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Grahas, Rashis, and Nakshatras in the Birth Chart
Nine grahas, twelve rashis, and twenty-seven nakshatras are the three grids of a Jyotish chart. The lord of the nakshatra that holds the Moon is the graha that opens the Vimshottari sequence.
The nine grahas and who owns the signs
The seven star-planets own the rashis. Mars owns Mesha and Vrishchika, Venus owns Vrishabha and Tula, Mercury owns Mithuna and Kanya, the Moon owns Karka, the Sun owns Simha, Jupiter owns Dhanu and Meena, Saturn owns Makara and Kumbha. Rahu and Ketu are the lunar nodes. They stand opposite each other and own no rashi on that list, so a node is read through the lord of the sign it occupies. Exaltation is a separate dignity: the Sun in Mesha, the Moon in Vrishabha, Mars in Makara, Mercury in Kanya, Jupiter in Karka, Venus in Meena, Saturn in Tula. Debilitation is the opposite sign in each case.
Twelve rashis, counted as houses from the lagna
Each rashi is thirty degrees of the sidereal zodiac. The rashi rising at birth is the lagna and the first house. Houses then follow in zodiac order, so the chart's 7th house is the seventh sign from the lagna, not a universal Libra. That is why two people born in the same month, sharing a Sun rashi, can have opposite marriage houses. The rashis also carry the elements in sets of three: fire Mesha, Simha, Dhanu; earth Vrishabha, Kanya, Makara; air Mithuna, Tula, Kumbha; water Karka, Vrishchika, Meena. Element language describes temperament of the sign. It does not replace the house lord.
Twenty-seven nakshatras time the life
The nakshatras slice the same zodiac the rashis use. Their lords, in order from Ashwini, run Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, and then repeat. Vimshottari mahadashas use those lords for 7, 20, 6, 10, 7, 18, 16, 19, and 17 years. Only the Moon's nakshatra picks the starting lord, and only the unused portion of that nakshatra remains at birth. A chart element list that stops at Sun, Moon, and rising sign has not reached the timer.
Frequently asked questions
Do Rahu and Ketu own signs?
Not on the standard seven-lord list. Later authors sometimes co-assign signs to the nodes. The working method here is to read the node through the lord of the sign it occupies.
Is the Sun sign the rising sign?
Only if the Sun occupies the lagna. The Sun's rashi changes about monthly. The lagna's rashi changes about every two hours. They coincide for a short part of each day.
Which element starts the dasha?
The nakshatra, not the fire or water triplicity. The Moon's nakshatra lord is the first Vimshottari mahadasha lord, for the balance of that nakshatra only.
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D1, D9, D10, dashas, yogas, and transits, the same calculations referenced in this article.