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In short
The Atmakaraka, or Atma Karaka, is the graha that has travelled furthest through its own sign at birth, ranked by degrees, then minutes, then seconds. BPHS Ch. 32 calls it the most important of the chara karakas. This app picks it from the seven classical grahas and uses its Navamsa sign as the Karakamsa.
What the term means
Atma means self, and karaka significator: the Atmakaraka is the significator of the self. It is the first of the chara karakas, and which graha holds it changes from chart to chart, because it is decided by degree within the sign, not by the planet's identity. Any of the seven classical grahas can be it.
Where the term comes from
BPHS Ch. 32 Sl. 3-8 defines it as the graha that has traversed the greatest number of degrees in its sign, with ties broken by minutes and then seconds of arc, and calls it the most important karaka, comparing it to a king. Sl. 9-12 add that the other karakas cannot override it. Ch. 33 Sl. 1 builds the Karakamsa from its Navamsa, and Ch. 40 uses its placement in yogas for royal association.
How this app uses it
- It is the first entry of the chara karaka list: the classical graha with the highest degree in sign. Rahu is not a candidate.
- The decimal degree already carries the minutes and seconds, so the BPHS tie-break is built into the sort.
- Its Navamsa sign is the Karakamsa, and the 12th sign from there feeds the 12th-from-Karakamsa calculator.
- The engine reports these placements only; it does not carry over Ch. 33's per-sign predictions.
A small illustration
For 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi, Mars at Aquarius 25.40 is further through its sign than any other classical graha, so Mars is the Atmakaraka. Venus at 22.47 comes next. Mars's Navamsa sign is Taurus, which the engine reports as the Karakamsa.
A fast-moving rank
The rank is a race of degrees. The Moon is the fastest graha (this app's own notes put its crossing of a single 3°20' Navamsa at about six hours), so when the Moon is in contention, or two grahas sit at nearly equal degrees, a modest error in birth time can change which graha is the Atmakaraka.
Pages that use this term
- Ishta Devata and the Karakamsa - the essay built on the Atma Karaka.
- Char Karakas calculator - finds your Atma Karaka.
- Karakamsa calculator - the Atma Karaka's Navamsa sign.
- The 12th house (Vyaya Bhava) - where the 12th from the Karakamsa is discussed.
- Number 1 in numerology - where a numerology source borrows the word Atmakaraka for the Sun as the soul.
Related terms
Chara karaka, Amatyakaraka, Karakamsa, Ishta devata and Jaimini system.
Char Karakas
Seven grahas ranked by the degrees each has travelled in its sign - Atma Karaka first.
What it needs
Date, time and place
That is more than this article asks for - it only ever takes a date, and sometimes a time, and never a name or a birth place. So this one runs on its own page, which asks for exactly what it needs and stores none of it.
Run it on its own page