शब्दकोश · Glossary · 57 terms

Jyotish glossary — every term, defined and cited

Every term you will meet in a kundli, in plain words: two or three sentences each, with the classical source cited wherever doctrine is involved. Astronomical terms are defined astronomically — no doctrine invented.

कुंडली · The chart

कुंडली KundliKuṇḍalī: A kundli (also janma kundli, janam patri or Vedic birth chart) is a map of the sky at the exact moment and place of your birth, drawn in the sidereal zodiac. It fixes the positions of the nine grahas, the lagna and the twelve bhavas, and everything else in Jyotish is read from it.; Read more →
लग्न Lagna (ascendant)Lagna: The lagna or ascendant is the rashi rising on the eastern horizon at the moment of birth. It fixes the first house of the kundli: every other house is counted from it, which is why an accurate birth time matters so much.; SourceBPHS, Ch. 4Read more →
राशि Rashi (sign)Rāśi: A rashi is one of the twelve 30° divisions of the sidereal zodiac — Mesha (Aries) through Meena (Pisces). In Jyotish "your rashi" usually means your chandra rashi, the sign occupied by the Moon at birth, not the Sun sign of Western astrology.; SourceBPHS, Ch. 4Read more →
चंद्र राशि Chandra rashi (Moon sign)Candra rāśi: The chandra rashi is the sidereal sign the Moon occupied at your birth. It is the primary "your sign" of Jyotish — the reference for gochar (transits), Sade Sati and much of daily panchang practice.; SourceBPHS, Ch. 4Read more →
भाव Bhava (house)Bhāva: A bhava or house is one of twelve life-areas of the kundli — self, wealth, siblings, home, children, and so on. In the whole-sign system standard in Jyotish, the rashi of the lagna is the whole first house and each following rashi is the next house.; SourceBPHS, Chs. 11–23Read more →
ग्रह Graha (planet)Graha: A graha — literally "seizer" — is one of the nine moving bodies of Jyotish: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, and the lunar nodes Rahu and Ketu. Each graha carries fixed significations (karakatvas) and colors the house and rashi it occupies.; SourceBPHS, Ch. 3Read more →
राहु RahuRāhu: Rahu is the north node of the Moon — the point where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic northward. It is not a physical body, yet Jyotish counts it among the nine grahas; it moves retrograde through the zodiac in about 18.6 years and is the point where solar eclipses occur.; SourceBPHS, Ch. 3Read more →
केतु Ketu: Ketu is the south node of the Moon, always exactly opposite Rahu in the chart. Like Rahu it is a mathematical point counted among the nine grahas; lunar eclipses occur at its axis.; SourceBPHS, Ch. 3Read more →
नवांश Navamsa (D9)Navāṁśa: The navamsa or D9 is the ninth divisional chart: each rashi is split into nine parts of 3°20′, and those parts are assembled into a second chart. Tradition reads it for marriage and for the deeper strength of the grahas behind the surface of the birth chart.; SourceBPHS, Ch. 6
वर्ग Varga (divisional chart)Varga: A varga is a divisional chart derived by subdividing each rashi and reassembling the parts — BPHS describes sixteen (shodashavarga), from the rashi chart itself (D1) to finer divisions like the navamsa (D9) and dashamsa (D10). Each varga focuses one area of life.; SourceBPHS, Ch. 6
वर्गोत्तम Vargottama: A graha is vargottama when it occupies the same rashi in the birth chart (D1) and in the navamsa (D9). Tradition treats this repetition as a mark of strength: the graha's promise is considered more stable and more likely to deliver.; SourceBPHS, Ch. 6
कारक Karaka (significator)Kāraka: A karaka is the graha that naturally signifies a matter — Sun for father and authority, Moon for mother and mind, Jupiter for children and wisdom, Venus for marriage. When judging a topic, Jyotish weighs its house, the house lord and its karaka together.; SourceBPHS, Ch. 32Read more →
योग Yoga (planetary combination)Yoga: In a kundli, a yoga is a named combination of grahas or house lords — such as Gajakesari or Budhaditya — that the classics single out with a specific promised result. Thousands are catalogued; their strength always depends on the condition of the grahas that form them.; SourceParāśari tradition
दृष्टि Drishti (aspect)Dṛṣṭi: Drishti is a graha's "glance": every graha fully aspects the 7th rashi from itself, while Mars additionally aspects the 4th and 8th, Jupiter the 5th and 9th, and Saturn the 3rd and 10th. An aspected house receives the influence of the aspecting graha.; SourceParāśari tradition
युति Yuti (conjunction)Yuti: A yuti or conjunction is two or more grahas standing in the same rashi. Their significations blend — supporting or straining each other according to their natures and mutual friendship.; SourceParāśari tradition

राशिचक्र · Zodiac & measurement

निरयण राशिचक्र Sidereal zodiacNirayaṇa: The sidereal (nirayana) zodiac measures positions against the actual fixed stars, so 0° Mesha stays anchored to the stars. Jyotish uses it; because of the Earth's axial precession it currently differs from the Western tropical zodiac by about 24°.; Read more →
सायन राशिचक्र Tropical zodiacSāyana: The tropical (sayana) zodiac fixes 0° Aries to the March equinox point rather than to the stars, so it slowly drifts against the constellations with precession. Western astrology uses it; Jyotish does not.; Read more →
अयनांश AyanamshaAyanāṁśa: The ayanamsha is the angular difference between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs — the correction subtracted from tropical positions to obtain sidereal ones. It grows by about 50.3″ per year with precession and is currently a little over 24°.; Read more →
लाहिरी अयनांश Lahiri ayanamshaLahiri (Citrapakṣa): Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) is the ayanamsha standardized by the Government of India's Calendar Reform Committee (1956) and used by official panchangs and most Jyotish software, including Tarasetu. It anchors the star Chitra (Spica) at 0° Tula — exactly opposite 0° Mesha.; Read more →
संक्रान्ति SankrantiSaṅkrānti: A sankranti is the exact moment the Sun enters a new sidereal rashi — twelve per year. Makar Sankranti (the Sun's entry into Makara, mid-January) is the most celebrated; the sankrantis also name the amanta lunar months.; Read more →
गोचर Gochar (transit)Gocara: Gochar is the current, ongoing movement of the grahas through the zodiac, read against the houses of your birth chart — usually counted from the chandra rashi. Dasha shows the period's theme; gochar times it.; SourceParāśari tradition
वक्री Vakri (retrograde)Vakrī: A graha is vakri (retrograde) when, seen from Earth, it appears to move backward through the zodiac for a stretch — an optical effect of orbital motion, not a real reversal. Jyotish marks retrograde grahas in the chart and weighs their condition differently.
अस्त Asta (combustion)Asta: A graha is asta (combust) when it stands so close to the Sun that it is lost in the solar glare and invisible in the sky. Tradition reads a combust graha as weakened, its significations overshadowed for the time.; SourceParāśari tradition

नक्षत्र · Nakshatras

नक्षत्र NakshatraNakṣatra: A nakshatra is one of the 27 lunar mansions of 13°20′ each that divide the sidereal zodiac, from Ashvini to Revati. The Moon crosses one nakshatra roughly per day, and each has its own lord, deity, symbol and temperament.; SourceTaittirīya Brāhmaṇa 1.5Read more →
जन्म नक्षत्र Janma nakshatraJanma nakṣatra: Your janma nakshatra is the nakshatra the Moon occupied at your birth. It is the seed of lunar Jyotish: it names your Vimshottari dasha sequence, colors the mind the Moon carries, and is the reference for several matching kootas.; SourceBPHS, Chs. 46–49Read more →
पद Pada (quarter)Pāda: A pada is one quarter of a nakshatra — 3°20′ of arc, so 108 padas cover the zodiac. Each pada corresponds to exactly one navamsa, which is how the nakshatra framework and the D9 chart interlock.; SourceBPHS, Ch. 6Read more →
गण GanaGaṇa: Gana is the threefold temperament classification of the nakshatras — deva (godly), manushya (human) and rakshasa (fierce). It describes an instinctive style, and in kundli matching the gana koota compares the two.; SourceNakshatra traditionRead more →

दशा · Dashas & timing

दशा DashaDaśā: A dasha is a planetary period: a stretch of life ruled by one graha, whose themes come forward during it. Jyotish has many dasha systems; Vimshottari, based on the janma nakshatra, is the standard one.; SourceBPHS, Chs. 46–49Read more →
विंशोत्तरी दशा Vimshottari dashaViṁśottarī: Vimshottari is the classical 120-year cycle of nine planetary periods — Ketu 7, Venus 20, Sun 6, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19, Mercury 17 years — starting from the lord of your janma nakshatra. BPHS calls it the foremost dasha system.; SourceBPHS, Chs. 46–49Read more →
महादशा MahadashaMahādaśā: A mahadasha is a major Vimshottari period — six to twenty years under one graha. Its quality depends less on the graha's name than on that graha's condition and house lordships in your own chart.; SourceBPHS, Chs. 46–49Read more →
अंतर्दशा AntardashaAntardaśā: An antardasha (bhukti) is a sub-period inside a mahadasha, ruled by a second graha in the same fixed sequence and proportions. The mahadasha sets the chapter; the antardasha writes its paragraphs.; SourceBPHS, antardaśā chaptersRead more →
प्रत्यंतर्दशा PratyantardashaPratyantardaśā: A pratyantardasha is the third level of Vimshottari — a sub-period within an antardasha, typically lasting weeks to a few months. It is the finest timing level most practitioners use day to day.; SourceBPHS, antardaśā chaptersRead more →
साढ़े साती Sade SatiSāḍhe Sātī: Sade Sati is the roughly seven-and-a-half-year stretch while Saturn transits the rashi before your Moon, your Moon's rashi, and the one after. Tradition reads it as a season of pressure and maturation — its actual weight depends on Saturn's role in your own chart, and it returns about every 30 years.; SourceParāśari tradition

बल · Dignity & strength

उच्च Uchcha (exaltation)Ucca: A graha is uchcha (exalted) in the rashi where the classics hold it strongest — the Sun in Mesha, the Moon in Vrishabha, Jupiter in Karka, and so on, each with an exact degree of deepest exaltation. An exalted graha expresses its significations with unusual ease.; SourceBPHS, Ch. 3Read more →
नीच Neecha (debilitation)Nīca: A graha is neecha (debilitated) in the rashi opposite its exaltation, where tradition holds its expression most strained. Debilitation is a starting condition, not a verdict — the classics list several neecha-bhanga (cancellation) conditions that restore strength.; SourceBPHS, Ch. 3Read more →
मूलत्रिकोण MoolatrikonaMūlatrikoṇa: The moolatrikona is a specific arc within one of a graha's own signs where it functions almost as strongly as in exaltation — for example the Sun's first 20° of Simha. It ranks between exaltation and own sign in the traditional dignity scale.; SourceBPHS, Ch. 3
केन्द्र Kendra: The kendras are houses 1, 4, 7 and 10 — the four pillars of the chart. Grahas placed in them gain prominence and force; benefics there are traditionally read as a great support to the whole kundli.; SourceBPHS, Chs. 11–23Read more →
त्रिकोण TrikonaTrikoṇa: The trikonas are houses 1, 5 and 9 — the auspicious triangle of dharma and fortune. Their lords are counted among the most benefic grahas for a chart, and a graha both kendra and trikona lord becomes a yogakaraka.; SourceBPHS, Chs. 11–23Read more →
दुःस्थान DusthanaDuḥsthāna: The dusthanas are houses 6, 8 and 12 — the places of obstacles, crises and loss. Grahas placed there work under strain, yet the same houses also govern healing, research and liberation; context decides.; SourceBPHS, Chs. 11–23Read more →
पूर्ण-राशि भाव Whole-sign housesRāśi-cakra bhāva: Whole-sign is the house system standard in Jyotish: the entire rashi containing the lagna is the first house, and each subsequent rashi is one whole house. No house cusps are computed — sign boundaries are house boundaries.; Read more →

मिलान · Kundli matching

गुण मिलान Gun milanGuṇa milāna: Gun milan is the classical scoring of marriage compatibility from the two janma nakshatras and chandra rashis: eight kootas worth 36 points in all. Tradition treats 18 as the customary threshold — and asks that the doshas and their cancellations always be checked alongside the number.; SourceMuhūrta CintāmaṇiRead more →
अष्टकूट AshtakootaAṣṭakūṭa: The ashtakoota are the eight factors of gun milan — varna (1), vashya (2), tara (3), yoni (4), graha maitri (5), gana (6), bhakoot (7) and nadi (8 points). Each compares one dimension of the two charts; their weights rise with importance.; SourceMuhūrta CintāmaṇiRead more →
मंगल दोष Mangal dosha (Manglik)Maṅgala doṣa: Mangal (Kuja) dosha is Mars in house 1, 2, 4, 7, 8 or 12 counted from the lagna and from the Moon. Tradition reads it as friction brought into married life — and the same classical texts define its many cancellations, which most charts labelled "manglik" actually have.; SourceMangal dosha traditionRead more →
नाड़ी दोष Nadi doshaNāḍī doṣa: Nadi dosha arises when both partners share the same nadi (adi, madhya or antya) by janma nakshatra — the heaviest koota, worth 8 of 36 points. The tradition itself lists clear cancellations, such as different rashis or different nakshatras within the same nadi.; SourceMuhurta traditionRead more →
भकूट दोष Bhakoot doshaBhakūṭa doṣa: Bhakoot dosha arises from certain distances between the two Moon signs (6-8, 2-12 or 5-9 positions), scoring 0 of 7 points. The muhurta manuals cancel it when the rashi lords are friends or the same graha — which happens in a large share of real pairings.; SourceMuhurta traditionRead more →

पंचांग · Panchang & calendar

पंचांग PanchangPañcāṅga: The panchang is the Hindu almanac of five limbs — tithi, vara, nakshatra, yoga and karana — computed for each day from the actual longitudes of the Sun and Moon. It underlies festival dates and muhurta selection.; Read more →
तिथि Tithi: A tithi is a lunar day: the time the Moon takes to gain 12° of elongation over the Sun. There are 30 tithis per lunar month — 15 in each paksha — and because the Moon's speed varies, a tithi lasts anywhere from about 19 to 26 hours.; Read more →
पक्ष PakshaPakṣa: A paksha is a lunar fortnight: shukla paksha is the waxing half from new moon to full moon, krishna paksha the waning half back to new moon. Together they make one lunar month of 30 tithis.; Read more →
अमावस्या AmavasyaAmāvasyā: Amavasya is the new-moon tithi, when Sun and Moon share the same longitude and the Moon is invisible. It closes the amanta lunar month; Diwali falls on the amavasya that ends Ashvina.; Read more →
पूर्णिमा PurnimaPūrṇimā: Purnima is the full-moon tithi, when the Moon stands exactly opposite the Sun (180° of elongation). Many major observances — Holi, Guru Purnima, Raksha Bandhan, Sharad Purnima — fall on purnimas.; Read more →
वार Vara (weekday)Vāra: Vara is the weekday, each ruled by one of the seven visible grahas — Ravivara (Sunday, Sun) through Shanivara (Saturday, Saturn). It is one of the five limbs of the panchang.; Read more →
योग (पंचांग) Yoga (panchang)Yoga: In the panchang, a yoga is the sum of the Sun's and Moon's longitudes divided into 27 arcs of 13°20′, giving 27 named yogas from Vishkambha to Vaidhriti. It is distinct from the planetary yogas of a kundli.; Read more →
करण KaranaKaraṇa: A karana is half a tithi — 6° of lunar elongation. Eleven karanas (seven moving, four fixed) cycle through the month, and muhurta practice weighs them when choosing times.; Read more →
मुहूर्त MuhurtaMuhūrta: A muhurta is an astrologically chosen window of time for beginning something important — a wedding, a journey, a new venture. Choosing it (muhurta shastra) weighs the panchang limbs, the Moon and the lagna of the moment.; SourceMuhurta tradition
अधिक मास Adhika masa (leap month)Adhika māsa: An adhika masa is an intercalary lunar month, inserted when a lunar month contains no sankranti — roughly every 32.5 months. It keeps the lunar calendar aligned with the solar year; 2026 has an Adhika Jyaishtha (17 May – 15 June).; Read more →

अंक · Anka Jyotish (numerology)

मूलांक MulankMūlāṅka: The mulank or root number is the day of birth reduced to a single digit (born on the 23rd → 2+3 = 5). Anka Jyotish maps each number 1–9 to a graha and reads it as the surface temperament.; SourceAṅka traditionRead more →
भाग्यांक BhagyankBhāgyāṅka: The bhagyank or destiny number is the full date of birth — day, month and year — reduced to a single digit. Anka Jyotish reads it as the deeper life-current, complementing the mulank's surface temperament.; SourceAṅka traditionRead more →