Bhinnashtakavarga — astrology wiki

Also called Bhinna Ashtakavarga · Bhinnashtaka varga · BAV · Bhinna · Ashtakavarga of a planet · भिन्नाष्टकवर्ग

The Ashtakavarga of one planet (or of the Lagna): for each of the twelve signs, the number of points, from 0 to 8, which the planet has there, one from each of the eight references that counts the sign as a benefic place for it. The seven planets' tables hold 48, 49, 39, 54, 56, 52 and 39 points in all, and the Lagna's own table 49.

Word origin · etymology

Sanskrit bhinna, 'separate' (the gloss in Rao's textbook), with Ashtakavarga: the Ashtakavarga taken planet by planet.

Rao's textbook says that bhinna means 'separate'; the name sets the Ashtakavarga of one planet apart from the aggregate of all seven (Sarvashtakavarga). The Wiktionary entries for aṣṭaka and varga give the rest of the compound; the form with bhinna was not looked up in a dictionary, and the sense is that of the textbook's own definition.^[4][3][1]

How we know · epistemology

Classical tables applied by counting

The count of a planet in a sign is the number of the eight references whose table lists that sign's place from the reference as benefic for the planet, so it can be recomputed from the signs of the seven planets and of the Lagna. Rao reads 5 to 8 points in a sign as favourable, 4 as neutral and 3 or fewer as unfavourable; the translation of Parasara read speaks of dots instead. Those words are the books', not a measurement.^[1][2]

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Sources & provenance

The numbers in the text point to this list; it distinguishes a calculation convention, a historical teaching and an editorial example.

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