Most of us do not know what is the difference
between the Sun Sign and Rashi. And if you have visited an Astrologer recently,
he probably might be talking about Ascendant or Lagna rather than Sun Sign or
Rashi. Now what's ascendant ?
Talking about Sun Sign first, it's simply the sign
in which your Sun is placed as per the western Astrology. Yes western astrogy
is another dimension that gets added here. As per western astrology (and
newspapers) Sun enters into Aries on 22nd March and remains in Aries till 21st
April. Hence those born in this period call themselves Aries. Mind you when you
call yourself Aries sign please keep it in mind you are following Western Astrology
and not Vedic Astrology. As per Vedic Astrology Sun enters Aries on 14th April
and remain in Aries untill 14th May.
Now lets see what is Rashi. Rashi is more popular
terms being used in Vedic Astrology. It is the sign in which Moon is present at
the time of your birth. You might be surprised when you see in which sign your
Moon is present. It has nothing to do with Sun Sign you have so commonly
associated with yourself.
Now what is ascendant or lagna. Ascendant is the
point of horizon which is rising at the time of your birth. This simply means
that, suppose at the time of your birth sign Scorpio was rising. Each sign is
of 30 degrees. Suppose 12 degree of Scorpio has already risen at the exact time
of your birth. Then we say your ascendant is Scorpio 12 degrees.
The significance of ascendant is that most of the
astrological predictions are done keeping ascendant as reference point. You
might have heard astrologers talking about various houses like 1st house , 2nd
house, and so on. 7th house is for marriage. 10th house is for profession. All
these houses are considered from ascendant. Hence ascendant is THE most
important parameter in judging a horoscope. Thirty degrees of a sign moves
across horizon in 2 hours hence ascendant changes every two hours. Here one
degree is equivalent to 4 minutes. Hence if somebody is born at say 29 degree
of Libra ascendant then one.has to be very careful regarding time of birth
since time error of 5 min would change the lagna and hence consideration
of all houses from lagna would change.
So next time if you are interested in Astrology or
going to an Astrologer for horoscope reading be clear about your Sun Sign,
Rashi and Ascendant. An astrologer also checks various houses keeping moon sign
as reference but still ascendant remains most important parameter of a
horoscope.
