The Importance of the Atmakaraka, the King of our Birth Chart
Atma means soul, and Karaka stands for significator. The Atmakaraka is the significator of the individual soul in a Vedic birth chart and shows the inner soul nature of the native. The planet that assumes the role of the Atmakaraka reveals the seed longing and inclination within a person, what it is that pushes them towards the world. According to the ancient Vedic texts, the individual soul ( Jivatman ) is a spark of light seated in the human heart chakra ( Anahata ). Parashara, one of the venerable sages of Vedic astrology, speaks of Jivatman also as asta-atman ( asta = eight), because the individual soul is not one fibre of white light but has eight layers in the seven colours of the rainbow, plus the colour black, and that eight-folded spark of light extends in the eight cardinal directions. The eight layers of the soul correlate to the eight building blocks of the soul and the eight associated planets: the five Tattvas or elements (Earth, ruled by Mercury – Water, rul
