The Sources of Jyoti

Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra

Tradition remembers Parashara as the grandson of Vasishtha and the father of Vyasa. When his father Shakti was killed by a rakshasa, Parashara began a fire ritual to destroy all rakshasas. Vasishtha and the sage Pulastya persuaded him to stop, and Pulastya blessed him to become the author of the Vishnu Purana. The text is a dialogue in which Parashara teaches his disciple Maitreya. Scholars believe the version we have today was gathered and edited over many centuries.

Legacy: the foundation of Vedic astrology. The twelve houses, the divisional charts including Navamsa, the yogas, the remedies, and the Vimshottari dasha system Jyoti uses to time the periods of your life.

Jaimini Sutras

A disciple of Vyasa, and so Parashara's grand-disciple. Jaimini is also honoured as the founder of Purva Mimamsa, the philosophy of Vedic ritual and duty. The sutras are short, coded verses, often written in a number code called katapayadi.

Legacy: the soul indicators in Jyoti's Dharma Path and Relationship Path: the Atmakaraka (soul planet), Darakaraka (partner planet), Karakamsha, Upapada and Ishta Devata, your personal guiding deity.

Brihat Jataka

A historical astronomer and the son of Adityadasa, a worshipper of the Sun. Legend counts him among the nine gems of King Vikramaditya's court. He foretold that the king's son would be killed by a boar at eighteen. Though the prince was closely guarded, it came to pass, and the king gave him the title Varaha, the boar. He also wrote the Brihat Samhita and the Pancha Siddhantika.

Legacy: concise and authoritative, still one of the most respected works on the birth chart.

Saravali

A prince and scholar who wrote it to expand Varahamihira's brief verses.

Legacy: renowned for its detail on planets joined together and how their energies combine.

Phaladeepika

"The Lamp that Illuminates the Results." Tradition remembers Mantreswara as a devout worshipper of the Goddess who studied deeply and later lived as a renunciate.

Legacy: a practical guide to what each house and planetary period brings into your life.

Jataka Parijata

"The Celestial Wish-Tree of Birth Charts."

Legacy: a great compendium that gathers the earlier masters together.

Muhurta Chintamani

Written by a member of a family of astronomers in the holy city of Kashi.

Legacy: the classic text on auspicious timing, which shapes the rhythm of your daily practice.

Bhrigu Nandi Nadi

Bhrigu is a mind-born son of Brahma and one of the great Prajapatis. In his best-known story he tested the three great gods by kicking Vishnu on the chest. Vishnu answered only with humility, and Bhrigu declared him the greatest. Nandi is Shiva's sacred bull and gatekeeper.

Legacy: reads the moving planets through the planets of your birth chart. Revived in the 20th century by R.G. Rao.

Chandra Kala Nadi

A Sanskrit Nadi text preserved in Kerala. Its author is not known for certain.

Dhruva Nadi

Linked to Satyacharya, an early teacher whom Varahamihira himself quotes.

The South Indian Nadi oral tradition

The living knowledge passed from teacher to student that holds all of these together.

Mantra sources

The Rig Veda and Atharva Veda, the oldest sacred hymns, including the planetary mantras. The Shaiva and Vaishnava devotional traditions of Shiva and Vishnu. The Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita, traditionally credited to Vyasa, Parashara's son, which brings the lineage full circle.

Lahiri ayanamsa

The adjustment that aligns your chart with the actual stars, which makes it sidereal. India's Calendar Reform Committee adopted it in the 1950s and it became the Indian government standard. Every chart in Jyoti is calculated with it.