In Vedic astrology, "your sign" usually means your rashi: the sign the Moon was in when you were born, measured in the sidereal zodiac. Your Sun sign shifts too. The sidereal zodiac sits about 24 degrees behind the Western one, so about four birthdays in five land one sign earlier: a Western Taurus born in early May is usually a Vedic Aries.
Vedic astrology, also called Jyotish, gives most weight to three things: the Moon sign, the ascendant (lagna) and the Moon's nakshatra, one of 27 lunar mansions. Here's what each one is and how to find it.
Three answers to "What's my sign?"
- Rashi (Moon sign). The sidereal sign of the Moon at birth, also called the janma rashi, or birth sign. Daily and yearly horoscopes in India, the rashifal, are usually written by Moon sign, so this is the sign most people mean when they talk about their rashi.
- Lagna (ascendant). The sidereal sign rising on the eastern horizon at the moment of birth. In a Vedic chart the lagna sets the houses, so astrologers treat it as the frame of the whole chart.
- Surya rashi (Sun sign). The sidereal sign of the Sun. It matters, but it doesn't lead the way the Sun sign does in Western astrology.
So someone who is a Gemini with the Moon in Leo in Western terms is often, in Vedic terms, a Taurus by Sun with a Karka (Cancer) rashi. Neither description is wrong. They're the same sky measured by two different conventions.
How to work out your Vedic sign
You need your birth date and place and, for the Moon and lagna, your birth time.
- Get your Western positions. A free birth chart or the moon sign calculator gives your tropical Sun, Moon and rising degrees. The rising sign calculator gives the ascendant.
- Subtract about 24 degrees. That's the ayanamsa, the gap between the two zodiacs. Most Vedic astrologers use the Lahiri ayanamsa, the standard in India.
- Read the new sign. If a position was in the first 24 degrees or so of its sign, it moves back one sign. If it was in the last six degrees, it stays where it was.
A worked example. A Western chart shows the Moon at 10 degrees Cancer. Subtract 24 and it lands at about 16 degrees Gemini, so the rashi is Mithuna. A Moon at 27 degrees Cancer would be about 3 degrees Cancer in the sidereal zodiac, and the rashi stays Karka.
For the Sun there's a shortcut. The sidereal Sun changes sign around the middle of each month, between about the 12th and the 17th. It enters Mesha (Aries) around April 14, the solar new year behind Vaisakhi, Vishu and the Tamil New Year, and Makara (Capricorn) around January 14, celebrated as Makar Sankranti. Our guide to sidereal vs tropical astrology lists the approximate dates for all twelve signs and explains why the two zodiacs drifted apart. A Vedic calculator set to the Lahiri ayanamsa does all of this in one step.
The twelve rashis and their Western names
| Sanskrit name | Western sign | Traditional ruler |
|---|---|---|
| Mesha | Aries | Mars |
| Vrishabha | Taurus | Venus |
| Mithuna | Gemini | Mercury |
| Karka | Cancer | Moon |
| Simha | Leo | Sun |
| Kanya | Virgo | Mercury |
| Tula | Libra | Venus |
| Vrishchika | Scorpio | Mars |
| Dhanu | Sagittarius | Jupiter |
| Makara | Capricorn | Saturn |
| Kumbha | Aquarius | Saturn |
| Meena | Pisces | Jupiter |
Classical Jyotish works with the seven visible planets plus Rahu and Ketu, the Moon's nodes, so Scorpio, Aquarius and Pisces keep their traditional rulers rather than Pluto, Uranus and Neptune. The signs' characters are broadly similar to their Western namesakes, but the dates aren't, which is why our zodiac signs pages, written for the tropical zodiac, won't match a Vedic reading date for date.
Your nakshatra: the Moon's finer address
Jyotish also divides the zodiac a second way, into 27 nakshatras, or lunar mansions, each 13 degrees 20 minutes wide. The Moon travels through about one nakshatra a day, so your birth nakshatra pins down the Moon much more finely than its sign does.
The sequence starts at 0 degrees Mesha with Ashwini and ends with Revati at the close of Meena:
Ashwini, Bharani, Krittika, Rohini, Mrigashira, Ardra, Punarvasu, Pushya, Ashlesha, Magha, Purva Phalguni, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Chitra, Swati, Vishakha, Anuradha, Jyeshtha, Mula, Purva Ashadha, Uttara Ashadha, Shravana, Dhanishta, Shatabhisha, Purva Bhadrapada, Uttara Bhadrapada and Revati.
Each nakshatra has a ruling planet, a presiding deity and a symbol, and each is split into four quarters called padas. The birth nakshatra sets the starting point of the Vimshottari dasha, the system of planetary periods Vedic astrologers use for timing. In many Hindu families it also guides the naming ceremony, when the Moon's nakshatra and pada suggest a starting syllable for the baby's name.
Do you have to choose one zodiac?
No. The tropical and sidereal zodiacs are different conventions, one tied to the seasons and one to the stars, and neither has been shown to be more accurate; astrology as a whole isn't a science. If you're reading a Western horoscope, including ours, use your Western sign, which our guide to what your zodiac sign is helps you find. If you're reading a rashifal or consulting a Jyotish astrologer, use your rashi. Plenty of people keep both charts and find each one shows a different side of the same life.
Questions readers ask
Why is my Vedic sign different from my Western sign?
Because the Vedic zodiac is measured from the stars and sits about 24 degrees behind the Western zodiac, which is measured from the March equinox. Unless your Sun is in the last few degrees of its Western sign, your Vedic Sun sign is the one before.
Is my rashi my Moon sign?
Yes, in everyday use. Rashi is the Sanskrit word for a zodiac sign, and your janma rashi, or birth sign, refers to the Moon's sidereal sign at birth. It's the sign used for most Indian daily horoscopes.
Which matters more in Vedic astrology, rashi or lagna?
Astrologers use both. The rashi is the everyday sign and the basis of most horoscope columns, while the lagna sets the houses and is often treated as the foundation of a personal reading.
Do I need my birth time for a Vedic chart?
For the lagna and the houses, yes, and usually for the nakshatra too, since the Moon moves through about one nakshatra a day. If you don't know your time, our guide on how to find your birth time lists where to look.
