Navatara Chakra Usage in Vedic Astrology!

The Navatara Chakra forms an important predictive part within the ambit of Vedic Astrology. The word 'Navatara' can be split as 'Nava' meaning Nine and 'Tara' denoting star. In a nutshell, it can be said to be the bifurcation of the 27 Nakshatras into 3 equal parts of 9 stars each. The categorization of the 3 parts are grouped as under:
Janma - First 9 stars beginning from Janma Nakshatra (1 to 9)
Anujanma - Next 9 stars beginning from the 10th Tara from Janma Nakshatra (10 to 18)
Trijanma - Final 9 stars beginning from the 19th Tara from Janma Nakshatra (19 to 27)

The foundation of the whole Navatara Chakra scheme is originated on the basis of the Nakshatra in which Moon is placed in one's birth chart. That particular Nakshatra is termed as the 'Janma Nakshatra'. For instance if one's Moon falls in the Nakshatra of Punarvasu, that happens to be the birth Nakshatra and the 9 stars from Punarvasu upto Swati falls under Janma Group, next 9 stars from Vishakha until Satabisha forms part of Anujanma Group and final 9 stars from Poorva Bhadrapada to Arudra gets classified under Trijanma Group. These groups also come under the tripod of body, mind and soul with the Janma group said to indicate Body Level, Anujanma Group the Mind Level and Trijanma Group Soul Level. Alternatively the Janma group is said to indicate the present, the Anujanma Group the future and the Trijanma Group the past.

The 9 stars in each group have a relevance of it's own having it's own meaning and also ruled by a particular planet viz each of the Navagrahas. Listing below list of the 9 Tara's and it's planet rulership.

1) Janma Tara : Ruled by Sun, Animal - Peacock

2) Sampat Tara : Ruled by Mercury, Animal - Horse

3) Vipat Tara : Ruled by Rahu, Animal - Goat

4) Kshema Tara : Ruled by Jupiter, Animal - Elephant

5) Pratyek Tara : Ruled by Ketu, Animal - Crow

6) Sadhak Tara : Ruled by Moon, Animal - Fox

7) Vadha Tara : Ruled by Saturn, Animal - Lion

8) Mitra Tara : Ruled by Venus, Animal - Eagle

9) Parama Mitra Tara : Ruled by Mars, Animal - Swan

In general, certain Taras are said to be favorable and some unfavorable whereas a couple are of middling variety. The 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th Taras are said to be auspicious whereas the 3rd, 5th and 7th Taras are considered inauspicious. The 1st and 9th Taras are said to be neutral. The order of sequence is the same whether followed from Janma, Anujanma or Trijanma Group. Let's look at the meaning of each of these 9 kind of Taras and what they all indicate.

Janma Tara:
This in essence is the birth Nakshatra and establishes one's individuality. The Nakshatra in which Moon is placed in the horoscope happens to be the most important of all Nakshatras. Each of the Nakshatras has an energy manifested within it and the individual is said to strongly connote the significations of these resources based on the moon star one has attained birth. The Janma Tara however is not always favorable and said to denote fickleness of the mind and cause tensions. The mind always tends to be unsteady during days of Janma Nakshatras and it can be related to the prevailing environment when a child is about to take birth which is associated with a lot of difficulty and stress. The default ruler of Janma Tara happens to be Sun.

Sampat Tara:
This denotes all things related with wealth. It is a very favorable Tara and is said to be auspicious for all money related events. It can be loosely related to the 2nd and 11th house of a horoscope which speaks largely about income and profits. The ruler of Sampat Tara is Mercury.

Vipat Tara:
As the name suggests, this translates to all sorts of dangers. It can be with regard to getting hurt, embroiled into issues and all such kind. Vipat Tara is ruled by Rahu.

Kshema Tara:
The word 'Kshemam' as such endorses about being in good health and a comfortable state of mind. Hence this is about the well being of the individual concerned by possessing the requisite vitality and being in good spirits. Kshema Tara is ruled by Jupiter.

Pratyek Tara : (Also called Pratyahari Tara)
This is a negative Tara and denotes all sorts of obstacles. It is said to cause plenty of confusions onto the mind in addition to being a stumbling block with regard to completion of tasks and activities. The ruler of this Tara is Ketu.

Sadhak Tara : (Also called Sadhana Tara)
This talks about all achievements and benefits which one is entitled to. This Tara is also said to be the one in which God's blessings are said to arise. Hence worshiping and offering prayers with respect to the deities and articles denoted by the 6th Tara from Janma Nakshatra is essential to have the Almighty's support. This Tara is ruled by Moon.

Vadha Tara : (Also called Naidhana Tara)
This is an inauspicious Tara and is of a killing nature. It is strewn with negativity and denotes all sorts of denials, ill-luck and misfortune. The ruler of this Tara is Saturn.

Mitra Tara :
This is supposed to be one of the most auspicious Tara in the Navatara sequence, All prosperous things in life in general are associated with this Tara. This Tara is said to showcase the way and provide good clarity to the mind. The 2nd, 4th and 6th Tara confers specific success in related areas but the 8th Tara is said to be a combination of all the favorable instruments and hence following the energies related to the 8th Nakshatra from one's Janma Nakshatra can be extremely fruitful. Mitra Tara is ruled by Venus.

Parama Mitra Tara : (Also called Adi Mitra Tara)
This is said to be an average Tara. Though the meaning is translated as very friendly, it tends to take colors and can be good or bad according to situation. Too much of anything is not said to be beneficial and that is the reason for this Tara attaining a mild negative presence however if used in the right manner can also end up being very beneficial. It is more in line towards community living and social surroundings. Also one thing to note is that since we are dealing with sets of 9, when a particular Tara is favorable from one end, it happens to be unfavorable from the other end. For instance Sadhak Tara is favorable to Janma Nakshatra but the vice versa doesn't hold true as the Janma Tara will end up being 5th from the Sadhaka Tara. This does not happen for Parama Mitra Tara as from it's placement, the Janma Tara always happens to be the 2nd Tara and hence favorable. Parama Mitra Tara is ruled by Mars.

Important Information to Keep in Mind:
Apart from these Nava Taras, there are also certain other Taras from the Janma Nakshatras which have their own meanings and indications. Sometimes they tend to over rule the status of Navatara scheme and supersede them. A good example of the same is this concept of 'Vedha' Nakshatra not to be confused with 'Vadha' which is said to repel a particular Nakshatra and vice versa. In such a scenario, the Navatara sequence will get pushed to the back end. For eg. Magha and Revathi form Vedha with each other. For Revathi, Magha happens to be the 11th Nakshatra indicating Sampat Tara (1+1=2) but since they repel each other, the concept of it being Sampat Tara and conferring wealth will not work as they are enemies by nature. Also, the 17th Nakshatra from Janma Nakshatra indicates 'Chandrashtama' which is when Moon goes into the 8th rasi from itself and said to denote a troubled mind. Now the 17th star happens to be Mitra Tara and in such a case being Chandrashtama and being in 8th rasi, it may not be all that auspicious. Also for instance the 22nd Nakshatra from Janma Nakshatra denotes 'Vainasika' and indicates destruction. The 22nd when added up 2+2 becomes 4 which correlates to Kshema Tara but with regard to 22nd Tara, it is anything but related to good health and only has negative attributes. Hence it's important to factor these special Taras also into play before analyzing the results of the Navataras. In general, the following Taras from the Janma Nakshatra are said to be relatively auspicious as compared to the rest. These are the 2nd, 6th, 8th, 9th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 20th, 24th, 26th and 27th Taras beginning from the Janma Nakshatra.

Analysis of Navatara in Horoscope:
These Navataras can be used effectively in both Dasas and Transits. We shall look at some examples to understand the concept better.

Dasa Illustration:
Illustration 1:
Let's say a native is born with Rohini Nakshatra being the star of the Moon and currently Jupiter Dasa is running for the native which is placed in it's exaltation Nakshatra of Pushya. It may be believed that Jupiter will confer highly auspicious results as it's sitting in peak exaltation but it should not be forgotten that Pushya happens to the 5th Tara from Janma Nakshatra Rohini and will hence be Pratyek Tara which is said to indicate obstacles in work and causing confusions to the mind. It will compound further if the ruler of the star Pushya which is Saturn is placed in a negative house from Lagna and also in a bad axis like 6/8 from the ruler of Pratyek Tara which is Ketu. However there may be cases when the Bukthi Lords are in favorable Taras from the Janma Nakshatra and hence these specific periods can help ease the relief.

Illustration 2:
Let's say a native is born in Rishaba Lagna in the Janma Nakshatra of Vishaka and is presently running the Dasa of Mercury which is let's say placed in Shravana Nakshatra. Now Shravana happens to be Vadha Tara for Vishaka as it's 7th from it. We need to next see how the lord of Shravana Nakshatra that is Moon is placed with respect to the Lagna. Let's say this Moon is placed in the 6th house in sign of Libra which also happens to be in the 7th sign from Kalapurusha Lagna Mesha. We know 6th house denotes fights and issues whereas 7th house denotes partner or spouse. Thus it can be inferred by blending the two that there could be lots of fights and issues with respective partner. Also Vadha Tara ruler is Saturn and the Vada Tara in this case happens to be Moon (ruler of Shravana Nakshatra). If these two are also negatively placed from each other, say for instance Moon is in 6,8,12 from Saturn, the problems will only accentuate further. Hence best remedy is to appease the Tara in question which is Shravana and donate items related to it in order to reduce the maleficence.

Illustration 3:
Let's say a native is born in Janma Nakshatra of Poorva Bhadrapada and a Dasa of a planet is running now which is sitting in Uttara Phalguni Nakshatra. For Poorva Bhadrapada, Uttara Phalguni happens to be the 15th Nakshatra denoting Sadhak Tara (1+5=6). But there is a catch here as these two Nakshatras are vedha and hence repel each other. So in this case the Nava Tara auspiciousness of the 6th Tara Sadhak won't work and hence the way forward is to avoid all the energies pertaining to Uttara Phalguni Nakshatra and donating 'Puliyogara' rice which is a prasad symbolising Uttara Phalguni Nakshatra.

Transit Illustration:
With regards to transits especially, the lords of the respective Navataras play a crucial role. For instance let's say when Rahu is transiting a Nakshatra which is Vipat to Janma Tara or a Ketu is transiting a Nakshatra which is Pratyek to Janma Tara or a Saturn is transiting a Nakshatra which is Vadha to Janma Tara, lots of troubles can be said to be encountered by the native. Let's say for eg. birth Nakshatra is Hastha and say Rahu is over Swati (3rd Tara) it can cause dangers to native. It doesn't matter even if Swati Nakshatra as such is ruled by Rahu. Likewise let's say if Ketu is transiting over Anuradha or Uttara Bhadra or Pushya which is the 5th Tara from Hastha can cause phenomenal mind confusions. On similar vein Saturn over the 7th stars from Janma Nakshatra be it Janma, Anujanma or Trijanma viz Moola, Ashwini or Magha can cause great strife to the native.

Basic Rules and Clues for interpretation of Navatara:
- Check the Nakshatra where planet placed is operating it's Dasa or Transit.
- See which of the 9 Tara's the particular Nakshatra falls into when counted from Janma Nakshatra.
- If it happens to be 2,4,6,8 positive results can be expected, if in 3,5,7 negative results and if in 1,9 results will be neutral.
- Next check the lordship of the particular Nakshatra which sign it is placed with respect to both Lagna and also the default ruler of the Tara.
- If it is in houses 6,8,12, results can be inauspicious and may need additional measures. If in Kendra or Kona it can said to be auspicious and if in other houses can said to be average.

Explanation: Let's say a person is born in Gemini Ascendant with Moon being placed in the star of Swati. Let's say Mars which is placed in Anuradha in the horoscope is running it's Dasa currently. When counted from Swati, Anuradha happens to be the 3rd star and hence under Vipat Tara. Next we need to check the lord of the star of Anuradha which is Saturn and how it is placed with respect to Lagna and also Rahu which is ruler of Vipat Tara. If Saturn is let's say placed in 10th house of Pisces in Kendra, then from Lagna it doesn't become all that negative but however let's say Rahu is placed in Libra, then this Saturn gets associated in 6/8 axis with the rulership lord of Vipat Tara Rahu and hence problems can be accentuated. The major point of check is however to see which of the Tara's the particular Nakshatra falls into as that's how results get directed. Additional checking of the house position of the lord of the star with respect to the Ascendant and the owner of the particular Tara helps in providing additional respite.

The 8 Part Division of Time Cycle - Kala Vela, Gowri Panchanga, Choghadiya

'Time' is an essential component in the scheme of things when it comes to fixing an auspicious period for a Muhurat or for undertaking an important activity. One of the common bifurcations of time happens to be the splitting of day time and night time into 8 equal divisions each. Thus in essence there will be 16 time intervals in a day comprising of 8 each for sunrise and sunset with each of them running for a period of approx an hour and a half each depending upon the length of duration of sunrise and sunset. Each of these sub divisions are ruled by a said planet and said to connote a particular specification. Based on the methodology adopted, the computation differs taking an off shoot direction by adhering to certain principles and thus leading to a shift in the planetary sequence cabinet allotment. The 3 different types of 1/8th units of division of time (approx 90-96 minutes time frame) complied comprises of the following:

- Kala Vela
- Gowri Panchanga
- Choghadiya

Basic Concepts of Time and Day:
Before explaining the intricacies of how planetary time periods are allotted for these 3 metrics, it will be good to recall the over arching hierarchy of how time gets recorded in the vedic calendar. This is exclusively defined from one of the five elements of the Panchang titled the Vara or Day.

There are 7 Vara's obtained from the 7 week days and each of them are represented by a particular planet as seen below:
Sunday - Sun
Monday - Moon
Tuesday - Mars
Wednesday - Mercury
Thursday - Jupiter
Friday - Venus
Saturday - Saturn

Each day of the week comprises of the time beginning from sunrise and ends during the next day sunrise when the next day commences. Within this period of a whole day, we divide it into two portions viz sun rise (day time) and sun set (night time). The Sun rise or day time period runs from when the sun rises in the east till the time it sets in the west. Likewise the Sun set or night time period runs from when the sun sets in the west till the time it rises again in the east.

Now, the respective sun rise and sun set portions are bifurcated further into 8 equal parts each and that's where ruling planets are assigned to each one of them. The order of the sunrise period always begins from the order of the weekday and the sunset period begins from the 5th day of the weekday and follows a specific order. For instance Sunrise period on a Sunday always starts from Sun whereas the sunset period commences from Jupiter since it happens to be the lord of the 5th weekday from Sunday (Thursday is 5th day beginning from Sunday and it's ruler is Jupiter).

Kala Vela:
The Kala vela time periods signify that portion of time slots which are primarily ruled by each of the planets from Sun to Saturn in a particular weekday operating from sunrise to sunset and again from sunset to next day sunrise. It is through these 1/8th time zoned periods of sunrise and sunset that we account for inauspicious sub periods such as Yama Ghanta Kala and Gulika Kala.

The Kala time is said to be the shadowy portion of the planets and is mainly used for delineating the time frame ruled by each of the planets. In general parlance these are termed as Upagrahas or in essence the son's of the respective 7 planets Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn.

As mentioned, there are 7 weekdays but 8 equal parts each for sunrise and sunset. Hence 7 of these parts will be assigned to a particular planet with the 8th being headless and given to Rahu. The sequence goes as Sun-Moon-Mars-Mercury-Jupiter-Venus-Saturn-Rahu. The order starts from the ruling planet of the particular weekday for sunrise and 5th day of weekday for sunset.

Let us go about computing the kala vela order for a Friday. Since the day is Friday, first part for sunrise is assigned to the lord of the weekday Friday which is Venus. After that it will be lord of Saturday Saturn in the 2nd part followed by headless portion Rahu taking charge in the 3rd part and after that Sunday Lord Sun ruling 4th part, Monday Lord Moon ruling 5th part, Tuesday Lord Mars ruling 6th, Wednesday Lord Mercury heading the 7th part and finally followed by Thursday Lord Jupiter ruling the 8th and final part of sunrise. For sunset, order will begin from the 5th day of the weekday which in this case will be Mars since Tuesday is the 5th weekday from Friday. Thus the sequence will be Mars-Mercury-Jupiter-Venus-Saturn-Rahu-Sun-Moon making up the 8 parts of sunset.

The Kala Vela classifications with the names of the planet's son or upagraha is described below:
Sun - Kala
Moon - Paridhi
Mars - Mrityu
Mercury - Ardhaprahara
Jupiter - Yamaghanta
Venus - Indrachapa
Saturn - Gulika

Gowri Panchanga:
In the traditional sense, Gowri Panchanga is used to check auspicious time to start a new activity and avoid inauspicious time. From a religious perspective it is mainly used to decipher the right time for the purpose of a Muhurat.

The computation of time slot for Gowri Panchanga works through the following premise. As mentioned above the sunrise and sunset time are split into 8 equal parts and are assigned a planet each beginning from the weekday for sun rise (day time) and 5th day of the weekday for sun set (night time).

The only difference between the time periods of Gowri Panchanga and Kala Vela is due to the special timezone factoring of Rahu which causes changes to the planetary sequence. The Rahu period is always assigned a particular time slot for each day of the week on both sunrise and sunset and when that period arises, Rahu is always given precedence and the next planet succeeds the time period after Rahu and the similar weekday order follows. The parts assigned to Rahu for every day beginning from Sunday to Saturday during sunrise period happens to be 8th, 2nd, 7th, 5th, 6th, 4th and 3rd. During sunset period the parts assigned for every day beginning from Sunday to Saturday are 4th, 5th, 3rd, 8th, 2nd, 7th, 6th. It should however be noted that Rahu never rules the 1st part on any day whether it's a sunrise or sunset.

Rahu Kaala time is said to be associated with ultra violet rays falling on the earth that are not visible to the naked eyes. It is specifically noted that ultra violet particles fall on those portions of time assigned to Rahu on every day of the week during both sunrise and sunset and this is the main reasons that the time order of planets get impacted in order to factor this phenomenon.

To understand the concept in a simple manner, let us see how to go about computing the time slots for a Wednesday. Since the day is Wednesday, for sunrise first part is assigned to the lord of the weekday Wednesday which is Mercury. After that it will be lord of Thursday Jupiter followed by Friday lord Venus, Saturday Lord Saturn, Sunday Lord Sun, Monday Lord Moon and Tuesday Lord Mars. So we have the order of Mercury-Jupiter-Venus-Saturn-Sun-Moon-Mars. Now we have 7 planets but 8 parts need to be filled. On Wednesday during sunrise period Rahu occupies the 5th part. Hence order from Mercury-Jupiter-Venus-Saturn will remain the same and after this Rahu will come in 5th part pushing the Sun to 6th, Moon in to the 7th and Mars will finally own the 8th spot. For sunset first part is assigned to the 5th day of the weekday which is Sun (Sunday is 5th day from Wednesday). Also we know that Rahu rules the 8th part in sunset. Hence the order will be Sun-Moon-Mars-Mercury-Jupiter-Venus-Saturn-Rahu.

The Gowri Panchanga classification of planets along with the meanings indicated are listed below:
Sun - Uthi (Plan)
Moon - Amirtha (Sweet)
Mars - Rogam (Evil)
Mercury - Laabam (Gain)
Jupiter - Dhanam (Wealth)
Venus - Sugam (Comfort)
Saturn - Soram (Bad)
Rahu - Visham (Poison)

Choghadiya:
Choghadiya is again a measurement of time very similar to Gowri Panchanga and used for determining muhurat and establishing most suitable time frames to perform auspicious activities. It is more prevalent in the North of India as opposed to its counterpart Gowri Panchang which is followed predominantly in the South. They both work in a like for like vein and also tend to connote similar descriptions of the time calendar.

The main difference between the two happens to be the non factoring of the Rahu time zone for Choghadiya. Thus, it makes use of only 7 planets sans Rahu with the 8th slot being partaken by the planet that began proceedings of the 8 part sequence. The other tilt in the time computation takes place in the sequence followed which is that of the Hora order based on the distance of planets or the order of decreasing speed of planets with respect to the earth. Saturn being the farthest comes first in the order followed by Jupiter, next Mars, then Sun followed by Venus, Mercury and finally the Moon. The sequence of this order however always begins with the planet owning the weekday for sun rise day time and 5th day from the weekday for sunset night time.

Let's understand the order flow of Choghadiya with an illustration of how it is arrived at for a Thursday. Since the day is Thursday, for sunrise portion, first part is assigned to the lord of the weekday Thursday which is Jupiter. From here it will follow the order of decreasing speed of planets with the second part given to Mars (faster in speed to Jupiter), 3rd part to Sun (faster to Mars) followed by 4th part to Venus (faster than Sun) with 5th part to Mercury (being faster than Venus), 6th part to Moon (being fastest planet of them all) followed again by 7th part to Saturn (slowest planet of all) and finally 8th part aligned back to Jupiter which started the sequence. For sunset also similar process follows but starting from the 5th day of the weekday which in this case will be Moon being the 5th weekday from Thursday. Thus the 1st part will be Moon, followed by Saturn, then Jupiter, after that Mars and toeing along will be Sun, Venus, Mercury and the final 8th part will be ruled by Moon again.

The Choghadiya classification of planets along with the meanings indicated are listed below:
Sun - Udyoga (Administrative)
Moon - Amrita (Nectar)
Mars - Roga (Fight)
Mercury - Labha (Profit)
Jupiter - Shubha (Favorable)
Venus - Chala (Movement)
Saturn - Kaala (Unfavorable)

Conclusion:
From a panoptic view each of the measures of Kala Vela, Gowri Panchanga and Chogadiya all tailor towards the 8 divisions of cycles of time and look inherently similar to one another but however they all have their own individual significance and tend to branch out when it comes to assigning planetary time periods. Kala Vela follows the weekday order and has a portion which is blank given to Rahu. Gowri Panchanga on the other hand also follows the weekday order but the planetary sequence gets entangled due to the dichotomy of Rahu which is specially carved out to configure the Rahu Kaalam time. Chogadiya on the other hand does not consider Rahu into picture at all and allocates the portions only to the 7 embodied planets but however it follows the hora order course of action. Hence each of these metrics form an integral part within the time landscape and they all are conventionally similar yet eerily different from each other

Nutshell:
Kala Vela:
7 planets plus one headless portion for Rahu and follows weekday sequence order beginning from lord of the weekday for sunrise and lord of the 5th weekday for sunset.

Gowri Panchanga:
8 planets including Rahu and follows weekday sequence order beginning from lord of the weekday for sunrise and lord of the 5th weekday for sunset. Exclusively factors Rahu time period causing a tweak to the regular weekday planetary order.

Chogadiya:
7 planets excluding Rahu and follows hora sequence order beginning from lord of the weekday for sunrise and lord of the 5th weekday for sunset.

Snapshot:
Sharing below a snapshot of the ruling planets of Kala Vela, Gowri Panchanga and Choghadiya considering sunrise and sunset as 6AM and 6PM respectively. If the sunrise or sunset time happens to be earlier or later than clock time of 6, it needs to be adjusted accordingly. This roster however provides a summarized view of the exact sequence of planetary order ruling the 8 parts each in both the sunrise and sunset time framework.

Vedic components of Time!

The breakdown of time as a component is very fascinating in the vedic sphere. The division of time from a higher level to the minutest level is indeed hair raising and you'll get alarmed at how atomically intricate the sages went with the lowest metric of time recorded to a depth underneath of up to a staggering 1/60750th of a second.

Let's say for instance that someone were born on the 4th of June 1986 at 10:05 PM in Chennai, India. Just by classifying on a broad scale of time we can perhaps say that the person was born in:
Akshaya Varsha  (60th of 60 years)
Uttara Ayana (1st of 2 Ayanas)
Vasantha Rutu (1st of 6 seasons)
Vaisakha Masa (2nd of 12 months)
Krishna Paksha (2nd of 2 fortnights)
Buddha Vara (4th of 7 days)
Ratri Samay (2nd of 2 times of a day)
Roga Gowri Panchang (3rd of 8 parts during night time of a day)
Shani Hora (17th of 24 hours of a day)

If someone were to ask you the time in which you were born you can always flummox anyone by stating in detail the time period in which you took birth on this earth. You can even add the details of the Nakshatra, Tithi, Karana, Yoga and various other measures as an extra fillip.

These are just various layers and from Paksha onwards it could even take another off shoot route by going in another direction such as the Ahoratra, Muhurtha, Ghati et al. But on a broad classification, at least to within an hours time the classification listed draws down to a pretty finite level. I shall now explain some important components of time by first listing down a summary on a high level followed by explanation on the components.

• Varsha (Samvatsara - 60 year cycle)
• Ayana (Sun's Northern and Southern movement)
• Ruthu (6 types of seasons) 
• Masa (12 months of Lunar calendar/Solar Calendar)
• Paksha (Bright half/Darker half of moon)
• Vara (7 days from Sunday to Saturday)
• Samay (Day divided into day time sunrise and night time sunset)
• Gowri Panchanga (Portion of sunrise and sunset divided into 8 equal parts each)
• Hora (Day classified into 24 hours beginning from lord of the day in decreasing distance)

Varsha (Samvatsara) / Year:
A time cycle consists of 60 years and can also translate to 5 cycles of Jupiter. It is based on a rough estimate of the time taken by the 2 biggies Jupiter and Saturn to come together which happens approximately once in 60 years. Jupiter takes roughly 1 year or 12 months in a sign and hence takes 12 years to complete the zodiac. Saturn on the other hand takes 2.5 years or 30 months and hence it takes 30 years to go around the zodiac. The lowest common multiple of 12 and 30 happens to be 60 and hence once every 60 years you would see Jupiter and Saturn crossing each other's path.

The first year of the cycle is called 'Prabhava' and the last year of the cycle is termed 'Akshaya'. The current 60 year cycle runs from 1987-88 to 2046-47. Now these 60 years by themselves are divided into 3 parts ruled by the trinity with the first 20 years ruled by Brahma, the next 20 years by Vishnu and the last 20 years by Shiva.

A Samvatsara is said to begin immediately after Ammavasya in the Tithi of Shukla Paksha Pratipada in the lunar month of Chaitra. This is followed mostly in the Northern part of India but however sections of South India believe that a year starts when Sun enters Mesha in the month of Chithirai. This difference of opinion could lead to a minor difference in the start of a new year based on whether lunar or solar calendars have been adopted.

Year	Samvatsara	Deity
1	Prabhava	Brahma
2	Vibhava	Brahma
3	Sukla	Brahma
4	Pramoduta	Brahma
5	Prajapati	Brahma
6	Angirasa	Brahma
7	Srimukha	Brahma
8	Bhava	Brahma
9	Yuva	Brahma
10	Dhattu	Brahma
11	Isvara	Brahma
12	Bahudhanya	Brahma
13	Pramathi	Brahma
14	Vikrama	Brahma
15	Vrushapraja	Brahma
16	Chitrabhanu	Brahma
17	Svabhanu	Brahma
18	Tarana	Brahma
19	Parthiva	Brahma
20	Vyaya	Brahma
21	Sarvajit	Vishnu
22	Sarvadhari	Vishnu
23	Virodhi	Vishnu
24	Vikrti	Vishnu
25	Khara	Vishnu
26	Nandana	Vishnu
27	Vijaya	Vishnu
28	Jaya	Vishnu
29	Manmatha	Vishnu
30	Durmukhi	Vishnu
31	Hevilambi	Vishnu
32	Vilambi	Vishnu
33	Vikari	Vishnu
34	Sarvari	Vishnu
35	Plava	Vishnu
36	Subhakruth	Vishnu
37	Shobhakruth	Vishnu
38	Krodhi	Vishnu
39	Visvavasu	Vishnu
40	Parabhava	Vishnu
41	Plavanga	Shiva
42	Kilaka	Shiva
43	Saumya	Shiva
44	Sadharana	Shiva
45	Virodhikrta	Shiva
46	Paridhavi	Shiva
47	Pramadicha	Shiva
48	Ananda	Shiva
49	Raksasa	Shiva
50	Nala	Shiva
51	Pingala	Shiva
52	Kalayukti	Shiva
53	Siddharthi	Shiva
54	Raudri	Shiva
55	Durmati	Shiva
56	Dundubhi	Shiva
57	Rudhirodgari	Shiva
58	Raktakshi	Shiva
59	Krodhana	Shiva
60	Akshaya	Shiva

Ayana (Northern/Southern movement of Sun):
An Ayana is basically 2 half years within a year known as the solar half and lunar half. It depends on the Sun's course of movement. The 2 Ayana's are termed Uttara Ayana (solar half) ruled by Sun and Dakshina Ayana (lunar half) ruled by Moon.

Uttara Ayana - This is the solar half of the year which takes place with Sun's Northward course from winter solstice to summer solstice where the days are said to be lengthier. In simple parlance, it is the time of the year when Sun enters Capricorn zodiac as per the sidereal year which would roughly be around the mid of January.

Dakshina Ayana - This is the lunar half of the year which takes place with Sun's Southward course from summer solstice to winter solstice where the nights are said to be lengthier. In simple parlance, it is the time of the year when Sun enters into Cancer zodiac as per the sidereal year which would roughly be around the mid of July.

Rutu (Seasons):
There are 6 types of seasons in the calendar denoting different meanings as mentioned below:
Vasantha - Spring (Ruled by Venus)
Grishma - Summer (Ruled by Sun, Mars)
Varsha - Monsoon/Rainy Season (Ruled by Moon)
Sharad - Autumn (Ruled by Mercury)
Hemanta - Winter (Ruled by Jupiter)
Sisira - Prevernal/Cold Season (Ruled by Saturn)

Vasantha Ruthu is said to correlate with the beginning of the year whereas Sisira Ruthu takes place during the end of the year. Each Rutu is said to last for 2 lunar months. In down south however due to change in climatic conditions, there tends to be a small shift with regard to the hot and cold portion of the year. Since Grishma is said to be the summer season and tends to begin in and around April, the solar months Chithirai and Vaikasi (Mid April to mid June) are associated with it and likewise Varsha is tagged along with the solar months of Aani and Aadi (Mid June to mid August).

Masa (Months):
There are 12 months in a year and the lunar calendar is the one which is followed in vogue. There are 2 types of traditions followed with regard to the following of the Lunar months viz

Amanta - Month starts on Shukla Pratipada and ends on Ammavasya (Most popular)

Pournimanta - Month starts on Krishna Paksha Pratipada and ends on Pournima

A lunar month is roughly about 29 and half days and hence a lunar year completes it's revolution in about 354 odd days whereas a solar year comprises about 365 and a quarter days. This difference accumulates over time and hence an extra month titled Adhik Maasa is inserted to keep the lunar and solar calendars aligned. The Adhik Maasa takes place once in about 2 years and 8 1/2 months with the extra month taking place in the month where the sun remains in the same zodiac sign throughout an entire lunar month cycle.

The 12 Lunar months are as follows and tend to occur during the months mentioned:

Chaithra - Mar-Apr

Vaishaka - Apr-May

Jyeshta - May-Jun

Ashada - Jun-Jul

Shravana - Jul-Aug

Bhadrapada - Aug-Sep

Ashwija - Sep-Oct

Karthik - Oct-Nov

Margashira - Nov-Dec

Pushya - Dec-Jan

Magha - Jan-Feb

Phalguna - Feb-Mar

However in some parts of South India, the solar calendar reigns supreme which by and large depends on the ingress of the Sun in different rasis beginning from Aries onwards. Listed below are the solar months which tend to occur roughly around the mid of every month beginning from mid April onwards with the year starting from Chithirai and ending with Panguni.

Chithirai - Apr-May

Vaikasi - May-Jun

Aani - Jun-Jul

Aadi - Jul-Aug

Avani - Aug-Sep

Purattasi - Sep-Oct

Aipasi - Oct-Nov

Karthikai - Nov-Dec

Margazhi - Dec-Jan

Thai - Jan-Feb

Maasi - Feb-Mar

Panguni - Mar-Apr

Paksha (Brigher/Darker Half of Moon):

A Paksha is basically a split of a lunar month into two halves viz brighter half or Shukla Paksha (waxing period of moon) and darker half or Krishna Paksha (waning period of Moon). Every 12 degrees of angular distance is termed a tithi and as and when the Moon moves away from the Sun to a point of 180 degrees (15 tithis - 180/12) it constitutes the brighter half and from there on in the Moon returns back towards the sun from 181st to 360 degrees which is said to be the darker half. There are 30 tithis in a lunar month with the first 15 waxing and the next 15 waning. The list of Tithi classification into Shukla Paksha and Krishna Paksha are listed below:

Pratipada - 1st (Shukla Paksha), 16th (Krishna Paksha)

Dwitiya - 2nd (Shukla Paksha), 17th (Krishna Paksha)

Tritiya - 3rd (Shukla Paksha), 18th (Krishna Paksha)

Chaturthi - 4th (Shukla Paksha), 19th (Krishna Paksha)

Panchami - 5th (Shukla Paksha), 20th (Krishna Paksha)

Sashti - 6th (Shukla Paksha), 21st (Krishna Paksha)

Sapthami - 7th (Shukla Paksha), 22th (Krishna Paksha)

Ashtami - 8th (Shukla Paksha), 23th (Krishna Paksha)

Navami - 9th (Shukla Paksha), 24th (Krishna Paksha)

Dasami - 10th (Shukla Paksha), 25th (Krishna Paksha)

Ekadashi - 11th (Shukla Paksha), 26th (Krishna Paksha)

Dwadashi - 12th (Shukla Paksha), 27th (Krishna Paksha)

Triyodashi - 13th (Shukla Paksha), 28th (Krishna Paksha)

Chaturdashi - 14th (Shukla Paksha), 29th (Krishna Paksha)

Pournami/Amma Vasya - 15th (Shukla Paksha), 30th (Krishna Paksha)

Vara (Days of the week):

These are basically the 7 days in a week from Sunday to Saturday. A day consists of both sun rise and sunset and said to last for a period of 24 hours beginning from sunrise of one day till the beginning of the sun rise of the next day. Each of the days are lorded by a ruling planet as seen below:

Ravi Vaar (Sunday) - Sun

Som Vaar (Monday) - Moon

Mangal Vaar (Tuesday) - Mars

Buddha Vaar (Wednesday) - Mercury

Guru Vaar (Thursday) - Jupiter

Shukra Vaar (Friday) - Venus

Shani Vaar (Saturday) - Saturn

Samay (Time of the day):

A day is again broken into 2 parts comprising of sunrise ruling the day portion and sunset ruling the night portion. Both these segments work out to roughly about 12 hours in a day.

Din Samay (Sunrise) - Day time portion

Ratri Samay (Sunset) - Night time portion

Gowri Panchanga (8 portions each of day time sun rise and night time sun set)

Gowri Panchang is a portion of approximately one and half hours time period used to check auspicious time to start a new activity and to avoid inauspicious time. From a religious perspective it is mainly used to decipher the right time for the purpose of a Muhurat.

The sunrise time as well as sunset times are further split into 8 equal parts each and assigned to 8 planets - Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and Rahu. The order of the sunrise period always begins from the order of the weekday and the sunset period begins from the 5th day of the weekday and follows the sequential order. The presence of Rahu alone yields breaks to this order which needs to be factored accordingly.

The different Gowri Panchangas in a day comprise of  the following North Indian or South Indian names and is said to be ruled by a particular planet

Udyoga/Uthi -  Sun

Amrit/Amrita - Moon

Roga/Rogam - Mars

Laabha/Laabam - Mercury

Shubha/Dhanam - Jupiter

Chala/Sugam - Venus

Kaala/Soram - Saturn

Vish/Visham - Rahu

Hora (24 hours in a day based on decreasing distance of planets):

Hora happens to be a unit of time comprising usually one hour time frame which is suitable for performing specific actions. Hora is computed based on the distance of planets or in essence the order of decreasing speed of planets with respect to the earth. The first Hora in a day however is always the ruling planet of the day, for instance Sunday's first Hora will always be Sun whereas Monday's first Hora will always be Moon and so on and so forth. The Hora order from slowest planet (also farthest) to the fastest planet (also closest) is as below;

Shani (Saturn)

Guru (Jupiter)

Kuja (Mars)

Suriya (Sun)

Shukra (Venus)

Buddha (Mercury)

Chandra (Moon)

Thus, we see that time can be pretty synchronous going about in a uniform manner and can also be extremely extensive. Providing below an easy tabular format to look at what extreme awe inspiring depths time really goes into:

Time                                                     Division

1 Time Cycle (60 years)	60 Samvatsara (year)
1 Samvatsara (year)	2 Ayana (half a year)
1 Ayana (half a year)	3 Rutus (Season)
1 Rutu (season)	2 Masa (Months)
1 Masa (Month)	2 Paksha (Shukla and Krishna)
1 Paksha (Shukla and Krishna)	15 Ahoratram (24 Hours)
1 Ahoratram (24 Hours)	30 Muhurtha (48 Minutes)
1 Muhurtha (48 Minutes)	2 Ghati (24 Minutes)
1 Ghati (24 Minutes)	30 Kalas (48 seconds)
1 Kalas (48 seconds)	2 Vighati (24 seconds)
1 Vighati (24 seconds)	6 Pranas (4 seconds)
1 Pranas (4 seconds)	6 Nimeshas (88.889 milisecond)
1 Nimeshas (88.889 milisecond)	30 Tatpara (2.96296 milisecond)
1 Tatpara (2.96296 milisecond)	100 Truti (29.6296 microsecond)
1 Truti (29.6296 microsecond)	1.8 Paramanu (60750th part of a second)
1 Paramanu	60750th part of a second

Navamsa Construction and other important concepts pertaining to D9

The Navamsa or D9 happens to be the most important divisional chart in a horoscope. It goes tete-a-tete with the rasi chart and a horoscope virtually feels incomplete without its presence. As the name D9 stands it talks about the Dharma or the 9th division or in essence reflects on a microscopic view of a rasi in 9 equal divisions. For the mathematically initiated a rasi consists of 30° with each Navamsa part containing 3°20' each.

There is a myth prevailing that Navamsa is all about marriage and spouse but in essence it is the dharma trine and can also be used to assess a native's skills, abilities and talent. It also gives a break down of the strength of a planet from where it is placed in the Navamsa and many often a weak placement in rasi can get over ruled by a strong presence in Navamsa.

Navamsa can be broken into 'Nava' meaning 9 and 'Amsa' meaning division. It is also referred to as the 'Dharmamsa'. The way it is derived is that the 9th house is all about Dharma and the 11th house speaks about desires. The 11th from 9th becomes the 7th or rather the fructification from Dharma turns out to be the D9 or Navamsa chart and since the resultant happens to be the 7th house (11th from 9th), it is pretty understandable to see it as one of the primary factors for issues pertaining to marriage. The Dharma angle here however should not be compromised and holds the major say in the scheme of things.

This particular post is not about an analysis about the D9 but more about the construction of it and I will list down 3 different methods which can be used for the same. The article will also touch upon some important concepts of the Navamsa which is like a corollary addendum when one understands how the counting works.

1) Classification based Counting:
As one is aware, the 12 rasis are classified into 3 types viz Movable (Cadinal), Fixed and Dual (Mutable) and they keep getting repeated in a cyclical order with Aries being a Movable sign, Taurus Fixed and Gemini Dual with the pattern followed again from Cancer onwards. Navamsa counting always begins from a Movable sign and there's a reason for it as when you start counting from the first movable sign the 9th will end up being a dual sign with the baton being passed on again to a movable sign with the last 9th part again falling in a dual and so on and so forth. Thus if a planet falls in a movable rasi, start counting directly from the respective movable rasi, if a planet is situated in a fixed rasi start counting from the 9th sign from it and if planet is located in dual rasi begin counting 5th from the particular sign. In all these cases the resulting counting start sign will always be movable. It's easier to understand when we look at it with illustrations.

Illustration:
Eg say Sun is in Aries 11°35', Moon in Taurus 24°50' and Mars in Gemini 5°10' in the rasi chart.

Sun:
Classification - Movable (Aries)
Base - 1 (1st from movable sign)
Part - 4th part (Since it falls in degree span of 10°00' to 13°20')
Count - Start directly from the same movable sign Aries and count 4 which will be Cancer (1st from Aries is Aries and then 4th from it results in Cancer)

Moon
Classification - Fixed (Taurus)
Base - 9 (9th from fixed sign)
Part - 8th part (Since it falls in degree span of 23°20' to 26°40')
Count - Move 9th from respective sign of Taurus and then count 8 which will be Leo (9th from Taurus is Capricorn and then 8th from it results in Leo)

Mars
Classification - Dual (Gemini)
Base - 5 (5th from dual sign)
Part - 2nd part (Since it falls in degree span of 3°20' to 6°40')
Count - Move 5th from respective sign and then count 2 which will be Sagittarius (5th from Gemini is Libra and then 2nd from it results in Sagittarius)

Summary:
Planet in movable sign - start counting the division from the same movable sign
Planet in fixed sign - Move 9th from the fixed sign and start counting the divisions from the resulting movable sign
Planet in dual sign - Move 5th from the dual sign and start counting the divisions from the resulting movable sign

2) Element based counting:
Each of the rasis are also divided into 4 elements viz Fire, Earth, Air and Water starting from Aries onwards with the order repeating from Leo and again from Sagittarius as well. As discussed above under the classification mould, the counting will always begin from a movable sign as only then the symmetry ends up being maintained. Now we need to take a look at the movable sign for all the elements and the counting gets established from that particular sign.
Fire - Aries  (Leo and Sagittarius are ruled out as they are not movable)
Earth - Capricorn (Taurus and Virgo are ruled out as they are not movable)
Air - Libra (Gemini and Aquarius are ruled out as they are not movable)
Water - Cancer (Scorpio and Pisces are ruled out as they are not movable)
Let's look at this theory with an example

Illustration:
Eg Sun is in Leo 11°35', Moon in Capricorn 24°50',  Mars in Aquarius 5°10' and Mercury in 8°20' in the rasi chart

Sun:
Element - Fire
Start sign - Aries
Part - 4th part (Since it falls in degree span of 10°00' to 13°20')
Count - Start from Aries the fire movable sign and count 4 which will be Cancer (For Planet in fire, the counting needs to start from fire movable sign which is Aries)

Moon:
Element - Earth
Start sign - Capricorn
Part - 8th part (Since it falls in degree span of 23°20' to 26°40')
Count - Start from Capricorn the Earth movable sign and count 8 which will be Leo (For Planet in earth, the counting needs to start from earth movable sign which is Capricorn)

Mars:
Element - Air
Start sign - Libra
Part - 2nd part (Since it falls in degree span of 3°20' to 6°40')
Count - Start from Libra the Air movable sign and count 2 which will be Sagittarius (For Planet in air, the counting needs to start from air movable sign which is Libra)

Mercury:
Element - Water
Start sign - Cancer
Part - 3rd part (Since it falls in degree span of 6°40' to 10°00')
Count - Start from Cancer the Water movable sign and count 3 which will be Virgo (For Planet in water, the counting needs to start from water movable sign which is Cancer)

Summary:
Planet in Fire sign - start counting from Aries which is the fire movable sign
Planet in Earth sign - start counting from Capricorn which is the earth movable sign
Planet in Air sign - start counting from Libra which is the air movable sign
Planet in Water sign - start counting from Cancer which is the water movable sign

3) Star Based Counting:
This is a little different method and doesn't employ rasis directly and instead the constellations come into the picture. As one may be aware there are 27 Nakshatras making up the zodiac divided into 3 sets of 9 each. The first set of 9 Nakshatras Ashwini to Ashlesha run from Aries to Cancer, the second set of  9 Nakshatras Magha to Jyeshta run from Leo to Scorpio and the third set of 9 Nakshatras Moola to Revathi run from Sagittarius to Pisces. The reason these are broken into cycles of 9 Nakshatras is in essence because the subsequent Nakshatra after the 9th begins fresh in a new zodiac sign without having breaks in padas. Thus one can say it takes 4 rasis to cover one full set of 9 Nakshatra constellations. The trick here is that the first, fourth and seventh Nakshatra from each set will occupy the first 4 rasis (Aries to Cancer) with each of the 4 padas making up the rasis one after the other and likewise the second, fifth and eighth Nakshatra from each cycle will rule over the next 4 rasis (Leo to Scorpio) and in similar vein the third, sixth and ninth Nakshatra will lord the last 4 rasis (Sagittarius to Pisces). The concept will look easier when explained with an example.

Illustration:
Eg Sun is in Poorva Phalguni 17°35', Moon in Hastha 13°10',  Mars in Revathi 27°10' and Mercury in Pushya 11°20' in the rasi chart

Sun
Nakshatra - Second (2,5,8 set)
Zodiac Cycle - Leo to Scorpio
Pada - 2 (Poorva Phalguni 16°40'-20°00' is second pada)
Count - Start from Leo and count 2 which will be Virgo

Moon
Nakshatra - Fourth (1,4,7 set)
Zodiac Cycle - Aries to Cancer
Pada - 1 (Hastha 10°00'-13°20' is first pada)
Count - Start from Aries and count 1 which will be Aries

Mars
Nakshatra - Ninth (3,6,9 set)
Zodiac Cycle - Sagittarius to Pisces
Pada - 1 (Revathi 26°40'-30°00' is fourth pada)
Count - Start from Sagittarius and count 4 which will be Pisces

Mercury
Nakshatra - Eighth (2,5,8 set)
Zodiac Cycle -  Leo to Scorpio
Pada - 1 (Pushya 10°00'-13°20' is third pada)
Count - Start from Leo and count 3 which will be Libra

Summary:
Planet in 1,4,7 Nakshatra cycle - start counting from Aries to Cancer with 1st pada Aries, 2nd pada Taurus, 3rd pada Gemini and 4th pada Cancer
Planet in 2,5,8 Nakshatra cycle - start counting from Leo to Scorpio with 1st pada Leo, 2nd pada Virgo, 3rd pada Libra and 4th pada Scorpio
Planet in 3,6,9 Nakshatra cycle - start counting from Sagittarius to Pisces with 1st pada Sagittarius, 2nd pada Capricorn, 3rd pada Aquarius and 4th pada Pisces

Important Concepts in Navamsa:

# Vargottama
Vargottam literally means a planet occupying the same sign in both the rasi and the Navamsa and said to be auspicious as it's like a blessing because the Dharma signifies what is prevalent in the rasi chart in the Navamsa as well. From the counting mechanism it can be inferred that only in 12 cases can Vargottama even occur.

Classification based counting - 1st pada of a movable sign, 5th pada of a fixed sign and 9th pada of a dual sign
Element based counting - 1st pada of a fire sign, 5th pada of an earth sign, 9th pada of an air sign and the 1st pada of a water sign
Star based counting - In 1-4-7 cycle, Ashwini-1, Rohini -2, Punarvasu-3&4, in 2-5-8 cycle, Poorva Phalguni-1, Chitra-2, Chitra-3 and Anuradha-4, in 3-6-9 cycle, Uthara Ashada-1&2, Satabisha-3 and Revathi-4

Listed below is the set of 12 divisions of total 108 divisions (12 rasis*9parts) where a planet can end up becoming Vargotama.

Zodiac - Classification - Element - Star & Pada - Degree Span
Aries - Movable - Fire - Ashwini-1 - 00°00'-3°20'
Taurus - Fixed - Earth - Rohini-2 - 13°20'-16°40'
Gemini - Dual - Air - Punarvasu-3 - 26°40'-30°00'
Cancer - Movable - Water - Punarvasu-4 - 00°00'-3°20'
Leo - Movable - Fire - Poorva Phalguni-1 - 13°20'-16°40'
Virgo - Fixed - Earth - Chitra-2- 26°40'-30°00'
Libra - Dual - Air - Chitra-3 - 00°00'-3°20'
Scorpio - Movable - Water - Anuradha-4 - 13°20'-16°40'
Sagittarius - Movable - Fire - Uthara Ashada-1 - 26°40'-30°00'
Capricorn - Fixed - Earth - Uthara Ashada-2 - 00°00'-3°20'
Aquarius - Dual - Air - Satabisha-3 - 13°20'-16°40'
Pisces - Movable - Water - Revathi-4 - 26°40'-30°00'

As you can see there is only one portion in each sign which gets the fiefdom of being Vargotama and only 9 stars out of 27 having this privilege with 3 of them having 2 of their padas becoming Vargotama viz Punarvasu, Chitra and Uthara Ashada.

# Pushkara Navamsa and Pushkara Bhaga
The Pushkara Navamsa is a specific portion in every rasi which is said to be extremely beneficial. Unlike the Vargotama which contains one division in every sign, in Pushkara Navamsa there are two special divisions of  3°20' which is said to be highly auspicious. It happens to be the 7th and 9th division in fire element signs, 3rd and 5th division in earth element signs, 6th and 8th division in air element signs and 1st and 3rd in water element signs. On top of this there is one particular degree that carries optimal strength to enhance the signification even more which is called Pushkara Bhaga which falls as one degree within the designated degree span allotted for each of the sign elements. Here there is only one degree per sign and happens to be the 21st degree for fire element signs, 14th degree for earth element signs, 24th degree for air element signs and 7th degree for water element signs.

Counting Base:
Fire Element Sign - 7th & 9th division - Libra & Sagittarius Navamsa. Pushkara Bhaga is 21st degree
Earth Element Sign - 3rd & 5th division - Pisces & Taurus Navamsa. Pushkara Bhaga is 14th degree
Air Element Sign - 6th & 8th division - Pisces & Taurus Navamsa. Pushkara Bhaga is 24th degree
Water Element Sign - 1st & 3rd division - Cancer & Virgo Navamsa. Pushkara Bhaga is 7th degree

Zodiac - Sign - Element - Star & Pada - Degree Span
Aries - Movable - Fire - Bharani-3 - 20°00'-23°20'
Aries - Movable - Fire - Krithika-1 - 26°40'-30°00'
Taurus - Fixed - Earth - Krithika-4 - 6°40'-10°00'
Taurus - Fixed - Earth - Rohini-2 - 13°20'-16°40'
Gemini - Dual - Air - Arudra-4 - 16°40'-20°00'
Gemini - Dual - Air - Punarvasu-2 - 23°20'-26°40'
Cancer - Movable - Water - Punarvasu-4 - 00°00'-3°20'
Cancer - Movable - Water - Pushya-2 - 06°40'-10°00'
Leo - Movable - Fire - Poorva Phalguni-3 - 20°00'-23°20'
Leo - Movable - Fire - Uthara Phalguni-1 - 26°40'-30°00'
Virgo - Fixed - Earth - Uthara Phalguni-4 - 6°40'-10°00'
Virgo - Fixed - Earth - Hastha-2- 13°20'-16°40'
Libra - Dual - Air - Swati-4 - 16°40'-20°00'
Libra - Dual - Air - Vishakha-2 - 23°20'-26°40'
Scorpio - Movable - Water - Vishakha-4 - 00°00'-3°20'
Scorpio - Movable - Water - Anuradha-2 - 06°40'-10°00'
Sagittarius - Movable - Fire - Poorva Ashada-3 - 20°00'-23°20'
Sagittarius - Movable - Fire - Uthara Ashada-1 - 26°40'-30°00'
Capricorn - Fixed - Earth - Uthara Ashada-4 - 06°40'-10°00'
Capricorn - Fixed - Earth - Shravana-2 - 13°20'-16°40'
Aquarius - Dual - Air - Satabisha-4 - 16°40'-20°00'
Aquarius - Dual - Air - Poorva Bhadra-2 - 23°20'-26°40'
Pisces - Movable - Water - Poorva Bhadra-4 - 00°00'-3°20'
Pisces - Movable - Water - Uthara Bhadra-2 - 23°20'-26°40'

Note: You would observe 12 Vargottama and 24 Pushkara Navamsa but within this you would find 3 divisions overlapping with each other and these are very powerful and auspicious as they happen to be both Vargottama and in Pushkara Navamsa. The respective constellations happen to be Rohini-2, Punarvasu-4 and Uthara Ashada-1

# 64th Navamsa
This is a very sensitive division in the Navamsa and is used to associate mainly negative events with regard to a horoscope. There are also other navamsa parts such as 55th, 88th etc but the 64th is the one which is considered to be really prominent. The 64th Navamsa and the 22nd Drekkana are crucial trigger points witnessed in a horoscope.

As the number 64 connotes it happens to be the 64th part taken from both Lagna and Moon. As we know there are 9 parts in a Navamsa and hence when we cross the 63rd part, 7 houses will be passed (9*7) and the first part of the 8th house will be the 64th Navamsa. There are two ways to calculate it both from the Rasi chart (cumbersome) as well as the Navamsa chart (easy). I shall explain with an example on both these methodologies.

Illustration:
Let us say we need to calculate the 64th Navamsa from Lagna and the Lagna degree is 18°30' in Gemini sign.

Rasi method: First we need to ascertain the division of the Lagna degree which happens to be the 6th division since 18°30' falls within the range of 16°40'-20°00'. Then we need to jump straight to the 8th house or 210th degree from where the Lagna is placed in Gemini which will end up being 18°30' in Capricorn sign. As the 6th division in a movable earthy sign will fall in Gemini, the lord of Gemini which is Mercury will end up becoming the 64th Navamsa, For instance if the Lagna degree happened to be 21°30' then it would end up falling in Cancer and Moon will be the 64th Navamsa.

Navamsa Method: Just look at the 4th sign from the Navamsa Lagna and the ruler of that house will be the 64th Navamsa. In our above example Lagna degree falling in 18°30' in Gemini will appear as Pisces Lagna in Navamsa. The 4th from Pisces is Gemini and the ruler is Mercury and hence he is the 64th Navamsa. The reason this method works like this is because each portion of 3°20' occupies a sign and hence it takes 12 parts of 3°20' to completes one zodiac cycle and hence similarly is the case with multiples of 12 such as 24th, 36th, 48th and 60th part. We return back to the Lagna for the 61st part, 2nd house becomes the 62nd, 3rd house is the 63rd part and finally the the 4th house from Navamsa Lagna ends up becoming the 64th Navamsa.

# Rasi Tulya Navamsa and Navamsa Tulya Rasi
This is a concept of super imposing and reading a chart. The Rasi Tulya Navamsa works on the placements of planets in the Navamsa chart but read from the Rasi  Lagna whereas the Navamsa Tulya Rasi is mainly used in transits where a major planet is said to influence a planet not only situated in the rasi but also placed in the Navamsa. A simple way to illustrate with an example of Rasi Tulya Navamsa is lets say your Rasi Lagna is Gemini whereas your Navamsa Lagna is Pisces and for understanding purpose let's presume that Venus is placed in the 2nd house in Aries in Navamsa. We read the same placement of Venus in Aries but by an alternate method of utilizing the Rasi Lagna which in this case in Gemini and hence Venus will be viewed as being in the 11th house. I believe assessing placements of planets through this methodology gives clues on the kind of results to expect.

Important Note:
We know that there are 12 zodiac signs consisting of 30° each and every sign covers a span of 9 divisions of 3°20' each and hence it takes only 9 zodiac signs in the Navamsa to cover the distance in one rasi making 3 rasis in Navamsa blank. It should be known for instance that a planet situated in whichever degree in Aries sign will never fall in the signs of Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Likewise each zodiac sign in the rasi will ensure that 3 zodiac signs in the Navamsa gets untouched. Sharing below the list of signs in each zodiac sign where the Navamsa signs never end up falling

Aries - Navamsas of Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces remain untouched
Taurus - Navamsas of Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius remain untouched
Gemini - Navamsas of Cancer, Leo and Virgo remain untouched
Cancer - Navamsas of Aries, Taurus and Gemini remain untouched
Leo - Navamsas of Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces remain untouched
Virgo - Navamsas of Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius remain untouched
Libra - Navamsas of Cancer, Leo and Virgo remain untouched
Scorpio - Navamsas of Aries, Taurus and Gemini remain untouched
Sagittarius - Navamsas of Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces remain untouched
Capricorn - Navamsas of Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius remain untouched
Aquarius - Navamsas of Cancer, Leo and Virgo remain untouched
Pisces - Navamsas of Aries, Taurus and Gemini remain untouched

Divisional Charts Time Clock Approach - A composite computational cockpit!

Divisional Charts are supremely important with respect to Vedic Astrology. From the term 'division', it could be deciphered that these are divisions of the main rasi chart to see specific areas of one's life or rather take a deep dive or zoom into a particular pigeonholed path in which one would want to vision the journey of life from a microscopic perspective. Divisional or Varga charts aren't looked at in much depth by most and one of the significant reasons for that is because it happens to be extremely time sensitive. There is however another issue as well relating to the Ayanamsa but let's leave that for now and consider it at a different space and time.

I will now focus mainly on the time theory with regard to Divisional Charts and at what frequency of intervals they tend to change signs. It shall not however be about the placement of the planets in the different zodiac signs where various rules are laid out and which need to be followed in arriving at the positions of all the planets. I am listing herewith a small snapshot of how long on an average the Ascendant and 9 planets take to transit from one sign to another in the rasi chart.

Ascendant : 2 hours (1/12 of a day)
Moon : 2 and half days (roughly 1/12 of a month and can span between 54 to 60 hours)
Sun : 1 month (Avg 30 days)
Mercury : 1 month (Can be between 14 to 30 days)
Venus : 1 month (Can range between 23 days to almost 2 months)
Mars : 1 and half months (There are however rare occasions where it stays put for 6 months in a sign)
Jupiter : 12 months (1 year)
Rahu : 18 months (1.5 years)
Ketu : 18 months (1.5 years)
Saturn : 30 months (2.5 years)

Now coming to the zodiac, it is an area of the sky that extends approximately 9 degrees north or south of the ecliptic. The zodiac is shaped like a spherical belt spanning 360 degrees divided into 12 equal parts of 30 degrees each which are named as Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.

Thus the 30 degrees constitutes one zodiac sign or bhava or house of your horoscope rasi chart. Each of these signs are further compartmentalized into different fragments to get various divisional charts. There are some mathematical numbers which would be good to understand at this point of time.

Total Zodiac = 360 degrees or 21,600 minutes of arc (1 degree = 60 minutes)
Each Sign = 30 degrees (360 degrees/12 signs) or 1800 minutes of arc (30 degrees*60 minutes)

From the above, it is witnessed that it takes roughly 2 hours for the ascendant to move from one sign to another. The 2 hours is not fixed and can range between 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours depending on the zodiac sign in question. For instance in a long ascension sign like Cancer it takes more than 2 hours but for a short ascending sign like Capricorn it mostly takes much less than 2 hours. However more or less the average time taken to transgress a sign is knocking around the ballpark figure of 2 hours or 120 minutes. In other words, we say that it takes 120 minutes to cross 30 degrees for the ascendant to transit from one sign to another. Simply to outline and have it nailed in the head, refer the below:
Time taken by Ascendant to transit a zodiac sign : 120 mins = 30 degrees = 4 minutes per degree

Once we know this theory, it is about re-engineering of the rasi chart to fit into different pieces of the jigsaw puzzle and analyse part by part the various sub divisional varga charts. Listed below is the various list of Divisional Charts and the range of degrees as well as the time taken by the Ascendant to transit a sign in every one of these sub charts.

Expounding this mathematical computation to the fastest moving planet Moon which is approximately 30 times slower in transiting than the Ascendant sign (Ascendant sign avg 2 hours, Moon sign roughly takes 2 and half days or 60 hours), we find that the the D9 Navamsa of Moon changes every 400 minutes or 6 hours 40 minutes. Looking at a more subtler chart such as the D60 Shashtyamsa, the Moon seems to change every 60 minutes or 1 hour. Going even more intricately to the D150 Nadiamsa chart, it changes only once every 24 minutes.

We shall now stretch to the other end of the horizon and apply the same tactics to the slowest moving planet Saturn and see how much time it takes to transit signs in the Divisional charts. Saturn takes 2 and a half years to cross a sign which makes it 30 months to cross 30 degrees. Taking D9 Navamsa chart when we divide 30 months into 9, it ends up staying for about 3 months 10 days in a Navamsa sign. Going to D60 Shashtyamsa which is 1/2 of a degree, it'll be constant for 15 days (Since 1 degree = 1 month, half a degree = half a month). Applying it at D150 Nadiamsa level, it will be stationed for 6 days since Nadiamsa makes up 5 parts of a degree or 150 parts of 30 degrees.

It is thus easy to figure out that we are dealing with extensive sub components of time. The divisional charts are indeed sensitive to time but the take away is that it is well and truly a level playing field. Even when we dig deep down to the most intricate level of Nadi Amsa, it is clearly seen that at least the Moon sign changes only within a third of an hour. And let's not forget, Moon is also considered an important reference point when charting out horoscopes. Thus it is seen with concrete evidence that impact of time isn't so sensitive after all considering we have a reasonable ground frame of time to play with since most of the planets don't change at a rapid duration as generally envisaged. Hence if one does possess profound knowledge and wisdom in analysing the divisional varga charts, various facets and attributes can be unearthed and brought to light.

Zodiac Sun Signs Misrepresented!

World over, people follow the sun sign dates blindly based on a template format which has been permeated since times immemorial. People even use this as a tool for starting communications and feverishly check newspapers and bulletins to see if the traits mentioned are matching their personality. Not only this, even memes are depicted and categorizations are made about people belonging to different sun signs such as which zodiacs reflect the best lover, depiction of signs getting drunk the most, weird quotient et al.

All this is fine if you are clear about the dates belonging to a particular sun sign. This is where the trouble lies as almost 80–90% of the time, the sun sign which you actually thought to be could be actually wrong. The real sun sign date is off by about 24 days from what you have been wondering all this while. Let me explain it with this diagrammatic date representation.

This may appear to be a simple thing but I feel most people get confused about these dates and hence I felt it's good to clarify in a lucid manner without going too much into the specifics. There is a lot of misinterpretation with regard to dates between Western and Vedic. It's different between tropical zodiac and sidereal zodiac and the western system follows the former but whereas the Vedic way of doing a horoscope chart adopts the latter. The difference between the two accounts to about 24 degrees. (22 to 24 based on ayanamsa) The tropical is always forward. For instance if you're 20 degrees Gemini Ascendant in sidereal chart, you're most likely to be 14 degrees Cancer (20 plus 24) in the Tropical chart.

For eg, if you were born on lets say May 8th, you would have all this while thought that you were a Taurus sun-sign, but as per Vedic you belong to the Aries zodiac. However if you were born on May 18th, you’ll still be a Taurus. There is an overlapping of almost a month between the tropical and sidereal date frame which is quite a reality check. There could be a slight difference on the cusp ie based on whether you were born on the 14th or 15th based on the timing of rising of the sun, but mostly the list works like a charm. If you know this simple funda, the confusion is less likely to occur.

60 Essential Components of Vedic Astrology

When analyzing a horoscope, it's a pre-requisite to look at these 60 components based on which the premise of Vedic Astrology largely rests upon.

- 9 planets
- 12 houses
- 12 signs
- 27 Nakshatras

9 Planets
In the realm of Vedic Astrology, Sun and Moon are considered as planets and their condition in a chart is considered to be perhaps the most essential when looking at a horoscope. Apart from Sun and Moon, the nodes of the moon namely the North Node Rahu and South Node Ketu also play an important role. In addition to this are the inner planets between sun to earth which are Mercury and Venus and the outer planets beyond the earth which are Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Vedic Astrology stops with Saturn and does not go further to Uranus, Neptune and Pluto which is said to not have much effect on human life. Listed below are the 9 planets and a few of its essential characteristics

Sun - Soul, Sattvik, Prayer Room, Fire, Royal Status (King), Bilious
Moon - Mind, Sattvik, Family Room/Water places, Water, Royal Status (Queen), Windy&Phlegmatic
Mars - Strength, Tamasic, Kitches/Places of Fire, Fire, Army Chief, Bilious
Mercury - Speech, Rajasic, Drawing Room/Garden, Earth, Prince, Bilious,Windy&Phlegmatic
Jupiter - Life Force (Jeeva), Sattvik, Treasury/Money stored places, Ether, Minister, Phlegmatic
Venus - Passion, Rajasic, Bedroom/Dressing Room, Water, Minister, Windy&Phlegmatic
Saturn - Grief (Karma), Tamasic, Washing Area/Garbage Dump, Air, Servant, Windy
Rahu - Desires, Tamasic, Jail/Isolated places, Air, Planetary Army, Windy
Ketu - Detachment, Tamasic, Psychological/Secret Places, Fire, Planetary Army, Windy

12 Houses
The zodiac belt is 360 degrees and divided into 12 equal houses. In the parlance of vedic astrology, every 30 degrees constitutes a house. However in certain systems houses are said to be divided unequally based on the location of birth with some houses exceeding 30 degrees and some being much below the ambit of 30 degrees. However in traditional vedic, each zodiac sign is considered equivalent to a house. Each of the houses have specific significations for eg. first house is said to represent the self, character etc whereas the 2nd house denotes wealth, possessions, resources etc. Listed below are the 12 houses and a few of its essential characteristics

1st House - Appearance, Characteristic, Head, Disposition, Stature, Personality
2nd House - Wealth, Speech, Income, Face, Family, Resources
3rd House - Courage, Efforts, Younger Siblings, Natural Abilities, Hands&Arms, Communication
4th House - Mind, Comforts, Mother, Movable & Immovable property, Home, Heart
5th House - Intelligence, Creativity, Children, Past Life Deeds, Speculation, Belly
6th House - Diseases, Enemies, Debts, Service, Competitive, Abdomen
7th House - Spouse, Marriage, Conjugal Pleasure, Partnership, Other People, Sex Organs
8th House - Longevity, Secrets, Misfortunes, Marital Bond, Inheritance, Rectum
9th House - Blessings, Fortune, Dharma, Father, Guru, Thighs 
10th House - Profession, Karma, Life force (Jeeva), Fame, Position, Knees
11th House - Gains, Desires, Benefits, Social Circle, Elder siblings, Legs
12th House - Expenses, Losses, Bed Pleasures, Foreign Places, Intuition, Feet

12 Signs
These are the 12 categories of the zodiac belt divided equally into 30 degrees connoting different significations with each being represented by a symbol. Each of the rasis or signs themselves have signifying features and said to be ruled by a planet. For instance Aries represented by Ram is ruled by Mars is said to be fast and furious whereas a Libra symbolized by a scale is said to denote balance. Listed below are the 12 signs and a few of its essential characteristics

Aries - Movable, Fire, Head, Hilly and Mountain Places, Ram, Dhatu
Taurus - Fixed, Earth, Face, Banks/Treasury, Bull, Moola
Gemini - Dual. Air, Shoulders, University/Social Interaction Places, Twins, Jeeva
Cancer - Movable, Water, Heart, Watery places - Rivers/Lakes, Crab, Dhatu
Leo - Fixed, Fire, Stomach, Forests & Jungles, Lion, Moola
Virgo - Dual, Earth, Hip. Gardens & Orchards, Virgin, Jeeva
Libra - Movable, Air, Genitals, Market & Trading Places, Scale, Dhatu
Scorpio - Fixed, Water, Anus, Secret & Hidden Places, Scorpion, Moola
Sagittarius - Dual, Fire, Thighs, High rise & Religious places, Bow, Jeeva
Capricorn - Movable, Earth, Knees, Swampy places/islands, Deer, Dhatu
Aquarius - Fixed, Air, Shank, Philosophical/Sanyasa places, Pot, Moola
Pisces - Dual, Water, Feet, Oceans & Spiritual places, Fish, Jeeva

27 Nakshatras
The Nakshatras are star constellations and add another intricate layer to the zodiac signs. Each Zodiac sign comprising of 30 degrees is divided into 2 and a quarter Nakshatras or 9 padas. Each Nakshatra is said to have 4 feet each. Since 2.25 Nakshatras constitute a zodiac sign and there are 12 zodiac signs when we multiply we obtain the result of 27 Nakshatras. Each of the Nakshatras are ruled by a deity and they are also assigned star lord ships based on different systems. There are even categorisations of Nakshatras based on their nature for eg. a Nakshatra such as Punarvasu is said to be movable whereas Mrigaseera Nakshatra is said to be be tender by nature etc. Listed below are the 27 Nakshatras and a few of its essential characteristics

Ashwini - Ashwini Kumars, Laghu, Deva, Dharma, Air
Bharani - Yama Raj, Ugra, Manushya, Artha, Fire
Kritika - Agni, Misra, Rakshasa, Kama, Fire
Rohini - Prajapati, Sthira, Manushya, Moksha, Earth
Mrigashira - Soma, Mridu, Deva, Moksha, Air
Aarudra - Rudhra, Tikshana, Manushya, Kama, Water
Punarvasu - Aditi, Chara, Deva, Artha, Air
Pushya - Brihaspati, Laghu, Deva, Dharma, Fire
Aaslesha - Sarpa, Tikshana, Rakshasa, Dharma, Water
Magha - Pitris, Ugra, Rakshasa, Artha, Fire
Purva Phalguni - Bhaga Aditya, Ugra, Manushya, Kama, Fire
Uttara Phalguni - Aryaman Aditya, Sthira, Manushya, Moksha, Air
Hasta - Savitur Aditya, Laghu, Deva, Moksha, Air
Chitra - Vishwakarma / Tvastar Aditya, Mridu, Rakshasa, Kama, Air
Swati - Vayu Deva, Chara, Deva, Artha, Fire
Vishakha - Indragni, Misra, Rakshasa, Dharma, Air
Anuradha - Mitra Aditya, Mridu, Deva, Dharma, Earth
Jyeshtha - Indra, Tikshana, Rakshasa, Artha, Earth
Moola - Nirriti / Alakshmi, Tikshana, Rakshasa, Kama, Water
Poorvaashadha - Apah Jal Deva, Ugra, Manushya, Moksha, Water
Uttaraashadha - Vishva Deva, Sthira, Manushya, Moksha, Earth
Shravana - Vishnu, Chara, Deva, Artha, Earth
Dhanistha - Ashta Vasavas, Chara, Rakshasa, Dharma, Earth
Shatabhisha - Varuna Deva, Chara, Rakshasa, Dharma, Water
Purva Bhadrapada - Ajaikapada, Ugra, Manushya, Artha, Fire
Uttara Bhadrapada - Ahirbudhanya, Sthira, Manushya, Kama, Water
Revathi - Pushan Aditya, Mridu, Deva, Moksha, Water