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In short
Chara karakas are the "movable" significators of the Jaimini method: the grahas ranked by how far each has travelled through its own sign. The highest degree is the Atma Karaka, the next the Amatya Karaka, and so on. BPHS Ch. 32 gives eight names; this app ranks the seven classical grahas into the first seven roles.
What the term means
A karaka is a significator, a graha that stands for a person or a matter. Chara means movable: unlike the fixed karakas, which are the same in every chart, the chara karakas are assigned afresh in each chart by degree. The graha furthest through its sign takes the first role, the next the second, and so on down the list.
Where the term comes from
BPHS Ch. 32 Sl. 3-8 defines the Atma Karak as the graha that "has traversed maximum number of degrees" in its sign, breaking ties by minutes and then seconds. Sl. 13-17 continue the ranking: Amatya, Bhratru, Matru, Pitru, Putr, Gnati and Stri Karak, calling them "Char Karakas, or inconstant significators". The same chapter records that some include Rahu (with his degrees deducted from 30) and that some treat the Matru and Putr Karak as one. Sl. 18-21 then list the constant significators for contrast.
How this app uses it
- The seven classical grahas, Sun to Saturn, are sorted by degree in sign; Rahu is not included.
- They fill seven roles: Atma, Amatya, Bhratru, Matru, Pitru, Putra and Gnati Karaka. Each graha holds exactly one.
- The eighth name, Stri Karak, is not assigned, so there is no Darakaraka in this app's list.
- The Atma Karaka anchors the Karakamsa. The calculator asks for a full birth time and place.
A small illustration
For 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi, the engine ranks Mars first (Aquarius 25.40), so Mars is the Atma Karaka. Venus follows at 22.47 (Amatya), then Mercury 16.62, the Moon 12.66, the Sun 5.46, Saturn 2.64 and Jupiter 2.09, which takes the last role, Gnati Karaka. Saturn and Jupiter are barely half a degree apart, so a small change in time could swap them; the Moon, moving fastest, can change rank within hours.
Pages that use this term
- Char Karakas calculator - the seven roles ranked for your chart.
- Ishta Devata and the Karakamsa - the essay that starts from the Atma Karaka.
- The 7th house (Yuvati Bhava) - where the spouse significator question arises.
- Mars in Vedic astrology - a graha page that discusses its chara karaka roles.
- Ketu in Vedic astrology - why the nodes sit outside the ranking.
Related terms
Atmakaraka, Amatyakaraka, Darakaraka, Karakamsa, degree in sign 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