Atmakaraka
the soul's desire in Hindu astrology
Atmakaraka (from Sanskrit atma- 'soul', and karaka- 'significator') is the significator of the soul's desire in Jyotisha (Hindu astrology). The Atmakaraka is either the Sun or one of the planets (as determined by the astrological chart) and has the strongest influence on the subject of the horoscope according to astrologers.
Karakas
In astrology, karakas are the "significators" that determine on which person or thing a planet has influence. Of these karakas, the most important is the Atmakaraka, significator of the soul, which rules the person who is the subject of the horoscope. The Rasi (Zodiac sign) and Nakshatra (lunar mansion) in which the Atmakaraka is placed plays an important role in reading the nature of a subject from their chart. Counted as planets in this system are;
Ravi (English Sun)
Chandra (English Moon)
Kuja (English Mars)
Budha (English Mercury)
Guru (English Jupiter)
Sukra (English Venus)
Sani (English Saturn)
In some versions, one or both of the following are also included
Rahu
Ketu
Rahu and Ketu are "shadow planets", that is, they have no physical existence. They are positioned at the lunar nodes. These have retrograde motion.
In the astrology of Parashara, the assignment of karakas to planets is permanently fixed. In the astrology of Jaimini, the karakas are assigned to planets according to the position of the planet in the Zodiac in the astrological chart being drawn up.
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This entry incorporates text from “Atmakaraka” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.