The 12 Zodiac Signs (Rashis) in Vedic Astrology

Lesson notes

• The signs always go in the same order. Aries is sign 1 and Pisces is sign 12 - then the circle starts again.
• Signs 1 to 4: 1 Mesha = Aries 2 Vrishabha = Taurus 3 Mithuna = Gemini 4 Karka = Cancer
• Signs 5 to 8: 5 Simha = Leo (simha means lion) 6 Kanya = Virgo 7 Tula = Libra 8 Vrischika = Scorpio
• Signs 9 to 12: 9 Dhanu = Sagittarius 10 Makara = Capricorn 11 Kumbha = Aquarius 12 Meena = Pisces
• Every sign has an element: fire, earth, air or water. They repeat in that order - Aries is fire, Taurus is earth, Gemini is air, Cancer is water, then fire again.
• So the four groups are: Fire: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius Earth: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn Air: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius Water: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

Practice questions and answers

Which sign comes first in the zodiac?

Answer: Aries. The zodiac starts at Mesha (Aries) and ends at Meena (Pisces).

Match the Sanskrit names

Answer: Mesha = Aries; Vrishabha = Taurus; Mithuna = Gemini; Karka = Cancer. These are signs 1 to 4.

Simha is the Sanskrit name for which sign?

Answer: Leo. Simha means lion, and Leo is the lion.

Match the Sanskrit names

Answer: Kanya = Virgo; Tula = Libra; Vrischika = Scorpio; Dhanu = Sagittarius. Signs 6 to 9.

Put these signs in zodiac order

Answer: Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo. Taurus, Gemini, Cancer and Leo are signs 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Match the Sanskrit names

Answer: Makara = Capricorn; Kumbha = Aquarius; Meena = Pisces; Simha = Leo. You now know all 12 names.

What number is Scorpio?

Answer: 8. Count from Aries = 1. Signs have numbers, and charts use them.

Aries is fire, Taurus is earth. Gemini is...?

Answer: Air. Fire, earth, air, water, then it repeats.

True or false: Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces are all water signs.

Answer: True. Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces.

Which of these is a fire sign?

Answer: Leo. Fire signs: Aries, Leo and Sagittarius.

What is a rashi in Vedic astrology?

A rashi is one twelfth of the zodiac: the circle of sky that the Sun, Moon and planets travel through. The full circle is 360 degrees, so each rashi is exactly 30 degrees wide.

The word rashi means a heap or a group. Each sign groups together a band of stars, and every planet in your chart sits in one of these twelve bands at the moment you are born.

Signs are the backdrop of the chart. A planet tells you who is acting, and the sign tells you how it acts. Mars in a fiery sign acts quickly and boldly; Mars in a watery sign acts through feeling and instinct.

The 12 signs: Sanskrit names, symbols and degrees

The order never changes. After Meena (12) the circle starts again at Mesha (1). This fixed order is why astrologers can count from one sign to another, which you will do constantly once you learn houses.

Charts usually write signs as numbers, not names. In a North Indian chart, the number 5 means Simha (Leo) and 10 means Makara (Capricorn). Learning the numbers is the single most useful thing you can do in your first week.

The four elements of the signs

Every sign belongs to one of four elements. The elements repeat in a fixed pattern: fire, earth, air, water, then fire again.

A quick trick: the fire signs are 1, 5 and 9. Add one to get the earth signs (2, 6, 10), add one again for air (3, 7, 11) and once more for water (4, 8, 12).

Elements matter most for the Moon and the Lagna (rising sign). A person with the Moon in a water sign usually feels things deeply; a person with the Moon in an air sign thinks things through before feeling them.

Movable, fixed and dual signs

The signs also have a quality, called the modality. This tells you how a sign handles change.

Movable signs are 1, 4, 7 and 10. Fixed signs are 2, 5, 8 and 11. Dual signs are 3, 6, 9 and 12. Astrologers use these qualities for timing (movable signs bring quicker change) and for judging travel, career moves and how settled a person is.

Odd and even signs

Odd-numbered signs (Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, Aquarius) are called male or active signs. Even-numbered signs (Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces) are female or receptive signs.

This has nothing to do with the gender of a person. It describes energy: odd signs push outward, even signs draw inward. The Sun, Mars and Jupiter feel comfortable in odd signs; the Moon and Venus are more at ease in even signs.

Why are Vedic signs different from Western sun signs?

Vedic astrology uses the sidereal zodiac, which is tied to the fixed stars. Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac, which is tied to the seasons and starts at the spring equinox.

Because the Earth wobbles slowly on its axis (the precession of the equinoxes), the two zodiacs drift apart by about one degree every 72 years. Today the gap is about 24 degrees. This gap is called the ayanamsa, and AstroWord uses the standard Lahiri ayanamsa, the one adopted by the Indian government's calendar reform committee.

The practical result: if your Western Sun sign is Leo, your Vedic Sun sign is often Cancer. Anyone born in roughly the first three weeks of a Western sign usually moves back one sign in the Vedic chart.

Which sign matters most in your chart?

Vedic astrology gives three signs special importance:

• Your Lagna (rising sign): the sign rising in the east at your birth. It is house 1 and the base of your whole chart. It changes about every two hours.
• Your Moon sign (Janma Rashi): the sign your Moon was in. Indian horoscopes, daily predictions and Sade Sati are all counted from it. It changes about every two and a quarter days.
• Your Sun sign: the sign your Sun was in. It changes once a month and matters less in Vedic astrology than in Western astrology.

If someone in India asks "what is your rashi?", they almost always mean your Moon sign. You can find yours with the free Moon sign calculator and your rising sign with the Lagna calculator.

Worked example: describing one sign fully

Take Simha (Leo), sign number 5:

• It covers 120° to 150° of the sidereal zodiac.
• Its element is fire, so it is warm, bold and expressive.
• Its quality is fixed, so it is loyal and holds its ground.
• It is an odd (male) sign, so its energy pushes outward.
• Its ruler is the Sun (you will learn rulers in Lesson 3).

Put together, a Leo Lagna or Leo Moon often shows a proud, generous, steady person who likes to lead and does not change direction easily.

How the signs show up in everyday Vedic astrology

You meet the twelve signs everywhere in Indian life, often without noticing:

• Naming: many families choose a baby's first syllable from the Moon's nakshatra, which sits inside one of the twelve signs.
• Festivals: Makar Sankranti in January is the day the Sun enters Makara (Capricorn), and Mesha Sankranti in April starts the solar new year in many regions.
• Matchmaking: kundali matching compares the two partners' Moon signs; the Bhakoot score in Ashtakoot depends on how far apart they are.
• Daily horoscopes: Indian newspapers list predictions by rashi, which means Moon sign, not Sun sign.

Once you know the twelve signs and their numbers, all of these suddenly make sense.

Signs and the body (Kalapurusha)

Classical texts map the zodiac onto the body of the "cosmic person" (Kalapurusha), from head to feet:

Astrologers use this map when they look at health in a chart. It also helps you remember the order: start at the head and walk down to the feet.

Key takeaways

• There are 12 signs (rashis), each exactly 30 degrees wide, in a fixed order from Aries (1) to Pisces (12).
• Every sign has an element (fire, earth, air, water), a quality (movable, fixed, dual) and a ruling planet.
• Charts write signs as numbers, so learn the numbers first.
• Vedic astrology uses the sidereal zodiac, about 24 degrees behind Western signs, and in India "your rashi" means your Moon sign.

Common beginner mistakes

• Mixing up sign numbers and house numbers. In a North Indian chart the numbers printed in the boxes are sign numbers. House 1 is always the top diamond, whatever number is written in it.
• Using your Western sun sign. Your Vedic signs are calculated with the sidereal zodiac, so check them in a Vedic chart rather than a newspaper horoscope.
• Treating elements as good or bad. No element is better. Fire is not stronger than water; it is just different.
• Ignoring the Moon sign. In Vedic astrology the Moon sign is usually more important for daily life and timing than the Sun sign.

Frequently asked questions

How many rashis are there in Vedic astrology?

There are 12 rashis, from Mesha (Aries) to Meena (Pisces). Each covers 30 degrees of the zodiac, which adds up to the full 360-degree circle.

What is my rashi according to my date of birth?

Your rashi is your Moon sign, and it depends on your exact date, time and place of birth because the Moon changes sign about every two and a quarter days. Use the free Moon sign calculator to find it.

Are rashi and zodiac sign the same?

Yes. Rashi is the Sanskrit word for zodiac sign. The only difference is that Vedic rashis use the sidereal zodiac, which is about 24 degrees behind the Western tropical zodiac.

Which zodiac sign is the strongest?

No sign is strongest for everyone. A sign is strong or weak for a particular planet: the Sun, for example, is strongest in Aries and weakest in Libra. You will learn this in the lessons on exaltation and debilitation.

What are the elements of the zodiac signs?

Fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn), air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) and water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces). They repeat in that order around the zodiac.