Getting the Chart Right

Reading the Software's Output

The positions table, the notations it uses, and the settings behind its numbers.

One row per graha

Every chart program, Jagannatha Hora included, shows a positions table alongside the drawn chart. The columns vary, but you'll usually see:

• the body (lagna, then the nine grahas)
• the sign and the degree within the sign
• the nakshatra and pada
• a retrograde marker
• sometimes the house, dignity or daily speed

Some programs show an absolute longitude from 0° to 360° instead of sign plus degree. Both describe the same point.

Two ways to write a degree

Degrees-minutes notation: 27°32′. Decimal notation: 27.53°.

The classic slip is reading 27.53° as 27°53′. A degree has 60 minutes, so 0.53° = 0.53 × 60 = 31.8′, which rounds to 27°32′.

Absolute longitude converts by thirties. Divide by 30: the whole part counts the signs already completed, and the remainder is the degree. 357.53° ÷ 30 = 11 signs completed, remainder 27.53°, so 27.53° of the 12th sign, Pisces.

Nakshatra and pada from a longitude

The engine places every point with two divisions you already know:

• Nakshatra: divide the absolute longitude by 13°20′ (13.333°). The whole part counts the nakshatras completed, so add 1.
• Pada: take how far the point is into its nakshatra, divide by 3°20′ (3.333°), and add 1.

No table lookup needed. That's exactly the arithmetic behind the nakshatra and pada columns.

Reading one row

A table shows: Moon 178.77°.

Sign. 178.77 ÷ 30 = 5 signs completed, remainder 28.77°. The 6th sign is Virgo, at 28.77° = 28°46′.

Nakshatra. 178.77 ÷ 13.333 = 13.41, so 13 completed. The 14th nakshatra is Chitra.

Pada. Chitra starts at 13 × 13.333 = 173.33°. 178.77 − 173.33 = 5.44° in. 5.44 ÷ 3.333 = 1.63, so 1 completed, pada 2.

Bonus. Chitra's first two padas fall in Virgo, and pada 2 is Virgo navamsa. The Moon is in Virgo in both D1 and D9, so it's vargottama. That's one row, fully read.

The R flag

An R (or "(R)", or a minus sign on the speed) marks a retrograde graha. The engine flags any graha whose daily motion is negative.

The Graha Strength chapter covered what that means. For reading tables, remember the fixed cases: the Sun and Moon are never R, and Rahu and Ketu are always R in this app. The flag describes motion only. It doesn't move the graha's sign or house on the table.

Settings that change the numbers

When two programs disagree, suspect the settings before the sky:

| Setting | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Ayanamsa | Every position by the same amount (about 1°08′ between Lahiri and Pushya-paksha) |
| Node type | Rahu and Ketu only. This app uses the mean node. The true node strays up to about 2° from it and moves direct on roughly a quarter of days, so "Rahu direct" only appears in true-node software. |
| House system | House numbers only (whole-sign, chalit, Placidus) |
| Time zone / daylight saving | The lagna and houses most, the Moon slightly. An hour's error moves the lagna about 15°. |
| Birth place coordinates | The lagna |

Programs can also differ by up to about an arcminute in whether they use true or apparent positions (light-time and aberration). That changes a placement only when a graha sits right on a boundary.

Remember it

Sign, degree, star, step, R. Read each row in that order. And when two programs disagree, check ayanamsa, nodes, houses and zone before you check the heavens.

Terms introduced here

Reading a positions table

Sign, degree, nakshatra, pada and the retrograde flag, and how to derive each from an absolute longitude.

Settings that change the numbers

Ayanamsa, node type, house system and time zone. When two programs disagree, check these before the sky.