Meaning
Simha is the lion, "of the shape of a lion" in Iyer's note; its other name in the Brihat Jataka is Leya, one of those Iyer notes as Greek.
It is a fixed sign, odd and masculine, and its triangle with Mesha and Dhanu faces east. Unlike the four rashis before it, it is a day sign, powerful by day, and it rises by its head. The Sun rules it and has its moolatrikona here, the part of its own rashi where the tradition counts it strongest; no graha is exalted or debilitated in it.
Our chart's text for a Simha lagna describes a dignified, generous and self-assured presence and a sense of purpose that shines brightest in service.
Simha opens with Magha, whose star Regulus is the Lion's heart, and with the second round of the Vimshottari lords.
In the chart
Simha is the fifth rashi, 120° to 150° of the sidereal zodiac, and it holds Magha, Purva Phalguni and the first pada of Uttara Phalguni. In the whole-sign houses of the chart, the rashi of the lagna is the first bhava and each rashi after it the next, so Simha is the first bhava for a Simha lagna, the seventh for a Kumbha lagna, and so on round the twelve.
Its navamsas begin with Mesha: the nine parts of 3°20′ run Mesha, Vrishabha, Mithuna, Karka, Simha, Kanya, Tula, Vrishchika and Dhanu, as the Brihat Jataka's rule gives them, the movable rashis starting from themselves, the fixed from the ninth and the dual from the fifth. In 2026 the rashi covers about 24°13′ Leo to 24°13′ Virgo of the tropical zodiac, by the Lahiri measure, so a planet in tropical Leo is often in Karka here; another ayanamsa would move the edges by up to about 2.5°.
Correspondences
Each item with how it stands: “sourced” is in the work cited, “our construction” is EsoTerrier’s own, and “disputed” means the sources disagree.
- Shape (Brihat Jataka I.5, Iyer 1885)
- "of the shape of a lion", in Iyer's note to the stanza sourced
- Other name (I.8)
- Leya, one of the names Iyer notes as Greek sourced
- Direction of its triangle (I.11)
- east sourced
- Day or night (I.10)
- a day sign, powerful by day; rises by its head sourced
- Exalted here (I.13)
- no graha sourced
- Debilitated here (I.13)
- no graha sourced
- Themes in our chart's text, our words
- a dignified, generous and self-assured presence our construction
How the schools read it
- The Brihat Jataka (Varahamihira, 6th century; Iyer 1885)
- Shaped like a lion; called Leya; fixed, odd and masculine; its triangle faces east; a day sign rising by its head; lord the Sun, whose moolatrikona it is.
- Modern Jyotisha
- A fixed fire rashi ruled by Surya, its element and quality grouped as in the Western triplicities.
- Western tropical astrology
- Leo, the same twelfth of the circle counted from the March equinox, about 24° ahead in 2026.
- Other ayanamsas
- Raman's about 1.5° smaller than Lahiri's, Krishnamurti's about 5′ smaller, Fagan-Bradley's about 53′ larger: a placement near an edge can change rashi.
- The chart forms
- South Indian: Simha has its own fixed box; North Indian: the boxes are the bhavas and the rashi's number, 5, moves with the lagna.
- EsoTerrier
- Our chart's text for a Simha lagna: "Simha lagna, a fixed fire rashi ruled by Surya, lends a dignified, generous and self-assured presence. The lion's natural sense of authority often shows, and with Surya as lagnesha, purpose shines brightest when pride gives way to service." Our words.
Claims about it
-
The sidereal rashi shows the sky as it really is: it is the constellation of that name.
falseWhat the record shows: Both zodiacs measure the same positions from different starting points. A rashi is an equal 30° division counted from a point set by the ayanamsa, not the constellation of the same name.
-
The Lahiri ayanamsa is accepted everywhere.
falseWhat the record shows: Lahiri is India's national standard and by far the most used, but the KP school, B. V. Raman's followers and Western siderealists use other values, up to about 2.5° apart; a placement near a rashi's edge can change rashi between them.
-
The sidereal signs sit about 24° behind the tropical ones whichever ayanamsa is used.
disputedWhat the record shows: True for Lahiri (about 24°13′ in 2026) and close for Krishnamurti; Raman's is about 1.5° less and Fagan-Bradley's about 0°53′ more.
