Planets (grahas)
Sun (Surya) in Vedic astrology
Updated
Sun: how the API computes it
POST /v1/planets returns the Sun with its sign, degree, house, nakshatra (birth star) and dignity (how well it is placed in its sign). The Sun is exalted, or at its strongest, anywhere in Aries (CH-02). Its exact high point is 10 degrees of Aries, and shadbala, the six-part strength score, measures from there (SB-02).
In Leo, the first 20 degrees are its mulatrikona, a strong place just below exaltation. The rest of Leo is its own sign (CH-04). The Sun aspects (casts its influence on) only the 7th house from itself (AS-03). It is always a natural malefic, a planet tradition treats as harsh (CH-14).
The Sun is also the measure for combustion. A planet too close to it is combust and loses strength (CH-07). The Sun itself is never combust and never retrograde. Its entry into a new sign is called a sankranti.
The API names each lunar month after the sankranti that falls inside it (PA-06). In shadbala, the Sun needs 6.5 rupas to count as strong.
Get it from the API
POST /v1/chart/sudarshana
# John Doe, born Aug 15, 1990, 10:30 AM, New York
curl -X POST "https://apiforastrology.com/api/astrology/v1/chart/sudarshana" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $ASTROLOGY_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"year":1990,"month":8,"day":15,"hour":10,"minute":30,"second":0,"latitude":40.7128,"longitude":-74.006,"timezone":"America/New_York"}'{
"rings": [
{
"ring": "lagna",
"counted_from": "Ascendant",
"start_sign": "Virgo",
"houses": [
{
"house": 1,
"sign": "Virgo",
"sign_number": 6,
"occupants": []
},
{
"house": 2,
"sign": "Libra",
"sign_number": 7,
"occupants": []
},
{
"house": 3,
"sign": "Scorpio",
"sign_number": 8,
"occupants": []
}
]
},
{
"ring": "chandra",
"counted_from": "Moon",
"start_sign": "Taurus",
"houses": [
{
"house": 1,
"sign": "Taurus",
"sign_number": 2,
"occupants": [
"Moon"
]
},
{
"house": 2,
"sign": "Gemini",
"sign_number": 3,
"occupants": []
},
{
"house": 3,
"sign": "Cancer",
"sign_number": 4,
"occupants": [
"Sun",
"Jupiter",
"Venus"
]
}
]
},
{
"ring": "surya",
"counted_from": "Sun",
"start_sign": "Cancer",
"houses": [
{
"house": 1,
"sign": "Cancer",
"sign_number": 4,
"occupants": [
"Sun",
"Jupiter",
"Venus"
]
},
{
"house": 2,
"sign": "Leo",
"sign_number": 5,
"occupants": [
"Mercury"
]
},
{
"house": 3,
"sign": "Virgo",
"sign_number": 6,
"occupants": []
}
]
}
],
"basis": "Whole-sign houses. Each ring puts house 1 on the sign of its reference point (the ascendant, the Moon, the Sun) and counts on from there. The signs and planets are the birth chart's; only the house numbers change.",
"meta": {
"ayanamsa": "lahiri",
"ayanamsa_value": 23.7260727,
"julian_day": 2448119.10483,
"ephemeris": "JPL DE440s",
"node": "true",
"timezone": {
"source": "zone",
"offset_hours": -4,
"zone": "America/New_York",
"abbreviation": "EDT",
"dst": true,
"dst_hours": 1,
"ambiguous_resolved_by_fold": null,
"note": "read from the IANA tz database at this instant, so daylight saving and historical offset changes are included"
}
}
}Where the API returns it
| POST | /v1/chart/sudarshana | Sudarshana chakra: the chart from the ascendant, Moon and Sun |
| POST | /v1/planets | Planet positions and the ascendant |
| POST | /v1/varshaphal | The Tajik annual chart (varshaphal) for one year |
| POST | /v1/kp | Krishnamurti Paddhati: cusps, sub lords, significators |
| POST | /v1/ashtakavarga | Ashtakavarga: strength points for each sign |
| POST | /v1/forecast/annual | Yearly forecast: a year of sky events read against a chart |
What the API reference says
Each line is quoted from the reference page of the endpoint named above it.
- POST /v1/chart/sudarshana · Sudarshana chakra: the chart from the ascendant, Moon and SunEach ring numbers the houses from a different starting point: the ascendant (
lagna), the Moon (chandra) and the Sun (surya). - POST /v1/varshaphal · The Tajik annual chart (varshaphal) for one yearCasts the annual chart for the moment the Sun returns to its exact birth position (varsha pravesh).
- POST /v1/kp · Krishnamurti Paddhati: cusps, sub lords, significators
part_of_fortuneis ascendant + Moon - Sun, with its sign, star, sub and sub-sub lords and its KP house.
Feature page: Kundli and birth charts. Who uses it: Astrology apps. The classical rules the API follows are in the rulebook.
How we check the numbers
Every value here starts from planet positions worked out from NASA JPL planet data (DE440). We test them against NASA JPL Horizons, NASA's planet position service. On 25,571 positions from 1850 to 2149, the Sun and planets agree within 0.001 arc seconds. The Moon agrees within 0.011. On 2,000 random birth charts, the rising sign agrees with Swiss Ephemeris within 0.004 arc seconds. An arc second is 1/3,600 of a degree. A practicing astrologer reviews the rules behind these answers. See how we test.
Related terms
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Your first answer
John Doe, New York
- RisingVirgoHast
- SunCancerAshlesha
- MoonTaurusMrigashira
- MarsAriesKrittika
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