Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c7.1581

c7.1581

The earth completes one rotation in 60 Nāḍikās (24 minutes) i.e. 24 hours. In each rotation these twelve zodiacs face the earth. For a man standing at a particular point on the earth it will take 60% 12 i.e. 5 nāḍikās (two hours) on an average, for a zodiac to pass him. But it may vary in different places according to the difference of the shape of the earth. A month is the time the sun remains in a zodiac. The planet Jupiter takes a year and Saturn two years and a half on an average to pass a zodiac. The calendar shows which are the planets standing in each zodiac and how far they have travelled at a particular time in that particular zodiac. When a particular zodiac is in a particular region of the earth, a man born in that region is said to be born in that zodiac. When a particular place faces the zodiac of Meṣa the child which takes that in that place is said to be born in the zodiac of Meṣa. The zodiac of birth is given the name Lagna by astronomers. Those who are well-versed in the resultside of astronomy are of opinion that the life, fortune etc. of living beings depend upon the position of the planets in relation to their lagnas.