Vedic astrology glossary: plain definitions
Short answer
Vedic astrology, or Jyotish, has its own vocabulary. Each term below is defined in one or two plain sentences, the way NeverStill uses it. The app itself never makes you learn any of them.
Antardasha
A sub-period inside a mahadasha, also called a bhukti. It refines the main period's theme.
Ayanamsa
The gap in degrees between the sidereal and the tropical zodiac. It grows slowly because of the precession of the equinoxes, and is about 24 degrees today.
Bhava
A house of the chart. The twelve bhavas each stand for an area of life, such as work, money, home or partnership.
Dasha
A planetary period. Your life is divided into long stretches, each ruled by one graha whose themes come forward while it runs. See Dasha periods explained.
Ephemeris
A table of where each planet is at each moment. NeverStill computes positions from the Swiss Ephemeris.
Graha
A body read in a Vedic chart. There are nine: the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu.
Jyotish
The Sanskrit name for Vedic astrology, usually translated as the science of light.
Lagna
The ascendant: the sign rising on the eastern horizon at the minute and place of birth. It is why an exact birth time matters.
Lahiri ayanamsa
The most widely used ayanamsa in Indian astrology, and the one NeverStill uses.
Mahadasha
The main period inside the Vimshottari cycle, lasting from 6 years (the Sun) to 20 (Venus).
Muhurta
The practice of choosing a good time to begin something. NeverStill does not pick dates for you; it says which stretches run easier.
Nakshatra
One of 27 lunar mansions, each 13 degrees and 20 minutes wide. The Moon's nakshatra at birth sets where your dasha cycle begins.
Navamsa
The ninth divisional chart (D9), traditionally read for partnership.
Pratyantardasha
A smaller period inside an antardasha, lasting from days to months.
Rahu and Ketu
The two lunar nodes, the points where the Moon's path crosses the Sun's. Vedic astrology counts them as grahas although they are not physical bodies.
Rashi
A sign of the zodiac. There are twelve, each 30 degrees wide.
Remedy
In the tradition, a practice such as a gemstone, a mantra or a puja, meant to soften a hard period. NeverStill offers none: only everyday moves.
Sade Sati
The roughly seven and a half years in which Saturn passes through the sign before your Moon sign, the Moon sign itself and the sign after it. It is read as a long, steadying passage with an end, not a sentence.
Sidereal zodiac
A zodiac measured against the fixed stars. Vedic astrology uses it, so its signs sit about 24 degrees behind the Western ones. See Sidereal vs tropical zodiac.
Transit
A planet's present movement through your chart, called gochara in Sanskrit. The slow planets, Saturn and Jupiter and the nodes, shape stretches of months to years.
Tropical zodiac
The zodiac of Western astrology, tied to the seasons: 0 degrees Aries is the March equinox, whatever the stars behind it.
Vedic astrology
The astrology of the Indian tradition, also called Jyotish. It uses the sidereal zodiac and is strongest on timing: which periods of life bring which themes forward. See What is Vedic astrology?.
Vimshottari dasha
The most used dasha system: a 120-year cycle shared among the nine grahas in a fixed order. Ketu 7 years, Venus 20, Sun 6, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19, Mercury 17.