Type a name in any script, a term, a question, or a combination such as “Saturn in the 7th”.
In short. The nine grahas are the bodies placed in a chart, each with its own significations, a benefic or malefic nature and a strength by sign.
The nine are the Sun (Sūrya), the Moon (Candra), Mars (Maṅgala), Mercury (Budha), Jupiter (Guru), Venus (Śukra), Saturn (Śani), and the Moon’s nodes, Rāhu and Ketu. Varāhamihira gives each graha several names. He also describes its appearance, colour and temperament.
What each graha signifies
Varāhamihira also maps them onto the cosmic person called Kālapuruṣa, and onto a royal court. These assignments are the grahas’ kārakatvas. They are the things each graha signifies in any chart.
| Graha | In Kālapuruṣa | In the court | By nature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | the soul | king | malefic |
| Moon | the mind | king | benefic while waxing, malefic while waning |
| Mars | strength | general | malefic |
| Mercury | speech | heir | benefic unless malefics are with him |
| Jupiter | knowledge and happiness | minister | benefic |
| Venus | desire | minister | benefic |
| Saturn | sorrow | servant | malefic |
| Rāhu, Ketu | not given | not given | malefic |
Benefics and malefics
Some grahas are natural benefics and some natural malefics. Jupiter and Venus are benefics. Mercury is a benefic unless malefics are with him. The Moon is a benefic while waxing and a malefic while waning. The Sun, Mars, Saturn, Rāhu and Ketu are malefics. Malefics do well in the 3rd, 6th and 11th houses.
Dignity
Each graha has one sign of exaltation (ucca) and one of debilitation (nīca), the sign opposite. It rules one or two signs of its own and has one mūlatrikoṇa sign. Varāhamihira gives the degree of deepest exaltation for each graha. The degrees are 10° Meṣa for the Sun, 3° Vṛṣabha for the Moon, 28° Makara for Mars, 15° Kanyā for Mercury, 5° Karka for Jupiter, 27° Mīna for Venus and 20° Tulā for Saturn.
| Graha | Exalted | Debilitated | Own signs | Mūlatrikoṇa |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | 10° Meṣa | 10° Tulā | Siṁha | Siṁha |
| Moon | 3° Vṛṣabha | 3° Vṛścika | Karka | Vṛṣabha |
| Mars | 28° Makara | 28° Karka | Meṣa, Vṛścika | Meṣa |
| Mercury | 15° Kanyā | 15° Mīna | Mithuna, Kanyā | Kanyā |
| Jupiter | 5° Karka | 5° Makara | Dhanus, Mīna | Dhanus |
| Venus | 27° Mīna | 27° Kanyā | Vṛṣabha, Tulā | Tulā |
| Saturn | 20° Tulā | 20° Meṣa | Makara, Kumbha | Kumbha |
The degree is the point of deepest exaltation; the debilitation point is the same degree in the opposite sign. Source: BJ 1.13–14.
Grahas are friends, neutrals or enemies to one another. Their nature sets one kind of relation. Their positions in a chart set another kind. The chapter on strength gives the rules.
Rāhu and Ketu
The two nodes give no light. They are always exactly opposite each other and move backwards through the signs. The Bṛhat Jātaka names them but assigns them no dignities, and later writers disagree about their exaltation signs.
Each graha below has its own page with its nature, dignities, friendships and the length of its Vimśottarī daśā.
Open one: