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12 Zodiac Signs and 27 Nakshatra (Constellation) in Vedic Astrology

What is Vedic Astrology?

Vedic astrology, also known as Hindu astrology and Indian astrology is a knowledge given by the gods to the great sages.

There are 9 planets, 12 houses, and 12 zodiac signs in Vedic Astrology. These combinations form your unique chart (Janam Kundli) from which everything from your wealth, sex life, marriage, divorces, accident, career, fame, and diseases can be seen.

Astrology is based on karma, especially prarabdha karma. In simple words, if you have done good deeds in your previous lives, you accumulate a lot of good prarabdha karma and gain name, fame, money, and success in this life, and vice versa.

Table of Contents
  1. How does astrology work?
  2. What is Dasha in Astrology?
  3. What is the difference between Vedic Astrology & Western Astrology?
  4. Is Vedic Astrology more accurate than Western Astrology?

How does astrology work?

12 zodiac signs are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Each of these signs has their own quality.

  • 12 houses such as the 2nd house are money, the 7th house is in marriage, the 12th house is expenses, and so on.
  • 9 planets, Sun, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Venus, Rahu, and Ketu (North and South node of the moon.)
  • The zodiac is 360 degrees, Aries is 0 to 30 degrees, Taurus is 30 to 60 degrees, and Pisces is 330 to 360 degrees.

Hence, at the time of your birth, Saturn might be 45 degrees in the zodiac. 45 degrees falls in Tauras, hence, Saturn is 15 degrees in Taurus.
Now your Saturn might be in the 1st house in Taurus 15 degrees, your Mars might be in Scorpio in the 7th house 27 degrees. (The planets are placed within houses based on different mathematical combinations rather than just degree placement, hence I am not mentioning it here as it’s a blog on its own)

This placement of planets, houses, and signs makes your unique Kundali and from these combinations, everything from your personality to marriage to success/failure is determined.

As per your prarabdha karma, your time to come to this earth is already pre-destined. So that means, if certain events need to happen in your life, which requires Saturn in 15 degrees in Tauras alongside other combinations, then you will be born at that specific time with that combination.

What is Dasha in Astrology?

In every period of your life, certain Dasha is ruling you. Dasha means planets/a combination of planets ruling your life.

I mentioned planets/combinations of planets ruling your life right? Here, again, to make it simple, there are 3 key dashes ruling you at a time: Maha dasha, Antar dasha, and Pratyantar dasha.  

The Maha dasha is the primary dasha ruling you, the antar dasha secondary, and the pratyantar dasha tertiary. While not totally accurate, for simplicity, understand that when Ketu Maha dasha is ruling you, you become spiritual, detached, isolated, and might gain interest in the occult. Whereas if Venus is ruling you, you enjoy a luxurious life and sensual pleasures.

What is the difference between Vedic Astrology & Western Astrology?

While what is sidereal and tropic zodiac is a different blog on its own, Vedic astrology follows the sidereal zodiac whereas the western follows the tropical zodiac. Western astrology is sun sign-based whereas Vedic astrology emphasizes the Moon Sign. This is because Western Astrology is mostly personality, external traits, and self-expression whereas Vedic emphasizes the Moon as the moon represents the mind and emotions, which are more influential in daily life.

Vedic Astrology has 9 planets, while Western has 10 planets. Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are additional planets in Western Astrology that the Vedic doesn’t consider. Additionally, Vedic relies on Dasha for the majority of predictions, which Western astrology does not have a direct equivalent to. Western primarily uses transits, progressions, and solar arcs.

But the biggest difference between the Vedic Astrology and the Western is the concept of Karma and Reincarnation. Vedic Astrology is based on Karma and links to Sanchit Karma (collection of Karma from your past lives), Prarabhda Karma (from Sanchit Karma, allotted Karma to this life), and Agami Karma. I will be covering Karma in depth in the later blog, but Vedic Astrology is deeply tied to Karma and past life influences, explaining why events happen, that includes such as why poor, rich, happy marriage, divorce, loss of wealth, name, fame or gain of it and so on.

The Western Astrology that is generally practiced in the mainstream media does not have a deeply rooted karmic system like Vedic astrology’s Prarabhda and Sanchit Karma. Some branches, such as Karmic Astrology do explore past-life influences but these days, it has been far from the practice in mainstream media.

Is Vedic Astrology more accurate than Western Astrology?

Since accurate is the word we are using here, I am considering that we are talking about Predictive power. The Vedic Astrology’s Dasha system allows for highly detailed life event predictions. Dashas alongside transit can predict the occurrence of marriage, divorces, gain of wealth, pleasures, and health issues making Vedic Astrology superior for long-term predictions.

Western astrology focuses more on transits and progressions and doesn’t consist of Dashas, making its result more generalized rather than detail-oriented. This makes Western Astrology more focused on self-awareness, self-discovery, and psychological analysis.

Hence, if you want to look for life predictions, Vedic Astrology is more accurate. Whereas, Western astrology provides more self-discovery and psychological analysis. However, the Vedic Astrology is also equally capable of providing that.

This blog was written to make the general audience understand what is vedic astrology and how it works on a very superficial level. In the coming blogs regarding astrology, we will be discussing components of Vedic astrology in very depth regarding the houses, planets, signs, transits, Ashtakvarga, Shadbal, and more.

If you found this blog insightful, dive deeper into Hinduism’s timeless wisdom by exploring more articles on our website!

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Author

  • Avigya

    Avigya grew up questioning and rebelling against everything being followed in the name of religion, from women being considered impure in periods to the caste system to Bhakti being the superior path, only to discover the falseness behind it. Today, he teaches the true Sanatana Dharma, the one without human distortion. And no, women are never impure during their periods. Read his full story here.

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