Moon in Taurus: exaltation, Moolatrikona and what the texts say

The Moon in Taurus is the Moon in a sign ruled by Venus. BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 12-13 makes the Moon the mind, and the sign it occupies at birth is the moon sign, or Janma Rashi - the sign this app counts transits and Sade Sati from. So this one placement is read twice: as a planet in a sign, with a dignity and a classical description, and as the reference point for much of the rest of the chart. What it does in a given chart depends on the house Taurus occupies, the house the Moon rules from your Lagna, and the planets that aspect it.

This page covers only the combination. For the Moon as a graha - significations, strength, phases and its Mahadasha - start with the Moon in Vedic astrology. For the sign - its element, its nakshatras and what it means rising - see Taurus, Vrishabha Rashi. The short definition of the moon sign itself is under moon sign. This page is a map of rules, not a forecast about anyone.

Moon in Taurus: dignity, and how this app decides it

The neighbouring placements are Moon in Aries and Moon in Gemini; the dignity terms used below are collected under dignity.

Taurus is the Moon's exaltation sign. BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 49-50 gives the Moon's deepest exaltation at 3 degrees of Taurus and its debilitation in the 7th sign from it, Scorpio, deepest at the same degree. BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 51-54 then splits Taurus: after the first 3 degrees, which are the exaltation portion, the rest of the sign is the Moon's Mooltrikon. Saravali Ch. 5 Sl. 21-24 gives the same split, and so does the Moon chapter of Bhrigu Sutras: the first 3 degrees exaltation, the remaining 27 Mooltrikona. On the boundary the three texts agree. See uchcha (exaltation) and Moolatrikona.

The Moon's own sign is Cancer, a separate case on Moon in Cancer. Its debilitation has its own page too: Moon in Scorpio. So Taurus is the only sign where the Moon holds two of the higher dignities at once, by the texts' reckoning.

How the engine decides

Here the engine and the texts part company, and the reason is in the code. dignityOf runs its tests in a fixed order - exaltation first, then Moolatrikona, then debilitation, then own sign, then the friendship with the sign's lord. The engine's Moolatrikona table does hold the Moon's band, Taurus from 3 to 30 degrees, exactly as BPHS gives it. But the exaltation test comes first and, unlike Mercury's row in Virgo, the Moon's exaltation row has no end degree. So every degree of Taurus is caught by the exaltation test and labelled Exalted, and the Moolatrikona band is never reached. The engine-facts run confirms it: one band, Exalted, 0 to 30. In practice the difference is small for the label's score - this engine gives Exalted and Moolatrikona the same score (2) and the same sthana strength (10) - but a reader comparing this app with a text-based table will see "Exalted" where BPHS says Mooltrikon for a Moon past 3 degrees.

The nakshatras the Moon moves through in Taurus

Taurus holds padas 2, 3, 4 of Krittika, all four padas of Rohini, padas 1 and 2 of Mrigashira. For the Moon the nakshatra matters especially: the birth Moon's nakshatra sets the first Mahadasha of the Vimshottari sequence, whose lord this engine takes from the nakshatra's place in the cycle of nine. So a Moon in Taurus can open with any of three different Mahadashas, depending on its degree. The nakshatra pages go further: Krittika, Rohini and Mrigashira.

What the classical texts say about the Moon in Taurus

Saravali Ch. 23 Sl. 8

Saravali Ch. 23, "Effects of the Moon in Various Rasis", gives each sign one descriptive line for the Moon and then six lines for the Moon in that sign aspected by each other planet. In paraphrase, the Taurus line lists large-heartedness, great charity, fame and brilliance, the ability to tell good from bad, more daughters, a fine gait, forbearance, and happiness in the middle and later parts of life. Its notes on build - strong waist, feet, shoulders and face, eyes like a bull's - are physical description, not medical advice. It is a catalogue of qualities, not a single verdict.

Saravali adds one line unique to this sign. Ch. 23 Sl. 15 says a Moon in the first half of Taurus does not favour the mother's longevity, and one in the second half the father's. It is reported here only as the text's statement; this app computes no such reading and makes no claim about anyone's parents.

Saravali Ch. 23 Sl. 9-14: the aspect lines

These six lines are where the reading turns. In paraphrase:

• Aspected by the Sun: a farmer, very industrious, rich in servants and cattle, and a lender of money at interest.
• Aspected by Mars: strong appetites and losses of spouse and friends over another relationship, and an adverse effect for the mother, in the text's words.
• Aspected by Mercury: highly learned, a master of speech, pleasing, dear to everyone and of unmatched good qualities.
• Aspected by Jupiter: a long-lived spouse and children, lasting wealth, respect for parents, virtue and great fame.
• Aspected by Venus: ornaments, vehicles and houses, and every comfort of bed, seat, scent, robe and garland.
• Aspected by Saturn: little wealth and an inauspicious effect for mother and spouse, yet sons, friends and relatives.

Five of the six aspect lines are favourable or mixed; only Mars and Saturn turn the reading, and even Saturn's line keeps sons, friends and relatives. Venus, the sign's lord, gives the most material line of the six. This is the sign in which the texts rank the Moon highest, and its aspect lines are among the kindest in the chapter.

When Saravali says the results come to pass

Saravali closes the chapter with a condition (Ch. 23 Sl. 88): the effects described come to pass fully only when the lord of the Moon sign, the Moon sign itself and the Moon are all strong, and they vary with the dignities of the dispositor and of the aspecting planet. For a Moon in Taurus the dispositor is Venus, so Venus's own condition is part of the reading. The same book's chapter on dignities adds a general line. Ch. 45 Sl. 1-4 says an exalted Moon gives sweet food, fine clothes and good ornaments, and Sl. 5-7 that a Moon in its Moolatrikona gives enjoyments and virtues - the two readings that, by BPHS's split, belong to the two parts of Taurus.

BPHS and Bhrigu Sutras

BPHS supplies the dignities, relationships and ratios used above (Ch. 3 Sl. 49-60). A search of the BPHS file found no sign-by-sign description of the Moon of the kind Saravali gives, so for the sign itself Saravali is the only text in the corpus with a character line.

Bhrigu Sutras (the Moon chapter introduction) gives the same dignity scheme as BPHS: exalted in Taurus with the highest point at 3 degrees, the first 3 degrees the exaltation portion and the remaining 27 her Mooltrikona. In its commentary on the Moon in the 1st house it is more cautious: it agrees with the author on Aries and Cancer rising, but is "not sure" the same holds for a Taurus Ascendant, and cites Bhavartha Ratnakar that a rising Moon in Taurus is not particularly good for wealth.

How the sign changes the houses the Moon rules and sits in

The Moon rules one sign, Cancer. Counting whole-sign houses, the table gives where Taurus and Cancer fall from each Lagna, and the role BPHS Ch. 34 (Sl. 19-44) gives the Moon there, as coded in this app's Yoga Karaka table. The house pages - for example Moon in the 1st house, Moon in the 4th house and Moon in the 10th house - go further.

In Taurus the Moon sits in the 11th sign counted from its own sign, so in every row the house it occupies is the 11th from the house it rules. BPHS Ch. 34's roles turn only on lordship, not on the sign the Moon is in.

Worked example: 15 June 2004, 07:00 IST, New Delhi

An illustrative birth, not a real person, computed in this app's engine. Gemini rises at 21.28 degrees. The Moon is at 0.02 degrees of Taurus, in Krittika pada 2, in the 12th house, not combust, and labelled Exalted. The Moon is never retrograde, and the engine marks it combust only within 12 degrees of the Sun.

Dignity. At 0.02 degrees the engine labels the Moon Exalted, which is also what BPHS gives inside the first 3 degrees: this example sits in the one band where the engine and the text agree on the word as well as the rank.

Lordship. With Gemini rising, Taurus is the 12th house and Cancer, the Moon's own sign, is the 2nd, so the Moon here is the lord of the 2nd sitting in the 12th. In the engine's BPHS Ch. 34 table for a Gemini Lagna, the Moon is listed as maraka (killer).

Aspects. Using the aspect rule this engine applies (every graha aspects the 7th sign from itself; Mars also the 4th and 8th, Jupiter the 5th and 9th, Saturn the 3rd and 10th, as in SPECIAL_DRISHTI in relationshipIntelligenceEngine.js), none of the six other grahas aspects Taurus in this chart. So none of the Saravali Ch. 23 Sl. 9-14 lines applies, and only the bare sign line does.

Company. Mercury at 25.66 and Venus at 19.98 share Taurus with the Moon. Saravali Ch. 23 reads aspects, not planets in the same sign, so this page adds no reading for that company. The Moon's nakshatra, Krittika, is ruled by the Sun in the Vimshottari cycle, so this chart opens in a Sun Mahadasha.

Any reader can check every figure: enter 2004-06-15, 07:00, New Delhi in the Birth Chart calculator or the Moon Sign calculator, and the same positions come back.

How often the Moon is in Taurus

In this app's sample the Moon was in Taurus in 419 of 3,000 sampled birth moments 1985-2060 (14 per cent). That figure needs a warning. The sample steps 9 days, 2 hours and 37 minutes from one moment to the next. Bhrigu Sutras gives the Moon's round of the zodiac as 27 days, 7 hours and 43 minutes, so one step moves the Moon about four signs and successive samples keep landing in the same three signs, four apart. The table shows all twelve signs from the same run.

So for the Moon the sample says more about the sampling grid than about the sky. Over any real month the Moon passes through every sign; the engine's own transit table gives it about 2.25 days in each.

Checking the Moon in Taurus in your own chart

1. 1.Cast your chart with the Birth Chart calculator and confirm the Moon is in Taurus. Note its degree and nakshatra.
2. 2.Note whether the degree is below 3 (exaltation by every source) or 3 and above (Mooltrikon by BPHS, Exalted in this engine).
3. 3.Note the house Taurus occupies and the house Cancer occupies: those are where the Moon sits and what it rules.
4. 4.List any graha in the 7th sign from Taurus (Scorpio), Mars in the 4th or 8th from it, Jupiter in the 5th or 9th, Saturn in the 3rd or 10th. Only those bring a Saravali Ch. 23 Sl. 9-14 line into play.
5. 5.For timing, see the Vimshottari Dasha calculator and the Moon Mahadasha page; for Saturn's transit around the moon sign, Sade Sati.

Is the Moon exalted in Taurus?

Yes. BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 49-50 makes Taurus the Moon's exaltation sign, deepest at 3 degrees. BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 51-54 then calls the rest of Taurus, after 3 degrees, its Mooltrikon. This app's engine labels every degree of Taurus Exalted, because its exaltation test runs first.

Does the degree of the Moon in Taurus matter?

By BPHS, yes: below 3 degrees exaltation, from 3 degrees Mooltrikon. In this engine it does not change the label, but the deep exaltation point at 3 degrees is used by the planetary-rays measure.

What does Saravali say about the Moon in Taurus?

Ch. 23 Sl. 8 gives the sign line and Sl. 9-14 six aspect lines. Five of the six aspect lines are favourable or mixed; only Mars and Saturn turn the reading, and even Saturn's line keeps sons, friends and relatives.

Is the Moon in Taurus the same as a Taurus moon sign?

Yes. The sign the Moon occupies at birth is the moon sign, or Janma Rashi. The Moon Sign calculator finds it, and this app counts transits and Sade Sati from it.

How common is the Moon in Taurus?

In this app's sample it was in Taurus in 419 of 3,000 sampled birth moments 1985-2060. That sample steps about four signs of Moon motion at a time, so the figure reflects the grid, not the sky; the Moon spends about 2.25 days in each sign every month.