Vedic Astrology Glossary

Sub-period within a Mahadasha — second-level timing. ~9 antardashas per mahadasha.

Dashas (timing)

6th house — enemies, debt, illness, service, daily work.

Houses (Bhavas)

8-fold compatibility scoring totalling 36 points: Varna, Vashya, Tara, Yoni, Graha Maitri, Gana, Bhakoot, Nadi.

Compatibility

Saturn transiting the 8th from natal Moon — challenging period, often health/finance focused.

Transits (Gochara)

The angular offset between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs (~24° in 2026). Lahiri is the most common; alternatives include Krishnamurti, Raman, Yukteshwar.

Core concepts

8th house — longevity, occult, sudden events, in-laws, transformation.

Houses (Bhavas)

Sign-distance affliction between Moon signs — affects emotional bonding, finances, family.

Compatibility

House — the 12 divisions of the chart based on Lagna. Each rules specific life areas.

Houses (Bhavas)

Mercury — intellect, communication, business, education.

Planets (Grahas)

Moon — mind (manas), mother, emotions, public, daily horoscope reference.

Planets (Grahas)

Moon sign — the rashi containing your natal Moon. Vedic horoscopes go by Chandra Rashi, not Sun sign.

Nakshatras

D-4 chart — sign split into 4 parts of 7°30'. Governs property, mother, comforts.

Vargas (divisional charts)

Combust — when a planet is too close to Sun and burned by Sun's rays, weakening its significations.

Planets (Grahas)

Charity / donation — items connected to the afflicting planet (Saturn: black sesame, mustard oil, iron).

Remedies

D-10 chart — each sign split into 10 parts of 3°. Governs career, status, and 10th-house themes.

Vargas (divisional charts)

Planetary period — a span of years ruled by a specific planet. Vimshottari is the most common system.

Dashas (timing)

2.5-year period — Saturn's transit through one sign. Sade Sati = three Dhaiyyas.

Transits (Gochara)

2nd house — wealth, family, speech, food, accumulated values.

Houses (Bhavas)

Wealth combination — combinations involving 2nd, 5th, 9th, 11th house lords.

Yogas (combinations)

Sagittarius (the archer) — ninth sign, ruled by Jupiter.

Signs (Rashis)

9th house — luck, father, religion, higher learning, dharma.

Houses (Bhavas)

Difficult houses — 6th, 8th, 12th. Hidden, painful themes.

Houses (Bhavas)

D-12 chart — sign split into 12 parts of 2°30'. Governs parents and ancestral karma.

Vargas (divisional charts)

Jupiter-Moon in kendras — wisdom, fame, prosperity through learning.

Yogas (combinations)

Temperament class of a nakshatra — Deva (god), Manushya (human), Rakshasa (demon). Used in compatibility.

Nakshatras

Transit — the current position of a planet, used to predict events relative to natal chart.

Transits (Gochara)

Planet (literally 'seizer'). Vedic uses 9 grahas including the lunar nodes Rahu and Ketu.

Planets (Grahas)

Score / quality. 36 gunas in Ashtakoot; 18+ commonly considered a good match.

Compatibility

Jupiter — wisdom, husband (in female chart), children, dharma.

Planets (Grahas)

Fire ritual — Vedic ceremony invoking specific deities/planets for blessings or remediation.

Remedies

Hour ruled by a specific planet — Hora system maps each hour of day to a planet for muhurta. Also: D-2 divisional chart for wealth.

Core concepts

Birth — Janam Kundali = birth chart.

Core concepts

The science of light — Vedic astrology. Literally the study of celestial 'light'.

Core concepts

Saturn transiting the 4th from natal Moon — 'the thorn'; affects domestic and emotional foundations.

Transits (Gochara)

Virgo (the maiden) — sixth sign, ruled by Mercury, exaltation of Mercury.

Signs (Rashis)

Significator — a planet that signifies a specific life area (e.g. Jupiter is karaka for husband, Venus for wife).

Planets (Grahas)

Half a tithi — 11 in total, used in muhurta (electional) astrology.

Core concepts

Cancer (the crab) — fourth sign, ruled by Moon, exaltation of Jupiter.

Signs (Rashis)

10th house — career, status, public action, fame.

Houses (Bhavas)

An 'isolated Moon' — no planet in 2nd or 12th from Moon. Often considered difficult unless cancelled.

Yogas (combinations)

Angular houses — 1st, 4th, 7th, 10th. Most powerful for planets.

Houses (Bhavas)

South Lunar Node — moksha, isolation, past karma, occult.

Planets (Grahas)

Aquarius (the water-bearer) — eleventh sign, ruled by Saturn.

Signs (Rashis)

Birth chart — also called Janam Kundali or natal horoscope.

Core concepts

Marriage matching — comparing two natal charts using Ashtakoot scoring.

Compatibility

11th house — gains, friends, elder siblings, fulfilment of desires.

Houses (Bhavas)

Ascendant or rising sign — the sign on the eastern horizon at the moment of birth. Defines the 1st house.

Core concepts

The major planetary period — 6 to 20 years long depending on planet.

Dashas (timing)

Capricorn (the sea-goat) — tenth sign, ruled by Saturn, exaltation of Mars.

Signs (Rashis)

Mars affliction — Mars in 1st, 4th, 7th, 8th, or 12th. Affects marriage; cancelled by various conditions.

Compatibility

Mars — energy, courage, brothers, conflict, real estate, surgery.

Planets (Grahas)

Sacred sound — chanted to invoke a planet's beneficial energy or pacify malefic effects.

Remedies

Pisces (the fishes) — twelfth sign, ruled by Jupiter, exaltation of Venus.

Signs (Rashis)

Aries (the ram) — first sign, ruled by Mars.

Signs (Rashis)

Gemini (the twins) — third sign, ruled by Mercury.

Signs (Rashis)

A planet's strongest portion of its own sign — between own-sign and exaltation in strength.

Planets (Grahas)

Electional astrology — choosing an auspicious moment to begin an event (marriage, surgery, business launch).

Core concepts

Same nadi between bride and groom — considered serious for progeny health. Has cancellations.

Compatibility

Lunar mansion — 27 divisions of the zodiac, each spanning 13°20'. Each has a ruling planet and deity.

Nakshatras

The 9 grahas — Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu, Ketu.

Planets (Grahas)

D-9 chart — each sign split into 9 parts of 3°20'. Governs marriage, dharma, and the deeper essence of each planet.

Vargas (divisional charts)

Debilitation — the sign opposite exaltation; planet is weakest there.

Planets (Grahas)

Cancellation of debilitation forming Raj Yoga — debility paradoxically becomes a source of greatness.

Yogas (combinations)

Quarter of a nakshatra — each nakshatra has 4 padas of 3°20' each, totalling 108 padas across the zodiac.

Nakshatras

Five 'great person' yogas — formed when Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, or Saturn occupy own/exaltation sign in a kendra.

Yogas (combinations)

Vedic five-limbed almanac: tithi, karana, yoga, vara, nakshatra. Used to choose auspicious times.

Core concepts

Third-level sub-sub-period — refines timing to weeks/months.

Dashas (timing)

5th house — children, intellect, romance, past-life merit.

Houses (Bhavas)

North Lunar Node — ambition, foreign, sudden gains, illusion.

Planets (Grahas)

Royal combination — formed when lords of kendras and trikonas combine. Brings success, status, and authority.

Yogas (combinations)

Zodiac sign — 12 in total, each spanning 30°. The natal chart's 12 signs are called Rashis.

Signs (Rashis)

Gemstone — each planet has an associated gem (Sun: ruby, Moon: pearl, etc.). Worn to strengthen the planet.

Remedies

Saturn's 7.5-year transit through the 12th, 1st, and 2nd signs from natal Moon. A major life-restructuring period.

Transits (Gochara)

3rd house — siblings, courage, communication, short journeys.

Houses (Bhavas)

D-7 chart — sign split into 7 parts. Governs children and progeny.

Vargas (divisional charts)

Saturn — discipline, longevity, restriction, hardship, the elderly.

Planets (Grahas)

D-60 chart — sign split into 60 parts of 0°30'. The most refined varga; karma at minute resolution.

Vargas (divisional charts)

Venus — love, wife (in male chart), arts, comforts, vehicles.

Planets (Grahas)

Leo (the lion) — fifth sign, ruled by Sun.

Signs (Rashis)

4th house — home, mother, vehicles, comforts, the heart.

Houses (Bhavas)

Sun — soul (atma), father, authority, government, vitality.

Planets (Grahas)

Own sign — the sign(s) the planet rules.

Planets (Grahas)

1st house — body, self, vitality, appearance, head.

Houses (Bhavas)

Lunar day — 1 of 30 phases between successive Sun-Moon conjunctions/oppositions.

Core concepts

Trinal houses — 1st, 5th, 9th. Auspicious; planets here bring fortune.

Houses (Bhavas)

Libra (the scales) — seventh sign, ruled by Venus, exaltation of Saturn.

Signs (Rashis)

Exaltation — the sign where a planet is most powerful (e.g. Sun in Aries).

Planets (Grahas)

Remedy — a corrective practice (mantra, gem, charity, fast) to mitigate a malefic planet's effects.

Remedies

Retrograde — apparent backwards motion of a planet from Earth's perspective.

Planets (Grahas)

Day of the week — Sunday (Ravi-vara), Monday (Som-vara), etc.

Core concepts

Divisional chart — subdividing each sign for finer analysis (e.g. D-9 splits each sign into 9 parts).

Vargas (divisional charts)

Knowledge — the four Vedas are the oldest Sanskrit scriptures; Jyotish is one of their six limbs (Vedanga).

Core concepts

Limbs of the Veda — six auxiliary disciplines including Jyotish (astronomy/astrology) and Vyakarana (grammar).

Core concepts

120-year planetary cycle based on the natal Moon's nakshatra. Each of 9 planets gets a fixed period (Sun 6, Moon 10, etc.).

Dashas (timing)

Vow / fast — observed on the day of the malefic planet (e.g. Saturday for Saturn) to soften its effects.

Remedies

Scorpio (the scorpion) — eighth sign, ruled by Mars.

Signs (Rashis)

Taurus (the bull) — second sign, ruled by Venus, exaltation of Moon.

Signs (Rashis)

12th house — losses, foreign, moksha, hidden, expenses, sleep.

Houses (Bhavas)

Special planetary combination conferring specific results. Hundreds catalogued in classical texts.

Yogas (combinations)

In Panchanga: the sum of Sun and Moon longitudes divided into 27 parts. Distinct from chart yogas.

Core concepts

Sexual/animal compatibility — each nakshatra is mapped to one of 14 animal types for marriage compatibility.

Nakshatras

7th house — spouse, partnerships, public, business.

Houses (Bhavas)