Ashtakavarga

Definition

Ashtakavarga ('eight-fold division') is a Vedic predictive system that grades how favorable a sign is by scoring it from eight reference points — the seven planets Sun to Saturn plus the Lagna (rising sign). Each point awards stated signs a benefic dot (bindu), building a dot-chart for every planet. One planet's own chart is its Bhinnashtakavarga; adding up all the planets' dots per sign gives the Sarvashtakavarga. You read these counts mainly to grade the strength of signs and houses and to judge transits.

In Tradition

Across the classical and modern Jyotish literature, Ashtakavarga weighs a planet's transit by how many benefic dots (bindus) the sign it enters holds: a sign rich in bindus is read as bringing auspicious transit results, one poor in them as bringing inauspicious results, and more than four dots is commonly taken as favorable. Many sources present it as the refinement you can't skip if transit (Gochara) prediction is to be reliable.

In Practice

An astrologer (jyotishi) reaches for Ashtakavarga mainly to judge transit strength: a planet crossing a sign well supplied with benefic dots (bindus) is read as giving good results, one crossing a sparse sign as giving weak or adverse ones, with four dots as a rough dividing line. The same dot-counts grade the strength of signs and houses for natal judgement. You'll see practitioners separate the single-planet Bhinnashtakavarga from the combined Sarvashtakavarga, which sums every planet's dots per sign to give an overall measure of how favorable that sign is. The counts feed longevity calculation and the timing of events as well. Raman leaves Rahu and Ketu out of the reckoning because of their shadowy nature, and treats Ashtakavarga as the refinement without which transits (Gochara) cannot be predicted accurately.

Historical Origin

The classical Jyotish texts treat Ashtakavarga at length: Varahamihira's Brihat Jataka (Ch.IX), Parasara's Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra (Ch.66), Vaidyanatha Dikshita's Jataka Parijata (Adhyaya X), Mantreswara's Phaladeepika (Ch.23), and Kalyana Varma's Saravali (Ch.53), which credits the method to the Yavanacharyas. Modern handbooks by Raman, Charak, Levacy, and Narasimha Rao carry it forward.

Further Reading

• Maharshi Parasara, Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra
• Varahamihira, Brihat Jataka
• Vaidyanatha Dikshita, Jataka Parijata
• Mantreswara, Phaladeepika
• Kalyana Varma, Saravali
• B.V. Raman, Hindu Predictive Astrology
• Charak, Elements of Vedic Astrology
• Levacy, Beneath a Vedic Sky
• Narasimha Rao, Vedic Astrology: An Integrated Approach
• B.V. Raman, Prasna Marga Part II
• Rao, Astrology, Destiny and the Wheel of Time
• Prof. K.S. Krishnamurti, Advanced Stellar Astrology (Vol. II)
• Prof. K.S. Krishnamurti, Predictive Stellar Astrology (Reader No. III)