Vedic astrology, in plain language

A short auspicious window around solar noon, considered favourable for most undertakings.

A point-scoring system that grades each sign's strength for the planets, summed as the Sarvāṣṭakavarga.

The eight-fold 36-guṇa matching used to gauge marriage compatibility between two birth stars.

The angle between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs; Vedic charts subtract it to fix planetary positions.

A house: one of twelve life-areas measured from the Lagna, from self and wealth to career and loss.

Eight day and eight night time-slots, each ruled by a planet and graded good, neutral or bad for activity.

A planetary period: the Vimśottari system divides a 120-year lifespan into graha-ruled spans for timing events.

Transits: where the grahas move today, read against the natal chart to time current influences.

A 'planet' of Jyotiṣa: the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and the nodes Rāhu and Ketu.

A daily period linked to Saturn's son Gulika, traditionally avoided for important beginnings.

A pattern where all seven planets fall between Rāhu and Ketu — read as intensity, not a verdict.

Half a tithi — one of 11 repeating segments used to judge the quality of a moment.

The ascendant: the zodiac sign rising on the eastern horizon at the moment of birth.

A condition where Mars sits in certain houses, said to affect marriage — often cancelled by other factors.

Electional timing: choosing an auspicious moment for an event by weighing the panchāṅga and the chart.

One of 27 lunar mansions — a 13°20′ slice of the zodiac marking the Moon's position at birth.

The ninth-harmonic (D-9) divisional chart, read chiefly for marriage, dharma and a planet's inner strength.

The Hindu almanac: five time-limbs — tithi, vāra, nakshatra, yoga and karana — computed for a place and day.

An inauspicious daily period — one-eighth of the daytime — traditionally avoided for starting new work.

A zodiac sign; in Vedic usage often the Moon-sign (janma rāśi), the basis of many predictions.

Saturn's ~7½-year transit over the signs before, on and after the natal Moon — a noted testing phase.

A lunar day: one of 30 phases defined by each 12° of the Moon's separation from the Sun.

An inauspicious daily period, like Rāhu Kālam, avoided for auspicious beginnings.

The fifth panchāṅga limb: one of 27 combinations from the summed longitudes of the Sun and Moon.