Astrology, Zodiac Sings & Ascendant

Astrology is a branch of the Vedas. With the help of which, it is possible to forecast future events when the details of birth, such as time of birth, date of birth, place of birth etc. of the natives are known. Astrology has three branches as laid down in Brihat Parashra Hora Shastram 

"भगवन ! परमं पुण्यं गुह्यं वेदाङ्गमुत्त्तम

 त्रिस्कन्धं ज्योतिषं होरा गणितं संहितेति च" 

"Astrology which is the supreme limb of the Vedas, has three divisions 

viz. Hora (Dealing with zodiac signs and planetary effects), 

Ganita (Mathematics) & Samhita (Collection of Mantras or Hymns). 

The zodiac is an imaginary circle which is the path of the Sun (ecliptic). It is a belt spread on each side of the ecliptic. Whole zodiac is about 360 degrees, which is divided into 12 equal parts. Each part is known as a zodiac sign. We have 12 Signs, namely (1). Aries, (2). Taurus, (3). Gemini, (4.) Cancer, (5). Leo, (6). Virgo, (7). Libra, (8). Scorpio, (9). Sagittarius, (10). Capricorn, (11). Aquarius and (12). Pisces. Therefore, each zodiac is about 30 degrees long. Our zodiac is moving constantly due to which different signs rise in the east one by one in every 2 hours (approx.) Each sign rises in the east once in a day and remains as ascendant for the 2 hours then the next sign rises.  The sign rose in the east at the time of birth is known as the Ascendant or Lagna. 

Ascendant plays the most important role in our life because Ascendant is the base of birth chart. As Maharishi Prashra has said 

"राशीनामुदयो लग्नं तद्वशावेव जन्मिनाम् 

ग्रहयोग वियोगाभ्यां फलं चिन्त्यं शुभाशुभम्" 

"Based on the ascendant and planetary placement, 

The good and bad effects can be known for the native".   

Every  zodiac sign has different characteristics. I will explain about each zodiac sign in details in my coming posts. Different ascendant people have differing in nature, but it does not mean that alike ascendant person has the same nature, likes and dislikes etc. as the planetary placement in the birth chart also modifies the nature and other aspects of native's life. 

For example, this is the birth chart Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The ascendant is 1st House at the top where the number 8 is written. Number 8 sign is Scorpio. So the native has the nature of Scorpio sign, but the planets modify the nature of native according to their placement in the birth chart.

The second horoscope is the birth chart of Former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The ascendant of Mr. Vajpyee is also a Scorpio, but the native's planetary placement modified the nature and other aspects as the planetary placement is different from the first chart. Hence, two people having the same ascendant are different from each other. 

ॐ तत सत