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Vedic Astrology Club Members Ask:

How Do We Know Where Planets Are

Exalted Or Debilitated?

Some Background
The ancient sutras (teachings) written by the
sages about Vedic astrology often assume the
listener/reader knows the traditional order of
the planets:
Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus,
Saturn, Rahu, Ketu
When the sutras list only 7 of something, they
are referring to the visible planets only (not
Rahu or Ketu).

Graha Sutras
There are many Graha Sutras giving
information about the planets (Grahas),
sometimes in a terse form.
The rule of the Sutra (aphorism) sometimes
needs to be pondered a bit in order to
understand it.
In the ancient days, Vedic Astrology was
taught through oral transmission, and there
would be contemplation about the Sutras.

Exaltation / Debilitation
Each of the Zodiac Signs (Rasis) is a kind of
environment.
Different planets are more or less comfortable
in different signs.
The sign where a planet is the most
comfortable and strong is the sign where it is
exalted.
The sign where a planet is the least
comfortable and weak is the sign where it is
debilitated.

Graha Sutra (in italics)

Aries, Taurus, Capricorn, Virgo, Cancer, Pisces

and Libra are reckoned the exaltation Rasis of
the Sun and others in their regular order.
This Graha Sutra is telling us where the 7
visible planets are the most strong or exalted,
using the traditional order of the planets:
Sun is exalted in Aries, Moon is exalted in
Taurus, Mars is exalted in Capricorn, Mercury
is exalted in Virgo, Jupiter is exalted in Cancer,
Venus is exalted in Pisces and Saturn is exalted
in Libra.

Graha Sutra (in italics)

The degrees: ten, three, twenty-eight, fifteen,
five, twenty-seven and twenty.
This Graha Sutra is telling us where the exact
degree each planet has the deepest point of
exaltation with its exalted sign.
Sun is most exalted at 10 degrees Aries, Moon
at 3 degrees Taurus, Mars at 28 degrees
Capricorn, Mercury at 15 degrees Virgo,
Jupiter at 5 degrees Cancer, Venus at 27
degrees Pisces and Saturn at 20 degrees Libra.

Expression: Seventh Rasi

If you count a sign itself as 1 and then count 7
signs in a clockwise direction around the
South Indian chart, you are in a sign which is
opposite the sign you started in (or the 7th
Rasi).
For example, the Seventh Rasi from Aries =
Libra.
For example, the Seventh Rasi from Capricorn
= Cancer.

Graha Sutra (in italics)

The seventh Rasi from exaltation is known as

debilitation, with the same degrees.
This very short Graha Sutra is telling us both
the signs of debilitation and the exact degree
each visible planet has as the deepest point of
debilitation within its debilitation sign.
Sun is most debilitated at 10 degrees Libra,
Moon at 3 degrees Scorpio, Mars at 28
degrees Cancer, Mercury at 15 degrees Pisces,
Jupiter at 5 degrees Capricorn, Venus at 27
degrees Virgo and Saturn at 20 degrees Aries.

Summary Graha Sutras

Aries, Taurus, Capricorn, Virgo, Cancer, Pisces

and Libra are reckoned the exaltation Rasis of
the Sun and others in their regular order.
The degrees: ten, three, twenty-eight, fifteen,
five, twenty-seven and twenty.
The seventh Rasi from exaltation is known as
debilitation, with the same degrees.

~ with thanks to Ernst Wilhelm for use of his translation of Graha Sutras

Summary Table Planetary Exaltation / Debilitation

. Planet
Strong or
Deepest
Weak or
Deepest
Exalted in

Exaltation

Debilitated in

Debilitation

Sun

Aries

10 Aries

Libra

10 Libra

Moon

Taurus

3 Taurus

Scorpio

3 Scorpio

Mars

Capricorn

28 Capricorn

Cancer

28 Cancer

Mercury

Virgo

15 Virgo

Pisces

15 Pisces

Jupiter

Cancer

5 Cancer

Capricorn

5 Capricorn

Venus

Pisces

27 Pisces

Virgo

27 Virgo

Saturn

Libra

20 Libra

Aries

20 Aries

Horas

Vedic Astrology Club Members Ask:

How Do We Know the Order of the
Planets Ruling the Hours (Horas)?

Review About Days of Week

Each visible planet rules a day of the week.
Planet

Day of Week

Sun

Sunday

Moon

Monday

Mars

Tuesday

Mercury

Wednesday

Jupiter

Thursday

Venus

Friday

Saturn

Saturday

Review About Days of Week

Each visible planet rules the sunrise hour of
the day of the week it rules.
Planet

Rules at Sunrise Hour On

Sun

Sunday

Moon

Monday

Mars

Tuesday

Mercury

Wednesday

Jupiter

Thursday

Venus

Friday

Saturn

Saturday

Average Length of Time Planets Take

To Move Through a Rasi (Sign) From
Slowest to Fastest
Planet

Average Time (can vary)

Saturn

2 years

Jupiter

1 year

Mars

6 weeks

Sun

1 month

Venus

3 weeks

Mercury

2 weeks

Moon

A couple days

Planet That Rules the Horas

After the sunrise hour, the next planet that
rules the next hour is the one that is the next
quickest to move through a Zodiac sign.
For example, at sunrise hour on Sunday, Sun
rules the hour.
The next hour on Sunday is ruled by Venus.
The hour after that is ruled by Mercury, and so
on.

Further Examples
For example on Monday, at the sunrise hour,
the Moon rules the hour.
The next hour after that is ruled by Saturn.
(when you get to the bottom of the list, it
loops back to the top of the list).
The next hour after that is ruled by Jupiter,
and so on.

Some Math Stuff

Note: The Horas are not always viewed as a 60
minute hour.
Some calculations for the horas are based on
the amount of time between sunrise and
sunset for that day and doing some allocation
based on that.
The simple way to keep track is via Planetary
Watch on AstroVed or using the Hora Watch
mobile application which does the math for us
and says which planet is ruling which hora on a
particular day.

Thank you for your time!

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