prārabdhā himagau daśā sva gṛhage māna artha saukhya āvahā kauje dūṣayati striyaṃ budha gṛhe vidyā suhṛd vittadā | durga araṇya patha ālaye kṛṣi karī siṃhe sita ṛkṣe annadā kustrīdā mṛga kumbhayor guru gṛhe māna artha saukhya āvahā

A daśā beginning when the Moon is in its own sign brings honor, wealth, and happiness. In Mars's sign it harms the woman (wife). In Mercury's sign it gives learning, friends, and wealth. In a sign of forts, forests, and pathways it brings agriculture; in Leo, the sign of Venus, it gives food; in Capricorn and Aquarius it gives a bad wife; in Jupiter's sign it brings honor, wealth, and happiness.

saumye raṅga caro bṛhaspati yute gīta priyo nṛtyavid vāgmī bhū gaṇapaḥ sitena mṛdunā māyā paṭur laṅghakaḥ | sad vidyo dhana dāravān bahu guṇaḥ śukreṇa yukte gurau jñeyaḥ śmaśru karo asitena ghaṭakṛj jāto anna kāro api vā

When (the Moon is in) Mercury's (sign), one becomes an actor; when joined with Jupiter, one is fond of song, skilled in dance, eloquent, and a leader of people (or land-steward). With Venus, being gentle, one becomes clever in illusion (magic) and an acrobat. When Jupiter is joined with Venus, one is learned, possessed of wealth and a wife, and full of many virtues. With Saturn, one is to be known as a barber (one who works with beards), a potter, or also a maker of food (cook).

strī lolaḥ suratā upacāra kuśalas tāmra īkṣaṇaḥ śāstravid dūtaḥ kuñcita mūrdhajaḥ paṭu matir hāsya iṅgita dyūtavit | cārv aṅgaḥ priya vāk prabha kṣaṇa rucir gīta priyo nṛtyavit klībair yāti ratiṃ samunnata nasaś candre tṛtīya ṛkṣage

When the Moon occupies the third sign (Gemini), the person is fond of women, skilled in love-making and in attentions (services), has coppery (reddish) eyes, is learned in the sciences, acts as a messenger, has curly hair, is sharp-witted, given to mirth, skilled in interpreting gestures and in gambling, has a graceful body, sweet speech, a complexion radiant in a moment, is fond of singing, knows dancing, takes pleasure with eunuchs, and has a prominent (raised) nose.

dyūta ṛṇa pāna rata nāstika caura niḥsvāḥ kustrīka kūṭakṛd asatya ratāḥ kuja ṛkṣe | ācārya bhūri suta dāra dhana arjana iṣṭāḥ śaukre vadāny aguru bhakti ratāś ca saumye

When the Moon is in the sign of Mars (Aries or Scorpio), one is addicted to gambling, given to debt and drinking, an atheist, a thief, destitute, attached to bad women, a forger, and devoted to falsehood. In the sign of Venus (Taurus or Libra), one is a teacher, blessed with many sons, a wife, and the acquisition of wealth, and is well-liked. In the sign of Mercury (Gemini or Virgo), one is generous, not heavy (i.e. agreeable), and devoted to religious worship.

duṣṭiphala(BJ_19) candre bhūpa budhau nṛpa upama guṇī steno adhanaś ca ajage niḥsvaḥ stena nṛ mānya bhūpa dhaninaḥ preṣyaḥ kuja ādyair gavi | nṛsthe ayo vyavahāri pārthiva budhābhis tantu vāyo adhano sva ṛkṣe yoddhṛ kavi jña bhūmi patayo ayo jīvi dṛg rogiṇau

(Phalas arising from aspects.) When the Moon is in Aries and aspected (by Mars and the other planets in order): a king (by Mars), one resembling a king (by Mercury), endowed with good qualities (by Jupiter), a thief and poor (by Venus and Saturn), destitute (by the Sun). When in Taurus, the man is: a thief, respected, a king, wealthy, a servant (by Mars and the rest in order). When the Moon is in Gemini and aspected by Mars and others: a dealer in iron, a man of the realm (king), learned, by Mercury and the rest, a weaver, and poor. When in its own sign (Cancer): a warrior, a poet, learned, a lord of the earth (king), a dealer in iron, and one diseased in the eye (by the planets in order).

meṣe tu raktapīḍā ca vṛṣabhe dhānyavarddhanam|h | mithune jñānasampānnaścāndre dhanapatirbhavet|h

When the Moon is in Aries, there is bleeding affliction; in Taurus, increase of grain; in Gemini, one becomes endowed with knowledge; and (in this way) the lord of wealth comes to be.

But enough of digression: let us now pursue our main topic. And first, the natures of the zodiacal signs. On this matter, it is said in the Vāmanatājika: As the results [accruing] to all creatures depend on the zodiacal signs and planets, the natures of the signs beginning with Aries are described first. The twelve signs are said by the wise to be Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius and Aquarius are known by the learned as the six fierce signs, and Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn and Pisces are known as the six gentle signs. The fierce signs are known as male; the gentle signs are known as female. Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn are movable signs; Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius are fixed signs; Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces are of a dual nature. Aries, Taurus, Leo, the latter half of Sagittarius, and Capricorn: these signs are known by the learned as having four feet. Cancer and Scorpio are both said to have many feet. Both the signs Aquarius and Pisces are known as having no feet. The signs Gemini, Libra, Virgo and the former half of Sagittarius are said by the sage Yavanācārya18 to have two Aries, Leo and Sagittarius are known as fiery signs; Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are earthy signs; Gemini, Libra and Aquarius are airy signs; Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces are known as watery signs. Capricorn, Aquarius and Virgo have half a voice; Libra, Scorpio, Cancer and Pisces are known to have no voice; Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Leo and Sagittarius have a voice. Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces have much progeny; Gemini, Taurus and Aquarius are said to be middling; and Leo, Capricorn, Virgo, Aries, Libra and Sagittarius, to have few. As this name or epithet is in the plural, an alternative translation would be ‘by the which to base an emendation. the classical Āyurvedic terminology comprising three humours (doṣa): the fiery signs are dry, very hot, and correspond to bile; the earthy signs are dry, somewhat cooler, and correspond to wind (replacing the Graeco-Arabic humour of black bile); the airy signs are moist, hot, and correspond to a mixture of humours (to make up for the missing humour of blood); while the watery signs are moist, cool, and correspond to That is, east, south, west, north. Although several of the colour terms used in this stanza have more than one meaning, comparison with the parallel passage in Samarasiṃha’s Karmaprakāśa 1.7 makes the Leo, Sagittarius and Aries are dry, yellow-hot, of bilious temperament; Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are dry, hot and cool, of windy temperament; Gemini, Aquarius and Libra are hot, moist of body, of equally mixed temperament; Cancer, Pisces and Scorpio are moist, [The four signs reckoned] by repetition thrice over from Aries are ever known to the learned as princes, commoners, menials and Brahmans, [respectively], and as the directions beginning with the east.20 Cancer, Capricorn, Sagittarius, Aries, Taurus: these rise with their hinder parts. The rest are known to rise with their heads. Pisces is said to do both. Those rising with their heads are strong in the daytime; the others are said to be strong at night. The own ninth-part of a sign is called the best of its class. Next, Samarasiṃha states the colours of the signs [in the Tājikaśāstra]: yellow, variegated, and brown are the colours of [the twelve signs] Then, Samarasiṃha himself describes [in the Tājikaśāstra] which among the The six [signs] beginning with Capricorn rise crookedly because [their] measure of time is short; the six beginning with Cancer rise evenly because [theirs] is long; [the six signs beginning with] Aries and Libra, Although no zodiacal sign rises completely perpendicular to the horizon even at the terrestrial equator, as the ecliptic (and therefore the band of the zodiac) is inclined to the celestial equator, for places of observation further north or south, the signs with longer ascensional times rise in a more upright fashion than those with shorter ascenthe translation given is the most likely meaning. The verse as a whole, as well as Balabhadra’s explication of it, can only refer to the tropical zodiac, although this is not explicitly stated. In that zodiac, the six signs from Capricorn to Gemini rise in a shorter time than the average two hours per sign, while the remaining six signs take more than two hours each to rise. Aries and Libra themselves do not share the same rising time, as Aries shares the shortest rising time of all with Pisces, whereas Libra shares the longest with Virgo. However, the two halves of the zodiac beginning with Aries and Libra, respectively, do correspond exactly in terms of rising times. meṣādirāśīnāṃ saṃjñāntaram uktaṃ varāheṇa | B G a.c.; śede N; dādaśa K T than āryā, is taken from BJ 1.17 by the same author; LJ 1.18a should properly read kendracatuṣṭayakaṇṭaka-. Either Balabhadra or an early copyist appears to have conflated the two stanzas, which are similar in both subject and composition. Balabhadra is referring to the sun’s equinoctial shadow (akṣabhā), measured at noon on the equinox using a standardized gnomon (śaṅku) 12 digits (aṅgula) high. A midday shadow of the same length thus implies a solar elevation angle of exactly 45°, the gnomon and its shadow forming two equal sides of a right triangle. This angle subtracted from 90° gives 45° as the terrestrial latitude of the place of observation. (Where the two sides are of unequal length, the terrestrial latitude may be found by the formula 90 - tan-1 (12∕s), where s is the length of the shadow.) I am indebted to S.R. Sarma for explaining the details of this Sanskrit convention. Assuming a tropical zodiac, the figures given by Balabhadra do match a terrestrial latitude of 45° north (about as far distant from the equator as Turin in Italy). It seems safe to assume that Balabhadra calculated this example theoretically, without reference to any place known to him personally. A pala is approximately 24 seconds of clock time. The first eleven of these are Sanskritized Greek names: Kriya from Κριός; Tāvuri from Ταῦρος; Jituma from Δίδυμοι; Leya from Λέων; Pāthona from Παρθένος; Jūka from Ζυγός; Kaurpya from Σκoρπιός; Taukṣika from Τοξότης; Ākokera from Αἰγόκερως; and Hṛdroga Although the time cannot become [very] short or long when the degree of latitude is small, it does become so when the degree of latitude is great. For example, where the shadow of latitude is twelve digits,24 the rising [times in] palas of the [six signs] beginning with Capricorn are: And the rising [times in] palas of the [six signs] beginning with Cancer are: From this it can be understood that the rising times of [the signs] beginning with Cancer are much greater than [those] of [the signs] beginning with Capricorn. [In the Tājikaśāstra], Samarasiṃha himself states the purpose of If the moon is increasing within the expansive signs that rise evenly, then there is increase in that year; if the reverse, decrease. Varāha[mihira] gives synonyms of the signs starting with Aries [in BṛhajHe himself states the designations of the angles and other [places, in LaghuFor [the places] following the ascendant, descendant, tenth and fourth [places, which are called] angles, quadrants or cardines, the designation is ‘succedent’, and [the places] following those are designated from Ὑδροχόος. Antyabha means simply ‘the last sign’; however, antya could possibly be a pseudo-etymologized form of Ἰχθύες. Kendra, paṇaphara and āpoklima are all Sanskritized Greek technical terms: κέντρον, ἐπαναφορά and ἀπόκλιμα, respectively. The basic meaning of κέντρον, as of Sanskrit kaṇṭaka, is ‘sharp point, goad’. The translation follows the received text of Laghujātaka 1.18a rather than the confused version of the text witnesses. siṃho vṛṣaḥ prathamaṣaṣṭhahayāṅgatauli| pittoṣṇaśītādiprayojanaṃ rogakartā yatra rāśau ityādi ṣaṣṭhabhāve rogaHe also states the mūlatrikoṇa27 houses of the planets [in Bṛhajjātaka 1.14]: Leo, Taurus, the first [or Aries], the sixth [or Virgo], Sagittarius, Libra and Aquarius are the trikoṇa houses [of the planets reckoned] from the This concludes the natures of the zodiacal signs. Next, the purpose of [knowing] the natures of those signs. Concerning this, the purpose of the signs designated as having two feet or four feet, [belonging to] day or night, should be understood to relate to the results of the places, which will be described below. The purpose of [designating] the signs male or female should be understood to relate to strength by position, as in [the statement by Samarasiṃha in the Tājikaśāstra]: ‘Male planets in male signs, and female planets in female signs, are strong’. The purpose of [designations] such as bilious, hot and cold is to discover the location of an illness from the sixth house, as in [the statement in Varṣatantra 10.15]: ‘In the sign where the [planet] causing the illness is [located]’, and so on. The purpose of the directions of the signs is to discover the direction of a journey. The purpose of [designations] such as movable signs should be understood to relate to the consideration of meals, as in [the statement] ‘When a movable [sign] rises, one eats once’.29 The purpose of [designations of] the signs as living in water and so forth should be understood to relate to hunting, as in [the statement of Varṣatantra 18.34] ‘From the planets and signs called watery being strong, they declare a water hunt’. The purpose of [designations of] the signs such as fiery should be understood to relate to such cases as there being danger from fire when a fiery sign is in the eighth house. The purpose of [designations] such as Brahman and other castes, or as fierce and gentle and so forth, should be understood [as in] the statement by Samarasiṃha [in the Tājikaśāstra]: ‘Age, dimension and castes30 should be known by means of conjecture from the ascendant’. For example, in judging [the question] ‘How will I gain this year?’, gain of substance of the same colours Literally, ‘root-triangle’. This specifically Indian dignity system is similar to but not identical with the Hellenistic signs of planetary ‘joys’; see Gansten 2018. Namely, in the order of the days of the week, as usual in Indian sources: the sun, the Source unknown. Other Tājika works differ, stating that a movable sign rising indicates three or ‘many’ meals. and so on should be predicted through [a person] of the same estate as [the sign in] the eleventh house [or] the ascendant, one endowed with the same fierce or gentle nature and so on, with the same [number of] offspring, who talks correspondingly much or little. This concludes the purpose of [knowing] natures of the zodiacal signs.

vidyāśāstrajñānaṃ mitraprāptiṃ karoti budharāśiḥ | sukhagṛhamānāyāptiṃ jīvagṛhe diśati śītakaraḥ || 14 ||

Mercury's sign produces knowledge of learning and the sciences and the gaining of friends; in the house of Jupiter the cool-rayed one [the Moon] grants comfort, residence, honor, and attainment.

dvijadevāśritakāryo matimān dhanavastrabhogasampannaḥ | mithune candradaśāyāṃ sthānāt sthānāntaraṃ vrajati || 16 ||

In the dasā of the Moon in Gemini, one is engaged in tasks resting upon Brahmins and gods, is intelligent, and provided with wealth, garments, and enjoyments. He moves from place to place.

kandarpapratimo viśālavadano vispaṣṭavāgasthiro klībo vā madanāturo'lpatanayaḥ saddyūtagānapriyaḥ | bandhudviṭ kaphamārutātmahṛdayo dārapriyo dānavān hāsyajño mithune'nnapānanirato jātaḥ pratāpī paṭuḥ || 3 ||

With the Moon in Gemini, the native is like Cupid, broad-faced, clear in speech, unsteady, impotent or love-sick, with few sons, fond of gambling and song, hostile to kinsmen, of phlegmatic and windy constitution at heart, fond of his wife, liberal, witty, devoted to food and drink, majestic, and clever.

candre meṣagate kujādisvacarairālokite bhūpati- rvidvān rājasamaḥ samastaguṇavān coro daridro bhavet | nisvastheyanṛmānyabhūpadhanikapreṣyo vṛṣasthe tathā yugmasthe vikalo nṛpaḥ sumatimān dhīraḥ khalo nirdhanaḥ

When the Moon is in Aries and aspected by Mars and the other planets in their own courses: (by Mars) one becomes a king; (by Mercury) learned; (by Jupiter) equal to a king; (by Venus) endowed with all virtues; (by Saturn) a thief and poverty-stricken. Likewise when the Moon is in Taurus: (by Mars) destitute; (by Mercury) steadfast; (by Mercury again/respected) honored by men; (by Jupiter) a king; (by Venus) wealthy; (by Saturn) a servant. When in Gemini: (by Mars) crippled; (by Mercury) a king; (by Jupiter) of good intellect; (by Venus) firm; (by Saturn) wicked and without wealth.

meṣasthe yadi śītagau ca laghubhuk kāmī mahotthāghnajo dātā kāntayaśodhanorucaraṇaḥ kanyāprajo gogate | dirghayuḥ suratopacārakuśalo hāsyapriyo yugmake kāmāsaktamano'ṭanaḥ suvacanaścandre kulīrasthite

If the Moon is situated in Aries, (the native) eats little, is amorous, suffers from afflictions arising from the great (parts), is a giver, and possesses charm, fame, wealth, and brilliance. When the Moon is in Taurus (the bull), he is a father of daughters; he is long-lived, skilled in the arts of love-making, and fond of laughter. When the Moon is in Gemini, his mind is attached to desire, he is a wanderer, and is sweet of speech. When the Moon is situated in Cancer (the crab)...

candre bhaumagṛhe kujādikathitatriṃśāśakeṣu kramāt duṣṭā dāsyasatī suśīlavibhavā māyāvinī dūṣaṇī | śukrarkṣe bahudūṣaṇānyapatiga pūjyā sudhīviścutā jñarkṣe cchasavatī napuṃsakasamā sādhvī guṇāḍhyotsukā

When the Moon is in a sign of Mars (Aries or Scorpio), in the trimsamsa divisions reckoned in order beginning with Mars and the others: (the woman is) wicked, a servile yet chaste woman, well-conducted and prosperous, deceitful, and one given to fault-finding. When (the Moon is) in a sign of Venus (Taurus or Libra): one with many faults, devoted to a husband other than her own, honored, of good intellect though fallen. When (the Moon is) in a sign of Mercury (Gemini or Virgo): one full of cunning, like a eunuch (sexless), virtuous, and rich in qualities and eager.

nipuṇo jyotiṣavettā madhyamarūpo dvimātṛkaḥ subhagaḥ | mithunasthe dinamateri jātaḥ puruṣo vinītaḥ syāt

When the Moon (lord of the day) is placed in Gemini, the person born will be clever, knowledgeable in astronomy/astrology, of medium build, having two mothers, fortunate, and modest.

ripubāndhavakṛtapīḍā videśagamanārdito bahuvilāpī | budhabhavane dinabharteścandreṇa puruṣaḥ syāt

When the Moon is in the house of Mercury belonging to the lord of the day, the man will be afflicted by his enemies and relatives, distressed by travel to foreign lands, and given to much lamentation.

prajñādhane prakāro mithune rūpānvitaṃ suṣmam atiduḥkhitamalpārthaṃ karoti sūryakṣitaścandraḥ

The Moon afflicted by the Sun, situated in Gemini, makes one wise and wealthy, endowed with beauty and slender; (but) it makes one greatly distressed and of little wealth.

atiśūramatiprājñaṃ sukhavāhanavibhavarūpasampannam | kurute mithune candro vakreṇa nirīkṣito'varyam

The Moon in Gemini, aspected by Mars, surely makes one very valiant, very wise, and endowed with comforts, conveyances, wealth and beauty.

arthotpādanakuśalaṃ kurute hyaparājitaṃ sudhīraṃ ca | pārthivamakhaṇḍitājñaṃ mithune budhavīkṣitaścandraḥ

When the Moon is in Gemini and aspected by Mercury, it makes one skilled in earning wealth, unconquered, very steadfast, kingly, and of unbroken (irresistible) command.

vidyāḍhyaṃ cācāryaṃ vikhyātaṃ sayaśācamatirūpam | mānyaṃ vāgminaminduḥ karoti guruvīkṣito mithune

The Moon, when aspected by Jupiter and placed in Gemini, makes one rich in learning, a teacher, famous, glorious, very handsome, honored, and eloquent.

yuvatimālyavastrairvāhanayānābharaṇamaṇibhiḥ | krīḍāṃ kurute puruṣo bharaṇasthe śaśini mithunasthe

When the Moon is placed in Gemini, a man sports with young women, garlands, garments, vehicles, conveyances, ornaments and gems.

śukreṇa dṛśyamānaḥ strīkṛtakaraṃ samṛddhasubhage ca | budhabhavane raktāṅgaḥ kurute vastrānnamoktāram

When (the Moon, in such a sign) is aspected by Venus, and is in a prosperous and auspicious (sign), and in the house of Mercury, having a reddish body, it makes (the native) one who acts under the influence of women and a giver of clothes and food.

ākaragiridurgarat'aṃ kaṣaikamatiduḥkhabhāginaṃ kurute | atiśūramati ca mathinaṃ yamekṣito budhagṛhe vibhavadahīnam

When the Moon, occupying Mercury's house and aspected by Saturn, makes one fond of mines, mountains and forts, given to extreme misery, very brave and also a destroyer, and devoid of wealth.

saumyastrīdhanalābhaḥ kuṭīragendau bhavedasārambhe | kanyāṃ dūṣayati naraḥ kujabhavane hanti vā yuvatim

When the Moon is in a house of Mercury, there will be gain of wealth from women, but no undertaking succeeds; when in a house of Mars, the man defiles a maiden or kills a young woman.

vanavāsiścaturaśraṇāstvavetanāgāddhanātthārṇyāt | bhavati hi mṛtyuḥ puṃsāmante bhāge tu jatumasya ||

Of those dwelling in the forest, of those without provision, and from the wealth and debt of a house — death indeed befalls men in the last portion of this (Gemini).

candre sarvakhagekṣite tu sumahābhāṇḍaṃ labhec chrīkaraṃ sūryarkṣe yadi hemajaṃ rajatajaṃ sthūlendurāśau sthite | bhaumarkṣe yadi tāmrajaṃ budhagrahe ratnāḍhyakaṃ jīvabhe śailaṃ śukragṛhe tu mṛṇmayam idaṃ tallauhajaṃ mandabhe || 47 ||

If the Moon is aspected by all the planets, one obtains a very great vessel (bhāṇḍa) that brings prosperity. If [the Moon stands] in the Sun’s asterism the vessel is made of gold; when it is placed in the Moon’s own sign it is a large one of silver; if in Mars’ asterism, of copper; in Mercury’s, one richly set with jewels; in Jupiter’s asterism, of stone (śaila); in Venus’ house, of clay; and in Saturn’s asterism, of iron.