Sun Signs or Moon Signs

PunitAstrologer.com, Dainik Rashiphal or daily predictions are probably the most read items in the news papers, magazines, and the websites. As a daily forecast reader, you need to know the system behind writing forecasts then only reading forecasts make any sense. For example, if the forecasts are written for the sun signs, reader it using your moon sign is incorrect. You need to know whether the predictions are written for the sun signs or the moon signs. You also need to know whether the sun sign or the moon sign forecast is calculated for Western zodiac (Western rashi chakra) or Hindu zodiac (Hindu rashi chakra).

Let me explain. The universe is divided into 12 equal parts and each of this part has been named as a sign. For example, the first part is called Aries sign or Mesha rashi, second part is called Taurus sign or Vrishabaha rashi and so on. Mathematically speaking universe is measure as a circle of 360 degree and by dividing it in 12 equal parts, a sign comes out of 30 degrees each. Sunsign is the sign, where the Sun was posited in the birth chart. Similarly Moon sign is the sign where the Moon was posited during the time of birth.

Though before going into the detail of sunsign and moonsign, I would like to tell the difference between the measurement method of Westerns and Hindus. There is a difference in the way Westerns mesure the postion of heavenly bodies than the Hindus. The Westerns calculate the position of heavenly bodies from a fixed point whereas Hindus use a variable point. The Western degrees differ from Hindus degree by a factor called Ayanamsa. Ayanamsa is simply a difference in the point of reference. Right now, broadly Western zodiac differs from the Hindu zodiac by 23 degree.

Sun Signs
Coming back to the point of Sun Sign, knowing Sun Sign is easy because sun stays in a sign for almost a month and it is almost same for every year. For Western zodiac, these are the dates currently for Sun staying in various signs –
1. Aries - March 21 - April 20
2. Taurus - April 21 - May 21
3. Gemini - May 22 - June 21
4. Cancer - June 22 - July 22
5. Leo - July 23 -August 23
6. Virgo - August 22 - September 22
7. Libra - September 24 - October 23
8. Scorpio - October 24 - November 22
9. Sagittarius - November 23 - December 21
10. Capricorn - December 22 - January 20
11. Aquarius - January 21 - February 19
12. Pisces - February 20- March 20

For Hindi zodiac, the present dates are as follows –
1. Aries- April 14 - May 15
2. Taurus- May 15 - June 15
3. Gemini- June 15 - July 16
4. Cancer- July 16 - August 17
5. Leo- August 17 - September 17
6. Virgo- September 17 - October 17
7. Libra- October 17 - November 16
8. Scorpio- November 16 - December 16
9. Sagittarius- December 16 - January 14
10. Capricorn- January 14 - February 13
11. Aquarius- February 13 - March 14
12. Pisces- March 14 - April 14

So you must know whether the horoscope/ rashiphal is written for Western Sun Sin or Hindu/ Vedic Sun Sign and only then you can figure out which sign to read.
Generally Hindu/ Vedic astrologers prefer Moon sign whereas as Western astrologers prefer Sun sign for writing horoscopes.

Though in case the date is lying at the junction point e.g. 14th April, it is advisable to use any astrology software for knowing the sunsign precisely. You can use www.astrosage.com, a free online astrology software for this purpose.

Moon Signs
Coming to the moon sign, there are no fixed dates for Moon for every year for each sign and hence it is difficult to have a reference table the way we have for sunsign. You need to use astrology software for finding your Moonsign. In Hindus there is a tradition to name a child based on the Moonsign at the time of birth of the child. In case the child was named on the moonsign at the time of his birth, you can figure out the moonsign by the name using following table –
1 Mesha (Aries) - chu , che , cho , la , li , lu , le , lo ,a
2. Vrishabh(Taurus) - ee, uu,ae, o , va , vi , vu , ve , vo
3. Mithuna (Gemini)- ka , ki , ha , ku , gha , rh, ch , ke , ko
4. Karka (Cancer)- hu , he , ho , da , di , du , de , do
5. Simha ( Leo) - ma , me , mu , me , tta , tti , ttu , tte
6. Kanya (Virgo) - to , pa , pi , pu , sh , rhn, tha, pe , po
7. Tula ( Libra) - ra , ri , ru , re , ro , ta , ti , tu , te
8. Vrishchik (Scorpio) - na , ni , nu , ne , no, ya , yi , yu
9. Dhanu( Sagittarius)- ye , yo , bh , bhi , bhu , bhe ,dha , pha , rha
10. Makar ( Capricorn)- bho , ja, ji , ju , je, jo , khi, khu, khe,kho,ga , gi
11. Kumbha (Aquarius)- gu, ge , go , saa , si , su , se , so , da
12. Meena (Pisces)- di , du , tha , jha , eeyan , de , do , cha , chi

Let us take an example. My name is Punit. It starts with alphebets ‘pu’ which is found in front of Virgo sign in above table. So as per Hindu astrology, my moon sign should be Virgo provided I was named on my Moon sign. If I was not named using my moon sign, calculating moon sign or rashi using this method is not correct. In case you are not sure whether you are named on your moon sign or not, it is advisable to use any astrology software and check check in which sign the moon was situated at the time of your birth.

Though this is not the end of the all the confusions. There are the times when the horoscopes are written using raising sings also called ascendant or lagna. In Hindu astrology, sometimes rashiphals are also written for Nakshatra (constallations or the 27 divisions of zodiac). Rising signs and nakshatras forecasts are not as popular as sun sigs or moon sings forecasts but you can invariably find them in some magazines. The best way to calculate your raising sign or Nakshatra is by using software like astrosage.com.

Tools, Tables and Calculators
1. AstroSage – Free online astrology software
2. Moon Sign Calculator
3. Nakshatra Table
4. Moon Signs Horoscopes (Chandra Rashi Rashiphal)

SunSigns or MoonSigns

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YouTube for Vedic Astrology Books

How to find a Vedic astrology book on Internet?

You might be aware of YouTube.com, a popular website for sharing videos. On the same line, there is a website http://www.scribd.com/ for sharing documents. On this website you get almost all classical texts and lots of new books on vedic astrology. This website is not just for astrological books, and like youtube, you can search document on any subject here. I believe it also allows you to download the document for future reference. Like YouTube, it also has a related document section, so you will find similar files on the right pane. For example, I searched for Saravali, and also found Phaladeepika, Bhrigu Sutram, Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra etc. in the related documents list.

Here are the direct links to some of the classical books on vedic astrology
Stri Jatak
Satya Jataka
Bhavartha Ratnakara
Bhrigu Sutras
Uttarakalamritam
Phala Deepika
Kalyana Varma's Saravali
Mantreshwara's Phaladeepika
Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra
Jaimini Sutra (Commentory by Bangalore Suryanaran Rao)

Some of these documents may also be of your interest -
Mantras and remedies for the nine planets
Atmakaraka
Jyotish Alpha & Beta
FAQ on Retrograde Planets
Vedic Calendar
Loss and Gain in Career
Sri Yantra and Sideral Astology
Effects of Navamsa
Nabhasha Yoga

Related Posts:

1. Free Astrology Books Download
2. KP Astrology Books
3. Astrology Books and Authors for Beginners
4. Download Lal Kitab

Difference Between Lagna & Chalit Chart

Somebody on my Orkut Vedic Astrology Forum asked me the difference between Lagna Chart(Rasi Kundli) and Chalit Chart. I believe that it is very important and least understood point in Vedic Astrology. In my recent post "Tips to the Astrologers", I hinted the answer of this question but there was no elaboration. Here is a little detailed reply.

The Lagna Chart, also known as Rasi Chart, talks about the relative positions of planet for identifying the nature of the planet (benefic/ malefic etc.) and relationship with other planets. For example, a planet 6th, 8th, or 12th from lagna is not good for langa. On the other hand, Chalit chart tells about planet's house position also called planet siginifcation. For example if a planet is in 8th in lagna kundli but in 7th in chalit kundli, it means that you will get the result of 7th house during the dasa period of that planet. Due to being in 8th in lagna chart, the result may be malefic, so it shows problem in marriage.

Assessing house position from Lagna Kundli is not correct. This is the reason we see cuspal chart is being used in KP System for assessing the signification and synthesizing the result with dasa. In case the planets are shifting in Chalit Chart, in dasa period of a planet, it is recommended to predict the result of house with which the planet is associated in Chalit chart and NOT in Lagna chart.

The Chalit chart requires some mathematical calculation and that is the reason it was not very popular. But now with easy availability of computers, it is important that astrologers start using Chalit chart.

Astrology Books and Authors for beginners

When any student of astrology starts digging the subject a little deeper, the difficult question arises - which books and authors one should read? You will
find yourself in ocean of books where you have to find perfect match to your aptitude and requirements. There are translation of treatise from various sages, there are commentaries, there are books on various systems of vedic astrology and various other books. Confusion, confusion and more confusion !!!

There are books and authors which can destroy your learning altogether. For
example read Naryan Dutt Shrimali, infamous Indian astrologer, and I can assure you, you will forget whatever you have learnt in the past :-) So choosing right books and authors is very important for your astrology learning. Here I am presenting a list of authors who can help you in learning astrology. I am not presenting a list of books as it will be a big list in itself, there are many good books which suits different aptitude and taste. Here is the list and I tried to rank them according to the utility for the beginner -

1. J.N. Bhasin, Books published mostly form Ranjan Publications, Good books are: Janampatri Swayam Banaiye, Art of Prediction, Sapta Rishi Nadi, Uttar Kalamrita


2. K.S. Krishnamurti, Books published mostly from Krishnamurti Publications, Good book is Fundamental Principles of Astrology


3. Gayatri Devi Vasudev, Books published mostly from Motilal-Banarasidas
   & UPSBD, Good books are: Horary Astrology, How to Judge the
   Horoscope - part II.


4. Major Khot, Books published mostly from Motilal-Banarasidas, Good books are: Laghu-Parashari Siddhanta


5. K.N. Rao, Books published mostly by Vani Graphics, Gook book is:
   Astrology, Destiny and the Wheel of Time.


6. K.H.N. Katve, Books published by Nagpur Prakashan, Good books are: books in 25 books series.

I have chosen above authors due to their methodological approach and
clear-cut presentation.
There are few other authors that one should not (or never) read. Here is the list -

• Narayan Dutt Shrimali


• Rajesh Dixit


• Bhojraj Dwivedi