Kalapurusha meaning in Vedic astrology: time personified

Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (BPHS, chapter 4) describes Kalapurusha as Vishnu in the form of Time, whose limbs are the twelve signs beginning with Aries. In this mapping, Aries is the head, Taurus the face, and the signs continue down the body to Pisces, the feet. P.V.R. Narasimha Rao (PVR) writes: 'The whole zodiac is nothing but a manifestation of Lord Vishnu's body.' He gives the same head-to-feet mapping.

Not every text agrees on the details. B.V. Raman's Hindu Predictive Astrology gives some different limbs, for example Taurus as the neck, Cancer as the chest and Leo as the heart.

Skybond teaches this limb mapping as sky-lore, a way of seeing the zodiac as one living whole. It is not used as a reading of anyone's body or health.

Related terms

• Rashi →Rashi means sign in Vedic astrology: one of the 12 equal divisions of the zodiac, each 30 degrees wide.
• Elements of the signs →Each sign carries one of four elements (tattvas): fire, earth, air or water, which describes its underlying state.
• Movable, fixed and dual signs →Movable, fixed and dual signs are the three types (qualities) every sign belongs to, describing whether a sign tends toward movement, stability or a mix of both.

Sources for this entry

1. B.V. Raman, Hindu Predictive Astrology
2. P.V.R. Narasimha Rao, Vedic Astrology: An Integrated Approach
3. Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (R. Santhanam translation)
4. Skybond Learn editorial note and lesson list (internal documentation)