Astroज्योतिष

Today's teaching

“Wealth is the star for wealth; what will the stars do?”
— Kautilya, Arthashastra IX.4

Library · Course

The Study of Jyotisha

A complete course in Indian astrology, written in plain English for anyone who wants to learn it properly. It starts from the sky you can see and goes chapter by chapter to the full reading of a chart. Every rule names the classical text and verse it comes from, and the course is self-contained: you never need to leave this site. To study one teacher on their own, see Study by teacher. 54 chapters, 112,726 words so far.

Part One · Beginnings

  1. What Jyotisha isWhat Jyotisha is and is not, its three branches, the books it rests on, how this course cites them, and the attitude the old teachers asked of a student.3,206 words
  2. The sky and the zodiacThe sky as a sphere, the Sun's path called the ecliptic, the zodiac and its twelve signs, how positions are measured, precession, and why Indian astrology counts the zodiac from the stars (the ayanamsa).3,385 words
  3. How the planets moveThe nine grahas of Jyotisha as moving bodies: their speeds and periods, why planets seem to go backward, how they vanish in the Sun's glare, planetary 'war', the lunar nodes Rahu and Ketu, and what eclipses really are.3,429 words
  4. The nakshatrasThe 27 lunar mansions that are older in India than the twelve signs: how big each is, its four quarters, its stars, its ruling deity and planet, its nature, and the 'knots' where signs and nakshatras end together.2,956 words
  5. Time and the panchangaHow Jyotisha measures time: the day from sunrise, the weekday and its planetary lord, and the five limbs of the almanac — tithi, nakshatra, yoga and karana — then months, extra months, years and eras, with every step worked out by hand.3,970 words
  6. Casting a chartHow a horoscope is made: checking the birth data and the clock, finding the planets, finding the rising sign by the old method of rising times, numbering the houses, and drawing the chart in the South, North and East Indian styles — with one complete worked example.4,110 words

Part Two · The building blocks

  1. The twelve signsThe twelve rashis as the classical texts describe them: their shapes, lords and places in the cosmic body; male and female, movable, fixed and dual; their directions and elements; day and night signs; footed classes; colours and places; and the old portraits of a person with the Moon in each sign.3,515 words
  2. The nine grahasWhat each of the nine grahas means in Jyotisha: its role in the cosmic person, its rank, nature, colour, deity, direction, element, temperament, body, places and things — and what it signifies in a life. Rahu and Ketu as the later tradition describes them.3,073 words
  3. The twelve housesThe twelve bhavas, the areas of life a chart is read for: their names and meanings from Varahamihira and the later books, the angles, trines and houses of growth and difficulty, house lords, the old rules for planets in houses, and the habit of reading a house from another house.2,929 words
  4. Dignity and friendshipHow comfortable a graha is where it stands: exaltation and debilitation, moolatrikona, own signs, and the friendships between planets — natural, temporary and the five-fold compound — with the old rule for how much of a planet's promise it can deliver.2,755 words
  5. AspectsHow grahas 'look at' other parts of the chart: Varahamihira's graded aspects and the special full aspects of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, measuring aspects by sign or by degree, the exact aspect strength of the later texts, the nodes, and the four ways two planets can be connected.2,428 words
  6. Divisional chartsThe vargas: dividing each sign into smaller parts to make charts within the chart. Varahamihira's six divisions and Parashara's sixteen, how each is computed by hand, the navamsa in depth, vargottama, what each chart is read for, and how sensitive they are to the birth time.3,066 words
  7. The nakshatras in a chartUsing the nakshatras in a birth chart: the birth star and Varahamihira's portraits of the Moon in each of the 27, the nakshatras of the lagna and the planets, the later habit of reading a planet through its star's lord, and the nine-fold count of taras from the birth star.2,313 words

Part Three · Strength

  1. Shadbala: the six strengthsShadbala, the six-fold strength of a planet: strength of place, of direction, of time, of motion, natural strength and the strength of aspects — what each means, where it comes from in Varahamihira and Parashara, how the main parts are worked out, and what the totals of the example chart show.3,133 words
  2. Avasthas and other strengthsThe other measures of a planet's condition: combustion and planetary war, the waxing and waning Moon, the planet's 'age' and 'wakefulness' in a sign, the twenty-point strength across the divisional charts, and how to combine them sensibly.2,542 words
  3. AshtakavargaThe eight-source point system: how each planet's good and bad places are counted from the eight reference points of the chart, how the points add up to 337, how the total table is read, and how the points are used to judge transits.3,100 words

Part Four · Yogas

  1. How yogas workWhat a yoga is, the main kinds, where they come from, and how to judge them: strength, cancellation, timing, and the old warning that a yoga's promise depends on the life it falls into. Why almost every chart has dozens of yogas, and what that means for reading them.1,986 words
  2. The great persons and the lunar yogasThe five great persons formed by a strong planet in an angle; the yogas round the Moon (Sunapha, Anapha, Durudhura, Kemadruma, Adhi, the wealth yogas) and the Sun; Gajakesari and how its definition differs from book to book.2,375 words
  3. Raja yogas and dhana yogasThe yogas of rank and wealth: Varahamihira's royal yogas and his rule that their promise depends on birth; Parashara's lordship yogas, the yogakaraka, functional benefics and malefics for each ascendant, sign exchanges, Lakshmi and the wealth yogas, worked through on the example chart.2,455 words
  4. Nabhasa yogas: the shape of the chartThe thirty-two 'sky' yogas formed by the overall shape of the chart: the planets all in one kind of sign, in the angles, in a run of consecutive houses, in alternate signs, or in a given number of signs. Varahamihira's list, his critique of an impossible yoga, and how to find the pattern in any chart.2,087 words
  5. Difficult yogas and their cancellationThe yogas the books call unfortunate — the twelve house yogas formed by lords in the 6th, 8th and 12th, Sakata, the hemmed-in ascendant — and the many rules that cancel or reverse them: debilitation cancelled, Harsha, Sarala and Vimala, and the long lists of protections. Why this course never reads a difficult yoga as a sentence.1,997 words

Part Five · Timing

  1. Vimshottari dashaThe 120-year cycle of planetary periods that most Jyotishis use to time a life: how it starts from the Moon's nakshatra, how to work out the balance at birth and the sub-periods, how sensitive it is to the birth time and the ayanamsa, and how to judge what a period will bring.2,274 words
  2. Other dasha systemsVarahamihira's own period system and the 'natural' periods; Parashara's conditional systems — Ashtottari, Yogini and the rest — and the rules for when each applies; a first look at the sign-based Chara dasha; and what it means that the systems so often disagree.1,848 words
  3. TransitsGochara: how the planets' movements after birth are read against the birth Moon. Varahamihira's table of good and bad places for each planet, his rules that limit them, the later refinements (obstruction, ashtakavarga), Saturn's seven and a half years examined honestly, and how transits combine with dashas.2,119 words
  4. Annual chartsThe Tajika system of annual horoscopes, which came to India from Arabic and Persian astrology: the chart for the moment the Sun returns to its birth position, the Muntha, the year's lord, Tajika aspects and yogas, and the Sahams. With the example chart's 2026 birthday chart, and honest notes on what this course has and has not checked.1,771 words

Part Six · Judging the houses

  1. The first house: the selfThe ascendant: the body, the self and the root of the whole chart. How to judge its strength, what each planet does there by Varahamihira's rules, what the ascendant lord's placement shows, and a full reading of the example chart's Libra ascendant.1,869 words
  2. The second house: wealth, family and speechWealth, family, speech, food and the face. Jupiter as its significator, the hora chart, Varahamihira's planets in the 2nd, the 2nd and 11th houses together, and the example chart's weak 2nd house set against its strong wealth yogas.1,421 words
  3. The third house: courage, effort and siblingsCourage, effort, younger siblings, skills, communication and short journeys. Why malefics do well in the 3rd, Mars as its significator, the drekkana chart, and the example chart's yogakaraka Saturn in the 3rd.1,312 words
  4. The fourth house: home, mother and happinessHome, the mother, happiness, land, vehicles and schooling. The Moon as significator, the planets that are strong in the 4th, Varahamihira's rules, and the example chart's Rahu in the 4th aspected by exalted Jupiter.1,382 words
  5. The fifth house: intelligence and childrenIntelligence, children, learning, creativity, devotion and the merit of past lives. Jupiter as significator, the saptamsa, Varahamihira's planets in the 5th, why this course does not predict childlessness, and the example chart's Aquarius 5th ruled by the yogakaraka.1,161 words
  6. The sixth house: struggle, service and healthEnemies, illness, debts, disputes and service — and the strength to overcome them. The two opposite rules for planets in the 6th, Harsha yoga, why this course does not diagnose illness, and the example chart's Pisces 6th ruled by exalted Jupiter.1,306 words
  7. The seventh house: marriage and partnershipMarriage, the spouse, partners, the public and open opponents. Venus as significator, the navamsa as the chart of marriage, Varahamihira's planets in the 7th, and the example chart's Mars in its own sign in the 7th — with what the navamsa adds.1,560 words
  8. The eighth house: the hiddenThe house of the hidden: research, transformation, inheritance, other people's money, the occult — and, in the old books, the length of life and the manner of death. What those methods are, as history; why this course does not apply them; and the example chart's exalted Moon in the 8th.1,698 words
  9. The ninth house: fortune, dharma and the fatherFortune, dharma, the father, teachers, higher learning, religion and long journeys. Jupiter and the Sun as significators, the best of the trikonas, Varahamihira's planets in the 9th, and the example chart's Gemini 9th, aspected by Saturn and ruled by Mercury in the 11th.1,274 words
  10. The tenth house: career and actionCareer, action, status and reputation. Varahamihira's own method for finding a person's livelihood from the navamsa lords of the three 10th lords, worked in full on the example chart; the dasamsa; and the example's crowded, strong 10th house.1,721 words
  11. The eleventh house: gains and friendsGains, income, the fulfilment of wishes, friends and elder siblings. The one house where every planet does well, Jupiter as significator, the 11th set against the 10th and 12th, and the example chart's Mercury in Leo in the 11th.1,261 words
  12. The twelfth house: loss and releaseLoss, expense, foreign lands, sleep, retreat, charity and liberation. Saturn as significator, Varahamihira's harsh lines and his own milder rule, Vimala yoga, the ascetic yogas of Brihat Jataka XV, and the example chart's empty Virgo 12th with the fewest points in the chart.1,187 words

Part Seven · The Jaimini system

  1. The Jaimini systemThe second great school of Indian horoscopy: aspects between signs, the movable significators ranked by degree, the soul's planet and the karakamsa, arudha padas (the image a house projects), argala (intervention), and the sign-based Chara dasha — all worked for the example chart, with the points where the sources disagree.2,027 words

Part Eight · The applied branches

  1. Muhurta: choosing a timeChoosing a good time to begin: the five limbs of the panchanga, the personal checks (the nine taras from the birth star, the Moon's transit), the chart of the starting moment, the daily periods such as Rahu kalam (and what the texts actually say about them), a worked example for a real date, and how to use muhurta without fear or expense.1,652 words
  2. Prashna: the chart of a questionHorary astrology: a chart cast for the moment a question is asked. Its roots in Varahamihira (the question chart for a lost horoscope, the reading of signs and gestures), the later texts (Shatpanchasika, Prasna Marga), the basic method, a worked example with a hypothetical question, and how to keep yourself honest with a question journal.1,424 words
  3. Marriage matchingHow horoscopes are compared for marriage: the North Indian eight-part score out of 36 and the South Indian ten agreements, with their sources and exceptions; Mangala dosha traced from its classical roots to its modern form; a worked comparison in which the two systems disagree; and what the frequencies and the evidence say.2,149 words
  4. Samhita: omens, weather and the worldThe third branch of Jyotisha: Varahamihira's Brihat Samhita, an encyclopaedia of the sky, the weather, omens, the land and daily life. His astronomical explanation of eclipses, his rain gauge and monsoon forecasting, groundwater, portents, building and gems — and how to read mundane prediction as history rather than forecast.1,437 words
  5. Other schoolsThe schools and products a student will meet outside the classical texts: the Nadi traditions (printed rule books and palm-leaf readings), the Bhrigu Samhita, Lal Kitab, Krishnamurti Paddhati, and Western tropical astrology — what each is, where it comes from, what is documented and what is legend.1,485 words

Part Nine · The craft

  1. Doshas and remediesThe 'doshas' sold today traced to their sources — which are classical, which are narrow classical rules made broad, and which are modern inventions — with how often each occurs; then the remedies: what the texts actually prescribe, where 'wear a ruby for the Sun' came from, what the evidence shows, and the law.1,677 words
  2. Reading a whole chartHow to put everything together: a step-by-step method for reading a chart as a whole, from the first glance to the timing, worked in full on the course's example chart — with how to weigh conflicting testimony, how to write the reading, and what to leave out.1,960 words
  3. The ethics of the readerWhat it means to read a chart responsibly: Varahamihira's portrait of the ideal astrologer, the subjects a reader should not predict, how to speak about uncertainty without frightening, the special duties towards vulnerable people, money and remedies, privacy, and the honest limits of the subject.1,465 words

Part Ten · History

  1. The Vedic skyWhere Jyotisha begins: the sky of the Vedas, the lists of nakshatras in the Taittiriya Samhita and the Atharva Veda, the Krittikas in the east, and the Vedanga Jyotisha — a calendar for timing the sacrifices, with no zodiac, no planets and no horoscopes. How it is dated, and what came later.1,264 words
  2. Greek contact and VarahamihiraHow horoscopic astrology came to India: Greek-speaking astrologers of Alexandria, the Yavanajataka of 149/150 CE, the Greek words that still sit in the Brihat Jataka, the five siddhantas, and Varahamihira of Ujjain, who gathered the streams together in the sixth century — his life, his works, and his habit of testing what he was told.1,446 words
  3. Aryabhata and the siddhantasThe mathematical astronomy behind every chart: Aryabhata (499 CE) and his rotating Earth, his π, sine table and number code; Brahmagupta, Bhaskara I and Bhaskara II; the Surya Siddhanta; how accurate the old methods were; and the choice today between siddhantic and observational (drik) almanacs.1,469 words
  4. Parashara, Jaimini and the later classicsThe texts after Varahamihira: the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra and its complicated history, the Jaimini Sutras, the medieval classics (Saravali, Phaladeepika, Jataka Parijata and others), the muhurta and Tajika books, the legend of the eighteen founders, and how to tell a sage's name from a text's date.1,305 words
  5. Kerala and the regional traditionsJyotisha in the regions: the Kerala school of astronomy (Haridatta's Parahita, the vakya tables, Madhava's infinite series, Nilakantha), the katapayadi number code, Kerala's prashna tradition, the Tamil Siddhars and Pancha Pakshi, and the regional calendars — with what is documented and what is legend.1,298 words
  6. Jyotisha and the evidenceWhat happens when astrology's claims are tested: the main controlled studies (Carlson, Narlikar, the 'time twins'), the psychology that makes astrology feel accurate, the problem of many methods, how a student can test claims for themselves, and what remains of value in the tradition whatever the verdict.1,401 words

Appendices

  1. GlossaryEvery technical term used in the course, in plain English, with the chapter where it is explained.1,311 words
  2. TablesThe reference tables of the course in one place: signs, planets, dignities, friendships, aspects, nakshatras, dasha years, house meanings, strengths, ashtakavarga totals and the divisional charts, each with its source.1,982 words