Vedic astrology articles

Essays on Jyotish: karma, lagna, Moon, Sun, Saturn, Rahu, Ketu, Sade Sati, houses, grahas, sidereal signs, transits, and how Vedic astrology differs from Western astrology. Written as readings, not as blurbs. A reader working with VedicAstrology.com.

How sidereal and tropical astrology can both be trueVedic astrology and Western astrology do not cancel each other. A janam kundli is one sky. A tropical natal chart is another map of the same birth. Nakshatras make the sidereal picture finer still. The two can press at once.
Karma in Vedic astrologyJyotish reads a life as karma in motion. The janam kundli does not trap you. It shows what is loud, what is ready, and when a period asks something of you.
The rising sign, or lagna, in Vedic astrologyThe lagna is the sign that was coming up at your birth. In a janam kundli it starts the whole chart. That is why Vedic astrology needs the time of birth.
The Moon in Vedic astrologyIn Jyotish the Moon is as central as the Sun. The rashi of the Moon, and the nakshatra it occupies, describe mind, habit, and how a life feels from the inside.
The Sun in Vedic astrologyThe Sun in a janam kundli is soul, father, vitality, and the seat of confidence. It is not the whole chart. Jyotish never lets the Sun stand in for the sky.
Saturn in Vedic astrologySaturn, or Shani, is time, work, delay, and the long lesson. People fear it. Jyotish treats it as a graha that matures a life, not as a curse with a single meaning.
What is Sade Sati in Vedic astrology?Sade Sati is a Saturn transit: Saturn moving through the sign before your natal Moon, the sign of the Moon, and the sign after. In Jyotish it lasts about seven and a half years, and it is not the same for every chart.
Houses in a Vedic birth chartA janam kundli has twelve houses, counted from the lagna. Each house is a part of life: body, wealth, siblings, home, children, health, partnership, death and transformation, dharma, career, gains, and loss.
The nine grahas in Vedic astrologyJyotish reads nine grahas: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu, and Ketu. They are not all planets in the modern sense. They are the lights of a Vedic birth chart.
Sidereal signs in Vedic astrologyThe twelve signs in Jyotish are sidereal. They are named as in the West, Aries through Pisces, but they do not fall on the same dates. That is the usual reason a Vedic sign differs from a Western sign.
How Vedic astrology differs from Western astrologyPeople in the West often meet astrology first as a tropical Sun sign. Jyotish is older in India, sidereal, lunar, and timed by dasha. The two crafts share names and not much else.
Gochara, or transits, in Vedic astrologyGochara is the sky now, moving over the janam kundli. Saturn over the Moon is the famous example. Jyotish reads transits with dasha, not instead of dasha.
Mars in Vedic astrologyMars, or Mangala, is heat, courage, conflict, brothers, land, and the will to act. In a janam kundli it can be a blade or a backbone, depending on house, sign, and dasha.
Mercury in Vedic astrologyMercury, or Budha, is speech, trade, wit, and the linking mind. In Jyotish it takes colour from the grahas beside it. Alone it is nimble. Beside a hot graha it argues. Beside a soft graha it soothes.
Jupiter in Vedic astrologyJupiter, or Guru, is growth, wisdom, children, dharma, and the sense that life can open. In a Vedic birth chart a well-placed Jupiter is grace. A weak or troubled Jupiter is still a teacher, only a slower one.
Ketu in Vedic astrologyKetu, the south lunar node, is the cut, the past, and the release. People call it spiritual. Jyotish treats it as a graha of what you are already finished with, and of what still asks to be left.
Rahu in Vedic astrologyRahu, the north lunar node, is hunger, the unconventional path, and the thing you chase. People fear it. Jyotish treats it as a graha that pulls a life into rooms it does not yet know.
How Rahu and Ketu interplay in your chartRahu and Ketu are one axis. They stay opposite. What one grabs, the other releases. A janam kundli reads them together, not as two separate villains.
Benefic and malefic planets in Vedic astrologyNatural benefics and malefics are a first lesson in Jyotish, not the last. Jupiter, Venus, a strong Moon, and a well-placed Mercury tend to ease. Saturn, Mars, Rahu, Ketu, and a harsh Sun tend to cut. Then the chart talks back.