What is Vedic Astrology© P.V.R. Narasimha Rao (2003). All rights reserved.

Quick overview

BasicsGrahas (planets)

The words “planet” and “star” are used in a slightly different sense in astrology than in astronomy. For example, Sun (a star) and Moon (a satellite of earth) are called planets in astrology, along with Mars etc. Basically, a graha or a planet is a body that has considerable influence on the living beings on earth. Distant stars have negligible influence on us, but Sun, Moon and planets in the solar system have a great influence on our activities. So the word graha (or planet) is used to describe them.

Seven planets are considered in Indian astrology. They are – Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. In addition, two “chaayaa grahas” (shadow planets) are considered in Indian astrology – Rahu and Ketu. These are also called “the north node” and “the south node” respectively (or the head and tail of dragon). Rahu and Ketu are not real planets; they are just some mathematical points.

Apart from these 9 planets, there are 11 moving mathematical points known as Upagrahas (sub-planets or satellites). We also have lagna (ascendant), which is the point that rises on the eastern horizon as the earth rotates around itself. In addition, we have some mathematical points known as “special ascendants".

Rasis (signs)

The positions of all these planets, upagrahas, lagna and special lagnas in the zodiac are measured in degrees, minutes and seconds from the start of the zodiac (which is a fixed point in the sky). These positions are measured as seen from earth and they are called “geocentric positions". For the positions (calculated in degrees, minutes and seconds) of planets, lagna, special lagnas and upagrahas, we also use the words longitude and sphuta. When watched from earth, the longitude of any planet in the skies can be from 00'0'' (0 degrees 0 minutes 0 seconds) to 35959'59''. It should be noted that 00'0'' corresponds to the beginning of the zodiac. Many western astrologers consider Sayana or tropical (moving) zodiac, whereas Nirayana or sidereal (fixed) zodiac is considered in Vedic astrology.

The zodiac (sky) lasts 360 as mentioned above and it is divided into 12 equal parts. They are called “rasis” (signs). English names, Sanskrit names, two-letter symbols and values of the start longitude and the end longitude (in degrees, minutes and seconds) of all twelve rasis are given in Table 1.

Table 1: Definition of RasisRasi name Sanskrit name Symbol Start End

Aries Mesha Ar 00'0'' 2959'59''Taurus Vrishabha/Vrisha Ta 300'0'' 5959'59''Gemini Mithuna Ge 600'0'' 8959'59''Cancer Karkataka/Karka Cn 900'0'' 11959'59''

Leo Simha Le 1200'0'' 14959'59''Virgo Kanya Vi 1500'0'' 17959'59''Libra Thula Li 1800'0'' 20959'59''

Scorpio Vrischika Sc 2100'0'' 23959'59''Sagittarius Dhanus Sg 2400'0'' 26959'59''Capricorn Makara Cp 2700'0'' 29959'59''Aquarius Kumbha Aq 3000'0'' 32959'59''

Pisces Meena Pi 3300'0'' 35959'59''

Notation: If a planet is at 22137', then you can find from Table 1 that it is between 2100'0'' and 23959'59''. So, that planet is in Scorpio (or Vrischika). Its advancement from the start of the rasi occupied by is 1137'. Its position in the zodiac (22137') is shown by some people by the notation 1137' in Sc or simply 11 Sc 37. This means “advanced by 1137' from the start of Sc (Scorpio)". Some people show it as 7s 11 37'. This means “after completing 7 signs, advanced by 1137' in the 8th sign (which is Scorpio)".

Each rasi again has many kinds of divisions and they are called “vargas". They will be defined in detail later.

Bhavas (houses)

Another important concept is “house” (Sanskrit name: bhava). In each chart, houses can be found with respect to several reference points and the reference points most commonly employed are lagna and special lagnas. Starting from the rasi occupied by the selected reference point and proceeding in the regular order across the zodiac, we associate each rasi with a house (first, second etc). Always the rasi containing the reference point chosen is the 1st house. Next rasi is the 2nd house. The rasi after that is the 3rd house. We proceed until the 12th house like that. Just remember that when we encounter Pisces, we go to Aries after it. If no reference point is specified when houses are mentioned, it means that lagna is used as the reference.

If, for example, horalagna is in Cn, first house with respect to horalagna is in Cn. Second house is in Le (see Table 1). Third house is in Vi. Ninth house is in Pi. Tenth house is in Ar. Eleventh house is in Ta. Twelfth house is in Ge.

Different houses stand for different matters. Looking at the rasis and houses occupied by various planets, we can say a lot of things about the person. How exactly this is done will become clear in coming chapters.

Chakras (charts)

A “chart” (Sanskrit name: chakra) is prepared with the information of rasis occupied by all planets. For preparing any chart, we need to first determine the rasis occupied by all planets, upagrahas, lagna and special lagnas. In the visual representation of a chart, there are 12 boxes (are some other visual areas) with each representing a rasi. All planets, upagrahas and lagnas are written in the boxes corresponding to the rasis they occupy.

There are 3 popular ways of drawing charts in India: (1) South Indian style chart ruled by Jupiter, (2) North Indian style diamond chart ruled by Venus and (3) East Indian style Sun chart ruled by Sun. In this book, all the charts will be given in formats (1) and (2).

Out of the three chart formats, (1) and (3) are rasi-based and (2) is bhava-based. In rasi-based chart drawing formats, a rasi is always at a fixed position. Ar is always in one particular position and Ta is in another position and so on. Planets, lagna etc are placed in the box (or the visual area) representing the rasi occupied by it. In bhava-based chart drawing formats, a bhava (house) is always at a fixed position. Lagna (denoted by “Asc” for ascendant) is always in a particular visual area of the chart and the 2nd, 3rd etc houses are in fixed positions.

Example 1: Let us take Lord Sree Rama’s rasi chart. The rasis occupied by planets and lagna are given below.

Ar – Sun; Ta – Mercury; Ge – Ketu; Cn – Ascendant (lagna), Moon & Jupiter; Li – Saturn; Sg – Rahu; Cp – Mars; Pi – Venus.

Figure 1: Indian Chart Styles

Rasi chart for the above data is drawn in South Indian, North Indian and East Indian formats in Figure 1. In the south Indian chart, notice the boxes containing Ar, Ta, Ge etc. In this format, these rasis will always be in the same positions. The same holds for the east Indian format. The north Indian format is different. Note the box containing “Asc” (ascendant – lagna). The same box will show the house containing lagna in all north Indian format charts. It may be Ar in one chart, Ta in another and Ge in yet another. The number corresponding to the rasi (1 for Ar, 2 for Ta, 3 for Ge and so on) is shown in the box. For example, the box with “Asc” has 4 in it and it shows Cn. So the 1st house is in Cn. Please note the order in which houses are visually arranged in this chart. The same pattern will be used in all charts.

NOTE: Some people draw the east Indian format charts with an enclosing rectangle.

Varga chakras (divisional charts)

We saw that charts can be drawn with the information of which planet occupies which rasi.

Based on the longitude of a planet, we can find the rasi occupied by it and mark its position in rasi chart.

In addition, we have what are known as “divisional charts” (Sanskrit name: varga chakras). These are based on dividing rasis into 2 parts, 3 parts, 4 parts and so on. We divide each rasi into n parts and map each part to a rasi again. Based on the rasis occupied by planets in these divisional mappings, we draw divisional charts (or harmonic charts). Each divisional chart throws light on a specific area of one’s life. In each divisional chart, we find houses and analyze the chart as if it were an independent chart. The science of Vedic astrology stands on the basis of 4 pillars – (1) grahas or planets, (2) rasis or signs, (3) bhavas or houses, and, (4) varga chakras or divisional charts.

Nakshatras (constellations)

In Vedic astrology, the zodiac is divided into 27 nakshatras. Each nakshatra has a length of 360º/27 = 13º 20'. The first nakshatra, for example, stretches from the beginning of Aries to 13º 20' in Aries. The second nakshatra stretches from there to 26º 40' in Aries. The third nakshatra stretches from there to 10º in Taurus. The list of nakshatras with the respective starting and ending points is given in Table 2. The table also gives the “Vimsottari lords” of all nakshatras. This will be used later.

Each nakshatra is again divided into 4 quarters. They are called padas (legs/feet). The length of a nakshatra pada is 3º 20'.

Table 2: NakshatrasName of Nakshatra Starts at Ends at Vimsottari

LordRuling Deity

Aswini 00 Ar 00 13 Ar 20 Ketu Aswini KumaraBharani 13 Ar 20 26 Ar 40 Venus YamaKrittika 26 Ar 40 10 Ta 00 Sun AgniRohini 10 Ta 00 23 Ta 20 Moon Bramha

Mrigasira 23 Ta 20 6 Ge 40 Mars MoonAardra 6 Ge 40 20 Ge 00 Rahu Shiva

Punarvasu 20 Ge 00 03 Cn 20 Jupiter AditiPushyami 03 Cn 20 16 Cn 40 Saturn JupiterAasresha 16 Cn 40 30 Cn 00 Mercury RahuMakha 00 Le 00 13 Le 20 Ketu Sun

Poorva Phalguni 13 Le 20 26 Le 40 Venus AryamanUttara Phalguni 26 Le 40 10 Vi 00 Sun Sun

Hasta 10 Vi 00 23 Vi 20 Moon ViswakarmaChitra 23 Vi 20 6 Li 40 Mars VaayuSwaati 6 Li 40 20 Li 00 Rahu Indra

Visaakha 20 Li 00 03 Sc 20 Jupiter MitraAnooraadha 03 Sc 20 16 Sc 40 Saturn Indra

Jyeshtha 16 Sc 40 30 Sc 00 Mercury NirritiMoola 00 Sg 00 13 Sg 20 Ketu Varuna

Poorvaashaadha 13 Sg 20 26 Sg 40 Venus ViswadevaUttaraashaadha 26 Sg 40 10 Cp 00 Sun Brahma

Sravanam 10 Cp 00 23 Cp 20 Moon VishnuDhanishtha 23 Cp 20 6 Aq 40 Mars VasuSatabhishak 6 Aq 40 20 Aq 00 Rahu Varuna

Poorvaabhaadra 20 Aq 00 03 Pi 20 Jupiter AjacharanaUttaraabhaadra 03 Pi 20 16 Pi 40 Saturn Ahirbudhanya

Revati 16 Pi 40 30 Pi 00 Mercury Pooshan

For the purpose of some special charts like Kota Chakra and Sarvatobhadra Chakra, we consider 28 nakshatras. The last quarter of Uttarashadha is known as “Abhijit”. However, we consider 27 nakshatras for all other purposes.

Ayanamsa

Because of the movement in earth’s precession, the starting point of the tropical zodiac changes slowly (with respect to fixed stars). Tropical (sayana) zodiac is analogous to measuring the positions of trees and buildings sitting in a slowly moving bus. Sidereal (nirayana) zodiac, on the other hand, considers a fixed zodiac. It considers the motion of the tropical zodiac (bus in our analogy) and makes an adjustment accordingly. We use the sidereal zodiac in Vedic astrology. The difference between the tropical zodiac and the sidereal zodiac is of great importance. What modern ephemeris gives us is the tropical positions of planets. To convert these positions, we have to subtract the difference between the two zodiacs. This difference varies with time. As earth’s precession changes every year, the difference between the tropical zodiac and the sidereal zodiac changes. This difference is called “ayanamsa” (sidereal difference). There are many opinions on the correct value of ayanamsa, because nobody knows exactly which star is supposed to be the starting point of the real zodiac. We will use Chitrapaksha/Lahiri ayanamsa in this book, which is accepted by most Vedic astrologers of India.

Dasa Systems

Dasa systems are a hallmark of Vedic astrology. Vedic astrology has hundreds of dasa system. Each dasa system divides one’s life into periods, sub-periods, sub-sub-periods and so on. All the periods are ruled by different planets or rasis. Some dasa systems are planet-based and some are rasi-based. Each dasa system is good at showing events of a specific nature. For each dasa system, we have some standard rules, based on which we analyze the natal chart and attribute different results to different periods and sub-periods. Each dasa system comes with rules for dividing one’s life into periods and sub-periods and rules for attributing different results to different periods, based on the planetary positions in the natal chart. These periods are called “dasas” or “mahadasas” (MD). Sub-periods are called “antardasas” (AD). Sub-sub-periods are called “pratyantardasas” (PD).

Some dasas are good at showing matters related to longevity and death. They are called “ayur dasas” (dasas of longevity). Some dasas are good at showing general results. They are called “phalita dasas” (dasas of general results).

Mind is a very important part of our existence and Moon governs it. Some dasas are computed based on the nakshatra occupied by Moon and they are called “nakshatra dasas”. Some dasas are based on the rasis occupied by planets and they are called “rasi dasas”.

We will learn about 10 different dasa systems in these lessons and many more dasas and dasa variations are available in “Jagannatha Hora” software. Readers should not look at these dasas as different alternatives to look at the same life event. They should instead be looked at as ways to look at various aspects of the same life event. Different dasas systems provide different angles to look at the kaleidoscope of life.

Some of the dasas taught in these lessons are limited to specific matters. For example, we should look at Drigdasa for spiritual progress and we should look at Sudasa for money and wealth. Like that, some dasas are limited to specific matters.

For more information, please refer to “Vedic Astrology: An Integrated Approach” by P.V.R. Narasimha Rao, from which the above material is extracted.

Go to the next chapter: “Bulding Blocks of Chart Analysis”