Prashna

Praśna means “question”. The practice of casting a chart for the moment of a question is documented in Indian texts such as the Praśna Mārga, composed in Kerala in the 16th or 17th century, and in Tājika-influenced works. The Western equivalent is horary astrology, which developed in the Hellenistic and medieval periods and shares many of the same ideas.

Its place in Indian life is practical. When no birth time is known, or when the question is urgent and specific, a Praśna chart answers it directly, and the practice has long been used by village astrologers to answer questions about lost objects, travel and the outcome of a venture.

Prashna (Sanskrit for "question") is Jyotisha's horary art: treat the instant a sincere question is asked as a birth. The rising sign, planetary positions and lunar nakshatra of that moment form a complete chart whose story is the answer.

The philosophical premise: nothing is random. The urgency that made you ask, the hour you happened to ask it, and the outcome are one connected event. South Indian traditions — especially Kerala's Prashna Marga lineage — developed this into a forensic discipline, down to reading the omens present in the room.

The querent asks one specific question, and the reader records the exact time and place. A chart is cast for that moment as though it were a birth. Some Kerala traditions add a ritual, such as choosing a number or touching a flower, to fix the moment, and they look at omens in the surroundings at the same time.

The reader assigns house significations to the subject of the question, for example the seventh for a partnership or the tenth for a position. The lord of the Lagna stands for the querent and the lord of the relevant house for the matter. Their relationship and the Moon’s condition give the judgment.

Timing is estimated from how many degrees remain before the significators perfect an aspect, with degrees translating to days, weeks, months or years depending on the sign’s quality and the house.

Horary astrology is the most debatable of the techniques, because its basis is that a question’s timing mirrors its answer. There is no test of this that has held up, and readings depend heavily on the reader’s judgment.

Responsible practitioners decline questions about illness, death or anything that needs a professional, and they ask only one question at a time. Asking the same question repeatedly is traditionally forbidden.