Jaimini kārakas rank your planets by degree
Chara kārakas assign planetary roles by degrees within a sign. The highest-ranked becomes Ātmakāraka; the lowest becomes Dārakāraka. Mạghā's Jaimini tab uses seven kārakas by default and includes schemes that count Rāhu.
Bars show each planet's degrees within its sign: Sun 26°40′ (Ātmakāraka), Moon 24°15′ (Amātyakāraka), Venus 24°13′ (Bhrātṛkāraka), Jupiter 23°55′ (Mātṛkāraka), Saturn 12°29′ (Putrakāraka), Mars 11°24′ (Jñātikāraka) and Mercury 11°13′ (Dārakāraka). A dashed bar shows Rāhu counted backwards as 7°50′, which applies only when Rāhu is included.
Ranking the Chara Kārakas
Rank the Sun through Saturn by degrees within their signs, highest first: Ātma, Amātya, Bhrātṛ, Mātṛ, Putra, Jñāti and Dāra Kāraka. Ketu is excluded. When Rāhu is included, count backwards from 30°: Rāhu at 22° ranks as 8°.
Nila’s Sun at 26°40′ leads as Ātmakāraka. Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars follow; Mercury at 11°13′ is Dārakāraka.
Parāśara calls the Ātmakāraka the king of the chart
Parāśara names the Ātmakāraka the chief kāraka and the lord of the birth chart, recognised as a king is among his people. It holds authority over every matter, including bondage and liberation, and the other kārakas act through it, as sons and ministers act on a king's command. If the Ātmakāraka is unfavourable, he says, the others cannot give their good results.
The Amātyakāraka, next in degrees, is that king's minister. Jaimini astrologers also read the sign the Ātmakāraka occupies in the navāṁśa (D9), called the Kārakāṁśa. Nila's Sun falls in the Virgo navāṁśa, so her Kārakāṁśa is Virgo.
Five kārakas stand for family, from siblings to spouse
After the minister come the family roles. Bhrātṛkāraka stands for brothers and sisters, Mātṛkāraka for the mother, Putrakāraka for children, Jñātikāraka for kinsfolk and Dārakāraka for the spouse. When eight kārakas are used, Parāśara places Pitṛkāraka, the father, between the mother and the children. Some, he notes, let the mother's significator stand for children too.
These roles move from chart to chart. Parāśara also lists fixed significators that never move: the stronger of the Sun and Venus for the father, the stronger of the Moon and Mars for the mother, Mars for siblings and the 5th house from Jupiter for children. A reading can weigh both kinds.
Nila's Dārakāraka, Mercury at 11°13′ Libra, trails her Jñātikāraka, Mars, by only 11′ of arc.
The Sun, Moon, Venus and Jupiter keep their roles in both schemes. With eight, Pitṛkāraka takes fifth place, so Saturn moves from Putrakāraka to Pitṛkāraka, Mars from Jñātikāraka to Putrakāraka, Mercury from Dārakāraka to Jñātikāraka, and Rāhu becomes Dārakāraka.
| Planet | Seven, without Rāhu | Eight, with Rāhu |
|---|---|---|
| Sun | Ātma | Ātma |
| Moon | Amātya | Amātya |
| Venus | Bhrātṛ | Bhrātṛ |
| Jupiter | Mātṛ | Mātṛ |
| Saturn | Putra | Pitṛ |
| Mars | Jñāti | Putra |
| Mercury | Dāra | Jñāti |
| Rāhu · 7°50′ | Excluded | Dāra |
Parāśara allows seven kārakas or eight, and Mạghā shows both
Parāśara and Jaimini allow seven or eight kārakas; teachers differ on when to include Rāhu. Mạghā offers three explicit schemes: seven without Rāhu, eight with Rāhu, and seven with Rāhu where the lowest-ranked body receives no role. It does not select a scheme for you. In Nila's eight-role table, Rāhu's reversed degree is 7°50′, making it Dārakāraka; adding Pitṛkāraka also shifts Saturn, Mars and Mercury's roles.
Resolving close degrees
Parāśara resolves close degrees by minutes, then seconds. In an exact tie, two planets share a role; a fixed significator covers the vacant role.
Mạghā ranks unrounded degrees, beyond the table’s two decimal places, but does not implement the rare exact-tie rules.
Note: birth time can change the ranking. Nila’s Moon leads Venus by 2′35″; five minutes earlier swaps their roles, and nine minutes earlier changes her Kārakāṁśa from Virgo to Leo.
The Jaimini tab and the Planets table show your kārakas
On your chart page, the Jaimini tab lists each kāraka with its planet, sign, nakṣatra and pada, and its degrees in the sign, with Rāhu's counted backwards. Tick more tables in the ⋯ menu to stack the schemes for comparison; one always stays on. The tables use your birth chart (D1) and, like every astrology feature in Mạghā, are free for life.
When the Planets table shows the birth chart, it carries a Kāraka column with short labels such as AK and DK, and its ⋯ menu can add the Kārakāṁśa, under Special Lagnas, and the ārūḍha padas, another Jaimini tool. The Kāraka column and the Kārakāṁśa always follow the seven-kāraka scheme without Rāhu, whichever tables the Jaimini tab shows.
Questions about the Ātmakāraka and other kārakas
How do I find my Ātmakāraka?
Check how many degrees each planet from the Sun to Saturn has travelled through its own sign, ignoring which sign it is. The planet with the most is your Ātmakāraka; if two share a degree, compare minutes, then seconds.
Nila's Sun, at 26°40′ of Virgo, beats her Moon's 24°15′. Mạghā's Jaimini tab ranks your planets this way and shows the degrees it compared.
Can Rāhu be the Ātmakāraka?
Only in a scheme that counts Rāhu, where its degrees are counted back from 30°. Rāhu becomes Ātmakāraka when it sits early enough in its sign that 30° minus its degree beats every planet. Astrologers who keep seven kārakas never give Rāhu a role. Mạghā's two “With Rahu” tables show whether it happens in your chart.
What is the Dārakāraka?
It is the spouse's significator: the planet with the fewest degrees in its sign, last of the chara kārakas. It depends on the scheme. Nila's is Mercury, at 11°13′ of Libra, with seven kārakas, but Rāhu with eight, because Rāhu at 22°10′ counts as 7°50′. Astrologers also look at Venus, Parāśara's fixed significator for the spouse.
Why do two apps show different kārakas for the same chart?
Often they use different schemes: seven planets, or eight with Rāhu, which adds the father's role and can move several planets to new roles. Birth time matters too, because planets move at different speeds and close pairs can swap, and a different ayanāṁśa can carry a planet into the next sign, where its count starts again near 0°. Mạghā names the scheme above each table.
Find your Ātmakāraka in Mạghā
Open your own chart to see your kārakas ranked by degree, then add the Rāhu schemes to compare. The preview shows the chart's seven-kāraka table.
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