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Glossary

Surya defined: the Sanskrit name for the Sun, what BPHS and Saravali say about it, and how this app computes its sign, dignity and combustion orbs.

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In short

Surya is the Sanskrit name for the Sun, the first of the nine grahas in BPHS. This app computes its sidereal sign, rules Leo by it, treats it as a natural malefic, marks it exalted in Aries and debilitated in Libra, and measures combustion for the Moon and the five planets as distance from it.

What the term means

Surya is the Sanskrit name for the Sun as a graha. On this site the word and "Sun" mean the same body. The engine computes the Sun's tropical longitude with the Meeus algorithms in astronomy.js, subtracts the Lahiri ayanamsa to get its sidereal longitude, and from that reads its sign, degree, nakshatra and, when a birth time is known, its house.

Where the term comes from

BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 10 lists the nine grahas, and Surya comes first. The same chapter calls the Sun the "soul of all" (Sl. 12-13), gives it royal status with the Moon (Sl. 14-15), counts it male (Sl. 19) and sattvic (Sl. 22), and places it among the natural malefics (Sl. 11). Sl. 49-50 make Mesh its exaltation sign, deepest at 10 degrees, with its fall in the seventh sign from there. Sl. 51-54 give the first 20 degrees of Simh as its Mooltrikon and the rest as its own house. Saravali Ch. 4 Sl. 10-11 gives Heli and Bhanu as other names for the Sun, and the Bhrigu Sutras head their Sun section "the Father and Life Giver" (Part I, p. 5).

How this app uses it

  • Lordship: in the SIGN_LORDS table the Sun rules one sign, Leo.
  • Dignity: exalted in Aries, debilitated in Libra, with 10 degrees as the deep point in both. In Leo, dignityOf() returns Moolatrikona from 0 to 20 degrees and Own sign after that.
  • Nature: the Sun is in the engine's MALEFICS list, as in BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 11 (see papa graha).
  • Friendship: the natural table names the Moon, Mars and Jupiter as friends and Venus and Saturn as enemies, the same lists Saravali Ch. 4 Sl. 28-29 gives.
  • Combustion: a graha is flagged combust when it sits within an orb of the Sun - the Moon 12 degrees, Mars 17, Mercury 14 (12 when retrograde), Jupiter 11, Venus 10 (8 when retrograde) and Saturn 15.
  • Timing and vargas: the Sun's Vimshottari period is 6 years (BPHS Ch. 46 Sl. 15), and in the Hora (D2) the Sun's half of a sign resolves to Leo.

Pages that use this term

Related terms

Chandra, Sun sign, Neecha, Naisargika maitri and Simha.

Now on yourself

Sun Sign (Surya Rashi)

The sidereal Sun sign - often one sign earlier than the Western reading.

A birth time is optional. Without one this is read at local noon on your birth date - and the Moon moves about 13 degrees in a day, so add the time if you know it.

No place is asked for on this page, so the time is read as Indian Standard Time (IST). Born outside India? Run it on its own page, where you can add the place.

This date is sent only to compute the answer. Nothing is stored, no account is created, and no email is asked for.

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