Article text is currently English only. The calculation below and the rest of the interface follow your chosen language.
In short
The Parashari system is the method of reading a chart that follows Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra: planets aspecting houses, house lords, divisional charts and the nakshatra-based Vimshottari dasha. It is the default method behind nearly every number this app shows, with Jaimini techniques computed beside it and labelled as such.
What the term means
"Parashari" means "of Parashara", the sage to whom BPHS is attributed. The Parashari system is the way of reading a chart that follows that text: planets judged by sign, house and lordship, aspects cast by planets, divisional charts, strength measures, and timing by the Vimshottari dasha. It is usually set against the Jaimini system, which reads sign aspects and sign-based periods instead.
Where the term comes from
The translation in the project's library is a dialogue in which Maitreya asks and "Maharishi Parashar" answers. Its contents give the method's main parts: the sixteen divisions of a sign (Ch. 6), the drishtis of the grahas (Ch. 26), strengths (Ch. 27) and the dashas (Ch. 46 onward). The text never calls itself a "system"; a search of it for "Parashari" finds nothing. The label is a later convention for distinguishing this approach from others. BPHS itself also contains techniques usually filed under Jaimini, such as the Char Karakas, so the line between the two is not sharp.
How this app uses it
- Timing: the Vimshottari sequence runs Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury over 120 years, started from the lord of the birth Moon's nakshatra, with the part already elapsed subtracted.
- Aspects: every planet aspects the 7th house from itself, and Mars, Jupiter and Saturn add special aspects, counted whole-sign.
- Divisional charts, Shadbala and Ashtakavarga all follow BPHS chapters cited in the engine.
- Jaimini sign aspects are computed too, but the code publishes them "alongside graha drishti and never merged into it". The sources page lists the BPHS chapters behind each feature.
Pages that use this term
- Antardasha and Pratyantardasha - Parashara's sub-period rule.
- Jupiter Mahadasha - one Vimshottari period read the Parashari way.
- Gaj Kesari Yoga - a yoga page that cites Parashara.
- Ishta Devata and the Karakamsa - where Parashara and Jaimini meet.
- Vimshottari dasha calculator - the Parashari timeline for your chart.
Related terms
dasha, varga, Shadbala, Rashi Drishti and KP system.