Jyotish
Vedic astrology
Jyotish, the traditional astrology of India, reads the same sky as Western astrology through a different zodiac and its own techniques. Here is what sets it apart, with free calculators for the core of a Vedic chart.
Quick answer
Vedic astrology (Jyotish) is the traditional astrology of India. It uses the sidereal zodiac, fixed to the stars, which today sits 24°14′ behind the Western tropical zodiac — the Lahiri ayanamsa. It gives most weight to the Moon, through your Moon sign (rashi) and birth star (nakshatra), and to the Lagna, and it times life through planetary periods called dashas.
Free Vedic calculators
No account needed. Each one casts the sidereal chart from the birth date, time and place you enter, with the Lahiri ayanamsa, and saves nothing.
Nakshatra Calculator
Find your birth star (janma nakshatra) with its pada and lord, your Moon rashi and your current Mahadasha.
Open →
Vedic Moon Sign Calculator
Your Moon rashi, nakshatra and pada in the sidereal zodiac, with your Western Moon sign beside it.
Open →
Lagna Calculator
Your Lagna (Vedic ascendant) with its degree, nakshatra and lord, beside your Western rising sign.
Open →
Dasha Calculator
The Mahadasha and Antardasha you’re in now, with dates, and every Vimshottari Mahadasha of your life.
Open →
Kundli Matching Calculator
Guna Milan for two births: the score out of 36, its traditional band, and any Nadi or Bhakoot dosha.
Open →
What is Jyotish?
Jyotisha, “the science of light”, is one of the six Vedangas, the disciplines that grew up around the Vedas. Its best-known classical text is the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, and it is still in everyday use in India: for birth charts (kundli), choosing dates (muhurta) and matching horoscopes before marriage.
A Vedic chart is cast from the same moment, place and planets as a Western one. What changes is the frame: the zodiac it is measured in, the points it weighs most and the way it times events. The same birth can therefore read as a Sagittarius Moon in the West and a Vrishchika (Scorpio) Moon in Jyotish — neither is wrong; they are measured from different starting points.
How Vedic astrology differs from Western
The sky is the same. The measuring conventions are not.
Your Vedic chart in Aurae
Save your birth details and Aurae keeps your Vedic chart beside your Western one.
Free account
- Your Rashi (D1) chart, in North or South Indian style
- All nine grahas with their rashi, degree, nakshatra and pada
- Your janma nakshatra with its symbol, deity and lord
- The Mahadasha and Antardasha you’re in now
Pro
- The full Vimshottari timeline: every Antardasha, and the Pratyantardashas of the period you’re in
- Your Navamsa (D9) chart
- Kundli matching with your partner or anyone in your Circle: all eight kootas, Nadi and Bhakoot dosha explained, Mangal dosha for each of you, and swapping sides
How Aurae calculates
Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa, true (with nutation) · mean Rahu and Ketu · whole-sign houses from the Lagna · Vimshottari dasha with 365.25-day years · North Indian Ashtakoot tables. Positions are checked against published AstroSage charts and Swiss Ephemeris.
Frequently asked questions
Is Vedic astrology the same as Indian or Hindu astrology?
Yes — Jyotish is the astrology tradition of India, often called Hindu or Indian astrology in English. It is one of the six Vedangas, the disciplines auxiliary to the Vedas, and its classical texts include the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra.
Why is my sign different in Vedic astrology?
Because the two zodiacs start from different points. The Western zodiac begins at the March equinox; the Vedic zodiac is fixed to the stars. The equinox has drifted 24°14′ against the stars since the two coincided, so a planet in roughly the first part of a Western sign — up to that many degrees — is in the previous sign in Jyotish.
Which is more accurate, Vedic or Western?
Neither zodiac corrects the other. They measure the same sky from different starting points, and each tradition built its techniques on its own zodiac. Read Vedic positions with Vedic methods, and Western positions with Western ones.
Why does Jyotish focus on the Moon?
In Jyotish the Moon sign (Chandra rashi) is the usual meaning of “your rashi”: horoscope columns are written for it, transits and Sade Sati are read from it, and Kundli matching compares the two Moons. The Moon’s nakshatra also sets your dasha sequence.
Which ayanamsa does Aurae use?
Lahiri (Chitrapaksha), which places the star Spica (Chitra) at 0° Libra. India’s Calendar Reform Committee recommended it in 1955, and it is the default in most Jyotish software, so your results can be compared with an astrologer’s chart directly.
Do I need my birth time?
For your Moon rashi and nakshatra, usually not: the calculators show every possibility on a day the Moon changed. For the Lagna, the houses and the dasha dates, yes — the Lagna changes rashi about every two hours, and the dasha dates come from the Moon’s exact position.