Jaimini Essentials: Karakas & Arudhas

A Second Rulebook

Same chart, different machinery, starting with aspects cast by signs.

Jaimini's own rules

The parallel stream

The Foundations chapter mentioned a second stream of Jyotish, from Maharishi Jaimini, "a second, complementary method", and then got on with Parashara. Every chapter since has used the Parashari method: graha drishti, natural karakas, Vimshottari dasha.

Jaimini reads the same chart, with the same signs, grahas and lagna, using different machinery. You don't need a new chart. You need to switch rulebooks, on purpose, and know which one you're holding.

What actually changes

| | Parashari (what you know) | Jaimini (this chapter) |
|---|---|---|
| Aspects | Cast by grahas: all see the 7th, Mars/Jupiter/Saturn have extras | Cast by signs, by modality, the same for every graha |
| Karakas | Natural: Venus is always the karaka of spouse | Chara (variable): roles handed out per chart by degree |
| Key points | Lagna, houses, lords | Also arudhas (how things appear) and the karakamsa |
| Timing | Vimshottari, through grahas | Sign-based dashas such as Narayana |

The top two rows are the heart of it. Everything else in the chapter is built from sign aspects and variable karakas.

Alongside, not blended

Learners get overwhelmed when the two systems leak into each other. The fix is a simple working rule:

Do each calculation entirely inside one system. Compare conclusions only at the end.

The classic leaks:
- calling Venus your "Darakaraka" (Venus is the natural spouse karaka; the Darakaraka is whichever graha the degrees pick);
- applying Saturn's special 10th aspect inside a Jaimini judgement;
- treating a Jaimini result and a Parashari result that disagree as an error to fix, rather than two witnesses to weigh.

That last one is exactly the Synthesis rule: independent witnesses that agree make a theme, and ones that disagree give you a tension to describe.

Remember it

Same chart, second rulebook. Signs aspect, degrees hand out the karakas, arudhas show the image. Calculate inside one system; compare across systems only at the end.

Signs that look at signs

Rashi drishti

In Jaimini the aspect belongs to the sign. The Rashis chapter sorted signs into movable (chara), fixed (sthira) and dual (dvisvabhava). That sorting is the whole rule:

Movable signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) aspect the fixed signs, except the one next door.
Fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) aspect the movable signs, except the one next door.
Dual signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) aspect the other three dual signs.

So Aries aspects Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, but not Taurus, its neighbour.

The same rule, as house counts

Counted inclusively from the sign itself, the rule becomes three fixed patterns:

| Sign type | Aspects the… |
|---|---|
| Movable | 5th, 8th, 11th from itself |
| Fixed | 3rd, 6th, 9th from itself |
| Dual | 4th, 7th, 10th from itself |

Three properties to hold on to:
- Every sign aspects exactly three signs.
- It is always mutual. If Aries aspects Leo, Leo aspects Aries.
- Every graha in a sign shares that sign's aspects. Mars gets no extras here, and nor do Jupiter or Saturn.

Worked example: two rulebooks, two answers

Aries lagna. The Sun in Leo (5th), Saturn in Libra (7th).

Jaimini. Leo is fixed, so it aspects the movable signs except its neighbour Cancer: Aries, Libra, Capricorn. Libra holds Saturn, so the Sun and Saturn aspect each other. Check it from the other side: Libra is movable, so it aspects Taurus, Leo and Aquarius. Mutual, as promised.

Parashari. The Sun in the 5th sees only its 7th, the 11th. Saturn in the 7th sees its 3rd, 7th and 10th: the 9th, 1st and 4th. Neither reaches the other.

Neither answer is wrong. They answer the same question in two different systems. What you must not do is quote the Jaimini contact as if it were a Parashari one.

Where your 7th-house reflex breaks

The Drishti chapter drilled in "every graha aspects the 7th". Rashi drishti doesn't work that way.

Aries and Libra are both movable, and movable signs only aspect fixed ones, so Aries does not aspect Libra by rashi drishti. Taurus and Scorpio are both fixed: no aspect either.

Only dual signs aspect their 7th (Gemini–Sagittarius, Virgo–Pisces). If you catch yourself drawing a 7th-house line in a Jaimini calculation, check the modality first.

Remember it

Movable 5-8-11, fixed 3-6-9, dual 4-7-10. Never the neighbour, always mutual, identical for every graha in the sign.

Terms introduced here

Jaimini as its own system: The same chart read with different machinery: sign aspects, variable karakas and arudhas. Use it alongside Parashari rules, not mixed into them.
Rashi drishti: sign aspects: Movable signs aspect fixed signs except the neighbour, fixed aspect movable except the neighbour, dual aspect the other duals. Always mutual, the same for every graha.