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Two vocabularies do most of the interpretive work in a birth chart: the twelve rāśis (signs) and the nine grahas (planets, including the two lunar nodes). Every placement, dignity flag, and strength score in the app traces back to these two lists. This page serves as a reference for both, and for the dignity system — the Status column you see in the Planets table — which measures how well-supported a planet is in the sign it happens to occupy.

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The twelve rāśis (signs)

Each rāśi is a 30° slice of the sidereal zodiac. It carries a ruling planet, an element, and a quality that colour every planet placed within it. The lord of a sign is crucial: when you ask what a house promises, you look at the house itself, the planets occupying it, and the planet that rules the sign on that house — the house lord (bhāva-īśa). See Bhāvas & Aspects for how lords work in practice.

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The nine grahas (planets)

Jyotiṣa uses seven physical bodies and two calculated points — together the navagraha, or nine grahas. “Benefic” and “malefic” are tendencies, not verdicts. A well-placed malefic can be the making of a chart, and a weakened benefic can disappoint. The planet’s dignity and strength (Shadbala) determine how its nature actually expresses in a life.

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Dignity: how comfortable is a planet in its sign?

A planet’s dignity depends on the sign it occupies. The app flags the strongest and weakest cases in the Status column of the Planets table. The exaltation and debilitation signs are fixed across all classical texts:
Example from the sample chart. With the Moon in Scorpio, the app flags it DEBILITATED. With Mars in Aries and Mercury in Gemini, both appear as OWN SIGN. These dignity flags feed directly into the Uccha-bala component of the Shadbala strength score.

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Retrogression and combustion

Two further conditions modify how a planet performs beyond its dignity: Retrograde (vakra) — when a planet appears to move backwards against the stars from Earth’s perspective. Classical jyotiṣa treats retrograde planets as unusually strong because apparent reversal indicates the planet is near its closest approach to Earth. This condition forms the basis of Cheṣṭā-bala in the Shadbala calculation. Combustion (astaṁgata) — when a planet draws too close to the Sun and is “burnt” by its light, weakening the planet’s significations. The app’s Combustion panel reports each planet’s current distance from the Sun, the classical orb used for that planet, and whether it qualifies as combust. See Bhāvas & Aspects for the full combustion detail.
Continue reading: explore how the twelve houses structure a chart and how planets influence one another through aspects — Bhāvas & Aspects.