A Vedic astrology birth chart analysis, step by step

Introduction

I have been studying and practising Vedic astrology for many years, and I built FarFarAway. This guide explains how to use the information on the website to understand your chart, make the best use of its tools and put the pieces together.

Entering your birth details

The first thing would be that you enter your birth details carefully. When you reach the place-of-birth section, please type in the first few letters of your place of birth.

In the rare event that you cannot find your place of birth in the list, choose a nearby city. If you have made a mistake, return to the form and correct the details. Also be careful with the date and time formats.

Checking the details again

Once you've entered your details, you'll see your birth chart. If you are a first-time user, please check the details again. See whether the latitude and longitude have been accurately pulled out by the website for your place of birth.

You'll also see Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), calculated from the local time you entered and taking daylight-saving time into account. You do not have to worry about that calculation. What you must now consider is what your chart says.

H1 and the rising sign

The houses are always arranged in the same way. The first house is in the middle at the top, represented by the symbol H1, and the other houses are arranged around it. The number 2 is very important. For this person it is number 2; for you it might be number 7. This is the rising sign, the Ascendant, the starting point.

The rising sign is very time-sensitive, so make sure your time of birth is accurately entered. Number 2 corresponds to Taurus, so this person's rising sign is Taurus. The other signs then arrange themselves around the houses.

The story as a starting point

It now becomes very easy to read the chart. I find Venus in his chart, in the 10th house, in the sign of Aquarius. You'd straight away want to know what this planetary position means for you.

In the birth-chart story, you'll find the position of the planets explained. This is an excellent starting point.

The roles planets play

You must now take your analysis to the next level and identify the role planets are playing in your chart. For example, Venus in his case is ruling the 1st and the 6th house. Venus is responsible for these two houses in shorthand: it is their ruler. How did I arrive at that? The signs that fall in the 1st and the 6th house are ruled by Venus.

If you are unfamiliar with the sign rulers, click the Rulers button and you'll see numbers appearing next to the planets. You can now see Venus in the 10th house, in Aquarius, while it is also ruling the 1st and the 6th houses.

Combining the Nakshatra information

The short form Dh in front of Venus represents its Nakshatra. Venus occupies Dhanishtha in this chart. I understand that these terms and short forms may be unfamiliar, so the table beside the birth chart brings the information together clearly.

It shows the planet, house, sign, Nakshatra, sign ruler and Nakshatra ruler. Together, these give you the complete planetary position.

The house behind your question

If you'd like to know something more specific from your chart, such as which career direction to take or who might be your partner, you must look at the corresponding houses. The 10th house is the main house related to your career. The 7th house is the main house related to marriage.

You're not just looking at planetary positions; you also have the context. In the story, you'll find information on the positions of the rulers of the 10th and 7th houses. The position of the 10th-house ruler is going to describe your career. The position of the 7th-house ruler might describe your partner. Both are starting points already explained in the story.

The Michael Schumacher example

You can understand a planet's position more deeply through its Nakshatra. In the table you'll also find information on the nature, caste, guna and gana.

Venus in Dhanishtha is a sign of massive fame, in my opinion. Dhanishtha's ruler, Mars, is in the 6th house in Swati. Mars in Swati indicates that the person is always likely to be on the go, specifically on a physical plane. Mars in the 6th house indicates that he is likely to be famous for fighting a battle.

Venus's position in the career house therefore explains that this person is involved in competitive sport. This is the birth chart of Michael Schumacher, the famous Formula One racing driver. Venus signified fame, while the linked positions helped identify what he would be famous for.

D9, D10 and the main chart

You must read the D9 chart, the Navamsa, to fine-tune your analysis. The D9 chart is derived from the main chart. The numbers next to the planets correspond to the houses those planets rule in the main chart, so I'm linking the positions back to it.

I've done the same in the D10, the Dasamsa, which is more directly linked to your career.

Adding the aspects

Another feature of the main chart is planetary aspects. Wherever planets are placed, they also keep an eye on other houses. The FarFarAway Aspects view shows which houses each planet aspects.

Click the Aspects button and numbers will appear next to the planets. These correspond to the houses the planets are also keeping an eye on.

Degrees and the Karakas

Click the third button to return to the default view. You'll see the degree values of the different planets, along with AK and DK marked beside two of them. AK is the Atmakaraka, the planet holding the highest degree in your birth chart, and DK is the Darakaraka.

The AK corresponds to your personality, and the DK corresponds to your spouse.

Dashas and life-event windows

So far I have been sharing planetary positions with you. If you'd like to predict life events, I would strongly recommend that you rely on the Dashas. In the Dasha table you'll see the Mahadasha, Antardasha and Pratyantardasha.

You'll also find numbers next to the planets. They represent the houses those planets rule in the main chart. This is handy because you do not have to return to the main chart while reading the Dasha table.

Transits and the timing window

Predictions must also take the transits into account. If you've identified from the Dasha table that there's a high possibility of a promotion during Jupiter's Pratyantardasha, that period might last for a few months. From the transits, you can narrow down which days might be favourable.

The transit table contains daily data for many years. Select the year range and search for a particular date, such as 9 October 2023, to see the corresponding planetary data. The data in the table corresponds to your chart.

The number in square brackets is the house in your main chart that the planet is transiting on that day. You'll also find the exact degree, sign, Nakshatra and pada.

The remaining FarFarAway tools

The purpose of sharing this is to give you all the planetary data necessary for a comprehensive analysis. If you would like to change the birth details or check someone else's chart and story, refresh the page and select the button beside confirming the details. The form will be empty, ready for the new details. Those details will also be stored in the Queries section, so you can return to them.

FarFarAway also provides Match, a compatibility calculator. Add your details and those of your partner, and it will explain how compatible you are. The information is self-explanatory, so I'll leave that to you to explore. Lastly, I keep posting articles on the Blog.

If you take the time to understand your chart logically, I'm very sure it's going to make sense.