Sign 2 of 12

Taurus (Vrishabha)

वृषभ

30° to 60° of the sidereal zodiac

Taurus, Vrishabha, is the second sign, and its name means the bull. Its stars hold the Pleiades and Aldebaran, the red eye of the Bull, which the nakshatras Krittika and Rohini are named for. The bull is the picture of patience, strength held in reserve, fertile land and the wealth it yields, and the tradition reads Taurus as the sign of steadiness, comfort, beauty and the pleasures of the senses. It is the sign in which the Moon is exalted, which says something of how the tradition values a calm and contented mind. The Sun passes through Taurus from mid-May to mid-June. In a chart the sign colours the way the planets in it act, and its lord carries its affairs to the house where that lord stands. Below are the facts the site's tables hold for Taurus: its lord, element and quality, the nakshatras within it, the planets whose dignity it decides, and what each graha is for a Taurus Lagna.

At a glance

Lord
Venus
Span
30° to 60°
Element
Earth
Quality
Fixed
Opposite sign
Scorpio
Nakshatras
3 in whole or part

Lord, element and quality

Taurus is ruled by Venus, who also rules Libra. Wherever Venus stands in a chart, it carries the affairs of the house Taurus falls in. It is a sign of the earth element and of the fixed quality. The twelve signs cycle through the qualities in order, movable, fixed and dual, so every fourth sign shares one: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius are fixed. The birth report describes the sign's theme as stability, comfort and resources.

The nakshatras in Taurus

Each sign holds two and a quarter nakshatras, nine quarters in all, since the twelve signs and the twenty-seven nakshatras share the same circle.

  • Krittika: 0°00′ Taurus to 10°00′ Taurus, padas 2, 3 and 4, the rest of it lying in Aries.
  • Rohini: 10°00′ Taurus to 23°20′ Taurus, all four padas.
  • Mrigashira: 23°20′ Taurus to 30°00′ Taurus, padas 1 and 2, the rest of it lying in Gemini.

Planets whose dignity Taurus decides

The site's table of dignities, which follows Parashara's ranges for the signs he divides by degree, gives these in Taurus:

  • Moon: Moon is exalted from 0° to 3°; Moon is in its moolatrikona from 3° to 30°.
  • Venus: Venus is in its own sign throughout the sign.

For every other planet Taurus is the sign of a friend, a neutral or an enemy, as that planet counts Venus. The table: Sun — enemy, Mars — neutral, Mercury — friend, Jupiter — enemy and Saturn — friend.

Taurus as the Lagna

When Taurus is rising at birth it is the first house, and each graha's nature for the chart follows from the houses it rules. The site takes this from Parashara's own list for each rising sign (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, ch. 34, tr. R. Santhanam), and goes by the chapter's general rules for a graha the verse does not name. For a Taurus Lagna:

  • Sun, lord of the 4th: auspicious.
  • Moon, lord of the 3rd: inauspicious.
  • Mars, lord of the 7th and 12th: neutral.
  • Mercury, lord of the 2nd and 5th: a giver of a little good.
  • Jupiter, lord of the 8th and 11th: inauspicious.
  • Venus, lord of the 1st and 6th: inauspicious.
  • Saturn, lord of the 9th and 10th: the Yogakaraka, ruling an angle and a trine.

The Yogakaraka, the single graha that rules both an angle and a trine and so is the chart's best friend, is Saturn.

Rahu and Ketu are not classed by the verse: they act for the lord of the sign they occupy and the house they are in.

Varahamihira on each planet in Taurus

The Brihat Jataka gives a reading for a birth with each of the seven planets in each sign; the nodes are not given any. The site's birth report quotes these as they are paraphrased here. Varahamihira adds that a sign's effects come in full only when the planet, the sign and its lord are strong.

The Sun in Taurus. With the Sun in Taurus, Varahamihira describes a talent for music, vocal and instrumental, and a living in cloth, perfume and similar goods. (Brihat Jataka 18.1, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

The Moon in Taurus. With the Moon in Taurus, Varahamihira describes a graceful, generous and patient person, liked by all and loyal to friends, who bears setbacks steadily and comes to influence and authority. He notes a good appetite, a tendency to colds and congestion, times apart from family, and a happiness that grows with middle and later life. (Brihat Jataka 17.2, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

Mars in Taurus. With Mars in Taurus, Varahamihira describes someone swayed more by a partner than by friends' advice, fond of dress and adornment and of games of skill and illusion, and more timid than Mars usually makes one. (Brihat Jataka 18.5, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

Mercury in Taurus. With Mercury in Taurus, Varahamihira describes a teacher and speaker, generous and respectful of teachers and elders, always busy earning, with a large family. (Brihat Jataka 18.8, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

Jupiter in Taurus. With Jupiter in Taurus, Varahamihira describes good health, comfort and wealth, friends and children, a generous hand and the goodwill of all. (Brihat Jataka 18.12, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

Venus in Taurus. With Venus in Taurus, Varahamihira describes wealth earned by one's own ability and intelligence, the favour of those in power, a leading place in the family, renown and courage. (Brihat Jataka 18.14, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

Saturn in Taurus. With Saturn in Taurus, Varahamihira describes modest wealth and more than one marriage. (Brihat Jataka 18.18, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

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