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In short
Karka is the Sanskrit name for Cancer, the fourth sign of the sidereal zodiac, covering 90 to 120 degrees. In this app it is ruled by the Moon and labelled movable, Water and even; those labels set its Navamsa count, rashi drishti and Hora halves.
What the term means
Karka is the Sanskrit name for Cancer, the fourth of the twelve rashis: the 30 degrees of sidereal longitude from 90 to 120. The engine's sign list calls it Cancer, and its list of Sanskrit names Karka. It holds the last pada of Punarvasu and all of Pushya and Ashlesha. This entry covers the name and how the engine handles it; the reading of the sign is on the Cancer (Karka Rashi) page.
Where the term comes from
BPHS Ch. 4 Sl. 3 names Kark fourth, and Sl. 4 makes it the heart of Kaal Purush (a symbolic mapping, not medical advice). By Sl. 5 it is movable, benefic and female. Sl. 10-11 describe it as pale-red, strong at night, many-footed, bulky, sattvic, "a watery Rasi" rising with its back, and ruled by Candr. BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 49-50 make it Jupiter's exaltation sign, deepest at 5 degrees, and, being seventh from Makar, the sign of Mars's fall. Saravali Ch. 3 Sl. 7 gives Kulira as another name, Sl. 9-10 put Cancer at the head of the zodiac's lunar half, and Sl. 24 agrees on a night sign rising with its hind part. The Bhrigu Sutras spell it Kataka (Part I, p. 4).
How this app uses it
- Lord: SIGN_LORDS gives Karka to Chandra (the Moon).
- Quality: MODALITY_BY_SIGN marks it movable (chara). That sets its Navamsa count to start from Karka itself, its rashi drishti onto Taurus, Scorpio and Aquarius, and, when it rises, a Badhaka house in the 11th.
- Element: the engine's element table counts it Water, which feeds the chart's dominant-element count and, when it holds the 10th house, the career reading.
- Parity: as an even sign, its first 15 degrees are the Moon's Hora (D2) and its last 15 the Sun's.
- Dignity: Jupiter is exalted here (deep point 5 degrees) and Mars debilitated (deep point 28); the Moon is in its own sign.
Pages that use this term
- Cancer (Karka Rashi) - the full page on the sign.
- Pushya nakshatra - one of the two nakshatras wholly inside Karka.
- The Moon in Vedic astrology - the sign's lord.
- Jupiter in Vedic astrology - the graha exalted in Karka.
- Moon sign calculator - tells you whether your Moon is in Karka.
- Lagna calculator - tells you whether Karka was rising at your birth.
Related terms
Chandra, Chara rashi, Jala tattva, Guru, Mithuna and Simha.