In Hinduism, Jyotish is a branch of Vedas that primarily deals with astrology. Jyotish or Vedanga Jyotish as it is popularly called today has two branches, one, Predictive Astrology, and two, Mathematical Astrology. Predictive astrology is related to predictions of events and happenings, and mathematical astrology is Hindu astronomy.
If you study various astrological systems, you might find a lot of difference, however, the most apparent difference between the popular astrological systems like Western Astrology, Chinese Astrology, and Hindu Astrology is their use of celestial bodies in readings and interpretations. For example, Western Astrology is based on the Solar Calendar, Chinese Astrology is based on the Lunar Calendar, and Hindu Astrology is based on Stars.
Some of the important aspects of Hindu Astrology are Rashis (Zodiac signs), nakshatra (constellations), grahas (planets), dashas (planetary cycles), gocharas (planetary transits), yogas (planetary combinations), bhavas(12 houses in the birth chart), and drishti (aspects).
Zodiac Sign According to Hindu Astrology
According to the Western Astrology, which makes use of Solar Calander, if you were born between March 21 and April 19, your zodiac sign is Aries. However, Hindu Astrology considers various factors in determining your zodiac sign. Just like the Western Astrology, Hindu Astrology also consists of 12 Zodiac signs, however, what is your Zodiac sign depends on the position of the moon in the constellations at the time of your birth. Unlike the date of your birth used in Western Astrology, Hindu Astrology determines Zodiac sign or Rashi, according to the position of the moon in nakshatras or constellations. In order to determine your Zodiac sign, a Hindu Astrologer calculates the angle of the moon in relation to the nakshatras or stars. In order to do that, the astrologer needs your date of birth, time of your birth and the location of your birth (place). Therefore, Hindu Astrology is more of a mathematical calculation.
Planets and Stars in Hindu Astrology
Hindu Astrology, or Vedic Astrology to be precise, is a study of Sun, Moon, Planets, and Stars. According to Hindu Astrology, there are 9 planets. Interestingly, the 9 planets in Hindu Astrology also includes Sun and Moon. Among these 9 planets, two planets are considered shadow planets, viz. Rahu and Ketu. Remaining other planets are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter. Apart from planets, Hindu Astrology also includes stars or constellations in its calculation. There are 27 constellations or nakshatras in Vedic Astrology.
Birthchart in Vedic Astrology
Hindu Astrology is usually regarded as predictive astrology, which refers to the fact that the Hindu Astrology tries to interpret and foretell the events in the life of an individual based on the readings of planetary movements. For this purpose, a chart is drawn based on the position of planets at the time of the birth. This is called a birth chart or Kundali.
The Hindu Birth chart is square shape (sometimes also drawn in a rectangle shape) and is divided into 12 sections called houses. Each of these houses reflects and governs different aspects of life, including your character, interest, intellect, physical appearance, body parts, financial position, health, relationship, occupation etc. For example, the first house tells about your physical appearance and personality. The seventh house is elated to marriage and tells about the kind of relationship you will have with your spouse. The tenth house is related to your profession, occupation or career, whereas the eighth house tells about what kind of disease you will get.
Different Houses in Hindu Birth Chart
In Hindu Astrology, readings and predictions are done based on the position of planets in different houses. Which planet sits on which house depends on the position of planets in the sky at the time of your birth. Readings and predictions also make reference to the movement of planets and sights of planets on the various houses. Each house represents a zodiac symbol, for example the first house is Aries and the 12 house is Pisces. Each house also has its native planet. For example, the first house is the native house of Sun and second house is native house of Venus and Jupiter.
Here are a few examples of different planets in different houses.
When the sun is in the first house, the individual has a superior position over others. The person is also good looking, has good health. When the sun is in the first house, the person might also be too much self-centered.
When the moon is in the first house, the person loves traveling. Likewise, the moon on the 12th house makes individuals is too sensitive.
For someone whose father comes from India, anything Indian makes a lot of sense. I don’t seriously Hindu follow astrology, or any astrological belief system, however, I believe there is something interesting in this belief system. Thanks for educating me.
I hear that Hindus use names to determine Zodiac signs and they use stars to determine the names. Can you explain more on this?
Hello Lara, We will explain the determination of names using stars in our next article. please stay tuned. 🙂
Intereating read. I am always fascinated by how astrologer read horoscope