withAshoka a Vedic Companion

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, and the building blocks of a chart.

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.
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.

The Nine Grahas

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

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.

✦ A preview, friend — what you read or save here may shift.