Vedic Astrology Terms, Explained in Plain English
Vedic astrology (Jyotish) is India's traditional astrology. It uses the sidereal zodiac, about 24° behind the tropical zodiac of Western astrology, so your signs usually move back by one. It leads with the Moon sign and the Lagna (rising sign) rather than the Sun sign, divides the sky into 27 Nakshatras, and times events with planetary periods called Dashas. Below are 31 terms you will hear in a reading, each with its nearest Western or plain-English equivalent and a free tool that shows it in your own chart.
The birth chart
- JyotishVedic astrology
- The traditional astrology of India; the word means the science of light. It reads a chart cast for the exact minute and place of birth, uses the sidereal zodiac and times events with planetary periods (Dashas).Full Birth Chart Analysis
- Janam KundaliBirth chart (natal chart)
- The map of the sky at your birth: the sign rising in the east and where each planet stood among the twelve signs and houses. Also spelt kundli or kundali; drawn in a North or South Indian square style rather than a Western wheel.Free birth chart calculator
- LagnaAscendant / rising sign
- The sign rising on the eastern horizon at your birth. It sets the first house, so it changes every couple of hours - which is why an accurate birth time matters most for the Lagna.Lagna calculator
- BhavaHouse
- One of the twelve areas of life in a chart - self, wealth, siblings, home, children, health, partnership, longevity, fortune, career, gains and loss. Vedic astrology usually uses whole-sign houses: the Lagna's sign is the whole first house.See your houses
- VargaDivisional (harmonic) charts
- Charts derived by dividing each sign into smaller parts - the Navamsa (D9) for marriage, the Dasamsa (D10) for career and others up to the D60. Each zooms in on one area of life, and all depend on an accurate birth time.Full Birth Chart Analysis
- VargottamaSame sign in birth chart and Navamsa
- A planet (or the Lagna) that occupies the same sign in the birth chart and the Navamsa. It is treated as steady and strengthened, delivering what it promises more reliably.Check your Navamsa
Signs and stars
- RashiZodiac sign
- One of the twelve 30° signs, Mesha (Aries) to Meena (Pisces). Vedic signs are sidereal, so a planet's Rashi is usually one sign earlier than its Western sign.Find your Vedic signs
- Chandra RashiMoon sign
- The sign the Moon occupied at birth. In India it is the sign people quote when asked their rashi, and the one daily horoscopes and Sade Sati are counted from - where Western astrology leads with the Sun sign.Moon sign calculator
- NakshatraLunar mansion (birth star)
- One of 27 divisions of the zodiac, 13°20′ each, named after star groups the Moon passes through. Your birth Nakshatra is the Moon's, and it sets the starting point of your Dasha periods.The 27 Nakshatras
- PadaQuarter of a Nakshatra
- Each Nakshatra is split into four padas of 3°20′. The Moon's pada gives the traditional first syllable for a baby's name and links the Nakshatra to a Navamsa sign.Find your Nakshatra and pada
Planets and periods
- GrahaPlanet
- The nine bodies Jyotish reads: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are not part of the traditional system.Your planets by sign and house
- Rahu and KetuNorth Node and South Node of the Moon
- The two points where the Moon's path crosses the Sun's, always opposite each other. They are counted as shadow planets: Rahu is linked to craving and the unfamiliar, Ketu to detachment and the past.Rahu Mahadasha guide
- VakriRetrograde
- A planet that appears to move backwards from Earth's point of view. In Vedic astrology a retrograde planet is generally considered strong rather than weakened, its results turned inward or delayed.Retrograde flags in your chart
- DashaPlanetary period
- A period of life governed by one planet. Dashas are Vedic astrology's main timing tool: the planet whose period you are in, and its place in your chart, colour those years.Dasha calculator
- Mahadasha and AntardashaMajor period and sub-period
- The Mahadasha is the long main period (6 to 20 years in the Vimshottari system); each is divided into nine Antardashas (sub-periods), and those into Pratyantardashas. Readings usually describe now as 'Saturn-Mercury' - Mahadasha first, then Antardasha.Your running periods
- VimshottariThe 120-year Dasha system
- The most widely used Dasha scheme: Ketu 7, Venus 20, Sun 6, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19 and Mercury 17 years, starting from the lord of your birth Nakshatra.Vimshottari Dasha calculator
- GocharTransits
- Where the planets are now, read against your birth chart - usually counted from the Moon sign as well as the Lagna. Transits are read together with the running Dasha rather than on their own.Saturn transit dates
- Sade SatiSaturn's 7½-year transit (compare: Saturn return)
- The roughly seven and a half years Saturn takes to cross the sign before your Moon sign, the Moon sign itself and the sign after, about two and a half years each. The Western Saturn return is a different event: Saturn coming back to its own birth position, around ages 29 and 58.Sade Sati calculator
- Atmakaraka and Chara KarakasSoul significator and the movable significators
- In Jaimini astrology the seven planets from Sun to Saturn are ranked by their degree within their sign. The highest is the Atmakaraka, the planet of the soul's main lesson; the lowest is the Darakaraka, read for the spouse.Atmakaraka calculator
Method
- Nirayana and SayanaSidereal and tropical zodiac
- Vedic astrology measures the signs against the fixed stars (sidereal, nirayana); Western astrology ties them to the equinoxes (tropical, sayana). Because of the precession of the equinoxes the two drift apart by about one degree every 72 years and are now about 24° apart.Vedic vs Western astrology
- Ayanamsa (Lahiri)Sidereal offset
- The number of degrees subtracted from a tropical position to get the sidereal one. The Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa, the standard of the Indian national calendar and used throughout this site, is about 24°13′ in 2026.Vedic vs Western Sun sign
- YogaPlanetary combination
- A specific pattern of planets that classical texts say produces a result - Raja yogas for status, Dhana yogas for wealth and so on. (In the Panchang, 'yoga' also names one of 27 daily Sun-Moon combinations.)Full Birth Chart Analysis
- DoshaAffliction / flaw
- A configuration traditionally read as a weak point, such as Mangal Dosha or Nadi Dosha in matching. Most doshas have classical cancellations, so a dosha named by software is a reason to look closer, not a verdict.Check Mangal Dosha
Matching, timing and remedies
- Mangal Dosha (Manglik)Mars affliction for marriage
- Mars placed in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th or 12th house counted from the Lagna, Moon or Venus. A person with it is called Manglik; families check it before marriage, along with its many exceptions.Mangal Dosha calculator
- Ashtakoot (Guna Milan)Compatibility scoring (compare: synastry)
- The traditional eight-part match of two Moon signs and Nakshatras, scored out of 36 points; 18 or more is the customary pass mark. Western synastry compares whole charts - a full Vedic match does that too, on top of the score.Kundli matching calculator
- MuhuratElectional astrology (choosing a date)
- Picking an auspicious date and time to begin something - a wedding, moving into a home, buying a car or property - from the Panchang and the sky for the place where it happens.Muhurat finder
- PanchangHindu astronomical almanac
- The daily almanac of five limbs: Tithi (lunar day), Vara (weekday), Nakshatra, Yoga and Karana. Its timings depend on local sunrise, so a Panchang must be calculated for your own city.Panchang today for your city
- TithiLunar day
- Each 12° the Moon gains on the Sun; there are 30 in a lunar month. Most Hindu festivals and fasts, and the lunar birthday, are set by the tithi at local sunrise.Your tithi birthday
- Rahu KaalDaily inauspicious period
- One eighth of the daylight hours, at a fixed position for each weekday, traditionally avoided for starting anything new. It depends on local sunrise and sunset, so it differs from city to city.Rahu Kaal today
- UpayaRemedies
- Practical measures suggested for a difficult placement or period - mantra, charity, fasting on a planet's weekday, worship and sometimes gemstones. They are meant to support effort and good decisions, not replace them.Ask One Question
Hear these terms in your own chart
Sheela Goklani explains every term as it comes up, live on Google Meet, in English or five other languages. Start with one question, or book a full birth chart reading.
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