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In short
Mesha is the Sanskrit name for Aries, the first sign of the sidereal zodiac, covering 0 to 30 degrees. In this app it is ruled by Mars and labelled movable, Fire and odd; those labels set its Navamsa count, rashi drishti and Hora halves.
What the term means
Mesha is the Sanskrit name for Aries, the first of the twelve rashis: the 30 degrees of sidereal longitude from 0 to 30. The engine's sign list calls it Aries, and its list of Sanskrit names Mesha. It holds all of Ashwini and Bharani and the first pada of Krittika. This entry covers the name and how the engine handles it; the reading of the sign is on the Aries (Mesha Rashi) page.
Where the term comes from
BPHS Ch. 4 Sl. 3 names Mesh first of the twelve Rasis, and Sl. 4 makes it the head of Kaal Purush, the zodiac pictured as a body (a symbolic mapping, not medical advice). Sl. 5 classes the signs in a repeating order, so Mesh is movable, malefic and male. Sl. 6-7 describe it as blood-red, quadruped, strong at night, belonging to the East, rising with its back, "fiery", and ruled by Mangal. BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 49-54 make it the Sun's exaltation sign, deepest at 10 degrees, and give Mangal its first 12 degrees as Mooltrikon. Saravali Ch. 3 Sl. 7 gives Kriya as another name, and Sl. 24 agrees that it is a night sign rising with its hind part.
How this app uses it
- Lord: SIGN_LORDS gives Mesha to Mangal (Mars).
- Quality: MODALITY_BY_SIGN marks it movable (chara). That sets its Navamsa count to start from Mesha itself, its rashi drishti onto Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, and, when it rises, a Badhaka house in the 11th.
- Element: the engine's element table counts it Fire, which feeds the chart's dominant-element count and, when it holds the 10th house, the career reading.
- Parity: as an odd sign, its first 15 degrees are the Sun's Hora (D2) and its last 15 the Moon's.
- Dignity: the Sun is exalted here (deep point 10 degrees) and Saturn debilitated (deep point 20). For Mars, dignityOf() returns Moolatrikona from 0 to 12 degrees and Own sign after.
Pages that use this term
- Aries (Mesha Rashi) - the full page on the sign.
- Mars in Aries - the sign's lord in its own sign.
- Ashwini nakshatra - the first nakshatra, wholly inside Mesha.
- Aries and Leo Moon-sign compatibility - Mesha in kundli matching.
- Moon sign calculator - tells you whether your Moon is in Mesha.
- Lagna calculator - tells you whether Mesha was rising at your birth.
Related terms
Mangal, Chara rashi, Agni tattva, Surya, Meena and Vrishabha.