indian astrology. The word means "the science of light" and classically covers three limbs: ganita (calculation), samhita (mundane and collective matters) and hora (the horoscope of an individual). Most of what is called Jyotish today is the third limb.

All seven classical grahas falling on one side of the Rahu–Ketu axis. It appears in no classical Sanskrit text — the earliest references are twentieth-century — which makes it a useful example of how a dosha can be invented and then acquire an ancient reputation.

The seventh house. Spouse, partnership, contracts and the other party in any dealing. Directly opposite the lagna, and read as what a person meets rather than what they are.

Virgo, the sixth rashi. Earth, dual, ruled by Mercury — which is also exalted here, the only graha exalted in a sign it rules. Venus is debilitated here.

A significator — the graha that stands for a particular matter. Some are fixed by tradition (the Sun for the father, the Moon for the mother); others are assigned per chart by degree, as in the chara karaka scheme.

Half a tithi — the Moon gaining 6° on the Sun. There are eleven karanas, of which four are fixed and seven repeat, giving sixty in a lunar month.

Cancer, the fourth rashi. Water, movable, ruled by the Moon. Jupiter is exalted here and Mars debilitated.

The tenth house. Career, action in the world, reputation and status. The highest point of the chart, and what a person is publicly known for.

No graha in the signs on either side of the Moon, and none with it. Traditionally read as isolation and struggle. Classical texts list several cancellations, and a reading that names the yoga without checking them is incomplete.

The angular houses — 1, 4, 7 and 10. Held to be the load-bearing structure of a chart: a graha in a kendra acts visibly and in the world. The Western equivalent is "angular".

The south lunar node, exactly 180° from Rahu. Also a calculated point rather than a body. Signifies detachment, loss of interest, inherited skill and liberation (moksha). Also moves backwards.

The D40 — each sign divided into 40 parts of 45 arcminutes. Read for maternal inheritance and auspicious results.

Nakshatra 3 of 27, spanning 26°40′–40°00′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: a blade or flame; Agni. The Pleiades. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Sun.

Aquarius, the eleventh rashi. Air, fixed, ruled by Saturn. Some traditions give co-rulership to Rahu.

A birth chart — a diagram of where each graha stood, as seen from one place on Earth, at one moment. It needs three inputs and no more: date, time and place of birth. Everything else in a reading is derived from those three.

Traditional compatibility matching, usually the Ashtakoot method: eight factors scored out of 36 points, almost all of them derived from the two Moons' nakshatras. Note what that means — the score is computed from two numbers and knows nothing about either person. This site publishes the method and explains it; it does not present a score as a decision.

The eleventh house. Gains, income, networks, friends and elder siblings. Read as what comes in, as against the second house's what is kept.

The ascendant — the point of the zodiac rising on the eastern horizon at the moment of birth, and the start of the first bhava. It changes roughly every two hours, which is why an accurate birth time matters more than an accurate birth date.

The ayanamsha adopted by the Indian government's Calendar Reform Committee in 1955 and used by the national ephemeris. Also called Chitrapaksha, because it fixes the star Spica (Chitra) at 180°. It is the default on this site — not because it is provably right, but because it is the one most Indian readings assume.

Nakshatra 10 of 27, spanning 120°00′–133°20′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: a royal throne; the Pitris, the ancestors. The star Regulus. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Ketu.

A main dasha period, as against its subdivisions. In Vimshottari the shortest is the Sun's at 6 years and the longest Venus's at 20, so most people live through only six or seven mahadashas.

Capricorn, the tenth rashi. Earth, movable, ruled by Saturn. Mars is exalted here and Jupiter debilitated.

Mars. Signifies energy, courage, conflict, siblings and land. Rules Aries and Scorpio, exalted in Capricorn, debilitated in Cancer. Its placement is what Manglik or Kuja Dosha is calculated from.

Mars placed in the 1st, 4th, 7th, 8th or 12th house from the ascendant (schools differ on which houses and which reference point). Those are five houses out of twelve, so on the commonest definition something close to 40% of all charts qualify — which is the first thing anyone told they are Manglik should know. No dosha should decide a marriage.

Pisces, the twelfth rashi. Water, dual, ruled by Jupiter. Venus is exalted here and Mercury debilitated.

Aries, the first rashi. 0°–30° of the sidereal zodiac. Fire, movable, ruled by Mars. The Sun is exalted here and Saturn debilitated.

Gemini, the third rashi. Air, dual, ruled by Mercury.

The twelfth house. Expenditure, loss, foreign places, sleep, seclusion and liberation. Both the house of what drains away and the house of release from it.

Nakshatra 5 of 27, spanning 53°20′–66°40′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: a deer's head; Soma. Part of Orion. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Mars.

Choosing an auspicious time to begin something. Also the name of a specific unit — one-thirtieth of a day, about 48 minutes. Muhurta is the most widely practised branch of Jyotish in India and the one least dependent on a birth chart.

Nakshatra 19 of 27, spanning 240°00′–253°20′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: a tangle of roots; Nirriti. Origins and uprooting. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Ketu.

One of 27 equal divisions of the zodiac, each 13°20′ wide, measured against the fixed stars. Nakshatras are older in Indian astronomy than the twelve rashis and are the finer grid: the Moon's nakshatra at birth determines the Vimshottari dasha sequence, and nakshatra is what traditional matching and muhurta actually work from.

The D9 — each sign divided into 9 parts of 200 arcminutes. Read for marriage, dharma and underlying strength. The most used varga after the D1, and the reason a pada is 3°20′.

Debilitation — the sign opposite a graha's exaltation, where it is held to be weakest. Debilitation is not a verdict on the person: classical texts describe several conditions (neecha bhanga) that are said to cancel it.

A quarter of a nakshatra, 3°20′ wide. 27 nakshatras × 4 padas = 108 padas, and each pada maps to one navamsha sign — which is how the D9 chart is derived. Pada is also where a small error in birth time changes the reading.

The Indian almanac. The name means "five limbs": tithi, vara, nakshatra, yoga and karana. Four of the five are computed from the angular relationship between the Sun and the Moon, which is why a panchanga is really a lunar-solar instrument.

Nakshatra 7 of 27, spanning 80°00′–93°20′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: a quiver of arrows; Aditi. Return and renewal. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Jupiter.

Nakshatra 20 of 27, spanning 253°20′–266°40′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: an elephant tusk or fan; Apas, the waters. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Venus.

Nakshatra 25 of 27, spanning 320°00′–333°20′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: the front of a funeral cot; Aja Ekapada. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Jupiter.

Nakshatra 11 of 27, spanning 133°20′–146°40′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: the front legs of a bed; Bhaga. Rest and pleasure. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Venus.

Nakshatra 8 of 27, spanning 93°20′–106°40′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: a cow's udder or a lotus; Brihaspati. Nourishment. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Saturn.

The fifth house. Children, creativity, learning, mantra practice and purva punya — merit carried from before. One of the two strongest auspicious houses.

The north lunar node — the point where the Moon's path crosses the ecliptic going north. Not a body but a calculated point, so it casts no light and has no diameter. Signifies obsession, amplification, foreign things and unconventional gain. Always moves backwards through the zodiac.

A class of combinations formed when a kendra lord and a trikona lord come together — by conjunction, mutual aspect or exchange of signs. Read as capacity for authority and standing. Not the same thing as the Raja Yoga of the Yoga Sutras, which is a meditative discipline.

The eighth house. Transformation, inheritance, hidden matters, research and endings. Classically also read for longevity — a use this site does not follow, and does not build tools for.

One of the twelve 30° divisions of the zodiac. Jyotish measures them from the sidereal zodiac — fixed against the stars — which is why a Vedic Sun sign is usually one sign earlier than the Western one for the same birth.

The D1 — the birth chart itself, and the only "division" that divides nothing: each sign stays one undivided 30° part. Every other varga is derived arithmetically from it.

A gemstone assigned to a graha — ruby for the Sun, pearl for the Moon, red coral for Mars, and so on through the nine. This is the most commercial part of Indian astrological practice and the part most exposed to the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, 1954, which names talismans claimed to act on disease. A stone is jewellery, and this site describes the tradition without making claims for it.

Nakshatra 27 of 27, spanning 346°40′–360°00′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: a drum used to mark time; Pushan, protector of travellers. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Mercury.

Nakshatra 4 of 27, spanning 40°00′–53°20′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: an ox-cart; Brahma. The star Aldebaran. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Moon.

The seed of Elaeocarpus ganitrus, worn in devotional and astrological practice. Classified by mukhi — the number of natural clefts on the seed — with each count assigned to a deity or graha. As with gemstones, this site documents the tradition and makes no claim about physical effect.

The roughly seven-and-a-half years in which Saturn transits the sign before the Moon sign, the Moon sign itself, and the sign after. It follows arithmetically from Saturn taking about 2½ years per sign, so it happens to everyone, about three times in a long life. It is the most feared and most oversold period in popular Indian astrology.

The third house. Younger siblings, courage, effort, short journeys, hands and skill.

The D7 — each sign divided into 7 parts of 257.1 arcminutes. Read for children and progeny.

"Six strengths" — a classical scheme that scores each graha on six separate measures (positional, directional, temporal, motional, natural and aspectual) and sums them. One of the few parts of Jyotish that is fully arithmetical, and therefore reproducible between practitioners.

Saturn. Signifies discipline, delay, labour, endurance and old age. Rules Capricorn and Aquarius, exalted in Libra, debilitated in Aries. The slowest classical graha at roughly 2½ years per sign, which is what makes Sade Sati a seven-and-a-half-year period.

The D60 — each sign divided into 60 parts of 30 arcminutes. Read for fine distinctions of character and fortune, and the varga most sensitive to birth-time error: two people born two minutes apart can land in different divisions.

Nakshatra 24 of 27, spanning 306°40′–320°00′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: an empty circle; Varuna. The name means "a hundred physicians". Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Rahu.

The sixth house. Conflict, debt, disease, daily service and competition. Classically a difficult house, though a strong sixth is also read as capacity for sustained work.

The D16 — each sign divided into 16 parts of 112.5 arcminutes. Read for vehicles, comforts and pleasures.

Nakshatra 22 of 27, spanning 280°00′–293°20′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: an ear or three footprints; Vishnu. Listening. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Moon.

Venus. Signifies love, beauty, art, comfort, vehicles and marriage. Rules Taurus and Libra, exalted in Pisces, debilitated in Virgo. Like Mercury it stays near the Sun and is frequently combust.

Leo, the fifth rashi. Fire, fixed, ruled by the Sun — the only sign the Sun rules.

The four fixed signs — Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius — falling in the middle of each season. Associated with persistence and resistance to change.

The Sun. Signifies the self, vitality, father, authority and visibility. Rules Leo (Simha), is exalted in Aries and debilitated in Libra. Takes about a year to circle the zodiac, roughly a month per sign.

Nakshatra 15 of 27, spanning 186°40′–200°00′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: a young shoot in the wind; Vayu. The star Arcturus. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Rahu.

The first house. Body, self, vitality, appearance and how a person begins things. Its ruler is the chart's lagna lord and is read as the single most important graha in the chart.

A lunar day — the time the Moon takes to gain 12° on the Sun. Because that gain is not uniform, a tithi runs between roughly 19 and 26 hours, so it does not line up with a calendar date and can be skipped or repeated.

The trinal houses — 1, 5 and 9. Held to be the most fortunate positions in a chart, carrying merit rather than effort. A graha ruling both a kendra and a trikona is the basis of many raja yogas.

The D30 — each sign divided into 30 parts of 60 arcminutes. Read for misfortune and difficulty. Unusual among vargas in using unequal divisions.

Libra, the seventh rashi. Air, movable, ruled by Venus. Saturn is exalted here and the Sun debilitated.

Exaltation — the sign in which a graha is held to act with most strength and least distortion. Each graha has exactly one exaltation sign and one exact exaltation degree within it.

A remedial measure prescribed against a difficult placement. Classical categories are mantra, daan (giving), vrata (observance) and worship; gemstones and rudraksha are the commercial end. One test applies to all of them: does the person recommending it profit from supplying it? Nothing here is offered as a substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.

Nakshatra 21 of 27, spanning 266°40′–280°00′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: an elephant tusk; the Vishvadevas. Unbroken victory. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Sun.

Nakshatra 26 of 27, spanning 333°20′–346°40′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: the back of a funeral cot; Ahir Budhnya, the depth serpent. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Saturn.

Nakshatra 12 of 27, spanning 146°40′–160°00′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: the back legs of a bed; Aryaman. Patronage. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Sun.

Retrograde — a graha appearing to move backwards through the zodiac as seen from Earth. It is an effect of the two bodies' relative motion, not a real reversal. The Sun and Moon are never retrograde; Rahu and Ketu always are.

A divisional chart — the zodiac subdivided further and re-mapped onto twelve signs, so each varga examines one area of life in isolation. The classical set is sixteen (the shodashavarga). Every varga is derived arithmetically from the same birth moment, so a varga cannot be more accurate than the birth time it came from.

The D20 — each sign divided into 20 parts of 90 arcminutes. Read for spiritual practice and worship.

The standard dasha system, running 120 years in nine unequal periods: Ketu 7, Venus 20, Sun 6, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19, Mercury 17. Which period you are born into, and how far through it, is set by the Moon's exact position within its nakshatra — so a wrong birth time shifts your entire life timeline.

Nakshatra 16 of 27, spanning 200°00′–213°20′ of the sidereal zodiac. Symbol and deity: a triumphal arch; Indra and Agni. Its Vimshottari dasha lord is Jupiter.

Scorpio, the eighth rashi. Water, fixed, ruled by Mars. The Moon is debilitated here. Some traditions give co-rulership to Ketu.

Taurus, the second rashi. Earth, fixed, ruled by Venus. The Moon is exalted here.

A named combination of grahas held to produce a particular result. Classical texts describe hundreds, and that abundance is itself worth knowing: with enough named combinations, every chart contains several auspicious ones and several difficult ones, so finding a yoga in a chart says less than it appears to. Note the collision — yoga is also the name of one of the five limbs of the panchanga, which is a different thing entirely.