Introduction
The Sun is the brightest body in our sky, and astrology calls it the king of the grahas. The sign it occupies is your "Sun sign"; in North India, though, names and rashifal use the Moon sign, not the Sun sign.
The Sun crosses one sign in about a month and all twelve in a year. This gives the solar months and the sankrantis, such as Makar Sankranti. The Sun does not go retrograde.
What it signifies
Tradition holds that the Sun signifies:
- self-confidence, self-respect and a sense of who you are
- the father and father-like elders
- authority, leadership and responsibility
- government, order and public life
For work, tradition associates the Sun with fields that involve leading, deciding and standing in front of others. It is a theme, not one job.
These are tendencies, not settled facts about a person. The house, the sign, the planets with it and the running dasha together make the picture.
Exalted, debilitated, own sign: in plain words
The Sun's own sign is Simha. Exaltation is at Mesha 10° and debilitation at Tula 10°, the same degree in the opposite sign. The first 20 degrees of Simha are moolatrikona and the rest is own sign.
The Sun's natural friends are Jupiter, Mars and the Moon; its neutral is Mercury; the old classification lists Saturn and Venus as enemies. These are old labels; in shadbala they only decide how many points of positional strength a planet earns in a sign. Raman's method also adds the temporary relationship from the birth chart.
Exalted, debilitated, own sign and moolatrikona are names for a position, not a verdict on anyone's life. Debilitation by itself decides nothing; houses, aspects, dasha, the navamsa and the whole chart speak together.
Shadbala and this planet, in plain words
Shadbala is the sum of six kinds of strength: positional, directional, temporal, motional, natural and aspectual. ePandit computes it by B. V. Raman's method in Graha and Bhava Balas. The unit is the virupa; 60 virupas make 1 rupa.
Raman gives each planet a traditional required minimum. For the Sun it is 300 virupas (5 rupas). We show you one simple ratio:
Ratio = the Sun's total shadbala ÷ 300
- Above 1 means only that the Sun has more than the traditional minimum to work with in its themes.
- Below 1 says nothing bad. It means other factors lead in that chart: another planet, the running dasha, or a house.
The Sun's naisargika (natural) bala is 60 virupas, the same in every chart. Directional strength is full when the Sun sits in the 10th house (south). In Raman's method the Sun and the Moon get no motional (cheshta) strength in the total. The Sun's natural bala is the highest of the seven, but it is a fixed share, not a measure of good or bad.
Other software may show small differences; we follow Raman's method. Shadbala is a measure built on arithmetic; it does not decide any result on its own.
Mahadasha
In Vimshottari, the Sun's mahadasha lasts 6 years, the shortest of the nine. Tradition holds that themes of responsibility, recognition, self-confidence and ties with elders come forward in this time.
How it unfolds depends on where the Sun sits in your chart, which houses it rules and which antardasha is running inside it. Every mahadasha holds nine antardashas, each with its own colour.
Faith
Tradition links Sunday with the Sun. If you wish, you can chant the Sun's name-mantra 11 or 108 times in the morning, with a calm mind:
ॐ सूर्याय नमः (Om Sūryāya Namaḥ) (planet name-mantra: tradition)
On a Sunday, you may give a little wheat or jaggery to someone in need. (folk belief, optional)
This is a matter of faith, not a condition. No costly remedy is needed.