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Glossary

Vayu tattva defined: the three air signs, what BPHS says about the air element in signs and grahas, and how this app counts a chart's elements.

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In short

Vayu tattva is the air element: in this app the signs Gemini, Libra and Aquarius. The engine counts how many of the nine grahas sit in air signs to find a chart's dominant element, and reads the 10th-house sign's element in the career reading. BPHS calls two of these three signs airy by name.

What the term means

Vayu tattva is the air element as a quality of signs. In this app the air signs are Mithuna (Gemini), Tula (Libra) and Kumbha (Aquarius) - every fourth sign from the third. The engine's element table, ELEMENT_BY_SIGN, simply repeats Fire, Earth, Air, Water round the twelve signs, so each element holds one movable, one fixed and one dual sign.

Where the term comes from

BPHS Ch. 4 calls two of the three signs "airy" in so many words: Mithun (Sl. 9-9½) and Kumbh (Sl. 21-21½). Its description of Tula (Sl. 15-16½) names no element. For the grahas, BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 20 and Ch. 76 Sl. 2 give air to Sani, and Saravali Ch. 4 Sl. 14 likewise gives air to Saturn. BPHS also has a fifth element, space, which it gives to Guru (Ch. 3 Sl. 20); the four-way sign table has no place for it. One difference from the app should be stated: BPHS Ch. 76 Sl. 3-4 reads a person's elemental temperament from the strongest graha, while this app counts the signs the grahas occupy.

How this app uses it

  • Dominant element: buildKundaliInsights() counts the nine grahas, Rahu and Ketu included, by the element of the sign each occupies, and reports the largest count as the chart's dominant element. On a tie, the first in the order Fire, Earth, Air, Water is reported.
  • Career reading: the career and money engine looks up the element of the 10th-house sign; for Air its sentence is about information, networks and communication.
  • Saptavimshamsa (D27): the count starts from one of the four movable signs, chosen by element - fire signs from Aries, earth from Cancer, air from Libra, water from Capricorn - so the air signs start from Libra.
  • Matching: the Varna koota table in kundli matching repeats every four signs, so all three air signs share one Varna value.

One engine reading

For 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi, Mars and Venus in Aquarius give Air a count of 2.

Pages that use this term

Related terms

Agni tattva, Prithvi tattva, Jala tattva, Shani and Rashi.

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