Vedic Astrology Rulebook: 480 Rules the API Follows

CH Chart fundamentals 19

The basics every other rule rests on. They cover which planet rules each sign and where each planet is strong or weak. They also cover how houses are counted, and when a planet is combust or retrograde.

CH-01classicalSign lordshipEach zodiac sign is ruled by one planet, following the classical Parashari table. Rahu and Ketu rule no sign.
CH-02schoolExaltation signsA planet in its exaltation sign is at its strongest. The whole sign counts, except for the Moon and Mercury, which are exalted only in the first degrees of that sign.
CH-03schoolDebilitation signsA planet in its debilitation sign, the sign opposite its exaltation, is at its weakest. The whole sign counts.
CH-04classicalMulatrikona signsMulatrikona is a planet's favored stretch of one sign, given as a range of degrees. Past that range, the rest of the sign counts as the planet's own sign. Rahu and Ketu have no mulatrikona.
CH-05schoolWhich dignity wins when two applyWhen a planet qualifies for more than one dignity, the API reports one, in this order: exalted, debilitated, mulatrikona, own sign, then neutral. For mulatrikona and own sign, the planet's degree decides.
CH-06schoolHouses are whole-sign, counted from the ascendantHouses are whole-sign houses. The rising sign is house 1 in full, the next sign is house 2, and so on around the zodiac. Every reading uses these houses. The one other house table is the bhava chalit (CH-15), which is shown beside them and changes nothing else.
CH-07schoolCombustion (astangata) orbsA planet close enough to the Sun is combust (asta), which weakens it. Each planet has its own distance in degrees, and the separation is measured along the zodiac only.
CH-09classicalYogakarakaA yogakaraka is a single planet that rules both a kendra and a trikona for the rising sign. The kendras here are houses 4, 7 and 10, and the trikonas houses 5 and 9. It counts as especially helpful in that chart.
CH-10schoolRetrogression, and the nodesA planet that appears to move backward is retrograde. Rahu and Ketu are always reported as retrograde, as tradition treats them, while the speed field still gives their real motion.
CH-11classicalThe nine grahas, and nothing elseThe API uses the nine classical planets (grahas): the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are not used.
CH-12schoolSeven dignity states, and the friendship behind themA planet's dignity is one of seven states: exalted, debilitated, mulatrikona, own sign, friend's sign, enemy's sign or neutral. The API reports the strongest one that applies. Friend's sign and enemy's sign look at how well the planet gets along with the sign's ruler right now, combining their natural bond with where each one currently stands. Two planets that are natural friends can still read as neutral here if they are not well placed from each other at this moment.
CH-13schoolFive house classesHouses fall into five classes: kendras, trikonas, dusthanas, upachayas and marakas. The first three describe strength. The last two are read differently.
CH-14schoolNatural benefics and maleficsJupiter and Venus are always natural benefics (helpful planets). The Sun, Mars, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu are always natural malefics (harsh planets). The Moon and Mercury depend on the chart: the Moon on its phase, and Mercury on the planets it sits with.
CH-15schoolBhava chalitThe bhava chalit measures houses from the exact rising degree and the degree overhead at birth, using the Sripati method. The rising degree is the middle of house 1. Each house begins halfway between two house middles. So a planet near the edge of a sign can fall in the next or previous house.
CH-16schoolThe chalit sits beside the birth chartThe API shows each planet's chalit house next to its usual house and marks the planets that move. It does not change any reading, yoga or strength, because traditions differ on how a moved planet should be read.
CH-17classicalPushkara navamsaEach sign has two helpful ninths, called pushkara navamsas. Which two depends on the sign's element: fire, earth, air or water. The API marks any planet that sits in one.
CH-18schoolPushkara bhagaEach sign also has one helpful degree, the pushkara bhaga. Two lists of these degrees are in use, and they differ for eight signs. The API checks both lists and counts a planet within 1 degree of the listed degree. It says when the two lists give different answers.
CH-19schoolPlanetary warWhen two of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn are within 1 degree of each other, they are at war (graha yuddha). The API names the winner as the planet further north in the sky. It also names the brighter planet, since some readers use brightness instead, and says when the two answers differ.
CH-20classicalSudarshana chakraThe sudarshana chakra reads the chart three times. Each time, house 1 starts from a different place: the rising sign, the Moon's sign and the Sun's sign. The planets stay in the same signs. Only the house numbers change.

YG Yogas 104

Named planetary combinations the API looks for in a birth chart. Each yoga it finds, and each one it checked and did not find, comes back with the rule it tested.

KT Kartari: hemmed in 1

Kartari means "hemmed in". This checks every house and every planet for hard or helpful planets on both sides.

KT-01schoolKartari for every house and grahaFor each of the 12 houses and each of the 9 planets, the API says papa (hard planets in the signs on both sides, no helpful one), shubha (helpful planets on both sides, no hard one) or none. Only planets sitting in those two signs count. A planet that only looks at a house from elsewhere can soften or worsen the result, but never forms it. A house hemmed by hard planets may face more pressure in what it stands for. One hemmed by helpful planets may get more support. In about 600 charts, each house was hemmed by hard planets in about 7 charts in 100, and by helpful planets in about 1 in 100.

DO Doshas 5

The three doshas the API checks: manglik, kaal sarp and pitra. Each has competing definitions, so every result states the rule it used and the placements that decided it.

VG Divisional charts 6

The 16 divisional charts (vargas), from D1 to D60. Each splits every sign into parts and gives each part a sign. The schools differ most on where the counting starts.

AS Aspects (graha drishti) 7

Aspects (graha drishti): which houses each planet looks at from where it sits. They are counted in whole houses.

DA Vimshottari dasha 4

Vimshottari dasha, the 120-year cycle of planetary periods. It covers the order of the periods, which one runs first, and how much of it was already over at birth.

AV Ashtakavarga 8

Ashtakavarga, a point system that scores how much support each sign gives each planet, from 0 to 8 points (bindus).

TR Transits (gochar) 10

Transits (gochar): where the planets are now, counted from the birth Moon, with the classical results and the vedha rule that can block them.

SS Sade sati 5

Sade sati: Saturn's passage over the birth Moon's sign and the signs on each side of it, in three dated phases.

KM Kundli matching (guna milan) 17

Kundli matching: the 36-point guna milan (ashtakoot), the classical exceptions, the checks that carry no points, the ten southern poruthams, and the final verdict.

JM Jaimini 13

Jaimini astrology: the chara karakas, the arudha padas, sign aspects, argala, chara dasha and Narayana dasha.

UG Upagrahas 4

Upagrahas: sensitive points that are not planets. Gulika, Mandi and five others come from the time of day, and five more come from the Sun's position.

SL Special lagnas 10

Special lagnas: extra rising points counted from sunrise or from the Moon. Also the yogi point, two Jaimini significators and the signs a lunar day marks as unlucky.

SB Shadbala 12

Planetary strength: shadbala, the six-part strength of each planet in virupas, and the strength of the houses.

VB Vimshopaka bala, ishta and kashta 5

Strength across the divisional charts on a scale of 20, and how much good and harm each planet can give. Also the table of planet friendships these are graded on.

BD Birth details 11

Birth details: the avakhada chakra and the panchang at the moment of birth, as on the second page of a printed kundli.

DR Reading a dasha period 4

How a dasha period is read: what the main period, sub-period and sub-sub-period each mean for this chart.

RC Where a chart disagrees with itself 3

Where a chart disagrees with itself. When two rules about the same part of life point opposite ways, the API names the disagreement instead of hiding it.

KR Karmic reading 3

The karmic reading: the Rahu-Ketu axis, the atmakaraka and its karakamsa, and the 5th, 9th and 12th houses, with no claims about past lives.

PQ Question chart (prashna) 51

A chart cast for the moment and place a question is asked, read for one topic you pick from a list. It shows tendencies of the moment. It is not a yes or no answer and not medical, legal or financial advice.

SP Spiritual path 15

The spiritual path reading: what one classical book, BPHS chapter 33, says about devotion and inner freedom from the soul planet's navamsa sign and the sign before it.

GA Planetary states 7

The five traditional sets of planetary states (avasthas): a planet's age, whether it is awake or asleep, its mood, its emotional condition and its activity. They are shown side by side and never added into a score.

OL Theme forecasts 7

Forecasts on one theme, such as love, career or wealth, over a date range. They list the transits and the dasha periods that touch that theme, and why each one does.

PS Pair reading 6

Two charts read against each other: each person's planets placed in the other's houses, the half of compatibility the 36 points leave out. Nothing here is scored.

YD Yogini dasha 5

Yogini dasha, a 36-year cycle of eight periods that runs beside Vimshottari.

KP Krishnamurti Paddhati 9

The KP system, with its own ayanamsa, its own house cusps and its star and sub lords.

AD Ashtottari dasha 6

Ashtottari dasha, a 108-year cycle of eight periods, with the classical test of whether it applies to a chart.

RD Classical conditions 4

The classical conditions that decide which half of a placement's reading applies to this chart.

NR The nakshatra remedy 3

The nakshatra remedy: a remedy based on the birth nakshatra, with its deity, mantra, wood and the dates to do it.

VP Varshaphal 14

Varshaphal: the yearly chart cast for your birthday, read with the Tajik system.

SG The signature page 5

The signature page: the lucky day, colors, numbers and stones, worked out from the chart.

AN Annual forecast 6

The annual forecast: a year of dated sky events, then read against the chart.

MF Monthly forecast 4

Monthly forecasts: how a month is read from the planets moving through it, and why these sections need a date.

LP Life prediction topics 4

Life prediction topics: which part of the chart answers each life question, such as career, love or wealth.

RM Remedies 12

Remedies: which gemstone, rudraksha, mantra and havan the chart calls for, and what decided each one.

MU Muhurat and times of the day 9

Muhurat and times of the day: horas, the choghadiya, and where they disagree with rahu kaal and the other windows.

MS Muhurat for an activity 25

The rules a time window must pass before it is returned as a good time for an activity, such as buying a vehicle or a wedding.

PA Panchang 21

The panchang: the five parts of the Hindu day, the lunar month and season, and the daily windows such as rahu kaal.

PR Which rule leads 8

How the readings decide which rule leads when two rules about the same subject differ. This part is not classical: the weights are the API's own, stated openly.

CON Edge cases we settled 3

Places where two parts of the API once gave different answers, and how each was settled.

GAP What the API does not compute 5

Rules an astrologer might expect and not find in the API, named here so their absence is clear.

Astrology API rulebook

What the rule kinds mean