The 8 Chara Karakas of Jaimini: Your Inner Cast
Jaimini's Chara Karakas assign roles like soul, mind, sibling, mother, progeny to planets by their degree. Here is how to read the cast.
Parashara assigns roles to planets by nature — Sun is soul, Moon is mind, Jupiter is wisdom, and so on. These are 'naisargika' (natural) karakas. Jaimini takes a different approach: he assigns roles by degree, every chart afresh. These are 'chara' (movable) karakas.
How they're assigned
Sort the 7 main planets — Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn — by the degree they hold within their sign, descending. The highest degree gets the top role; the lowest gets the last role.
Some schools include Rahu (counted reversed: 30 minus its degree) to make 8 karakas.
The 8 roles
- Atmakaraka (AK) — soul, the chart's protagonist
- Amatyakaraka (AmK) — minister, career, mentor
- Bhratrukaraka (BK) — siblings, courage, valour
- Matrukaraka (MK) — mother, comfort, education foundation
- Putrakaraka (PK) — children, creative output
- Gnatikaraka (GK) — kin, cousins, sometimes enemies
- Darakaraka (DK) — spouse
- Strikaraka (StriK) — feminine influences (in some schools)
What changes when you use them
Two natives can both have Jupiter strong, but if Jupiter is one's Atmakaraka and another's Putrakaraka, the same planet drives completely different life themes — the soul's calling versus children's joy.
The most useful one in practice is the Darakaraka (DK). The sign and house of the DK in D9 tells you the colour of your spouse — temperament, profession, family background — better than the natural karaka Venus does.
How to start using it
- Find your Atmakaraka. Read the houses it owns and aspects in your D1 — that is your soul's primary battlefield.
- Find your Darakaraka. Look at it in D9. That is the type of person who shows up as your life partner.
- Don't replace Parashari karakas with chara karakas. Use both. They illuminate different layers.
Senior astrologer on Karmgyan. Consultations available via chat, call, and video.