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.
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.
| # | Sanskrit | English | Lord | Element |
|---|
| 1 | Meṣa | Aries | Mars | Fire |
| 2 | Vṛṣabha | Taurus | Venus | Earth |
| 3 | Mithuna | Gemini | Mercury | Air |
| 4 | Karka | Cancer | Moon | Water |
| 5 | Siṁha | Leo | Sun | Fire |
| 6 | Kanyā | Virgo | Mercury | Earth |
| 7 | Tulā | Libra | Venus | Air |
| 8 | Vṛścika | Scorpio | Mars | Water |
| 9 | Dhanu | Sagittarius | Jupiter | Fire |
| 10 | Makara | Capricorn | Saturn | Earth |
| 11 | Kumbha | Aquarius | Saturn | Air |
| 12 | Mīna | Pisces | Jupiter | Water |
The nine grahas (planets)
Jyotiṣa uses seven physical bodies and two calculated points — together the navagraha, or nine grahas.
| Graha | English | Nature | Signifies (kāraka) |
|---|
| Sūrya | Sun | Mild malefic | Soul, vitality, father, authority |
| Chandra | Moon | Benefic (waxing) | Mind, emotions, mother, the public |
| Maṅgala | Mars | Malefic | Energy, courage, siblings, property |
| Budha | Mercury | Neutral | Intellect, speech, commerce |
| Guru | Jupiter | Great benefic | Wisdom, fortune, children, dharma |
| Śukra | Venus | Benefic | Love, beauty, spouse, comfort, art |
| Śani | Saturn | Great malefic | Discipline, longevity, loss, labour |
| Rāhu | North Node | Malefic (shadow) | Obsession, foreignness, amplification |
| Ketu | South Node | Malefic (shadow) | Detachment, spirituality, loss |
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.
| Dignity | Meaning |
|---|
| Exalted (uccha) | The sign of the planet’s greatest strength — it acts at its best. |
| Own sign (sva-rāśi) | The planet rules the sign it sits in — comfortable and self-reliant. |
| Debilitated (nīcha) | The sign opposite its exaltation — its weakest, least-supported placement. |
| (Mūlatrikoṇa, friend, neutral, enemy) | Intermediate degrees of comfort used inside the strength calculations. |
| Planet | Exalted in | Debilitated in |
|---|
| Sun | Aries | Libra |
| Moon | Taurus | Scorpio |
| Mars | Capricorn | Cancer |
| Mercury | Virgo | Pisces |
| Jupiter | Cancer | Capricorn |
| Venus | Pisces | Virgo |
| Saturn | Libra | Aries |
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.
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. 