What is a rashi? The twelve signs explained
A rashi is one of the twelve 30° signs of the sidereal zodiac, from Mesha (Aries) to Meena (Pisces). Each sign has a lord, an element, a quality (movable, fixed or dual), a gender, a symbol and a part of the body. Together these describe how a graha placed in the sign behaves.
1. Foundations · lesson 9 of 11
Key points
- The zodiac's 360° is cut into twelve rashis of 30° each, counted from sidereal 0° Mesha and numbered 1 to 12.
- Seven grahas rule the signs: the Sun rules Simha, the Moon Karka, and the other five each rule two signs; Rahu and Ketu own no sign in the classical scheme.
- Elements repeat fire, earth, air, water; qualities repeat movable, fixed, dual; odd signs are masculine, even signs feminine.
- A rashi describes how something happens; a bhava (house) describes where in life it happens.
- In everyday Indian usage 'your rashi' means your Moon sign, the sign the Moon occupied at birth.
- The Sun's movement through the signs also marks the solar months and the six seasons (ritus).
The twelve signs
| No. | Rashi | Western | Lord | Element | Quality | Symbol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mesha | Aries | Mars | fire | movable | ram |
| 2 | Vrishabha | Taurus | Venus | earth | fixed | bull |
| 3 | Mithuna | Gemini | Mercury | air | dual | couple |
| 4 | Karka | Cancer | Moon | water | movable | crab |
| 5 | Simha | Leo | Sun | fire | fixed | lion |
| 6 | Kanya | Virgo | Mercury | earth | dual | maiden in a boat |
| 7 | Tula | Libra | Venus | air | movable | balance |
| 8 | Vrishchika | Scorpio | Mars | water | fixed | scorpion |
| 9 | Dhanu | Sagittarius | Jupiter | fire | dual | archer |
| 10 | Makara | Capricorn | Saturn | earth | movable | sea-creature |
| 11 | Kumbha | Aquarius | Saturn | air | fixed | water pot |
| 12 | Meena | Pisces | Jupiter | water | dual | two fish |
Sign n spans (n − 1) × 30° to n × 30° of sidereal longitude: Simha, the 5th, runs from 120° to 150°. This is why charts and tools often write a sign as a number.
Lordship: why each graha rules what it rules
The scheme is symmetrical. The two luminaries take the adjacent signs of mid-summer: the Moon Karka, the Sun Simha. Then, moving outward in both directions, Mercury takes the next pair (Mithuna and Kanya), Venus the next (Vrishabha and Tula), Mars the next (Mesha and Vrishchika), Jupiter the next (Meena and Dhanu) and Saturn the last pair (Kumbha and Makara), in the order of the grahas' distances and speeds.
The lord of a sign is the 'owner' of whatever falls there: the lord of the Lagna sign is the Lagnesh, the lord of the 7th house sign rules marriage, and so on. Later texts give Rahu co-rulership of Kumbha and Ketu of Vrishchika, and some authors place Rahu's exaltation in Vrishabha or Mithuna; the classical BPHS scheme above is what this site uses.
Elements, qualities and gender
Three repeating cycles give each sign its temperament:
| Cycle | Groups | Traditional meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Element (tattva) | Fire 1 5 9; Earth 2 6 10; Air 3 7 11; Water 4 8 12 | fire: energy and initiative; earth: stability; air: thought and exchange; water: feeling |
| Quality | Movable (chara) 1 4 7 10; Fixed (sthira) 2 5 8 11; Dual (dwiswabhava) 3 6 9 12 | movable: change and action; fixed: persistence; dual: adaptability |
| Gender | Odd signs masculine; even signs feminine | masculine: outgoing, cruel (krura) in classical terms; feminine: receptive, gentle (saumya) |
Movable signs are favoured in muhurta for travel and new starts, fixed signs for things meant to last, such as foundations and marriage, and dual signs for both.
The body, directions and other attributes
In the image of the Kalapurusha, the cosmic person, the signs map onto the body from head to foot: Mesha the head, Vrishabha the face, Mithuna the arms and shoulders, Karka the chest, Simha the stomach, Kanya the waist, Tula the lower abdomen, Vrishchika the genitals, Dhanu the thighs, Makara the knees, Kumbha the calves and Meena the feet. Fire signs are associated with the east, earth with the south, air with the west and water with the north. Some signs rise head first (shirshodaya), others back first (prishtodaya), a distinction used in timing results.
Rashi and Moon sign
Ask an Indian friend for their rashi and they will name their Moon sign: the sign the Moon was in at birth. Newspaper rashiphal, Sade Sati, Kundli matching and the naming syllable all use it, because the Moon is the karaka of the mind and its sign is the same for everyone born within about two days. Your Lagna and Sun signs are also rashis, but 'rashi' on its own usually means the Moon's.
Worked example
The Moon at 49°23′ sidereal: 49°23′ ÷ 30° = 1 remainder 19°23′, so it is 19°23′ into the 2nd sign. The rashi is Vrishabha, ruled by Venus, an earth, fixed, feminine sign.
The signs and the seasons
The Sun's entry into a sign, a sankranti, begins a solar month, and pairs of solar months make the six ritus:
| Ritu | Sun in | Approximate months |
|---|---|---|
| Vasanta (spring) | Meena, Mesha | mid-March to mid-May |
| Grishma (summer) | Vrishabha, Mithuna | mid-May to mid-July |
| Varsha (rains) | Karka, Simha | mid-July to mid-September |
| Sharad (autumn) | Kanya, Tula | mid-September to mid-November |
| Hemanta (early winter) | Vrishchika, Dhanu | mid-November to mid-January |
| Shishira (late winter) | Makara, Kumbha | mid-January to mid-March |
Lunar-calendar ritus are named slightly differently by region; the panchang module explains how the solar and lunar calendars fit together.
Common mistakes
- Confusing a sign with a constellation: rashis are equal 30° divisions, while the star patterns behind them vary in size.
- Using the Western sign for a Vedic reading; the sidereal sign is usually one earlier.
- Thinking 'rashi' always means the Sun sign; in India it usually means the Moon sign.
- Reading a sign's nature without its lord: a graha in a sign is strongly coloured by the sign's lord and that lord's condition.
See it on your chart
The Moon sign calculator gives your rashi with its nakshatra; the Kundli planets table shows the sign of every graha, and the twelve rashi reference pages list each sign's lord, element and the planets in it today. Each sign has a full lesson in Module 3.
Questions and answers
How is a rashi different from a nakshatra?
A rashi is a 30° sign; a nakshatra is a 13°20′ lunar mansion. Each rashi contains two and a quarter nakshatras.
Do Rahu and Ketu own any signs?
Not in the classical scheme used here. Some later texts give them co-rulership of Kumbha and Vrishchika.
Why does my newspaper rashiphal differ from my Western horoscope?
The rashiphal uses your sidereal Moon sign; Western horoscopes use your tropical Sun sign. They are different signs measured in different zodiacs.
Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra ch. 4 (Rashi swarupa); Varahamihira, Brihat Jataka ch. 1; Saravali ch. 3.