The Nine Planets (Navagraha): What Each One Signifies

In Vedic astrology "graha" does not mean a planet in the modern astronomical sense. Anything that moves against the background stars and is held to influence life on earth counts. So the Sun and Moon are grahas, and so are Rahu and Ketu, the two points where the Moon's orbit crosses the Sun's path. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are not part of the classical scheme.

The nine at a glance

Rahu and Ketu always sit exactly opposite each other, 180 degrees apart, and always move backwards through the signs.

What benefic and malefic really mean

The texts call Jupiter, Venus, the bright waxing Moon and an unafflicted Mercury benefic. Saturn, Mars, Rahu, Ketu and, mildly, the Sun are malefic, along with a dark waning Moon and a Mercury joined with malefics.

None of this is a reason for fear. Malefics in the third, sixth and eleventh houses (the upachaya houses) give good results: courage, victory over rivals, income. A benefic in the sixth, eighth or twelfth loses much of its goodness. What matters is where a planet sits and in what condition.

Each planet in brief

The Sun shows confidence, authority and vitality. When weak it can mean shaky self-belief, distance from the father or trouble with officials.

The Moon is the mind and mood. In Vedic astrology it matters even more than the Sun, because the birth sign, nakshatra, dasha and daily transits are all counted from the Moon.

Mars is energy and fight: land, engineering, police and army, sport and blood.

Mercury is quick, calculating and curious: business, writing, mathematics, communication and youth. It stays close to the Sun and is often combust.

Jupiter is the teacher and adviser: knowledge, ethics, children, a husband in a woman's chart, and prosperity. A house that Jupiter aspects is held to be protected.

Venus is beauty and relationships: love, marriage, a wife in a man's chart, music, clothes, vehicles and comfort.

Saturn is slow but just: hard work, discipline, labourers, the elderly, chronic illness and delay. What Saturn gives comes late but lasts.

Rahu is appetite, ambition and the unconventional path: foreign lands, technology, politics, sudden rises and falls.

Ketu is letting go: spirituality, research, subtle insight and abrupt endings.

How strong is a planet?

The same planet can be a king in one sign and a beggar in another. See planetary strength: exaltation, debilitation, own sign and planetary friendships.