The symbols of the twelve rashis
Each rashi has a symbol, a traditional picture used in the classical lists and in the drawings of the zodiac.
What it is
The symbols are: Mesha the ram, Vrishabha the bull, Mithuna the pair, Karka the crab, Simha the lion, Kanya the maiden, Tula the scales, Vrishchika the scorpion, Dhanu the archer, Makara the makara, Kumbha the water-pot and Meena the fish.
How it is worked out or read
The symbols are traditional pictures and do not describe the sign's effects by themselves. The rashi pages state the lord, element and quality, which are used in the readings.
Where it appears on this site
Each symbol appears on its rashi page.
The symbols in the classical descriptions
The classical texts describe several symbols in more detail than the one-word names suggest. Mithuna is shown as a man and a woman together, sometimes the man holding a mace and the woman a veena. Kanya is a maiden standing in a boat, holding grain and fire. Tula is a person holding a balance. Dhanu is an archer whose lower body is that of a horse. Makara is a sea creature with the head of a deer and the body of a crocodile or fish. Kumbha is a person carrying a water-pot. These details come from the descriptions of the signs in texts such as the Brihat Jataka.
How readers use the symbols
Readers use the symbols as memory aids and as a source of imagery, not as rules. The two fish of Meena swimming in opposite directions suggest the sign's dual nature; the crab's hard shell and soft interior suggest Karka's protective care. Such images help a student remember the signs' characters, but the actual reading rests on the lord, element, quality and the houses involved.
Symbols and the nakshatras
The rashi symbols should not be confused with the nakshatra symbols, which form a separate set: a horse's head for Ashwini, a cart for Rohini, a pearl for Chitra, a drum for Dhanishta and so on. A sign contains parts of two or three nakshatras, each with its own symbol and deity.
Why the symbols were chosen
The symbols of the signs are older than the calendar tables that now list them, and they were chosen to make each sign easy to picture. A ram for Mesha suggests a head-first start, a bull for Vrishabha suggests stubbornness and steady work, and a pair for Mithuna suggests two sides. The symbols are mnemonics. They help a reader remember a sign's quality, but they are not descriptions of the people born under it, and the texts never treat them as such.
Symbols in diagrams
Many charts draw the symbol in each sign, and the drawings differ between regions and printers. The sign's position in the chart is fixed by its number, not by its drawing, so a reader should identify a sign by its name and number first. The symbols are then a helpful memory aid, and the rashi pages show the traditional picture for each sign alongside its lord and element.