What is Vedic Astrology

P.V.R. Narasimha Rao (2003). All rights reserved.

Quick overview

Basics
Grahas (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.

Rasi name
Aries
Taurus
Gemini
Cancer
Leo
Virgo
Libra
Scorpio
Sagittarius
Capricorn
Aquarius
Pisces

Table 1: Definition of Rasis

Sanskrit name
Symbol
Mesha
Ar
Vrishabha/Vrisha
Ta
Mithuna
Ge
Karkataka/Karka
Cn
Simha
Le
Kanya
Vi
Thula
Li
Vrischika
Sc
Dhanus
Sg
Makara
Cp
Kumbha
Aq
Meena
Pi

Start
00'0''
300'0''
600'0''
900'0''
1200'0''
1500'0''
1800'0''
2100'0''
2400'0''
2700'0''
3000'0''
3300'0''

End
2959'59''
5959'59''
8959'59''
11959'59''
14959'59''
17959'59''
20959'59''
23959'59''
26959'59''
29959'59''
32959'59''
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 Ramas 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 ones 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
360/27 = 13 20'. The first nakshatra, for example, stretches from the beginning of Aries to 13
20' in Aries. The second nakshatra stretches from there to 26 40' in Aries. The third nakshatra
stretches from there to 10 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 3 20'.

Name of Nakshatra

Starts at

Aswini
Bharani
Krittika
Rohini
Mrigasira
Aardra
Punarvasu
Pushyami
Aasresha
Makha
Poorva Phalguni
Uttara Phalguni
Hasta
Chitra
Swaati
Visaakha
Anooraadha

00 Ar 00
13 Ar 20
26 Ar 40
10 Ta 00
23 Ta 20
6 Ge 40
20 Ge 00
03 Cn 20
16 Cn 40
00 Le 00
13 Le 20
26 Le 40
10 Vi 00
23 Vi 20
6 Li 40
20 Li 00
03 Sc 20

Table 2: Nakshatras
Ends at
Vimsottari
Lord
13 Ar 20
Ketu
26 Ar 40
Venus
10 Ta 00
Sun
23 Ta 20
Moon
6 Ge 40
Mars
20 Ge 00
Rahu
03 Cn 20
Jupiter
16 Cn 40
Saturn
30 Cn 00
Mercury
13 Le 20
Ketu
26 Le 40
Venus
10 Vi 00
Sun
23 Vi 20
Moon
6 Li 40
Mars
20 Li 00
Rahu
03 Sc 20
Jupiter
16 Sc 40
Saturn

Ruling Deity
Aswini Kumara
Yama
Agni
Bramha
Moon
Shiva
Aditi
Jupiter
Rahu
Sun
Aryaman
Sun
Viswakarma
Vaayu
Indra
Mitra
Indra

Jyeshtha
Moola
Poorvaashaadha
Uttaraashaadha
Sravanam
Dhanishtha
Satabhishak
Poorvaabhaadra
Uttaraabhaadra
Revati

16 Sc 40
00 Sg 00
13 Sg 20
26 Sg 40
10 Cp 00
23 Cp 20
6 Aq 40
20 Aq 00
03 Pi 20
16 Pi 40

30 Sc 00
13 Sg 20
26 Sg 40
10 Cp 00
23 Cp 20
6 Aq 40
20 Aq 00
03 Pi 20
16 Pi 40
30 Pi 00

Mercury
Ketu
Venus
Sun
Moon
Mars
Rahu
Jupiter
Saturn
Mercury

Nirriti
Varuna
Viswadeva
Brahma
Vishnu
Vasu
Varuna
Ajacharana
Ahirbudhanya
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 earths 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
earths 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 ones 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 ones 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