Bhratrikaraka

sanskrit: भ्रातृकारक (Bhrātṛkāraka)

Definition

The Bhratrikaraka, or BK, is the karaka — the significator — of brothers and co-borns. In Jaimini's chara (movable) karaka scheme, it's the third of the seven chara karakas: the planet holding the third-highest degrees within its sign. As a naisargika (natural) significator, it is Mars, which Jyotish reads as the natural karaka of brothers and of the third bhava (house).

In Tradition

Across the classical and modern Jyotish literature, the natural Bhratrikaraka is taken to be Mars. To judge how many siblings someone has, and their strength and welfare, astrologers weigh this karaka together with the third bhava, the lord of that house, and any planets aspecting or sitting in it.

In Practice

An astrologer reads the Bhratrikaraka to weigh siblings — how many, how they fare, whether they survive. Raman judges the strength and condition of the Bhratrukaraka (Mars) alongside the third bhava and its lord, testing Mars again and again for affliction, debility, combustion (too close to the Sun), or a favourable placement. In Jataka Parijata, a weak Mars in the third gives long life, while Mars or the karaka afflicted in a duhsthana (an unfortunate house) or by malefics brings siblings into the world only to take them early. Frawley reads it psychologically, as the significator of will, energy, and motivation. In Larsen's chara scheme it stands for the guru and the specific knowledge passed on, with any conjoined planet showing the means through which spirituality is learned.

Historical Origin

The natural-significator reading is attested in the classical Jataka Parijata of Vaidyanatha Dikshita (Ch.12, trans. Sastri), and it runs through Raman's third-house chapter and Notable Horoscopes. The chara-karaka reading is worked out further by modern authors, among them Frawley, Rao, and Larsen.

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Further Reading