Jyotiṣa Study

This lesson is the foundation for the rest of the course. It introduces each of the nine grahas: their names, what they signify, and their classical dignities.

• What a graha is: it means "one who seizes", not "planet". The nine are seven visible bodies plus the two chāyā (shadow) grahas, Rāhu and Ketu.
• Weekday order, and how the Tamil weekday names are the graha names.
• Three ways to group them: the three guṇas, the royal cabinet (King, Queen, Prince…), and benefic vs malefic.
• A profile for each graha: its Tamil and Sanskrit names, kārakatva, own/exaltation/debilitation/mūlatrikoṇa signs, friends and enemies, dig-bala and aspects. Also its day, colour, gem, grain, deity, dhātu, nakṣatras and daśā years.
• Rāhu & Ketu: why their rulership and dignity are disputed across schools.
• All nine at a glance: a comparison table, plus the Vimśottarī daśā sequence (120 years in total).

A series with one chapter for each Ascendant, from Mēṣam to Mīnam. It follows M. Madheswaran's 12 Lakkinabāva Palangaḷ (2011) and adds classical references. Start with the opener, then take the signs in order.

• Series opener: the 360° zodiac and its sign lords; how to read a South-Indian chart; movable, fixed and dual signs; and why the book reads from the Lagna rather than the Moon-sign.
• Foundations for each sign: its nature, its dignities (own, exalted and debilitated planets) and its house map. Each chapter also names that Ascendant's yogakāraka, māraka and bādhaka.
• The native's portrait: from Phaladīpikā, Jātaka Alaṅkāram and Satyāchārya, followed by the author's own reading from experience.
• The nine grahas in the Lagna, one at a time, then the key conjunctions and yogas: Gaja-Kesari, Neechabhaṅga, Dharma-Karmādhipati and others.

This lesson shows how five classical concepts describe real motions of the sky, degree for degree. It uses the Lahiri framework, with classical orbs from BPHS and Sārāvalī.

• Ayanāṁśa: how the Earth's wobbling axis splits the tropical and sidereal zodiacs, and why the choice matters near sign boundaries.
• Astaṅga: combustion orbs for each planet, and why combustion is a gradient rather than a switch.
• Grahaṇa: why eclipses happen only near the nodes, plus eclipse limits, seasons and the Saros cycle.
• Rāhu & Ketu: crossing points, not bodies. They regress through the zodiac in 18.6 years.
• Grahaṇa-doṣa: when a node "covers" a planet, the named yogas, and how it enters a prediction.

The lunar mansions: what they are, how their degrees and padas mesh with the twelve signs, and the classical properties of each. It follows BPHS for the lords and the Vedic Saṁhitās for the deities.

• The arithmetic: 13°20′ per nakṣatra and 3°20′ per pada. Each pada is one navāṁśa, giving 108 padas, nine to a sign.
• The nine lords: the Vimśottarī order, running three rounds from Aśvinī, with each lord's daśā years.
• An interactive South-Indian grid: every pada in every sign, colour-coded by lord. Hover or tap a pada for its degree range, navāṁśa and any gaṇḍānta.
• Split nakṣatras and gaṇḍānta: the nine that straddle two signs, and the three water-to-fire junctions.
• All 27 profiled: span, lord, deity, symbol, gaṇa, nature, yoni and principal star, plus Abhijit.

A one-page chart of the twelve rāśis. For each sign it shows the element, quality (chara / sthira / ubhaya) and graha dignities. Alongside the chart are planetary aspects, house groups (kendra, trikoṇa, hidden), benefics vs malefics, and maraka / bādhaka houses. Keep it open next to the lessons. It's available in Tamil and English.