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Astral Atlas
Wiki concept · Indian astrology

Karaka

Also called kāraka

A significator: a planet or other factor assigned to represent a topic under a specified Indian astrological rule.

In this entry

Word origin · etymology

Sanskrit transliteration: kāraka.

Kāraka means maker, doer, or producer, from kṛ, to do; in astrology it supplies the language of a significator.

Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary: kāraka (University of Hyderabad) ↗

How we know · epistemology

Contextual symbolic assignment

A planet represents a topic because a specified rule assigns that role. Fixed and variable significator schemes need not agree; the assignment should be shown explicitly rather than treated as a physical property of the planet.

P. V. R. Narasimha Rao: Jyotish teaching notes, volume 1 ↗

Connected concepts

Terms used in this explanation

These links connect subjects and terminology. They do not establish a shared historical origin.

Sources & provenance

Use the citations beside each section to distinguish a calculation convention, a historical teaching and an editorial example.

Find these sources across the wiki →

  1. P. V. R. Narasimha Rao: Jyotish teaching notes, volume 1 ↗
  2. Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary: kāraka (University of Hyderabad) ↗