There are 3 key elements in understanding your vedic horoscope - Planets, Houses and Dashas (remember them as PhD).
Planets - There are nine planets
as per Vedic Astrology - Ravi (Sun), Chandra (Moon), Mangal
(Mars or Kuja), Budha (Mercury), Guru (Jupiter), Shukra (Venus),
Shani (Saturn), Rahu (Dragon's Head) and Ketu (Dragon's Tail).
Houses - The horosocpe is divided
into 12 houses. Each House is ruled by a planet which is called
the Lord of that house. The houses are Mesha( Aries ), Vrishaba
(Taurus) , Mithuna( Gemini) , Karkataka or Karkata (Cancer),
Simha (Leo) , Kanya (Virgo), Tula (Libra) , Vrischika (Scorpio),
Dhanus (Sagittarius), Makara (Capricorn) , Kumbha (Aquarius)
and Meena (Pisces).
Dashas - Human life is considered
to be 120 years as per Vedic Astrology and is divided into several
periods or Dashas. Each Dasha is governed by a particular planet.
Dashas are further sub-divided into Antar-Dashas (sub-periods)
and Pratyantar-Dashas (sub-sub periods). The breakup up of the
main dashas ( in the order in which they govern your life) is
given below. Please note that the exact Dasha that was running
when you were born depends on your personal horoscope based
on your date, time and place of birth. You could for example
be born when Rahu Dasha was running which will then be followed
by Jupiter, Saturn etc in that order. Each Maha Dasha is further
sub-divided into 9 Antar Dashas (1 for each planet ) and each
Antar Dasha is further sub-divided into 9 Pratyantar Dashas.
Planet
Main Dasha (Maha Dasha)
Jupiter
16 years
Saturn
19 years
Mercury
17 years
Ketu
7 years
Venus
20 years
Sun
6 years
Moon
10 years
Mars
7 years
Rahu
18 years
What is my current Dasha?
What Dasha was running when I was born?
Your current dasha can only be seen from your personal horoscope. You can download a free trial version of Junior Jyotish to check this. The link to the software is available on the astrology software links page
What is my Rashi ? How is it different to the Sun sign?
Rashi or Rasi is your moon sign. The house in which Moon was placed when you were bord is your Rashi. Vedic Astrogy is different from the Western astrology as the focus here is not so much on the Sun sign as on Moon sign and Lagna.
What is my Lagna or Ascendant?
Your Lagna is the sign that was rising at the time you were born. It can be any on of the 12 possible ones from Aries ( Mesha) to Pisces ( Meena)
I will be adding more content shortly to address the following.
What is the transit of planets and how does it affect my life?
What is Saade Saati (Sade Sati, sadesati or Sade Saati) and
how does it affect my life?