Reference

Glossary

Sanskrit and technical terms used throughout this site, defined plainly.

Antardasha: The sub-period of a Vimshottari Mahadasha, ruled by one of the nine dasha lords in turn — the second of the three levels this site computes.
Ashtakavarga: A points-based (bindu) system that scores each sign's relative support from the seven classical planets and the Ascendant, used mainly for weighing transit strength.
Ayanamsa: The angular offset between the tropical zodiac (fixed to the equinox) and the sidereal zodiac (fixed to the star field) — the correction that turns a Western tropical position into a Vedic sidereal one.
Bhava: House. One of the twelve divisions of the chart counted from the Ascendant, each governing a different area of life.
Bhukti: Another name for Antardasha — the sub-period within a Mahadasha.
Chesta Bala: One of the six components of Shadbala — a planet's motional strength, generally highest when retrograde or moving unusually slowly.
Dasha: A planetary period system used to time when a planet's significations become active in a person's life. Vimshottari Dasha, based on the Moon's nakshatra, is the most widely used.
Debilitation (Neecha): The sign in which a planet is considered weakest, classically the sign directly opposite its exaltation sign.
Dig Bala: Directional strength — one of the six Shadbala components, based on how close a planet sits to the house where it is classically strongest.
Dignity: The overall quality of a planet's placement by sign — exalted, in its own sign, in a friend's or enemy's sign, debilitated, and so on.
Drishti: Aspect — the influence one planet casts onto another house or planet. All planets aspect the 7th house from themselves; Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn cast additional special aspects.
Dushthana: The three difficult houses — 6th, 8th, and 12th — associated with obstacles, transformation, and loss respectively.
Graha: Planet, in the classical sense — the nine grahas used in Vedic astrology are the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu, and Ketu.
Kaala Bala: Temporal strength — one of the six Shadbala components, reflecting a planet's strength based on time of day, lunar phase, and other time-based factors.
Karaka: A planet's natural significator role — the graha classically associated with a particular house, relationship, or life theme regardless of where it sits in a specific chart.
Kendra: The four angular houses — 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th — considered the strongest and most structurally important houses in the chart.
Kuja Dosha (Mangal Dosha): A classical affliction where Mars sits in one of several specific houses from the Ascendant, traditionally weighed carefully in marriage compatibility.
Lagna: The Ascendant — the sign rising on the eastern horizon at the exact moment and place of birth, and the reference point every house in the chart is counted from.
Mahadasha: The major (first-level) period in the Vimshottari Dasha system, lasting anywhere from 6 to 20 years depending on the ruling planet.
Maraka: Literally "killer" — the 2nd and 7th houses and their lords, classically implicated in dasha periods associated with health crises or endings, not literal death in every case.
Moolatrikona: A degree range within (or adjacent to) a planet's own sign where it is considered even stronger than in an ordinary own-sign placement.
Nadi: One of three groupings of the 27 nakshatras (Aadi, Madhya, Antya) used in certain compatibility and remedial systems; also the name of a separate predictive tradition (Nadi astrology) not used on this site.
Naisargika Bala: Natural strength — one of the six Shadbala components, a fixed ranking of the classical planets by inherent brightness/strength (Sun highest, Saturn lowest).
Nakshatra: One of the 27 lunar mansions the zodiac is divided into (13°20' each), each with a ruling planet, deity, and symbolic character. The Moon's nakshatra at birth sets the starting point of Vimshottari Dasha.
Navamsa: The D9 divisional chart — the most consulted varga after the main Rasi chart, read for marriage and for the underlying strength of any planet.
Pada: One of the four 3°20' quarters of a nakshatra; also a technical term (Arudha Pada) in a separate, more advanced predictive technique not covered here.
Panchadha Maitri: The five-fold combined friendship between two planets, blending their fixed natural relationship with their temporary (house-distance-based) relationship in a specific chart.
Paksha: The lunar fortnight — waxing (Shukla Paksha) or waning (Krishna Paksha) — measured from the angular distance between the Moon and Sun.
Parivartana: A mutual exchange, where two planets each sit in a sign ruled by the other — classically read as strongly connecting the two houses and significations involved.
Pratyantardasha: The third-level sub-period within an Antardasha — the finest level of Vimshottari timing this site computes.
Rahu / Ketu: The lunar nodes — the points where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic. Not physical bodies, but treated as full grahas in Vedic astrology, always exactly 180° apart.
Rashi: Zodiac sign — one of the twelve 30° divisions of the sidereal zodiac, from Aries (Mesha) through Pisces (Meena).
Retrograde (Vakri): The apparent backward motion of a planet as seen from Earth — classically read as intensifying or internalizing that planet's significations.
Sade Sati: The roughly seven-and-a-half-year period when transiting Saturn moves through the sign before, the sign of, and the sign after a person's natal Moon sign.
Shadbala: "Six-fold strength" — a composite classical measure of a planet's overall strength, combining positional, directional, temporal, motional, natural, and aspectual components.
Sidereal Zodiac: The zodiac used in Vedic astrology, fixed to the actual positions of the constellations rather than to the equinox — offset from the tropical zodiac by the ayanamsa.
Sthana Bala: Positional strength — the largest of the six Shadbala components, built from a planet's dignity across several divisional charts plus its house placement.
Trikona: The three "trine" houses — 1st, 5th, and 9th — classically considered the most fortunate and auspicious houses in the chart.
Upachaya: The "growing" houses — 3rd, 6th, 10th, and 11th — classically read as improving over time rather than delivering their full results immediately.
Varga: A divisional chart — any of the sixteen classical subdivisions of the Rasi chart (D2 through D60), each used to examine a specific area of life in finer detail.
Vimshottari Dasha: The most widely used dasha system in Vedic astrology, dividing a 120-year cycle among the nine grahas in a fixed order, starting point set by the Moon's natal nakshatra.
Yoga: A specific classical planetary combination believed to produce a particular result — ranging from the auspicious (Raja Yogas, Dhana Yogas) to the challenging (Kemadruma, Shakat).