Vedic astrology guide
What Western and Vedic Astrology Share
Both systems use the same planets, twelve signs, houses, and a birth time and place. The sign boundaries and the questions they ask are different.
By Avinash ChandanPublished Updated
Western astrology and Jyotish watch the same sky. They share the visible planets, a twelve-sign circle of 30 degrees each, a count of houses from the eastern horizon, and the need for a birth date, time, and place. The shared pieces are easy to miss once the sign names start to disagree.
The bodies are the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. A Western chart and a Kundli are both talking about those seven when they use those names. The lunar nodes are shared as an axis: Western charts call them the North Node and the South Node, and Jyotish calls them Rahu and Ketu. Software in both traditions sometimes uses the mean node and sometimes the true node, so the degree can differ by a small amount even before the zodiac does. The sign order is the same sequence under two sets of names: Aries and Mesha, Taurus and Vrishabha, Gemini and Mithuna, Cancer and Karka, Leo and Simha, Virgo and Kanya, Libra and Tula, Scorpio and Vrishchika, Sagittarius and Dhanu, Capricorn and Makara, Aquarius and Kumbha, Pisces and Meena. Each sign is 30 degrees. Houses in both are numbered from the ascendant, which Jyotish calls the Lagna.
A birth shows the share and the split at once. Give both astrologers 4 August 1992, 7:10 a.m., Chicago. Both can compute a horizon, a solar longitude, and a lunar longitude for that moment. Both will draw twelve houses. They will not print the same sign on the ascendant, because one measures from the March equinox and the other, on this site, measures with the Lahiri ayanamsa of about 24 degrees. Modern Western charts then usually add Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Parashari Jyotish does not treat those three as grahas. Their absence from a Kundli is a difference of method, not a missing planet in the sky.
What to hand either reader
Hand over the date, the clock time as the family actually has it, and the city. A nickname such as "Virgo" is not a birth. The gap between the two zodiacs is spelled out in why the sun sign and the Vedic rashi differ. The different jobs the two systems are asked to do are in sun-sign psychology and Jyotish timing.
Questions people ask
If the planets are the same, why do the charts look different?
Because the zero point of the zodiac differs by about 24 degrees, and because house systems, aspect rules, and the outer planets are not shared. The sky is one sky. The rulers on the paper are not.
Does Jyotish ignore Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto?
Classical Parashari practice does not use them as grahas. Some modern Indian astrologers experiment with them. A standard Kundli from this site will not read your life from Pluto.
Do both systems need the birth time?
Yes, for the ascendant and the houses. The Sun's sign can often be known from the date. The Moon's sign near a boundary, and every house, need the time and the place.