Jyotish — the science of light · door 1 of 11
What Jyotisha is
The science of light, and the eye of the Veda
Match the sky
0 of 6 matchedTap one on the left, then its partner on the right.
Three questions to seal this door
1. Among the six Vedangas, Jyotisha is called the Veda's —
2. Vedic astrology measures the zodiac against —
3. How many Vedangas are there?
The rishi's scroll — read more, if you wish
Jyotisha comes from jyotis — light. It is one of the six Vedangas, the limbs that let the Veda be heard, spoken and lived. The tradition calls it the Veda's eye: the limb that sees when.
Vedic astrology measures the sky against the fixed stars (sidereal, nirayana). Western astrology measures it against the seasons. The two zodiacs have drifted about 24° apart over two thousand years — the ayanamsa. VEDAUM uses the Lahiri ayanamsa, the standard of the Government of India's calendar.
What Jyotisha reads is time — the quality of a day, a season of life, a moment chosen to begin. It names what a period asks of you and what it favours. It does not hand down verdicts, and a reading that frightens has misread the science.
| Vedanga | What it serves |
|---|---|
| Shiksha | Pronunciation — the Veda's breath |
| Kalpa | Ritual — the Veda's hands |
| Vyakarana | Grammar — the Veda's mouth |
| Nirukta | Etymology — the Veda's ears |
| Chhandas | Metre — the Veda's feet |
| Jyotisha | Time and the sky — the Veda's eye |
The tables on this page are drawn from the same data VEDAUM reads charts with. The teaching text awaits a jyotishi's review, like every teaching page here.