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In short
Moolatrikona is a degree band inside one of a graha's own signs, ranked between exaltation and plain own sign: the first 20 degrees of Leo for the Sun, for example. This app uses the BPHS bands, scores Moolatrikona the same as exaltation, and, because it tests exaltation first, never shows the Moon as Moolatrikona.
What the term means
Moolatrikona (also spelt mooltrikon) means "root trine". For each of the seven grahas it is a stretch of degrees inside one of the signs it owns. The rest of that sign counts as own sign. In the classical ladder it sits just below exaltation, which is why the degree, not only the sign, decides a planet's dignity here.
Where the term comes from
BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 51-54 gives the bands: the Sun's first 20 degrees of Leo; the Moon's Taurus after its first 3 degrees of exaltation; Mars the first 12 degrees of Aries; Mercury 15 to 20 of Virgo; Jupiter the first third of Sagittarius; Venus the first half of Libra; Saturn the first 20 of Aquarius. Sl. 55 counts natural friendships from the Moolatrikona sign, and Sl. 59-60 rate a graha there a quarter less auspicious than in exaltation. Saravali Ch. 5 Sl. 21-24 agrees except for Venus, whose band it makes the first 5 degrees of Libra.
How this app uses it
| Graha | Sign | Moolatrikona band in the engine |
|---|---|---|
| Sun | Leo | 0 to 20 degrees |
| Moon | Taurus | 3 to 30 degrees (never returned, see below) |
| Mars | Aries | 0 to 12 degrees |
| Mercury | Virgo | 15 to 20 degrees |
| Jupiter | Sagittarius | 0 to 10 degrees |
| Venus | Libra | 0 to 15 degrees |
| Saturn | Aquarius | 0 to 20 degrees |
- The engine follows BPHS where the texts disagree; its notes record that it took Venus's 15 degrees from BPHS over Saravali's 5.
- A planet in its Moolatrikona band is labelled "Moolatrikona" and gets the full 10 of 10 for position in the app's Shad Bala, the same as exaltation. BPHS's own ratio puts it a quarter lower.
- The exaltation test runs before the Moolatrikona test, and the Moon's exaltation has no degree limit in the table. So every Moon in Taurus, at 3 degrees or 29, is labelled Exalted, and the Moon's Moolatrikona band is never reached.
Pages that use this term
- Leo (Simha) rashi - the Sun's band and own-sign remainder.
- Libra (Tula) rashi - the Venus band the texts disagree on.
- Virgo (Kanya) rashi - Mercury's three-way split.
- Aquarius (Kumbha) rashi - Saturn's band.
- Mars in Aries - own sign and Moolatrikona in one sign.
- Shad Bala calculator - shows the label your planets get.
Related terms
- Uchcha (exaltation) - scored equal to it here.
- Swakshetra (own sign) - the rest of the sign.
- Naisargika maitri - BPHS counts it from the Moolatrikona.
- Degree in sign - the number the band is read from.
Shad Bala calculator
Six components, one simplified score out of 20 for each of the seven grahas.
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