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In short
A rashi is one of the twelve signs of the zodiac, each exactly 30 degrees of the sidereal circle, counted from Mesha (Aries). BPHS names them in Ch. 4 and classes them as movable, fixed and dual. This app finds a graha's rashi by dividing its sidereal longitude by 30; "your rashi" in ordinary use means the Moon's.
What the term means
A rashi is a sign: one twelfth of the zodiac, an arc of exactly 30 degrees. The twelve run Mesha (Aries), Vrishabha, Mithuna, Karka, Simha, Kanya, Tula, Vrishchika, Dhanu, Makara, Kumbha and Meena (Pisces). In this app every rashi is a slice of the sidereal zodiac, so Mesha begins where the Lahiri ayanamsa puts the star-fixed zero point, not at the spring equinox. When people in India ask for "your rashi" they usually mean the sign the Moon was in at birth, the Janma Rashi.
Where the term comes from
BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 4-6 describes the zodiac of 27 nakshatras from Ashvini and says the same area is divided "in 12 parts equal to 12 Rasis commencing from Mesh". Ch. 4 Sl. 3 gives the names in order, Sl. 4 maps them onto the body of Kaal Purush, Time personified, from head to feet, and Sl. 5 classes them in turn as movable, fixed and dual, and alternately male and female. The rest of the chapter describes each rashi one by one.
How this app computes it
- A graha's rashi is its sidereal longitude divided by 30, with the fraction dropped: 0 is Mesha, 11 is Meena. The remainder is its degree within that sign.
- In the 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi chart the Moon is at 252.6569 degrees. That divided by 30 is 8.42, so the Moon is in the ninth sign, Dhanu (Sagittarius), 12.66 degrees in.
- The same arithmetic gives the rashi of the Lagna, and with whole-sign houses each rashi is one whole house.
- A graha a fraction of a degree from the end of a sign can land in the next rashi under a different ayanamsa or another program; read the degree before the label.
Pages that use this term
- Aries (Mesha Rashi) - the first of the twelve rashi pages.
- Pisces (Meena Rashi) - the last, where the circle closes.
- Moon sign and nakshatra - why "your rashi" means the Moon's sign.
- Aries and Leo Moon-sign compatibility - matching read from two rashis.
- Moon sign calculator - the Moon's rashi from a birth date.
Related terms
- Chara rashi - the movable signs.
- Degree in sign - where in its rashi a graha stands.
- Moon sign - the rashi most often meant.
- Rashi drishti - aspects cast sign to sign.
Moon Sign (Chandra Rashi)
Your Rashi in the sidereal zodiac, with the nakshatra the Moon was standing in.
This date is sent only to compute the answer. Nothing is stored, no account is created, and no email is asked for.