Glossary

How Vedic astrology works

Jyotish: the sidereal zodiac, the Moon at the center of the chart, and dashas as a timing system with no Western match.

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It measures against the fixed stars

Jyotish uses the sidereal zodiac, which starts from a fixed star instead of the equinox. The equinox drifts about 1° every seventy-two years, so the two zodiacs are now about 24° apart. That is why your Vedic Sun is usually one sign behind your Western one, and both are correct within their own system.

This chart uses the Lahiri ayanamsha

The ayanamsha is the exact size of that gap, and it has to be chosen. This app uses Lahiri, also called Chitrapaksha, the standard adopted in India and used by most Jyotish astrologers. Raman and Krishnamurti differ by about a degree, which only matters for a planet sitting near a sign border.

The Moon leads

Ask an Indian astrologer for your sign and you get your janma rashi, the sign the Moon was in at your birth. Western astrology leads with the Sun and reads purpose, while Jyotish leads with the Moon and reads mind, mood and temperament. Different question, different answer, and both can fit the same person.

Nakshatras go finer than signs

Next to the twelve rashis, the zodiac splits into twenty-seven nakshatras of 13°20′ each, and each of those into four padas. Two people with the Moon in the same sign can sit in different nakshatras and read as different people. Your Moon’s nakshatra also sets the order of your dashas.

Dashas are the timing system

Jyotish divides a life into back-to-back planetary periods. A mahadasha can run for nearly twenty years, so the same birth chart reads differently at thirty and at fifty, because a different graha is running the chapter.

North and South Indian charts are the same chart

The diamond-shaped North Indian chart keeps the houses fixed and moves the signs between them, and the square South Indian chart does the opposite. They are two ways of drawing the same placements, like a subway map and a street map of one city.

Zodiac and signs

Sidereal zodiac

Signs measured against the fixed stars. Vedic astrology uses it, and it runs about 24° behind the Western zodiac.

What it is: The Western zodiac starts at the spring equinox, and the sidereal one starts against a fixed star. The equinox drifts about 1° every seventy-two years, so the two are now about 24° apart, roughly three quarters of a sign.
Why it matters: That gap is why your Vedic Sun is usually one sign behind your Western Sun. Both are correct answers from two systems with different starting points, like two calendars giving the same day different dates.
Try it: Open "Why your sign is different here" on your Vedic chart. Write your Western and Vedic Sun and Moon signs side by side, and note which pair feels more like you.
Common mistake: Believing one zodiac has debunked the other, often through the Ophiuchus story that goes viral every few years. Astrologers have known about the drift for two thousand years, and it is the reason the sidereal zodiac exists.

Ayanamsha

The exact gap between the Western and Vedic zodiacs, about 24° today. Schools use slightly different values.

What it is: The measured gap between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs, currently about 24°. It grows by roughly 1° every seventy-two years, so a Vedic chart subtracts the value for your exact birth date.
Why it matters: It is the one number that turns a Western chart into a Vedic one. Change it by a degree and a planet near the edge of a sign can move into the next sign.
Try it: Look in "Where each planet sits" for any planet at 0° or 29° of a sign. A different ayanamsha could move it, so read both signs and hold that placement loosely.
Common mistake: Assuming everyone agrees on one value. Lahiri, Raman and Krishnamurti differ by about a degree, and two careful astrologers can disagree about a border planet for that reason alone.

Lahiri ayanamsha

The standard value for the gap between the two zodiacs, made official in India. This app’s Vedic chart uses it.

What it is: Also called Chitrapaksha, it fixes the sidereal zodiac so that the star Spica sits at 0° Libra. It is named after N. C. Lahiri and was adopted by India’s Calendar Reform Committee in the 1950s.
Why it matters: It is the number this app subtracts to produce every Vedic placement. Most Jyotish astrologers use it, so your chart here should match what most Indian astrologers would draw.
Try it: If you have had a Vedic reading somewhere else, compare its Moon sign and nakshatra with yours here. If they differ, ask that astrologer which ayanamsha they used.
Common mistake: Treating the choice as settled everywhere. The Raman and Krishnamurti values are still in use and differ by about a degree, so another chart can fairly disagree on a border placement.

Rashi

A sidereal sign. Your janma rashi is your Moon sign, and in Vedic astrology it counts for more than your Sun.

What it is: Rashi is the Sanskrit word for a zodiac sign, measured in the sidereal zodiac. Your janma rashi is the sign the Moon was in at your birth, and it is what an Indian astrologer tells you when you ask your sign.
What it stands for: Jyotish reads the Moon sign as your mind, mood and temperament, the lens you meet each day through. A Moon in Simha (Leo) needs respect to feel settled, while one in Kanya (Virgo) needs order.
Why it matters: It is why the Vedic side of this app can name a sign you have never called yourself and still be right. Western astrology leads with the Sun and reads purpose, while Jyotish leads with the Moon and reads the mind.
Try it: Find your janma rashi at the top of your Vedic chart. Read its description and mark the lines that describe your moods better than your Western Sun sign does.
Common mistake: Deciding one system must be wrong. They use different zodiacs and lead with different planets, so different answers are expected, and reading both is the point.

Nakshatra

One of 27 lunar mansions, each 13°20′ wide. Much finer than a sign, and central to Vedic timing.

What it is: The zodiac divided into twenty-seven segments of 13°20′ each, instead of twelve signs of 30°. Each covers roughly one day of the Moon’s travel, and each has its own ruling planet, deity and symbol.
What it stands for: Jyotish reads your Moon’s nakshatra as the finest grain of your temperament. Ashwini, symbolized by a horse’s head, is quick to act and quick to heal, while Rohini, the red one, is drawn to beauty, comfort and growth.
Why it matters: Two people with the Moon in the same sign can sit in different nakshatras and read as different people. Your Moon’s nakshatra also sets the order of your dasha periods for life.
Try it: Open "Your Moon’s exact ground" on your Vedic chart and note your nakshatra’s ruling planet. That planet ran your first dasha, so look back at what your early childhood centered on.
Common mistake: Treating it as a footnote to the sign. In much traditional practice the nakshatra is the main placement, and the sign is the wider frame it sits in.

Pada

A quarter of a nakshatra. Four per mansion, so 108 small divisions of the zodiac in all.

What it is: Each nakshatra splits into four quarters called padas, each 3°20′ wide, which gives 108 divisions in total. It is the same 108 found all through Indian tradition, including the number of beads on a prayer string.
What it stands for: Jyotish links each pada to a sign in the navamsha chart, which adds another layer of character. Traditionally a pada also suggests the first syllable of a newborn’s name.
Why it matters: Padas let Jyotish reach a level of detail a sign cannot. Two people in the same nakshatra but different padas are read differently.
Try it: Find your Moon’s pada in "Your Moon’s exact ground". Then check where your birth time came from: if it is from memory, treat the pada as a guess and lean on the nakshatra.
Common mistake: Asking for pada-level detail from an uncertain birth time. The Moon crosses a pada in about six hours and the rising degree in under ten minutes, so a rough time cannot support it.

Chart and planets

Lagna

The Vedic rising sign: the sidereal sign coming up in the east at your birth. Every house counts from it.

What it is: The same rising point as the Western Ascendant, measured against the fixed stars. Because of the ayanamsha it usually lands one sign earlier than your Western rising sign.
What it stands for: Jyotish reads the lagna as the body, health and overall direction of a life. In many readings it outranks both the Moon and the Sun, because it anchors the whole chart.
Why it matters: The lagna is the 1st house, and every other house is counted from it. Its ruling planet, the lagna lord, is read as a key sign of how the life unfolds.
Try it: Find your lagna on the Vedic chart and look up its ruling planet in "Where each planet sits". The house that planet occupies is where your chart puts its weight.
Common mistake: Expecting it to match your Western rising sign. It usually will not, for the same reason your Vedic Sun differs, and neither one is a corrected version of the other.

Graha

A Vedic planet. There are nine, including Rahu and Ketu, the two points where the Moon’s path crosses the Sun’s.

What it is: The nine bodies Jyotish reads: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn, plus Rahu and Ketu. Graha means "one who seizes", which fits how they are treated: as forces that take hold of a life.
What it stands for: Jyotish reads each graha as a karaka, or significator. The Sun is the soul and the father, the Moon the mind and the mother, Mars courage, Mercury speech, Jupiter wisdom, Venus love, and Saturn time and work.
Why it matters: The list is where the two traditions split. There is no Uranus, Neptune or Pluto in classical Jyotish, while Rahu and Ketu carry a weight with no Western match.
Try it: Open "Where each planet sits" on your Vedic chart and find Jupiter. Its house is traditionally where wisdom and help come from, so name one person in that area who has guided you.
Common mistake: Assuming Rahu and Ketu are planets astronomy missed. They are the two crossing points of two orbits, which is exactly why eclipses happen near them.

Rahu

The Moon’s north node in Vedic astrology. Hunger, obsession and the pull toward the new and foreign.

What it is: Rahu is the north lunar node, where the Moon crosses the Sun’s path heading north. It always sits exactly opposite Ketu and moves backward through the zodiac, about eighteen months per sign.
What it stands for: Jyotish reads Rahu as craving, ambition, illusion and anything foreign or unusual. In myth it is the head of a demon who stole the nectar of immortality, so it hungers with no body to feel full. Rahu in the 10th can drive a restless, unusual career.
Why it matters: Rahu shows where you want more and can overreach. Its mahadasha lasts eighteen years and often brings sudden rises, foreign links and restlessness.
Try it: Find Rahu’s house in "Where each planet sits". Write down what you chase in that area, and one sign that tells you the chase has gone too far.
Common mistake: Seeing Rahu as purely evil. It also brings worldly success and breakthroughs, especially in modern fields like technology, media and travel.

Ketu

The Moon’s south node in Vedic astrology. Detachment, old skill and the urge to let go.

What it is: Ketu is the south lunar node, always exactly opposite Rahu. The two move backward through the zodiac together and take about eighteen and a half years to go all the way around.
What it stands for: Jyotish reads Ketu as detachment, loss, spiritual insight and talents you have without trying. In myth it is the demon’s headless body, all instinct and no appetite. Ketu in the 2nd can describe someone who earns well and still does not care much about money.
Why it matters: Ketu shows where you already know enough to let go, and where things slip away if you cling. Its mahadasha lasts seven years and is often quiet, inward and searching.
Try it: Find Ketu’s house in "Where each planet sits". Name one thing there you are good at but no longer want, and give some of it away this month: time, an object or a role.
Common mistake: Reading Ketu only as loss. Letting go makes room, and many people find their sharpest focus during or after a Ketu period.

North Indian chart

The diamond-shaped Vedic chart. The houses stay in fixed places and the signs move between them.

What it is: A square with a diamond drawn inside, giving twelve compartments. The 1st house is always the diamond at the top center, and each chart writes a different sign number into each compartment.
Why it matters: It is the standard drawing in northern India, and because the houses never move, your eye learns to find the 7th house in the same spot every time. The placements are identical to any other style.
Try it: Switch the chart style on your Vedic chart to North Indian. The number in the top diamond is your lagna sign, counting 1 for Aries through 12 for Pisces.
Common mistake: Thinking North and South Indian charts give different readings. They are two drawings of the same chart, like a subway map and a street map of one city.

South Indian chart

The square-grid Vedic chart. The signs stay in fixed boxes and the houses move between them.

What it is: A four-by-four grid with the middle removed, leaving twelve boxes. The signs never move, with Pisces in the top-left box and Aries beside it, and your lagna is marked so the houses can be counted from it.
Why it matters: It is standard in southern India, and because the signs never move your eye learns where each one lives. Both styles show the same grahas in the same signs.
Try it: Switch the chart style on your Vedic chart to South Indian and find the box marked as your lagna. Count clockwise from it to the Moon’s box, starting at 1, to get your Moon’s house.
Common mistake: Reading one style with the habits of the other. In the North Indian chart the fixed spots are houses and in the South Indian chart they are signs, so mixing them up puts every planet in the wrong house.

Timing

Dasha

A planetary period. Vedic astrology splits a life into long stretches, each run by one planet.

What it is: Jyotish divides your whole life into back-to-back periods, each ruled by one graha, in a fixed order set by your Moon’s nakshatra at birth. This app uses the Vimshottari system, a 120-year cycle.
What it stands for: Jyotish reads the running planet as the theme of the chapter. A Venus period tends to bring relationships, comfort and art to the front, while a Saturn period brings work, duty and slow progress.
Why it matters: It is Vedic astrology’s main timing tool and has no real Western match. The same chart reads differently at thirty and at fifty because a different planet is running the show.
Try it: Open "What’s running now" on your Vedic chart and note your current period and its end date. Write down what that planet stands for and one way your last year fits it.
Common mistake: Expecting a dasha to act like a transit. Transits last days or weeks, while a dasha is a chapter that can run for nearly two decades and colors everything inside it.

Mahadasha

The major dasha, the long one, lasting from six to twenty years depending on the planet.

What it is: The main period in the Vimshottari sequence, with fixed lengths: Sun 6 years, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19, Mercury 17, Ketu 7 and Venus 20, adding up to 120.
What it stands for: Jyotish reads each mahadasha as a life chapter with one planet as its headline. Inside it run shorter sub-periods called antardashas, which add a second planet’s flavor for months or a few years.
Why it matters: Which planet is running, and how well it sits in your chart, is one of the first things a Jyotish reading looks at. It decides which parts of the chart are switched on right now.
Try it: Find your current mahadasha and when the next one starts. Put the change date in your calendar and list one thing you want finished before the new chapter begins.
Common mistake: Reading a hard planet’s mahadasha as twenty bad years. What matters is how that planet sits in your own chart, and a well-placed Saturn period can be the most productive stretch of a life.

Sade Sati

Saturn’s seven-and-a-half-year pass over your Moon sign. Known in India as a heavy, testing time.

What it is: Sade Sati means "seven and a half". It runs while Saturn moves through the sign before your Moon sign, your Moon sign itself and the sign after it, about two and a half years each.
What it stands for: Jyotish reads it as Saturn pressing on the mind and emotions. It tends to strip away what is weak or false, like the job, habit or friendship that only lasted because nobody questioned it.
Why it matters: It comes around about every thirty years, so most people meet it two or three times. Knowing your dates helps you plan big commitments and expect more effort than usual.
Try it: Open "Saturn’s long pass over your Moon" on your Vedic chart to see your dates. If you are in it, pick one area of life to simplify and drop one commitment held together by habit alone.
Common mistake: Treating it as seven and a half years of bad luck. Many people build their most solid achievements during it, because Saturn rewards patient, honest work.