When a planet passes a sign, look at that sign in the planet's own ashtakavarga chart. Each of the eight contributors either gives it a bindu there or does not, so the count runs from 0 to 8. More than 4 reads as good, exactly 4 as mixed, fewer as unfavourable. Jataka Parijata also cuts each sign into eight kakshyas of 3°45′, one per contributor. Nava does not compute the kakshyas.
☕ Whose support, and where in the sign
Parashara's rule is per contributor. A planet passing a house that a contributor marked good, counted from where that contributor stood at birth, is helped from that side; a house it marked with a dot is not (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 66, p. 845; ch. 66, v. 69, p. 865). Count the contributors that help and you have the planet's bindus in that sign: the same number, read one voice at a time.
Jataka Parijata grades the count. Five to seven is good, four is mixed, one to three is not good (Jataka Parijata (tr. Subramanya Sastri), ch. X, vv. 3–4, pp. 664–665); its translator sums it up as above four good, four mixed and below four bad (ch. X, p. 654). A planet short of bindus is not rescued by a strong sign, and one with plenty is not spoiled by a weak one (ch. X, vv. 9–11, pp. 667–668). Nava grades a transit this way, in the card “A transit graded by its own bindus” below.
Parashara uses the same counts to choose months: rites are kept out of the solar month of a sign with many dots in the Sun's chart, and held when the Sun or Jupiter passes a sign with many good marks (ch. 70, vv. 19–20, p. 885). A planet's transit through signs rich in good marks in Saturn's chart is read as good (ch. 70, vv. 43–44, p. 894).
Jataka Parijata goes finer. It cuts every sign into eight kakshyas of 3°45′, ruled from Saturn down to the lagna, in “The eight kakshyas of a sign” further down. A planet gives its good only while it is in the kakshya of a contributor that gave it a bindu in that sign (Jataka Parijata (tr. Subramanya Sastri), ch. X, vv. 33–34, pp. 682–683). In its own example, the Sun's chart holds bindus in Mesha (Aries) from Sun, Mercury and Lagna, so the Sun's good there falls in 11°15′–15°, 18°45′–22°30′, 26°15′–30°.
In Your Period, a transit's result is checked against its own bindus: a good result in a sign with few is softened, and a hard result in a sign with many is softened too, and the line says so. With a birth time, the You tab also lists which contributors support each planet today. Nava does not compute the kakshyas. The grade is read on the whole sign.
Grading a transit
- 0–3 bindus: unfavourable
- 4 bindus: mixed
- 5–8 bindus: good
- Mix-up: a transit is graded on the sign's total. It is graded on the passing planet's own chart: its bindus in that sign, out of eight.
- Mix-up: a kakshya is a navamsa. A navamsa is a ninth of a sign; a kakshya is an eighth, one for each contributor.
- Mix-up: 4 bindus is a poor count. 4 of 8 is the middle, and the books grade it as mixed.
Frequently asked questions
What does Nava do with a transit's bindus?
In Your Period it checks each transit against the planet's own bindus in the sign it is passing. A good result with few bindus, or a hard one with many, is softened, and the line names the count.
Does Nava say which kakshya a planet is in?
No. The kakshya is Jataka Parijata's finer division of a sign, explained here as the book gives it; the app grades a transit on the whole sign.
Why does the lagna rule a kakshya?
The lagna is the eighth contributor, so it gets the eighth slice. The planets come first, from the slowest to the fastest, and the lagna closes the sign.
Deep dive: the kakshyas, and the neighbours
The table “The eight kakshyas of a sign”, where the next page goes, and what this builds on.
🍰 The eight kakshyas of a sign
The lords in Jataka Parijata's order (ch. X, vv. 33–34, pp. 682–683); each slice is 3°45′.
| Kakshya and its lord | Degrees of the sign |
|---|---|
| 1. Saturn | 0°–3°45′ |
| 2. Jupiter | 3°45′–7°30′ |
| 3. Mars | 7°30′–11°15′ |
| 4. Sun | 11°15′–15° |
| 5. Venus | 15°–18°45′ |
| 6. Mercury | 18°45′–22°30′ |
| 7. Moon | 22°30′–26°15′ |
| 8. Lagna | 26°15′–30° |
🗓️ Choosing months from the charts
Picking a month from the zero-bindu signs of the Sun's and Moon's charts is on a personal muhurtha from your ashtakavarga; the sign totals are on sarvashtakavarga sign totals.
🧭 What this builds on
The contributors and the bindus graded here are explained on ashtakavarga basics.