Article text is currently English only. The calculation below and the rest of the interface follow your chosen language.
In short
The Karakamsa is the Navamsa sign occupied by the Atmakaraka, the graha furthest through its sign. BPHS Ch. 33 opens with that definition and reads much of the Jaimini material from it. This app computes it from the Atmakaraka's D9 placement and reports the sign, and separately the 12th sign from it, without the chapter's per-sign predictions.
What the term means
Karakamsa joins karaka (significator) and amsa (division). It is the sign the Atmakaraka occupies in the Navamsa. It is a sign, not a planet or a house. BPHS Ch. 39 Sl. 3-5 calls it the "Karakansh Lagn" and reads it beside the natal Lagna, which is why positions such as the 12th from it are counted the way houses are counted from an Ascendant.
Where the term comes from
BPHS Ch. 33, "Effects of Karakansh", begins with the definition: the Karakamsa is the Navamsa occupied by the Atma Karak. The chapter goes on to give a reading for each sign and for grahas placed from it. Sl. 63-74 read the 12th sign from the Karakamsa for expenses and for worship, judged from the grahas occupying it.
How this app uses it
- The engine takes the Atmakaraka from the Char Karaka ranking and reads its sign in the computed D9. That sign is the Karakamsa.
- It reports the sign with a short general note. The chapter's per-sign predictions are not carried over; the engine's notes give the reason, which is that they include fear-based and gendered material this app does not reproduce.
- A second calculator counts the 12th sign from the Karakamsa, names its lord and lists the grahas there in both the Navamsa and the birth chart. It never names a deity from the lord, since BPHS reads worship only from occupants (see Ishta devata).
- A Navamsa part is 3°20', so the Karakamsa depends on an accurate birth time.
A small illustration
For 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi, the Atmakaraka is Mars at Aquarius 25.40, whose Navamsa sign is Taurus: Taurus is the Karakamsa. The 12th sign from Taurus is Aries, ruled by Mars. In the Navamsa, Venus sits in Aries; in the birth chart Aries is empty, so the two charts give different readings.
Pages that use this term
- Ishta Devata and the Karakamsa - the full essay.
- Karakamsa calculator - your Karakamsa sign.
- 12th from Karakamsa calculator - the sign BPHS reads for worship and expenses.
- When the birth time is unknown - why the Karakamsa needs one.
- The 12th house (Vyaya Bhava) - a different twelfth, contrasted there.
- Ketu in Vedic astrology - Ketu's part in the 12th-from-Karakamsa reading.
Related terms
Atmakaraka, chara karaka, Navamsa, Ishta devata and Jaimini system.
Karakamsa
The Navamsa sign your Atma Karaka occupies - one graha, read in the D9.
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