What Samudrika Shastra is
An old Indian study of the whole body's marks and features, where it sits in Jyotish, and what it is not.
- 6-minute lesson
- Basic course: Samudrika Shishya
- Samudrika Shastra
- The whole body
- Where it sits
- What it is not
A first look at the lesson
Samudrika Shastra reads lakshanas: the marks and features of the whole body. It looks at build and proportion, lustre, the face, the voice, the gait, the limbs, the feet and marks such as moles.
Varahamihira's Brihat Samhita (6th century CE) gives it chapters in the Samhita branch of Jyotish, beside omens, buildings and gems. The hand, Hasta Samudrika, is one part of it; the palmistry subject teaches the hand, and this course the rest of the body.
Words in this lesson
More lessons on this subject
- The texts of SamudrikaBrihat Samhita, the Garuda Purana, Samudrika Tilaka, the Jain Angavijja and Charaka: what each gives.
- Reading old texts todayThe texts reflect their age; the fixed limits every Samudrika reader keeps, and why.
- Reading from the feet upThe order the texts read a body in: the feet first, up to the head, then the whole person.
- Kalapurusha: the signs on the bodyJyotish places the twelve signs on the body of time, Aries at the head to Pisces at the feet.
Your first lesson takes about five minutes
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