Rashi

Rashi/Sign

The Sun moves along an elliptical orbit around the sky. This is one full circle or 360 degrees. We can think of this as a belt around the sky. Think of a cricket or tennis ball. There is a coloured belt around it. This is similar to the belt around the sky. The Sun and all the other planets move along this belt.

Let us consider that this belt is divided into 12 equal divisions. Each division would then be 30 degrees. Each of these divisions is called a Rashi/Sign.

Rashi names

The name of the Rashi with its Sanskrit name and meaning is given below:

1. Aries – Mesha – Goat/Ram
2. Taurus – Vrishabha – Bull
3. Gemini – Mithuna – Couple
4. Cancer – Karka – Crab
5. Leo – Simha – Lion
6. Virgo – Kanya – Girl
7. Libra – Tula – Weighing Scale
8. Scorpio – Vrischika – Scorpion
9. Sagittarius – Dhanus – Bow
10. Capricorn – Makara – Crocodile
11. Aquarius – Kumbha – Pot
12. Pisces – Meena – Fish

Appearance in horoscope

We will now consider how it appears in a horoscope. A South Indian horoscope is depicted in a grid of 4 x 4 with the middle four being empty. We always depict Aries as the second from the left and the rest follows in clock-wise direction in the same order. Let us have a look at the Rashi depiction:

As stated earlier, all the planets move in the sky in an eeliptical orbit on the same belt. The circular motion of the planets is depicted in a movement in the clockwise direction.

Significance

Based on the discussion above, it is clear that planets are moving from one rashi to another. There are 27 nakshatras. These nakshatras are evenly spread across these 12 rashis. Each rashi is also ruled by one of the planets.

1. Sun – Leo
2. Moon – Cancer
3. Mars – Aries and Scorpio
4. Mercury – Gemini and Virgo
5. Jupiter – Pisces and Sagittarius
6. Venus – Taurus and Libra
7. Saturn – Capricorn and Aquarius

Rahu and Ketu, which are considered as planets do not own any sign.

The movement of planets across rashis acquires significance owing to all these aspects. The nakshatra and rashi which a planet is occupying at the date, time and place of birth of the native (the person whose horoscope is being studied) alongwith the lord of the rashi have an impact.

Depiction of degrees

As mentioned, every planet will be located at some rashi in some nakshatra when a person is born. How do we represent it?

1 rashi = 30 amsas/degrees
1 degree = 60 kalas/arc minutes
1 kala – 60 vikalas/arc seconds \

The location of the planets at the exact moment of birth can be depicted as Rashi namr, amsas, kala, vikala or Tula, 14:15:20. This means the planet is in Tula rashi at that degree, arc minute and arc second. Accordingly, the planet will be placed in the grid in the horoscope in Libra.

Conclusion

Rashi is the foundational concept in Indian astrology alongwith nakshatras. This needs to be understood in the correct sense so that the horoscope can be interpreted in the tight way.