The old books link each planet to everyday things. A taste, a kind of tree, a season, a metal and a place. The Sun has the pungent taste and copper. The Moon has salt and gems. Jupiter has the sweet taste and silver. Saturn has the astringent taste and iron. These are symbols. They help a reader name things in a chart. The Nava app does not compute this. This page explains the rule only.
☕ A planet's things
Each graha has a nature. The old books also give each one a set of things. These are its correspondences. A reader uses them to name what a planet points to. The basics page on the nine grahas covers the cabinet, the deities, the directions, the elements and the gunas. This page adds the rest.
Tastes. The Sun is pungent, the Moon salty, Mars bitter and Mercury mixed. Jupiter is sweet, Venus sour and Saturn astringent. (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 3, v. 34, p. 33.)
Trees. The Sun has stout-trunked trees. The Moon has trees with milky sap. Mars has bitter trees. Mercury has trees that bear no fruit. Jupiter has fruit-bearing trees. Venus has flowering plants. Saturn has trees of little use. (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 3, vv. 39–40, p. 36.)
Seasons. The Indian year has six seasons (ritus) of about two months each. Venus has Vasanta, the spring. Mars has Greeshma, the summer. The Moon has Varsha, the rains. Mercury has Sharad, Jupiter has Hemanta and Saturn has Shishira. The Sun makes the seasons, so it has none of its own. It shares Greeshma with Mars. (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 3, vv. 45–46, p. 37; Brihat Jataka, ch. II, v. 12.)
Metals. Brihat Jataka gives the Sun copper, the Moon gems, Mars gold and Mercury brass. It gives Jupiter silver, Venus pearls and Saturn iron. (Brihat Jataka, ch. II, v. 12.) Parashara's book gives Rahu lead. (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 3, vv. 41–44, p. 37.)
At a glance
- Sun — taste: pungent · trees: stout-trunked trees · season: none of its own; shares Greeshma with Mars · metal: copper · place: a temple
- Moon — taste: salty · trees: milky trees · season: Varsha (the rains) · metal: gems · place: a watery place
- Mars — taste: bitter · trees: bitter trees · season: Greeshma (summer) · metal: gold · place: a place of fire
- Mercury — taste: mixed · trees: trees without fruit · season: Sharad · metal: brass or bell-metal · place: a playground
- Jupiter — taste: sweet · trees: fruit-bearing trees · season: Hemanta · metal: silver · place: a treasury
- Venus — taste: sour · trees: flowering plants · season: Vasanta (spring) · metal: pearls · place: a bedroom
- Saturn — taste: astringent · trees: trees of little use · season: Shishira · metal: iron · place: waste ground
- Rahu — metal: lead (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 3, vv. 41–44, p. 37).
- The Sun's taste is pungent, not bitter. One English translation of Brihat Jataka prints bitter for both the Sun and Mars. The Sanskrit verse gives pungent to the Sun.
- Saturn's taste is astringent. The translations print three different words. The Sanskrit word is kashaya, astringent.
- Moon and Venus give gems and pearls. These are not metals. The verse lists them with the metals.
- These are symbols for naming things. They say nothing about what will happen to anyone.
Frequently asked questions
Why do some books give the Sun a bitter taste?
The English translations of Brihat Jataka disagree here. One prints bitter for the Sun and for Mars. Another gives Saturn a bitter taste. A third gives Saturn acid. The Sanskrit verse lists seven taste words in planet order. Read in that order, the Sun is pungent, Mars bitter and Saturn astringent. This page follows the verse (Brihat Jataka, ch. II, v. 14). Parashara's book in translation gives the same seven tastes (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 3, v. 34, p. 33).
Which planet rules which direction?
The basics page on the nine grahas lists them. In brief: the Sun east, Mars south, Saturn west and Mercury north. Venus south-east, Rahu south-west, the Moon north-west and Jupiter north-east. Brihat Jataka gives the same eight (Brihat Jataka, ch. II, v. 5).
What are the dhatu, moola and jeeva planets?
Parashara sorts the planets into three groups. Dhatu means minerals: Rahu, Mars, Saturn and the Moon. Moola means roots and plants: the Sun and Venus. Jeeva means living things: Mercury, Jupiter and Ketu. (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 3, v. 47, p. 38.)
Does the Nava app use these?
The Nava app does not compute this. This page explains the rule only. The app's chart uses each planet's sign, house, dignity and friendships, not these lists.
Deep dive: places, season dates and the basics
Each planet's place. When each season falls. Where the rest is taught.
🏛️ Each planet's place
Parashara gives each of the seven a place where its things are found:
- Sun: a temple. Moon: a watery place. Mars: a place of fire.
- Mercury: a playground. Jupiter: a treasury. Venus: a bedroom.
- Saturn: waste ground.
Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 3, v. 32, p. 32. Brihat Jataka gives the same places (Brihat Jataka, ch. II, v. 12).
🗓️ When each season falls
The translator's note gives the six seasons as solar dates. Vasanta runs from about 20 March to 19 May. Each later season takes the next two months: Greeshma, Varsha, Sharad, Hemanta and Shishira. (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 3, p. 38.)
So Venus's season is spring, and Saturn's is the cool end of winter.
🪐 Where the rest is taught
The cabinet, the deities, the directions, the five elements and the three gunas are on the nine grahas. Parashara also pairs each graha with an avatara of Vishnu: see the grahas and the avataras.