Glossary · graha
Surya
Also written the Sun · Ravi
Surya is the Sun — in Jyotish the atmakaraka of the natural world, the significator of the soul (atma), the self, and one’s essential vitality. Where the moon is the changing mind, the sun is the steady core: identity, confidence, purpose.
It also stands for the father, for authority and kingship, for the bones and the heart, and for the eyes (the right eye especially). A strong, well-placed Surya is read as dignity and clarity of self; an afflicted one, as a struggle with confidence or with authority figures.
The sun takes about a month to cross each sign — each crossing a Sankranti — and rules the nakshatras Krittika, Uttara Phalguni and Uttara Ashadha.
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