Brihajjataka 27

The inherent forms of the decans.

Wrapped around the waist with a white cloth, dark-complexioned, capable as if to protect, / fierce, holding a raised battle-axe, with red eyes: such is the man [of the first decan of Aries].

Mindful of red garments, ornaments, and food, jar-shaped, horse-faced, tormented by thirst, / and resting on one foot: in the middle of Aries, / this form of the decan is taught by the Greeks.

Cruel, skilled in the arts, tawny, eager for action, of broken vows, with raised staff in hand, / wearing red garments, wrathful: / the third decan in Aries is so described.

With curled and cut hair, pot-bodied, with burnt garments, thirsting and yearning for food, / longing for ornaments: / this woman is the form of the first [decan] in Taurus.

Skilled in fields, grain, houses, cows, and the arts, clever with the plough and cart, / carrying a bull-like shoulder, intent on hunger, goat-faced, wearing soiled garments [is the middle decan of Taurus].

With an elephant-like body, pale tusks, feet like a śarabha, yellowish-brown form, / mind agitated by desire for sheep and deer: / this one has reached the end of the Taurus forest.

A woman longing for needlework, endowed with beauty, devoted to ornaments and crafts, / devoid of children, with raised arms, in her menses: / those who know describe this as the first decan of the third sign.

Standing in a garden, armored, bearing a bow, heroic, weapon-wielding, with a face like Garuḍa, / occupied with thoughts of play, children, adornment, and wealth / in the middle of the sign of Gemini.

Adorned like Varuṇa with many gems, with tied quiver and armor, bearing a bow, / learned in the arts of dance and music, a maker of poetry: / at the end of the sign Gemini.

Carrying leaves, roots, and fruits, with the body of an elephant, living in the forest on the Malaya mountain, with legs like an eight-legged śarabha, / with a face like a boar and the neck of a horse: this they declare to be the first form in Cancer.

Adorned with lotuses on her head, accompanied by serpents, a woman standing in a dense forest cries out, / resting against the branch of a palāśa tree: she stands in the middle [decan] of the sign of Cancer.

To obtain ornaments for his wife, he travels by boat across the ocean, enveloped by serpents, / adorned with golden ornaments, having a flattened face: this is the final [decan] in Cancer.

Upon a silk-cotton tree sit a vulture and a jackal; a dog and a man dressed in dirty clothes, / deprived of mother and father, weeps: this is described as the first form of Leo.

A man with the form of a horse, with a garland of white flowers upon his crown, wearing a black antelope hide and a woolen blanket, / hard to approach like a lion, grasping a bow, with the tip of his nose curved downwards: this is the middle [decan] of the king of beasts.

A bearded man with the face of a bear, acting like a monkey, carries a staff, fruit, and meat, / with curly hair: this is the final one-third of the king of beasts.

A young maiden holding a jar filled with flowers, her body covered in garments smeared with dirt, / desiring a union with clothes and wealth, longs for the house of her teacher: this is the first [decan] of Virgo.

A dark-complexioned man holding a pen, his head wrapped in a cloth, keeping accounts of income and expense, / bears a large bow, with his body covered in hair: this is the middle [decan].

A fair woman, concealed by fine garments whose edges are cleanly washed, raised up, holding a pot and a ladle in her hand, / devout and headed toward a temple: they say this is the final one-third of Virgo.

A man in a shop inside a street, holding a balance, skilled in weighing and measuring, with counterweights in his hand, / deliberates upon the merchandise and its price: the Greeks declare this to be the first form of Libra.

Holding a water-pot and wishing to fly off, a man with the face of a vulture, / hungry and thirsty, thinks in his heart of his wife and sons: thus is the one situated in the middle of Libra.

Frightening the beasts in the forest, decorated with gems, carrying a golden quiver and armor, / bearing fruit and meat, a man having the form of a monkey: this is proclaimed by the Greeks at the end of Libra.

A charming woman, stripped of her clothes and ornaments, approaches the shore from the great ocean, / fallen from her station, with her feet bound by serpents: this is the first [decan] of the sign Scorpio.

A woman desiring the comforts of home for the sake of her husband, her body covered with serpents, / with a body like a tortoise and a pot: this they declare to be the middle form of Scorpio.

With a broad, flat face like a tortoise, terrifying dogs, deer, boars, and jackals, / the king of beasts guards the Malaya mountain region: this is the final [decan] of Scorpio.

With a human face and a body like a horse, holding a stretched bow, dwelling in a hermitage, / he protects the offerings fit for sacrifices and the ascetics: this is the first one-third of Sagittarius.

A charming woman, of the color of campaka flowers and gold, sits upon an auspicious seat, of middling appearance, / picking through pearls and gems from the ocean: this is designated as the middle one-third of Sagittarius.

A bearded man, radiant like gold and the campaka flower, holding a staff and seated upon an excellent seat, / wears silk garments and an antelope skin: this is the third form of the ninth sign.

Covered in hair, with tusks like a makara, with a body resembling a pig and an iron measure, / holding ropes, a net, and bonds, having a terrifying face: such is the first [decan] of Capricorn.

Skilled in the arts, with wide eyes like lotus petals, dark-complexioned, seeking various curiosities, / a woman adorned with ornaments and wearing iron earrings: she is designated in the middle of Capricorn.

With a body like a kinnara, wearing a woolen blanket, equipped with a quiver, a bow, and armor, / he carries upon his shoulder a water-pot decorated with jewels: this is the last [decan] of the sign Capricorn.

His mind disturbed by thoughts of obtaining oil, liquor, water, and food, wearing a woolen blanket, / dressed in garments made of silk-threads and wearing an antelope skin, with a face like a vulture: this is the first [decan] of the Water-bearer.

In a forest, near a burnt cart and a silk-cotton tree, a woman gathers pieces of iron; / covered with a dirty cloth, she carries pots on her head: this is the middle [decan].

Dark-complexioned, with hairy ears, wearing a diadem, he carries [goods] together with bark, leaves, resins, and fruits; / moving around pots mingled with iron wares: this is the one situated at the end of the Water-bearer.

His hands occupied with sacrificial ladles, vessels, pearls, gems, and conches, adorned with jewelry, / sailing in a boat across the reservoir of waters to obtain ornaments for his wife: this is the first [decan] of Pisces.

Approaching a vessel with very high flags and banners, a woman having a face colored like the campaka flower / goes to the shore of the ocean accompanied by her retinue: this has been declared by the sages as the second one-third of Pisces.

Near a chasm, his limbs enveloped by serpents, a man destitute of clothes in the forest, / his inner self agitated by thieves and fire, cries out: this is the one gone to the end of Pisces.