Prashna — Horary Astrology in Vedic Practice

Prashna ("question") is the Vedic art of reading a chart cast not for a person's birth, but for the moment a sincere question is asked. The chart at that moment is treated as a snapshot of cosmic conditions reflecting the question's outcome. Done well, Prashna can answer specific questions with remarkable accuracy — even when no birth chart is available.

KarmaWheel includes a Prashna mode. Open Features → Prashna.

The classical principle

Prashna rests on the idea that the moment a question forms and is asked is itself a significant cosmic moment — and the planetary positions at that exact time mirror the question's situation, much as the natal chart mirrors a person's life.

The questioner provides:

The exact moment the question is asked (KarmaWheel auto-uses now)
The exact location of the questioner
A clearly-formulated question

KarmaWheel casts a chart for that moment + place, and the reader interprets it like a natal chart, with houses repurposed for the question's domain.

How to read a Prashna chart

The same houses, planets, signs, and dashas exist in a Prashna chart, but their meanings shift to address the question.

General mapping

Lagna — the querent (the person asking)
Lagna lord — the querent's representative; its position and dignity describe their state
The 7th house — the thing or person being asked about (the answerer's position, the partner in question, the matter being inquired)
The 7th lord — the representative of the question's subject
The other houses retain their Vedic meanings, contextualized by the question

Question-specific house

Beyond the universal Lagna and 7th, look at the house most directly governing the question:

"Will I get this job?" → 10th house (career)
"Will the marriage happen?" → 7th house (always relevant to marriage)
"Will my health improve?" → 6th house (illness)
"Where is my lost item?" → 2nd house (possessions) and 4th (home)
"Will I have children?" → 5th house
"Will the journey be safe?" → 3rd (short trips), 9th (long), 12th (foreign)
"Will the case go in my favor?" → 6th (the opposing side), and 9th (judgment, justice)

The yes/no answer

Classical Prashna uses several signals to determine yes/no:

Lagna lord and the question-house lord conjunct, aspecting, or in mutual reception → favorable
Both lords in dusthanas (6, 8, 12) → unfavorable
Moon (the swift planet) connecting Lagna lord to the question-house → confirms the answer
Benefic in or aspecting the question house → favorable
Malefics afflicting the question house without benefic mitigation → unfavorable

Timing of the answer

If the answer is "yes": - The degree of the Moon in its current sign indicates how soon (the Moon completes a cycle in ~28 days; how far through is rough timing) - The planet's transit to perfect a useful aspect indicates the trigger event

KP Prashna

KarmaWheel's Prashna feature works particularly well with KP astrology's sublord-based approach. KP horary is widely respected for its sharp precision in event timing.

In KP Prashna: - The sublord of the relevant house cusp is the deciding factor - If the sublord significates the necessary houses (via its star-lord chain), the answer is yes - The Ruling Planets at the moment of judgment confirm or refute

To use KP Prashna in KarmaWheel: 1. Switch your ayanamsha to Krishnamurti (Settings) 2. Open Features → Prashna 3. Enter the question; the chart is cast for the current moment + your current location 4. Read the cusp-sublord tables in addition to standard chart features

Best practices for Prashna

Classical practitioners hold these as guidelines:

When to ask

The question must be sincere — idle curiosity charts give vague results
The question should be specific and answerable — "Will I be happy?" is too broad; "Will I get this specific job?" is workable
One question per chart — don't ask multiple unrelated questions of the same chart
Ask only when you've actually been thinking about the question — the chart reflects an active question, not a manufactured one

What kinds of questions work

Yes/no with a specific outcome
"When" questions about scheduled events
"Where" questions about lost items or missing people (classically a strong Prashna domain)
"What kind of person/thing" questions

What doesn't work well

Open-ended life-direction questions (use the natal chart for that)
Questions where you don't actually want the answer
Questions where the timeframe is undefined ("ever" / "someday")

In KarmaWheel

Open Features → Prashna:

Enter your question (the question is for your reflection; KarmaWheel doesn't analyze the text)
The chart is automatically cast for the current moment at your current residence (or birth city if no residence is set)
Read the chart using the principles above
Use the Ask Anything chat to discuss the chart's reading interactively