Darakaraka

Definition

The Darakaraka (DK) is your significator of the spouse in the Jaimini scheme — one of the chara (movable) karakas, the planets ranked by degree. It's the one holding the lowest degree, so it stands last when you order them from highest to lowest. The name comes from 'dara' (spouse). K.N. Rao counts it seventh and last of seven karakas, leaving out Rahu and Ketu; Narasimha Rao counts it eighth and last among eight planets, coming after the Jnaati Karaka.

In Tradition

These modern Jyotish sources agree that the Darakaraka is the chara karaka you actually read for marriage and partnership. Frawley ties it to your capacity for relationship, love, and affection; K.N. Rao treats it as the prime significator of marriage. Both go past the bare lowest-degree rule and make the DK the planet you consult for the spouse and for relationships.

In Practice

To time and judge a marriage, Rao reads three things together: the rashi (sign) holding the Darakaraka, the seventh house counted from that rashi, and the Darakaraka's Navamsha (DKN), its placement in the divisional chart. In his worked charts, marriage keeps landing in the Chara dasha — the timing period of a sign — when that sign contains or is aspected by the Darakaraka. He also reads it alongside the Darapada, the pada (point) tied to the Darakaraka, which he likewise reads for marriage. Narasimha Rao notes that, like the other chara karakas and unlike the naisargika (natural) karakas, the Darakaraka shows the spouse directly: you read the DK itself rather than taking the seventh house from it. Frawley adds a psychological reading of this significator at the level of relationship and partnership.

Historical Origin

The Darakaraka here is drawn only from modern works: Frawley's Astrology of the Seers (p.132), K.N. Rao's Predicting through Jaimini's Chara Dasha (Ch.2, 9, 11-12, and the Jaimini Karakas summary table on p.136), and Narasimha Rao's Vedic Astrology: An Integrated Approach (Ch.8.2-8.3). These sources give no classical-text or verbatim-quote attestation.

Further Reading

• Frawley, Astrology of the Seers
• Rao, Predicting through Jaimini's Chara Dasha
• Narasimha Rao, Vedic Astrology: An Integrated Approach