Seven axes of comparison
| Axis | Saju | Vedic |
|---|---|---|
| What it reads | Eight characters from converting birth year, month, day, and hour into the sexagenary cycle | The section of sky the Moon occupied at the moment of birth |
| How the sky is measured | Solar terms — months divided by the Sun's movement | Sidereal zodiac — actual star positions, about 24° off from Western astrology |
| Number of base types | 10 day-stems / 60 combinations | 27 birth stars (nakshatras) |
| Life flow | Luck pillars — even 10-year blocks | Dasha — 6 to 20 years, varying by planet |
| Weight of birth time | The hour pillar drops out entirely: two of eight characters lost | Birth star changes for about one in four people |
| Compatibility | Interpreted through relationships like harmony and clash | Ashtakoota 36 points — eight items with fixed weights |
| Remedies like colors and gems | Supplementing a lacking element | Each birth star and ruling planet has set colors, gems, and days |
The 24-degree shift
If you were a Leo in Western astrology and come out Cancer in Vedic, this is usually why.
Western astrology sets the spring equinox at 0°. But Earth's axis wobbles once every 26,000 years or so, and the equinox slowly drifts against the actual stars. Vedic corrects for this drift and follows the real star positions. The correction is called the ayanamsa, and today it is about 24.2°.
This service uses the Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa, the Indian government standard.
How life flow is read
Saju cuts luck into even ten-year pillars. Vedic dasha periods each have their own length.
Nine planets share 120 years: Ketu rules 7, Venus 20. Which planet's period you were born in, and how far through it, sets a different starting point for everyone. So people of the same age stand in different places.
- Ketu7 yr
- Venus20 yr
- Sun6 yr
- Moon10 yr
- Mars7 yr
- Rahu18 yr
- Jupiter16 yr
- Saturn19 yr
- Mercury17 yr
Frequently asked
I already had a Saju reading. Should I try Vedic?
They are not two ways of measuring the same thing — they use entirely different bases. Saju converts your birth moment into stem-branch signs and reads the balance of five elements; Vedic reads where the Moon was in the sky at that moment. So the results do not overlap, and Vedic says things Saju never did.
Why do Western signs and Vedic differ?
Different reference points. Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac, with the spring equinox at 0°; Vedic uses the sidereal zodiac, following actual star positions. Earth's slow axial wobble has pulled the two apart by about 24°. So a Western Leo often becomes a Vedic Cancer.
Which is better without a birth time?
Saju loses the hour pillar entirely — two of its eight characters. In Vedic, the Moon can cross a section within a day, so about one in four birth stars change without a time. That is why this service does not confirm a birth star without a time, and confirms only the guardian planet, which is set by the date alone.
Which is more accurate?
They are not the kind of thing whose accuracy can be compared. Both are old systems of observation and interpretation, and this is content for entertainment. Where they do differ is transparency of calculation: Vedic compatibility has eight items with fixed weights, so you can see exactly how the score was built.
Just your date of birth. 30 seconds.