Core concepts

What is ashtakavarga and how are its numbers read?

Ashtakavarga is a counting system: each of seven grahas has its own table (bhinnashtakavarga) giving every sign 0 to 8 bindus, and their sum...

How does kundli matching work?

In North India, kundli matching uses the ashtakoot: eight kootas worth 36 points in all. ePandit first looks at the Nadi, Bhakoot, Gana and...

What is the avakahada chakra?

The avakahada chakra is a small table printed with the birth chart, built from the Moon's sign and nakshatra: name syllable, varna, vashya,...

What is bhakoot dosha, and what are its cancellations?

Bhakoot is the 7-point ashtakoot koota that comes from the distance between the two Moon signs. At 2–12, 5–9 or 6–8 it is called bhakoot dos...

What is Budha-Aditya yoga?

Budha-Aditya yoga is taken to form when the Sun and Mercury are in the same sign. It is a very common placement; Raman adds that Mercury sho...

What is the bhava chalit chart?

The bhava chalit chart divides the houses by the actual degrees of the lagna and the midheaven, not by sign boundaries. It shows whether a p...

What is Chandra-Mangala yoga?

Chandra-Mangala yoga is taken to form when the Moon and Mars share a sign; Raman adds their mutual aspect. He reads it as a steadying factor...

What is dhana yoga?

Dhana yogas are combinations that tradition links with earning and resources. ePandit mainly checks whether the 2nd and 11th lords are linke...

What is Gajakesari yoga?

Gajakesari yoga forms when Jupiter is in a kendra (the 1st, 4th, 7th or 10th house) from the Moon. It is a famous yoga and a fairly common o...

What is the difference between gandmool and gandanta?

Gaṇḍamūla is birth in six nakshatras: Ashwini, Ashlesha, Magha, Jyeshtha, Mula and Revati. Gaṇḍānta is much narrower: only the time right ar...

What is kaal sarp dosha, and what do the texts say about it?

'Kaal sarp' is the popular name for the pattern in which all seven planets lie between Rahu and Ketu on one side. BPHS does not name it; it...

What is Kemadruma yoga?

Kemadruma yoga is counted when no planet other than the Sun sits on either side of the Moon (in the 2nd and 12th houses from it). The texts...

What is the birth chart (D1)?

The birth chart, also called the rashi chart or D1, is a map of the sky at the moment of birth: twelve houses, twelve signs and nine grahas....

What is Mangal vichar (Mangal dosha)?

Mangal dosha (kuja dosha) is the condition of Mars in the 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th or 12th house from the lagna, the Moon or Venus, with no cancel...

What is nadi dosha, and what are its cancellations?

Nadi is the ashtakoot koota with the most points (8). If the bride's and groom's birth nakshatras share a nadi, it is called nadi dosha. Muh...

What is neecha-bhanga raja yoga?

When a planet is in its debilitation sign but certain conditions are met, its debilitation is taken as cancelled (neecha-bhanga). Phaladeepi...

What are the Pancha Mahapurusha yogas?

When Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus or Saturn is in its own or exaltation sign and in a kendra from the lagna, the Ruchaka, Bhadra, Hamsa, Ma...

What is parivartana yoga?

When the lords of two houses sit in each other's signs, it is called parivartana (exchange) yoga. Phaladeepika divides the 66 possible pairs...

What is a child's pāya and how is it found?

Pāya is a folk custom written into many janam-patris: gold, silver, copper or iron. Two methods are in use, and they often give different an...

What is pitru dosha, and what do the texts say?

Tradition links the 9th house and the Sun with the father, elders and ancestors, and śrāddha in Pitṛ-pakṣa is the living way of remembering...

What is raja yoga?

According to BPHS, a raja yoga forms when the lord of a kendra (1, 4, 7, 10) and the lord of a trikona (1, 5, 9) are linked. It is a leaning...

What is sade sati, and how do the texts read it?

Sade sati is the popular name for Saturn's transit through the 12th, 1st and 2nd signs from your Moon sign, about seven and a half years. Th...

What is shadbala and how are its numbers read?

Shadbala is an arithmetic measure of a planet's strength, made by adding six parts. ePandit computes it by B. V. Raman's method in Graha and...

What is the Vimshottari dasha and how is it worked out?

The Vimshottari dasha is a 120-year cycle in which nine grahas take turns to run their mahadasha. The lord of the birth nakshatra opens it,...

What is vipareeta raja yoga?

When the lord of the 6th, 8th or 12th sits in one of these same three houses, Harsha, Sarala or Vimala yoga forms. Together they are called...

What are yogas in a birth chart?

A yoga is a specific planetary combination whose rule is written in the classical texts, such as Gajakesari or the Pancha Mahapurusha yogas....