Chara Karakas: Seven and Eight Roles

The seven-role Parāśara variant and eight roles

Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra, chapter 32, verses 1–17 begins with seven planets from Sun through Saturn. It also records an alternative that includes Rahu. The Jaimini Sūtras, I.1.11–13 speaks of seven or eight factors. The texts and later commentators do not present a single uncontested setting for every lineage, so the calculator displays both explicit schemes.

In this chapter 32 seven-role variant, the mother and child functions share the fourth-ranked graha. Other seven-role lineages can assign the shared function differently; this table names the variant being calculated. Eight roles give Putrakāraka its own sixth-ranked graha. These are names for traditional interpretive topics, not a statement about a person’s family or future.

Worked degree example

Suppose Moon is 27°15′ into Taurus, Jupiter is 21°45′ into Leo, Sun is 15°30′ into Aries, Mercury is 13°12′ into Cancer, Venus is 8°24′ into Virgo, Mars is 4°30′ into Gemini, and Saturn is 2°06′ into Libra. In the seven-role ranking, Moon is AK, Jupiter AmK, Sun BK, Mercury MK/PK, Venus PiK, Mars GK, and Saturn DK. The signs differ, yet only the within-sign degrees set this order.

Now add Rahu at 24°18′ in Scorpio. Its reverse value is 30° − 24°18′ = 5°42′. The eight-role ranking becomes Moon AK, Jupiter AmK, Sun BK, Mercury MK, Venus PiK, Rahu PK, Mars GK, Saturn DK. Rahu’s sign remains Scorpio in the chart; only its ranking number is reversed. Ketu and the modern outer planets do not enter either arrangement.

Exact ties and sign boundaries

The passage compares degrees, then minutes and seconds when a leading degree matches. It describes planets at precisely the same longitude as sharing one karaka, with a missing portfolio handled through another significator; the Jaimini commentary discusses Rahu filling a gap. This calculator uses the underlying decimal position rather than the rounded arcsecond printed in its table. If two entered values remain identical, it displays the contested ranked slots as unresolved instead of silently selecting one interpretation of the missing portfolio. Positions less than 0.01° apart receive a close-rank notice.

Every rāśi spans 30°. At the exact end of one sign, a graha is at 0° of the next sign, so the manual input rejects 30° in a previous sign. A placement close to 0° or 30° receives a boundary notice because a different recorded birth instant or ayanāṃśa could change the sign and its within-sign rank. Birth mode uses this site’s approximate Lahiri calculation, not the Swiss Ephemeris; its precision and historical UTC-offset limits remain material near such edges.

Questions readers ask

Can Rahu become Ātmakāraka?

Yes in the eight-factor setting, if 30° minus Rahu’s position within its sign exceeds every other candidate’s within-sign degree. A Rahu position near 0° has a high reverse ranking value.

Does retrograde motion reverse other planets?

No. The stated special arithmetic applies to Rahu in this ranking. A retrograde Mercury still uses the degree it occupies within its sign.

Why does another calculator give a different karaka?

Compare seven versus eight roles, mean versus true Rahu, the sidereal ayanāṃśa, exact birth time and historical UTC offset, and how a close rank or tie was resolved. These choices can change the order without changing the named roles.