ASTRONOMICALDEFINITIONS

ThissectionwillintroducethebasictermsinJyotish,whichofttimesseemsfrighteningbecauseof
themanySanskritexpressionswhichmayhavenoinitialmeaningforthenovice.Iplantodevelopa
dictionarylateron,comprisingallpossibleJyotishterminology.
JanmaKundali

Ravimarga

The chart drawn with the planetary positions in the twelve signs of the
Zodiacthetimeandplaceofsomeone'sbirthiscalledhisJanmaKundali,
or birthchart. As Jyotish deals with the changing quality of time, the
momentofbirthisconsideredtobetheprimarydeterminingfactorofthe
course of eventsinone's life. The correct time to be taken for erecting
aJanmaKundaliisthetimeofNadiSodhanam,orcuttingoftheumbilical
cord, as this finally separates thebody of the child from that of the
mother.
theEcliptic,ortheSun'scourseoverthesky.

Bhacakra

the Zodiac, or the belt of stars on each side of the Ecliptic

extendingfor9degreesofarc.

Nakshatras

The constellations of stars comprising the belt of Zodiac.

The two basic divisions of the Zodiac is theRasiChakraconsisting of
12Rasisor Sun signs, extending 30 degrees each; and the
NakshatraCakraconsisting of 27 Nakshatras or Moon signs, extending
1320' each. The group of heavenly bodies called Nakshatras has the
common quality that they don't move relative to each other, they just
blink,i.e.theirbrightnesschangewithtime.
the other group of heavenly bodies, which are distinct from the
Nakshatras in the sense that they move relative to each other and the
Nakshatras as well. The nine planets orNavagrahasof Jyotish
areSuryaorRavi(Sun),
Chandra
or
Soma
(Moon),MangalaorKuja(Moon),
Budha
(Mercury),
Guru
orBrihaspati(Jupiter),Sukra(Venus),Sani(Saturn), Rahu (Dragon Head)
andKetu(Dragon Tail ). The last two planets are the North and South
Nodes of the Moon. They are also calledChayaGrahasor shadowy
planets, as they are more subtle and can't be observed in the sky, only
during the times of solar and lunar eclipses when they shadow over the
luminaries. They are located at the intersection points of the elliptical
apparentcoursesoftheSunandtheMoon.RahuandKetuarealwaysin
the exact opposite points of the Zodiac, forming a karmic axis in the
horoscope, and always move into retrograde direction, as they are the
karmic control planets. Some astrologers considerthe socalled True
Nodes which try to exactly follow these intersection points, thus
sometimes for short periods becoming direct.But according
toParasara'sdefinition, they should always beretrograde,therefore the
applicationofMeanNodesisadvised.

Grahas

Upagrahas Rahu andKetuare sometimes listed within the category of Upagrahas,

although actually they have more significance than the rest of the
shadowy planets. There are two categories of them: The first category

includes fiveUpagrahas, the position The second category

ofUpagrahasconsist of five (according to some, eight)Upagrahas, which
riseatthedifferentportionsofthedayornightofbirth.Firstdividethe
durationofthedayfromsunrisetosunset(orofnightfromsunsettothe
nextsunriseifbirthisatnight)into8partsofequallength.Eachpartwill
beruledbyaplanetintheorderofweekdays,beginningwiththelordof
theweek.ThepartafterSaturnislordless.
Fornightbirthsthefirstpartisruledbythelordofthe5thdayfromthe
dayofbirth.Thefollowingtableshowsthelordsofdifferentportionsfor
differentdaysoftheweek:

Table1.0forlordsoftheportionsofthedayfordaybirths:
Dayof
Week

Part1

Part2

Part3

Part4

Part5

Part6

Part7

Part8

Sunday

Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercur
y

Jupite
r

Venus

Saturn

Monday

Moon

Mars

Mercur
y

Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Sun

Tuesday

Mars

Mercur
y

Jupiter

Venus

Satur
n

Sun

Moon

Wednesda
y

Mercur
y

Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mars

Thursday

Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercur
y

Friday

Venus

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercur
y

Jupiter

Saturday

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercur
y

Jupiter

Venus

Table1.1forlordsoftheportionsofthenightfornightbirths(Note:adayintheVediccalendaris
fromsunrisetosunrise,sothewholenightwillbelongtothepreviousday):
Dayof
Week

Part1

Part2

Part3

Part4

Part5

Part6

Part7

Part8

Sunday

Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercur
y

Monday

Venus

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercur
y

Jupiter

Tuesday

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mars

Jupite
r

Jupiter

Saturn

Wednesda
y

Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercur
y

Jupite
r

Venus

Saturn

Thursday

Moon

Mars

Mercur
y

Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Sun

Friday

Mars

Mercur
y

Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Saturday

Mercur
y

Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Moon

Mars

Sun

ThereisanUpagrahaassignedtoeachplanetsportion,anditwillriseinthebeginningofthe
portion,i.e.theUpagrahaspositionwillbeidenticalwiththeLagnaspositionatthebeginningof
theportion.ThelistofplanetsandtheircorrespondingUpagrahasisthefollowing:
Planet

Upagraha

Sun

Kalavela

Moon

Paridhi

Mars

Mrityu

Mercury

Ardhaprahara

Jupiter

Yamaghantaka

Venus

Kodanda

Saturn

Gulika

According to some astrologers, the portions of Moon and Venus do not haveUpagrahas, so they
donttakethemintoconsideration.MostoftheauthorsalsotakeMandiandGulikatobeidentical
planets, butVenkateshaSharma makes distinction between them in hisSarwarthaChintamani.
According to him,Mandirises at the middle of Saturns portion, andGulikarises in the beginning,
similarly to all otherUpagrahas.BrihatParasharaHoraShastra,PhalaDeepikaand other classics
describetheeffectsofUpagrahasindifferenthousesindetail.