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ASTRONOMICALDEFINITIONS
Thissectionwill introducethebasicterms
inJyotish,whichofttimesseemsfrighteningbecauseof
themanySanskritexpressionswhichmayhavenoinitialmeaningforthenovice.Iplantodevelopa
dictionarylateron,comprisingallpossibleJyotishterminology.
JanmaKundali The chart drawn with the planetary positions in the
twelve signs of the
Zodiacthetimeandplaceofsomeone'sbirth
iscalledhisJanmaKundali,
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 the body of the child from that
of the
mother.
Ravimarga 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,
theyjust
blink,i.e.theirbrightnesschangewithtime.
Grahas 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
duringthe timesof solar and
lunareclipseswhentheyshadowoverthe
luminaries. They are located at the intersection points of the
elliptical
apparentcoursesoftheSunandtheMoon.RahuandKetuarealways in
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's
definition,
they
should
always
be
retrograde,
therefore
the
applicationofMeanNodesisadvised.
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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
durationof
the
day
from
sunrise
to
sunset
(or
of
night
from
sunset
to
the
nextsunriseifbirthisatnight)into8partsofequallength.Eachpartwill
beruledbyaplanetintheorderofweekdays,beginningwiththelordof
theweek.ThepartafterSaturnislordless.
Fornightbirthsthefirstpart isruledbythe
lordofthe5thdayfromthe
dayofbirth.Thefollowingtableshowsthe
lordsofdifferentportionsfor
differentdaysoftheweek:
Table
1.0
for
lords
of
the
portions
of
the
day
for
day
births:
Day
of
Week
Part
1
Part
2
Part
3 Part
4 Part
5 Part
6 Part
7
Part
8
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
Mercury
Friday Venus Saturn Sun Moon Mars Mercur
y
Jupiter
Saturday Saturn Sun Moon Mars Mercur
y
Jupiter Venus
Table1.1forlordsoftheportionsofthenightfornightbirths(Note:adayintheVediccalendaris
fromsunrisetosunrise,sothewholenightwillbelongtothepreviousday):
Day
of
Week
Part
1 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
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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 Sun Moon Mars
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
donttakethem
intoconsideration.MostoftheauthorsalsotakeMandiandGulikatobe
identical
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.
Brihat
Parashara
Hora
Shastra,
Phala
Deepika
and
other
classics
describetheeffectsofUpagrahasindifferenthousesindetail.
