How to Read Your Kundli: A Simple Beginner's Guide

A kundli (a map of where the planets were in the sky at the moment you were born) can look confusing the first time you see it. Twelve boxes, a few numbers and short planet names all appear at once. Don't worry. If you look at it in the right order, reading a kundli becomes much easier. In this guide we walk through the North Indian style chart one step at a time.

Start With the Lagna

The lagna, or ascendant, is the sign that was rising in the east when you were born. It is the foundation of the whole chart. In a North Indian chart, the diamond-shaped box at the top centre is the first house. The number written in it is your lagna sign: 1 means Aries (Mesha), 2 means Taurus (Vrishabha), and so on up to 12 for Pisces (Meena). The lagna is linked with your nature, your physical build and the way you meet the world. It is only accurate when your birth time is accurate, because the rising sign changes roughly every two hours.

What the Twelve Houses Show

A chart has twelve houses (bhavas), and each one is linked with an area of life. The 1st is you, the 2nd money and family, the 3rd courage and siblings, the 4th mother and home, the 5th studies and children, the 6th daily work and competition, the 7th spouse and partnerships, the 8th sudden change, the 9th luck and teachers, the 10th career, the 11th income and friends, and the 12th expenses and foreign lands. In the North Indian chart the houses are counted anticlockwise, moving left from the first house.

Planets and Signs

Vedic astrology uses nine grahas: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu. On the chart they appear as short names. Every planet sits in a house and in a sign. The sign describes how a planet behaves, and the house describes where in life it shows up. For example, Saturn in the 10th house is traditionally linked with a career that grows slowly through steady effort. Never judge a chart from one planet alone; the whole chart is read together.

Nakshatra and Dasha

The nakshatra (one of 27 small sections of the sky) that the Moon occupied at your birth is your birth star. It sets the starting point of your Vimshottari dasha, a 120-year cycle of planetary periods. The dasha shows which planet is considered most active in each stage of life. 'Jupiter mahadasha, Saturn antardasha' simply means the big period belongs to Jupiter and the smaller period inside it belongs to Saturn. Astrologers rely on dashas more than anything else to judge timing.

What to Look at First

Here is a simple order for beginners. First, note your lagna and the lagna lord (the planet that rules your rising sign). Next, note your Moon sign and birth nakshatra. Then check which mahadasha and antardasha are running now. Finally, look at the house linked to your question, such as the 10th for work or the 7th for marriage. Don't try to understand everything at once, and don't panic over one 'bad' yoga or planet. Every chart has both easy and difficult features.

One Important Note

Astrology is a tradition, not proven science. Use it as one way to reflect on yourself, not as a rulebook. Big decisions about studies, jobs, marriage or money shouldn't rest on a chart alone. Put your own effort, your family's advice and good, reliable information first.

Make your free kundli on VedicDost and try reading it yourself in the order above.