A Vedic chart and a panchanga use related words for different kinds of information. This glossary favors terms that have an observable coordinate or calendar meaning. It is a reading key, not a claim that every school gives the same interpretive meaning to a placement.
Chart and calendar terms
- Ayanamsa
- The dated angular offset between a tropical origin and a selected sidereal origin. Read the full guide.
- Graha
- A celestial chart factor. In Indian astrological usage the word encompasses the luminaries and planets, with lunar nodes often included. The particular set displayed should be documented by a chart tool.
- Jyotisha
- An Indian astral knowledge tradition encompassing calendrical calculation and astrological practice. “Vedic astrology” is a common modern English label; methods and lineages vary.
- Karana
- A half-tithi interval: 6° of Moon–Sun longitude difference in the Rashtriya Panchang definition. See all five calendar elements.
- Lagna
- The rising ecliptic point or the rāśi beginning at the eastern horizon in a chart context. Its calculated timing depends on place as well as time.
- Nakshatra
- One of 27 equal 13°20′ sidereal ecliptic sectors; in a daily panchanga the label follows the Moon’s sidereal longitude. Browse all 27.
- Nirayana
- Sidereal: a longitude measured from an adopted origin fixed relative to the stellar frame, with the chosen ayanamsa stated.
- Paksha
- A lunar fortnight. A waxing shukla and waning krishna division organize tithi names within a lunar month.
- Panchanga
- A calendar’s five-element entry: vara, tithi, nakshatra, yoga, and karana. Read the method guide.
- Rāśi
- One of twelve equal 30° zodiac divisions. This section’s chart tools use sidereal rāśis; the origin must be named. See the twelve names.
- Sayana
- Tropical: ecliptic longitude reckoned from the equinox. The Rashtriya Panchang explanation distinguishes sayana and nirayana uses.
- Tithi
- One 12° interval in the Moon’s ecliptic longitude ahead of the Sun’s; its clock duration is variable.
- Vara
- The weekday limb of the panchanga. A local sunrise convention may affect which weekday is attached to an observance.
- Yoga
- One of 27 equal 13°20′ sectors of the sum of the Sun’s and Moon’s nirayana longitudes in the panchanga definition. This calendar use differs from other astrological uses of “yoga.”
Use the glossary with a calculation
First read the tool’s time zone and ayanamsa. Then identify whether a displayed number is a longitude, a local clock time, or a named interval. In a birth chart, “Moon in Rohini” describes a natal position at one moment; in a daily panchanga, “Rohini ends at 14:20” describes a transition during a date in a specified time zone. The words are related, but the answer is not the same.
For deeper detail, start with the sidereal zodiac, ayanamsa, panchanga, and nakshatra guides. They show the arithmetic and identify the source for each table.