SPHUṬA

Scriptural horoscope · Valmiki Ramayana

Sri Rama

श्रीराम

Chaitra Shukla NavamiPunarvasuKarka (Cancer) LagnaAyodhya

The birth chart of Sri Rama as Maharshi Valmiki describes it: Karka Lagna with the Moon and Jupiter rising, five planets exalted, born in Punarvasu on Chaitra Shukla Navami. Only what the text states is drawn as stated; the traditional reading is marked as such.

4Asc  MoJu567Sa8910Ma1112Ve1Su23
Rasi (D1). Numbers are signs, 1 is Aries. Cream: named in the verse. Gold: the traditional reading.

Valmiki Ramayana · Bala Kanda, sarga 18, verses 8 to 10

The verse

ततो यज्ञे समाप्ते तु ऋतूनां षट् समत्ययुः ।ततश्च द्वादशे मासे चैत्रे नावमिके तिथौ ॥ ८ ॥नक्षत्रेऽदितिदैवत्ये स्वोच्चसंस्थेषु पञ्चसु ।ग्रहेषु कर्कटे लग्ने वाक्पताविन्दुना सह ॥ ९ ॥प्रोद्यमाने जगन्नाथं सर्वलोकनमस्कृतम् ।कौसल्याजनयद्रामं सर्वलक्षणसंयुतम् ॥ १० ॥

tato yajñe samāpte tu ṛtūnāṃ ṣaṭ samatyayuḥ |tataś ca dvādaśe māse caitre nāvamike tithau || 8 ||nakṣatre 'ditidaivatye svoccasaṃstheṣu pañcasu |graheṣu karkaṭe lagne vākpatāv indunā saha || 9 ||prodyamāne jagannāthaṃ sarvalokanamaskṛtam |kausalyājanayad rāmaṃ sarvalakṣaṇasaṃyutam || 10 ||

When the yajna was complete, six seasons passed. Then, in the twelfth month, Chaitra, on the ninth tithi, in the nakshatra whose deity is Aditi (Punarvasu), with five planets in their exaltation, in Karkata Lagna, with the lord of speech (Jupiter) rising together with the Moon, Kausalya Devi gave birth to Sri Rama, lord of the world, honoured by all the worlds, bearing every auspicious mark.

Sign only · no degrees

What the verse says, and what tradition adds

Each placement says whether the verse states it or tradition reads it in. The chart draws both, in different colours, and leaves out anything the text doesn't give.

  • LagnaCancer Karka1st houseNamed in the verse
  • MoonCancer Karka1st houseNamed in the verseRising in Karkata with Jupiter
  • JupiterexaltedCancer Karka1st houseNamed in the verseVakpati, rising with the Moon; Cancer is its exaltation
  • SunexaltedAries Mesha10th houseTraditional readingChaitra Navami puts the Sun near Aries; the verse doesn't name it
  • MarsexaltedCapricorn Makara7th houseTraditional readingOne of the five exalted, by tradition
  • VenusexaltedPisces Meena9th houseTraditional readingOne of the five exalted, by tradition
  • SaturnexaltedLibra Tula4th houseTraditional readingOne of the five exalted, by tradition

Not given by the text: Mercury, Rahu, Ketu, Degrees, The year. They are left off the chart rather than guessed.

In the order of the text

The story, and where astrologers look

The Valmiki Ramayana gives no calendar dates, so these are in story order, book by book. Each one shows the house astrologers read for that part of life, and what this chart holds there. It says where to look, not what it means.

Bala Kanda

  1. Birth

    Born in Ayodhya

    Born to Kausalya Devi and King Dasharatha after the putrakameshti yajna. Sri Bharata is born to Queen Kaikeyi, and Sri Lakshmana and Sri Shatrughna to Sumitra Devi.

    1st house · Cancer · Moon, Jupiter (exalted)

  2. Education

    Studies under Sage Vasishtha

    The four princes grow up in Ayodhya and learn the Vedas and the use of arms under the royal preceptor, Sage Vasishtha.

    4th house · Libra · Saturn (exalted)

  3. Guru and dharma

    Goes with Sage Vishwamitra

    Still a youth, He goes with Sage Vishwamitra to guard his yajna, receives celestial weapons, and kills the demoness Tataka and Subahu.

    9th house · Pisces · Venus (exalted)

  4. Marriage

    Breaks Lord Shiva's bow and marries Sita Devi

    In Mithila He lifts and breaks the bow of Lord Shiva that no suitor could string, and marries Sita Devi, daughter of King Janaka.

    7th house · Capricorn · Mars (exalted)

Ayodhya Kanda

  1. Leaving home

    Exiled for fourteen years

    King Dasharatha plans to crown Him. Queen Kaikeyi claims her two boons: Sri Bharata as king, and fourteen years in the forest for Lord Rama. He leaves with Sita Devi and Sri Lakshmana. Sita Devi later says He was twenty-five at the time.

    4th house · Libra · Saturn (exalted)

    12th house · Gemini · empty, lord Mercury

  2. Father

    King Dasharatha dies

    Grieving the exile, King Dasharatha dies in Ayodhya.

    9th house · Pisces · Venus (exalted)

  3. Brothers

    Sri Bharata rules in His name

    Sri Bharata refuses the throne, meets Lord Rama at Chitrakuta, and rules from Nandigram with Lord Rama's sandals on the throne.

    3rd house · Virgo · empty, lord Mercury

Aranya Kanda

  1. Separation from His wife

    Sita Devi is taken to Lanka

    While Lord Rama follows the golden deer, Ravana carries Sita Devi off to Lanka. Jatayu, king of the vultures, is mortally wounded trying to stop him.

    7th house · Capricorn · Mars (exalted)

Kishkindha Kanda

  1. Friends and allies

    Meets Sri Hanuman and allies with Sugriva

    He meets Sri Hanuman, makes an alliance with Sugriva, kills Vali, and restores Sugriva to the throne of Kishkindha.

    11th house · Taurus · empty, lord Venus

Sundara Kanda

  1. Messages

    News of Sita Devi

    Sri Hanuman crosses the sea, finds Sita Devi in the Ashoka grove, and returns with her jewel as proof.

    3rd house · Virgo · empty, lord Mercury

Yuddha Kanda

  1. Enemies

    The war with Ravana

    The army builds the bridge to Lanka. In the war that follows, Lord Rama kills Ravana.

    6th house · Sagittarius · empty, lord Jupiter

  2. Marriage

    Sita Devi's ordeal by fire

    Sita Devi walks into the fire to prove her purity, and Agni Deva returns her unharmed.

    7th house · Capricorn · Mars (exalted)

  3. Kingship

    Crowned in Ayodhya

    The fourteen years complete, He returns to Ayodhya in the Pushpaka and is crowned king.

    10th house · Aries · Sun (exalted)

Uttara Kanda

  1. Separation from His wife

    Sita Devi sent to the forest

    Hearing the people question Sita Devi, He sends her away. She lives in Maharshi Valmiki's ashram.

    7th house · Capricorn · Mars (exalted)

  2. Children

    Lava and Kusha

    Sita Devi's twin sons, Lava and Kusha, grow up in the ashram and later sing the Ramayana before Lord Rama.

    5th house · Scorpio · empty, lord Mars

  3. The end

    Returns to Vaikuntha

    After a long reign He walks into the Sarayu river and leaves the world.

    8th house · Aquarius · empty, lord Saturn

    12th house · Gemini · empty, lord Mercury

The Ramayana gives no year. Tradition places Lord Rama in the Treta Yuga. Some researchers, notably Pushkar Bhatnagar in Dating the Era of Lord Ram (2004), have searched backwards for a sky that matches the verse and proposed 10 January 5114 BCE. Others dispute it, not least because the verse does not name which five planets are exalted. This page uses no date: the chart shows only what the text states, and marks the traditional reading as such.

Sidereal signs, whole-sign houses counted from the Lagna. Many scholars read the Uttara Kanda as a later addition to Maharshi Valmiki’s text.

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