[INDOLOGY] Symbolic Forms of the Navagrahas

[Martin Gansten]

Dear Jacob,

I have no immediate textual references for you, but I would suggest (you 
may have thought of this already) looking for such in ritual manuals of 
navagraha worship, for the construction of temporary maṇḍalas and the 
like, rather than in astrological texts as such. I can't recall ever 
seeing the planets represented in this way in a horoscope, for instance 
(where they are usually represented by abbreviated forms of their names, 
such as सू or चं.) Perhaps there may be something on the topic in S.K. 
Ramachandra Rao's two-volume /Navagraha-Kosha/, but I'm not sure.

Some of the symbols are more readily intelligible than others, 
especially the sun disc and crescent moon. Ketu does mean flag or banner 
and originally referred to comets (usually in the plural), which again 
is understandable in visual terms. (I don't know when the word came to 
designate the south lunar node, but it seems to be rather a late 
development.) Venus could conceivably have derived its shape from the 
pattern it forms during its eight-year cycle with the sun (a web search 
will tell you more about this, with useful images), but I'm less sure 
about that. The rest are less clear to me, unless Rāhu's basket is a 
stylized version of a severed head (Rāhu being the head of the demon 
Svarbhānu, cut in two by the Sudarśana disc of Viṣṇu in the myth about 
the churning of the ocean).

Best wishes,
Martin


Den 2026-03-18 kl. 23:27, skrev jacob--- via INDOLOGY:
> Dear friends and colleagues,
>
> I am trying to understand the origin of the symbolic forms (ākāra) 
> associated with the navagrahas, but have not had any luck so far. The 
> standard forms, as far as I have been able to determine them, are as 
> follows:
>
> Sun = circle (vṛtta)
> Moon = crescent (ardhacandra)
> Mars = triangle (trikoṇa)
> Mercury = arrowhead (bāṇa)
> Jupiter = rectangle (dīrghacaturaśra)
> Venus = pentagon (pañcakoṇa)
> Saturn = bow (dhanus)
> Rāhu = winnowing basket (śūrpa)
> Ketu = flag (dhvaja)
>
> I would be grateful for any pointers to primary sources or articles 
> discussing these forms.
>
> Best regards,
> Jacob
>
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