Glossary

The words that come up when you read your chart or the calendar — explained plainly, one term at a time. No prior Jyotish needed.

Concepts

The five limbs of the Panchang, the lunar days, the building blocks of a chart, and how two charts are matched.

PanchangThe Panchang is the Hindu almanac — the five "limbs" of time that describe the quality of each day.
TithiA tithi is a lunar day — the time the moon takes to gain 12° on the sun. There are thirty in a lunar month.
PakshaA paksha is a lunar fortnight — the waxing (Shukla) or waning (Krishna) half of the month.
PurnimaPurnima is the full-moon night — the fifteenth tithi of the bright fortnight, when moon and sun sit opposite.
AmavasyaAmavasya is the new-moon night — when moon and sun share a sign and the sky is moonless.
EkadashiEkadashi is the eleventh tithi of each fortnight, sacred to Vishnu and widely kept as a fasting day.
SankrantiA Sankranti is the moment the sun crosses from one sidereal sign into the next — twelve a year.
NakshatraA nakshatra is one of the 27 lunar mansions — the star-segments the moon moves through, each 13°20′ wide.
Kundli MatchingKundli Matching compares two birth charts to see where two people flow together and where they will need care.
Guna MilanGuna Milan scores two birth charts out of 36 across eight kootas (factors) drawn from the two Moons.
Mangal DoshaMangal Dosha is a Mars placement traditionally examined before marriage; someone who has it is called Manglik.
DashaA dasha is a planetary period — the Vimshottari system divides a life into graha-ruled chapters totalling 120 years.
LagnaThe Lagna is the sign rising on the eastern horizon at your birth — the anchor of the whole chart.
AyanamsaThe ayanamsa is the gap between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs — about 24°, and why Jyotish signs differ from Western ones.
Rahu KaalRahu Kaal is a recurring ~90-minute daily window traditionally avoided for starting anything new.
GrahanA grahan is an eclipse — solar (Surya) or lunar (Chandra) — read in the tradition as a time set apart for stillness, not fear.
SutakSutak is the window before and during an eclipse when auspicious activity is suspended — 12 hours before a solar eclipse, 9 before a lunar.
GocharGochar is the ongoing transit of the grahas through the signs — the sky as it moves now, read against the fixed natal chart.
Vakri (Retrograde)Vakri is retrograde motion — when a graha appears to move backward through the zodiac; Margi is the return to direct motion.
Astangata (Combustion)Astangata is combustion — a graha drawn so close to the Sun that its light is lost, and with it, traditionally, some of its strength.
Graha YuddhaGraha Yuddha is a "planetary war" — two grahas within about one degree of each other, contesting the same patch of sky.
Sade SatiSade Sati is the roughly seven-and-a-half-year passage of Shani (Saturn) over the sign before, on, and after the natal Moon.
Uchcha & NeechaUchcha is exaltation — the sign where a graha is strongest; Neecha is debilitation, the opposite sign where it is weakest.
Uttarayana & DakshinayanaUttarayana is the Sun’s northward half of the year (from Makar Sankranti), Dakshinayana its southward half (from Karka Sankranti).
ChandrashtamaChandrashtama is the two and a half days each month when the Moon passes the eighth sign from your birth Moon — a time to go gently.
ChandrabalaChandrabala is the Moon’s support for you on a given day, read from where the transiting Moon sits counted from your birth Moon.
TarabalaTarabala rates a day for you by counting from your birth nakshatra to the nakshatra the Moon is in today.

The Nine Grahas

The planets of Jyotish — what each one signifies in a chart.

The Seven Chakras

The centres along the spine, from root to crown, and the planet each one is paired with. See which planets touch your chakras today →

The 27 Nakshatras

The lunar mansions the moon moves through, each with its ruler, deity, and character.

See the terms in context on the Vedic calendar or among the festivals.