Naisargika karakas: the natural significators
Naisargika karakas are natural significators: each graha is assigned a standard area of life, regardless of the chart.
What it is
The classical list gives the Sun the soul and father, the Moon the mind and mother, Mars courage and siblings, Mercury intellect and speech, Jupiter wisdom and children, Venus love and marriage, and Saturn work and longevity. Rahu and Ketu are sometimes given standard karakas, which texts list differently.
How it is worked out or read
Karakas are used with houses and lords to read a chart. A natural karaka describes the graha's general nature, and the chart shows its particular position.
Where it appears on this site
The karakas are summarised in the glossary. The planet pages in the learn section describe each one.
Fixed significations of the grahas
Naisargika means natural, and the naisargika karakas are the significations each graha carries in every chart, whatever the Lagna. They come from the classical texts and are the first thing a student learns about each graha. The Sun signifies the soul, vitality, authority, the father and the government. The Moon signifies the mind, feelings, the mother and public life. Mars signifies courage, energy, siblings, especially younger ones, land and technical skill. Mercury signifies intelligence, speech, writing, trade and the maternal uncle.
Jupiter signifies wisdom, teachers, children, wealth and dharma. Venus signifies the spouse, love, comfort, vehicles, art and beauty. Saturn signifies longevity, discipline, labour, servants, delay and sorrow. Rahu and Ketu, the nodes, are given wider and more varied significations, with Rahu often linked to foreign matters and ambition and Ketu to detachment and spiritual release.
How the karakas are used
When a reader wants to examine a particular person or theme in a chart, they look at the relevant house and also at the natural karaka. For the father, for example, they look at the ninth house, its lord and the Sun. For children, the fifth house, its lord and Jupiter. If the karaka is strong and well placed, the theme is read as supported even if the house is mixed; if the karaka is weak, the reading is more cautious even if the house is good.
Karakas and functional roles
A graha's natural significations stay the same in every chart, but its functional role changes with the Lagna, depending on which houses it rules. Saturn, for example, is a natural malefic and the karaka of hardship, but for Vrishabha and Tula Lagnas it rules a kendra and a trikona and is considered highly favourable. A reader holds both views at once: what the graha signifies by nature, and what it does in this particular chart through the houses it rules.
Overlaps with house karakas
The natural karakas overlap with the fixed house karakas: Jupiter is the karaka of children and the fifth house, Venus of the spouse and the seventh house. The two lists come from the same reasoning, and together they give each house a natural partner graha. The Jaimini system adds a third kind, the chara karakas, which vary from chart to chart; they should not be confused with the naisargika list.
A note of balance
Lists of significations can grow very long, and a single graha can be linked to dozens of things. In practice, readers focus on the core significations and use the longer lists only when a specific question calls for them. The karakas describe what a graha relates to, not a fixed outcome for any of those things.