The Twelve Signs

Chapter 1, verses 4 to 14 · Part of our series on the Brihat Jataka of Varahamihira

After his opening prayer and his statement of purpose, Varahamihira turns at once to the foundation of everything else: the twelve signs of the zodiac. In a handful of dense verses, he tells us what the signs are, how they map onto a cosmic body, what they look like, which planet rules each, what qualities they carry, and where each planet is strongest and weakest.

For a beginner, this is the most useful chapter in the book. Almost every later chapter assumes you know this.

The signs as the body of Time

The first verse on the signs (1.4) does two things. It maps the zodiac onto a cosmic body (Kalapurusha), and it ties the signs to the nakshatras, the lunar mansions.

कालाङ्गानि वराङ्गमाननमुरो हृत्क्रोडवासोभृतो बस्तिर्व्यञ्जनमूरुजानुयुगले जङ्घे ततोऽङ्घ्रिद्वयम् । मेषाश्विप्रथमा नवर्क्षचरणाश्चक्रस्थिता राशयो राशिक्षेत्रगृहर्क्षभानि भवनं चैकार्थसम्प्रत्ययाः ॥

kālāṅgāni varāṅgam ānanam uro hṛt kroḍa vāsobhṛto bastir vyañjanam ūrujānuyugale jaṅghe tato 'ṅghridvayam | meṣāśviprathamā navarkṣacaraṇāś cakrasthitā rāśayo rāśikṣetragṛharkṣabhāni bhavanaṃ caikārthasampratyayāḥ ||

The limbs of Time are: the head, the face, the chest, the heart, the belly, the waist (where the garment is held), the lower abdomen, the private parts, the pair of thighs, the pair of knees, the two shanks, and then the two feet. The signs, beginning with Mesha and with Ashvini, each made of nine quarters of a nakshatra, stand in a circle. Rashi, kshetra, griha, riksha, bha and bhavana are all understood to mean the same thing.

There is a lot in this one verse.

The body of Time. The verse speaks of kālāṅgāni, "the limbs of Time". The tradition calls this cosmic figure the Kalapurusha, Time personified as a person. The twelve signs, in order from Aries, are his body from head to foot. This is not decoration. Later in the book, these correspondences are used to judge the body and health: a sign stands for a part of the body.

Sign by sign, from head to foot:

• Aries: the head
• Taurus: the face
• Gemini: the chest
• Cancer: the heart
• Leo: the belly
• Virgo: the waist and hips, where the garment is tied
• Libra: the lower abdomen
• Scorpio: the private parts
• Sagittarius: the thighs
• Capricorn: the knees
• Aquarius: the shanks, the lower legs between knee and ankle
• Pisces: the feet

Signs and nakshatras. The Sun, Moon and planets all travel along the same band of sky, which circles the Earth. A sign (rāśi) is one-twelfth of that circle, 30 degrees of it. A nakshatra is a smaller division of the same circle, used especially to follow the Moon. The circle band is divided into 27 nakshatras, each named after a star or group of stars, and the Moon passes through roughly one each day.

The verse ties the two together. The zodiac begins with Mesha (Aries) and with Ashvini, the first nakshatra. Each nakshatra is divided into four quarters (padas), giving 108 quarters in all, and each sign holds exactly nine of them, or two and a quarter nakshatras. This fixes the signs to the stars: the zodiac begins where the nakshatra Ashvini begins.

One meaning, many words. The last line tells us that six words all mean "sign": rāśi, kṣetra, gṛha, ṛkṣa, bha and bhavana. This is worth remembering. In modern usage, bhava and bhavana often mean a "house" of the chart. Here, bhavana simply means a sign.

The images of the signs

The next verse (1.5) describes what each sign looks like.

मत्स्यौ घटी नृमिथुनं सगदं सवीणं चापी नरोऽश्वजघनो मकरो मृगास्यः । तौली ससस्यदहना प्लवगा च कन्या शेषाः स्वनामसदृशाः स्वचराश्च सर्वे ॥

matsyau ghaṭī nṛmithunaṃ sagadaṃ savīṇaṃ cāpī naro 'śvajaghano makaro mṛgāsyaḥ | taulī sasasyadahanā plavagā ca kanyā śeṣāḥ svanāmasadṛśāḥ svacarāś ca sarve ||

Two fish; one bearing a pot; a human couple holding a club and a vina; an archer, a man with the hindquarters of a horse; a makara with the face of a deer; one holding a balance; and a maiden in a boat, holding grain and fire. The others look like their names. And all of them move in their own natural places.

In order, these are Pisces, Aquarius, Gemini, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Libra and Virgo. The remaining signs, Aries, Taurus, Cancer, Leo and Scorpio, look like what their names say: a ram, a bull, a crab, a lion and a scorpion.

A few details are worth noticing. Gemini is a human couple, one holding a club (gadā) and the other a vina. Virgo is a maiden in a boat, carrying grain and fire, images of harvest and light. Capricorn is the makara, a sea creature, here with the face of a deer.

The last phrase, svacarāś ca sarve, says that each sign dwells in its own natural places: the ram in pastures, the fish in water, the lion in wild country. Varahamihira draws on this in later chapters. In chapter 5, for example, the signs are used to describe places, such as Leo for forests, caves and mountains.

The signs in Greek dress

A few verses later (1.8), Varahamihira gives a second set of names for the twelve signs.

क्रियतावुरिजितुमकुलीरलेयपाथोनजूककौर्प्याख्याः । तौक्षिकाकोकेरो हृद्रोगश्चान्त्यभं चेत्थम् ॥

kriyatāvurijitumakulīraleyapāthonajūkakaurpyākhyāḥ | taukṣikākokero hṛdrogaś cāntyabhaṃ cettham ||

They are called Kriya, Tavuri, Jituma, Kulira, Leya, Pathona, Juka, Kaurpya, Taukshika, Akokera and Hridroga, and the last sign is Ittha.

These are not Sanskrit words. Most of them are Sanskrit renderings of the Greek names of the signs: Kriya from Krios (ram), Tavuri from Tauros (bull), Jituma from Didymoi (twins), Leya from Leon (lion), Pathona from Parthenos (maiden), Juka from Zygos (yoke, balance), Kaurpya from Skorpios, Taukshika from Toxotes (archer), Akokera from Aigokeros (goat-horned), Hridroga from Hydrochoos (water-pourer), and Ittha from Ichthys (fish). Kulira, for Cancer, is also an ordinary Sanskrit word for a crab.

Varahamihira does not hide this. He openly records the names used by the Yavanas, the Greek-speaking astrologers whose ideas had reached India, alongside the Indian names. It is a reminder that jyotish, as he received it, was a living science that had absorbed knowledge from many sources.

The twelve signs at a glance

The lords of the signs

Verse 1.6 names the ruling planet, or lord, of each sign, in order from Aries.

क्षितिजसितज्ञचन्द्ररविसौम्यसितावनिजाः सुरगुरुमन्दसौरिगुरवश्च गृहांशकपाः ।

kṣitijasitajñacandraravisaumyasitāvanijāḥ suragurumandasauriguravaś ca gṛhāṃśakapāḥ |

Mars, Venus, Mercury, the Moon, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Saturn and Jupiter are the lords of the signs, and of their divisions. (first half of the verse)

The planets are named here by poetic epithets: Mars is kṣitija, "born of the earth"; Mercury is jña, "the knower", and saumya, "son of the Moon"; Jupiter is suraguru, "teacher of the gods"; Saturn is manda, "the slow one", and sauri, "son of the Sun".

The pattern is elegant. The Sun and Moon rule one sign each, Leo and Cancer, which sit side by side. Moving outward from them in both directions, each planet rules a pair: Mercury rules the signs next to them (Gemini and Virgo), then Venus (Taurus and Libra), Mars (Aries and Scorpio), Jupiter (Pisces and Sagittarius), and finally Saturn, the slowest planet, rules the two signs furthest away (Aquarius and Capricorn).

The second half of this verse, on the navamsa division, is explained together with the other divisions of the sign.

The qualities of the signs

Varahamihira gives each sign several qualities. Two verses carry most of them.

Day and night, head and back (1.10)

गोऽजाश्विकर्किमिथुनाः समृगा निशाख्याः पृष्ठोदया विमिथुनाः कथितास्त एव । शीर्षोदया दिनबलाश्च भवन्ति शेषा लग्नं समेत्युभयतः पृथुरोमयुग्मम् ॥

go 'jāśvikarkimithunāḥ samṛgā niśākhyāḥ pṛṣṭhodayā vimithunāḥ kathitās ta eva | śīrṣodayā dinabalāś ca bhavanti śeṣā lagnaṃ samety ubhayataḥ pṛthuromayugmam ||

Taurus, Aries, Sagittarius, Cancer and Gemini, together with Capricorn, are called night signs. These same signs, except Gemini, are said to rise with their back. The rest rise with their head and are strong by day. The pair of fish rises both ways.

So six signs are night signs, strong at night: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Sagittarius and Capricorn. The other six are day signs: Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Aquarius and Pisces.

To understand the second quality, picture the sky turning. As the Earth spins, each sign in turn comes up over the eastern horizon, just as the Sun rises in the morning. The sign rising at the moment of birth is the ascendant (lagna), one of the most important points in a chart. Varahamihira pictures each sign as a creature coming up over the horizon, and says some come up head first and others back first.

Five signs rise back first (pṛṣṭhodaya): Aries, Taurus, Cancer, Sagittarius and Capricorn. Six rise head first (śīrṣodaya): Gemini, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio and Aquarius. Pisces, the pair of fish facing opposite ways, rises both ways (ubhayodaya). Varahamihira uses these qualities later when judging how and when results come about.

Nature, gender, mobility and direction (1.11, first half)

क्रूरः सौम्यः पुरुषवनिते ते चरागद्विदेहाः प्रागादीशाः क्रियवृषनृयुक्कर्कटाः सत्रिकोणाः ।

krūraḥ saumyaḥ puruṣavanite te carāgadvidehāḥ prāgādīśāḥ kriyavṛṣanṛyukkarkaṭāḥ satrikoṇāḥ |

In turn they are cruel and gentle, male and female, movable, fixed and dual. Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer, with their trines, rule the east and the other directions in order.

This line packs four repeating patterns into a few words. Each pattern runs around the zodiac in order, starting from Aries.

• Cruel and gentle. This describes a sign's temperament: harsh and forceful (krūra), or mild and soft (saumya). The two alternate: Aries is cruel, Taurus gentle, Gemini cruel, and so on around the circle.
• Male and female. The signs also alternate in gender, following the same pattern: Aries male, Taurus female, Gemini male, and so on. Every cruel sign is male and every gentle sign is female.
• Movable, fixed and dual. This describes how a sign behaves. Cara (movable) signs carry the quality of motion and change: Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. Aga, literally "not moving", the fixed signs, carry steadiness and permanence: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius. Dvideha, "two-bodied", the dual signs, share something of both: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces. The three repeat in this order, four times around the zodiac.
• Directions. Each sign is linked to a direction of the compass, used for example in horary astrology to judge in which direction something lies. The signs go by trines, groups of three signs in four different directions. Aries, Leo and Sagittarius rule the east; Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn the south; Gemini, Libra and Aquarius the west; and Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces the north. Each of these groups of three is a trine, made of signs four apart, and in later usage the four groups are known as the four elements: fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn), air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) and water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces).

The words "cruel" (krūra) and "gentle" (saumya) describe a sign's temperament, harsh or mild. They are not moral labels for people born under them.

Where the planets are strongest and weakest

A planet does not act with the same strength everywhere in the zodiac. Each planet has one sign where it is at its highest and best, like a person at the height of their powers. This is its exaltation (tuṅga, "the peak"). Directly opposite, in the seventh sign, is its debilitation (nīca, "the low point"), where it is at its weakest. Verse 1.13 names both for each planet, and even gives the exact degree of greatest exaltation.

अजवृषभमृगाङ्गनाकुलीरा झषवणिजौ च दिवाकरादितुङ्गाः । दशशिखिमनुयुक्तिथीन्द्रियांशैस्त्रिनवकविंशतिभिश्च तेऽस्तनीचाः ॥

ajavṛṣabhamṛgāṅganākulīrā jhaṣavaṇijau ca divākarādituṅgāḥ | daśaśikhimanuyuktithīndriyāṃśais trinavakaviṃśatibhiś ca te 'stanīcāḥ ||

Aries, Taurus, Capricorn, Virgo, Cancer, Pisces and Libra are the exaltations of the Sun and the other planets in order, at 10, 3, 28, 15, 5, 27 and 20 degrees. The seventh signs from these are their debilitations.

The degrees are given in a traditional code that uses words for numbers: daśa (ten), śikhi ("fire", for the three sacred fires: 3), manu-yuk (read as 28), tithi (the fifteen lunar days: 15), indriya (the five senses: 5), tri-navaka (three nines: 27), and viṃśati (twenty). The sign of debilitation is always the opposite sign, the seventh from exaltation, at the same degree.

Besides its exaltation, each planet has one more sign of special strength. Trikoṇa literally means "triangle". In this verse, the commentators understand it as the mūlatrikoṇa, the "root trikona": a sign where the planet works with particular ease and authority, like an official in their own office. It ranks just below exaltation. The second half of verse 1.14 names it for each planet.

सिंहो वृषः प्रथमषष्ठहयाङ्गतौलिकुम्भास्त्रिकोणभवनानि भवन्ति सूर्यात् ॥

siṃho vṛṣaḥ prathamaṣaṣṭhahayāṅgataulikumbhās trikoṇabhavanāni bhavanti sūryāt ||

Leo, Taurus, the first sign, the sixth, the horse-bodied, the one with the balance, and Aquarius are the trikona signs, counting from the Sun. (second half of the verse)

This verse gives only the signs. The exact degree ranges of each mulatrikona, found in many modern books, come from other texts and later commentary, not from this verse.

Why this matters

With these few verses, Varahamihira has given a beginner everything needed to start reading a chart: the twelve signs, their place among the stars, their bodies and images, their rulers, their temperaments, and the places of each planet's greatest and least strength. Nearly every judgement later in the book rests on this foundation.

In Article 2: Dividing the Signs and the Houses, we read the rest of chapter 1: how each sign is divided into finer parts, such as the hora, drekkana and navamsa, and how Varahamihira names and groups the twelve houses of the chart.

Verses are from Varahamihira's Brihat Jataka, chapter 1. English renderings are our own, made from the Sanskrit and checked against the public-domain translation by N. Chidambaram Aiyar (1885; second edition 1905) and against the word-by-word analysis in Michael D. Neely's edition.