The 4th of the twelve rashis · 90°–120° of the sidereal zodiac
Kark Rashi
Cancer Moon sign · ruled by Chandra
Kark is your rashi if the Moon was in Cancer when you were born: the rashi your rashifal, Sade Sati and naam akshar go by. People with the Moon in Kark feel deeply and care for others. Its lord is Chandra, its nakshatras are Punarvasu (pada 4), Pushya and Ashlesha, and a Kark child’s name traditionally begins with one of Hi (ही), Hu (हू), He (हे), Ho (हो), Ḍa (डा), Ḍi (डी), Ḍu (डू), Ḍe (डे), Ḍo (डो).
Also written Karka, Karkataka, Kadagam.
Kark at a glance
The sign’s own facts, the same for every Kark Moon.
Mangal (Mars): debilitated (at its weakest)
People with the Moon in Kark
The Moon is the karaka (significator) of the mind, so its rashi says how a person feels and takes things. Your lagna and the rest of the chart shape it further.
This is the Moon's own rashi, so feelings, home and mother mean a great deal: they are protective and loyal and remember every kindness, but moods rise and fall like the tide and hurt lingers. A settled home is what steadies them.
What Varahamihira says
Brihat Jataka says a person born with Chandra in Karka (Cancer) walks fast, keeps close and loyal friends, has a gift for jyotish (astrology) and owns many houses. Their wealth grows and shrinks by turns, like the waxing and waning Moon. They are won over by kind words, are much guided by the women in their life and love water and gardens. The verse describes a short build and a thick neck. Varahamihira adds (17.13) that this holds in full only when the Moon and Kark are both strong at birth (Kark’s lord is the Moon itself).
Brihat Jataka 17.4
Strengths
Chandra rules this rashi and stands for nourishment, so Kark is often the one who checks that guests have eaten and that an elder's medicines have not run out. Being a chara (movable) sign, it turns feeling into action, arranging the hospital visit or the puja before anyone asks. Chandra also signifies the public, which gives Kark an easy way with strangers who need help.
What to watch
Kark can carry the whole family's worries as its own and forget to ask for help in return. Standing guarantee for a cousin's loan, or lending without a date for repayment, is where this affection most needs a limit. Keeping one evening a week for its own rest, and saying so plainly at home, helps the caregiver stay well.
Work, marriage and health for Kark
Jyotish also reads a chart with the Moon sign as its lagna (Chandra lagna): the 10th from the Moon for work, the 7th for marriage, and the rashi’s own limb and element for health. The 7th sign describes the partner’s nature, not the rashi your partner will have. This is tradition, not a forecast; your full kundli decides.
Work and career
For Kark the 10th sign from the Moon is Mesh (Aries), ruled by Mangal (Mars), which points to work that needs courage and quick action: the police, the army, surgery, engineering or sport. Kark's own lord Chandra (Moon) adds care, food and dealing with the public, so nursing, a restaurant, a dairy or a trade linked to water also suits this rashi. Its caring side also suits work such as counselling, and since the verse credits Kark with many houses, property work fits as well.
Marriage
The 7th sign from the Moon is Makar (Capricorn), ruled by Shani (Saturn), so tradition reads a partner who is responsible, reserved and shows love through duty more than words. Kark is emotional and such a partner practical and steady; the bond grows strong when Kark's feeling meets that steadiness and both say plainly what they need. A gentle tone at home goes a long way, because a harsh word stays with Kark long after the quarrel is over.
Health
Tradition links Kark to the heart in the Kalapurusha, the zodiac pictured as one body (Brihat Jataka 1.4), and as a Jala (water) rashi to the body's fluids. Chandra (Moon) rules both this rashi and the mind, so the tradition ties mind and body closely here and counts peace at home and enough rest as part of looking after the body.
Kark’s nakshatras and naam akshar
Each rashi holds nine padas, a quarter of a nakshatra each. The pada the Moon was in gives the syllable a name traditionally begins with.
| Nakshatra | Lord | Span in Kark | Padas in Kark | Naam akshar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Punarvasu | Guru (Jupiter) | 0°–3°20′ | 4 | Hi (ही) |
| Pushya | Shani (Saturn) | 3°20′–16°40′ | all four | Hu (हू), He (हे), Ho (हो), Ḍa (डा) |
| Ashlesha | Budh (Mercury) | 16°40′–30° | all four | Ḍi (डी), Ḍu (डू), Ḍe (डे), Ḍo (डो) |
A dot under the letter marks the hard sound: Ṭa is ट, not त; Ḍa is ड, not द; Ṇa is ण, not न.
Shani, Guru and Rahu for Kark now
These houses are counted from your Moon, as the rashifal counts them. Sade Sati is Shani in the 12th, 1st or 2nd from the Moon, about seven and a half years; a dhaiyya is Shani in the 4th (Kantaka) or 8th (Ashtama), about two and a half. The same for every Kark Moon; your own chart decides how they land.
- Shani (Saturn)Now in Meen, your 9th house from the Moon, so neither Sade Sati nor a dhaiyya is running. Next: Sade Sati from 31 May 2032 until 22 October 2038, then from 5 April 2039 until 13 July 2039 and Kantaka Shani (a dhaiyya, Shani in the 4th) from 28 January 2041 until 6 February 2041, then from 26 September 2041 until 11 December 2043, then from 23 June 2044 until 30 August 2044. Sade Sati · dhaiyya dates.
- Guru (Jupiter)Now in your 1st house from the Moon, the house of your own health, confidence and how others see you. After that it moves to your 2nd (family, savings and the way you speak) from 31 October 2026, back to your 1st from 25 January 2027, back to your 2nd from 26 June 2027 and to your 3rd (courage, younger siblings and short journeys) from 26 November 2027.
- RahuNow in your 8th house from the Moon, the house of health, sudden events, hidden matters and in-laws. After that it moves to your 7th (marriage, partners and business dealings) from 5 December 2026.
Upay for Kark: its lord Chandra
A rashi is kept strong through its lord. These are free; each says what it is for.
- Chandra’s mantra, 108 times on Mondaysॐ सोमाय नमःOm Somaya Namah. The simplest mantra of Kark’s lord, said for a calm mind and a mother’s wellbeing.
- Beej mantra (the seed mantra), for regular japa (chanting on a mala)ॐ श्रां श्रीं श्रौं सः चन्द्राय नमःOm Shraam Shreem Shraum Sah Chandraya Namah. For a fuller japa of Chandra, said 108 times a day, when Kark’s lord needs strengthening: in its dasha (its planetary period), or when it is weak in your chart.
- Worship of ParvatiThe deity tradition links with Kark, worshipped for a steady heart and harmony in the family; a temple visit or a lamp at home is the simplest form.
A gemstone is not given by rashi. A stone that suits one chart can harm another, so it is chosen from your whole kundli.
Kark in kundli matching
Of the eight kootas (the parts of gun milan), four are read from the rashi alone, worth 15 of the 36 points: Varna (1, the sign’s class), Vashya (2, mutual attraction), Graha Maitri (5, the lords’ friendship) and Bhakoot (7, love and the family’s wellbeing).
- Best and hardest on the rashi aloneTaking Kark as the boy’s rashi, Kark scores highest of the other eleven with Mesh (13/15) and lowest with Kumbh (2.5/15). Two Kark Moons together score the full 15 on these four. Swap the boy’s and girl’s rashis and Varna and Vashya can score differently, so each pair page gives both ways. The other four kootas, 21 points, need both nakshatras.
- BhakootBhakoot, worth 7 points, scores 0 when the two rashis sit 2nd–12th, 5th–9th or 6th–8th from each other. With Mithun, Vrishchik, Meen, Dhanu and Kumbh the dosha stands. With Singh it is cancelled, because the two lords are the same graha or friends to each other: Bhakoot still scores 0 of 7, but astrologers do not treat the match as blocked by it.
- Vashya (2 points)Kark is Jalachara (water). Vashya, the koota of mutual attraction, gives Kark the full 2 points with a partner whose Moon is in Kark or Meen. Dhanu and Makar change class at 15°, and the counts here take their first half: with a Moon in Makar’s second half Kark gets 2 points.
Kark with every rashi, koota by koota → · Full kundli matching
Kark as Parashara describes it
The sign’s own make-up, apart from any graha in it.
- Colour: pale red
- Bulky body
- Many-footed, like a crab
- Strong at night
- Lives in forests
- Sattvic (pure)
- Watery
- Prishtodaya: rises with its back
- Lord: Chandra (Moon)
- Chara (movable), female, saumya (gentle)
- Kapha (phlegmatic) temperament
Sattva, rajas and tamas are the three gunas (calm clarity, drive and inertia). Vata, pitta and kapha are the three doshas of Ayurveda (air, fire and water in the body). A sign rises head first (shirshodaya) or back first (prishtodaya) by how its figure comes up in the east; the texts use this, with day or night strength, to time results. Parashara describes the sign itself; Varahamihira, above, the person whose Moon is in it, so the two can differ.
Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra 4.5, 4.10–11
Common questions
What is Kark rashi?
Kark (Cancer) is the 4th of the twelve rashis, 90°–120° of the sidereal zodiac, ruled by Chandra. It is your rashi if the Moon was in it when you were born.
What are the naam akshar for Kark rashi?
Hi (ही), Hu (हू), He (हे), Ho (हो), Ḍa (डा), Ḍi (डी), Ḍu (डू), Ḍe (डे), Ḍo (डो): one for each of the nine padas, in order. The pada of the Moon at birth gives the one to use.
Which rashis match Kark best?
On the four kootas a rashi decides, Kark scores highest of the other eleven with Mesh (13 of 15, Kark taken as the boy’s rashi); two Kark Moons together score the full 15. A real match needs both kundlis: the nakshatra kootas carry 21 of the 36 points.
What is the mantra for Kark rashi?
Om Somaya Namah, the mantra of its lord Chandra, 108 times on Mondays. The upay section above gives the beej mantra and the deity too.
Is Kark rashi in Sade Sati or dhaiyya now?
Neither now. Shani is in Meen, the 9th from Kark. Next comes Sade Sati from 31 May 2032 until 22 October 2038, then from 5 April 2039 until 13 July 2039; then Kantaka Shani (a dhaiyya, Shani in the 4th) from 28 January 2041 until 6 February 2041, then from 26 September 2041 until 11 December 2043, then from 23 June 2044 until 30 August 2044.
How is 2027 for Kark rashi?
2027 is at its best in September and November and slowest in February and December. The 2027 rashifal gives every month, with the Shani, Guru and Rahu moves above.
Your rashi is one part of your kundli
Your lagna, your nakshatra’s pada and your dasha say the rest. Acharya Parashara, an AI astrologer, reads all of it with you.
Create free kundli
Ask Acharya Parashara
An AI Vedic astrologer. Chat in any Indian language; call in Hindi and English.Try asking“Give me the most detailed analysis of my kundli”“What rare yogas exist in my birth chart?”“Analyze my Sookshma dasha for this month”Chat Call Billed per minute, only while your chat or call is on. End it any time.
