Caturviṃśāṃśa (D-24)

Caturviṃśāṃśa (चतुर्विंशांश, also written Chaturvimshamsha or Siddhāṃśa) — the D-24 chart — is the eleventh of the sixteen classical Ṣoḍaśa-vargas described in Brihat Parāśara Horā Śāstra. The Caturviṃśāṃśa reads the vidyā register — learning, education, scholarship, the cultivation of knowledge, and the register of intellectual accomplishment. The name caturviṃśāṃśa is Sanskrit for "twenty-fourth part." Classical tradition also names this varga Siddhāṃśa in some regional sources — from siddhi ("accomplishment"), naming the register of cultivated expertise the chart reads.

Classical grounding

Brihat Parāśara Horā Śāstra's Ṣoḍaśa-varga-adhyāya names the Caturviṃśāṃśa's computational rule and its vidyā register signification; Phaladeepikā and Saravali supply extended treatment. Classical sources name the D-24 as the primary varga for learning-register assessment, supplementing the Rāśi-chart's 2nd-bhāva (primary learning and speech-register) and 4th-bhāva (formative education) readings.

Computational scheme

BPHS's division rule for D-24: each 30° rāśi is divided into twenty-four 1°15' parts (30° ÷ 24 = 1.25°), with rāśi-ownership assigned by the rāśi's odd-even classification. For odd rāśis (Meṣa, Mithuna, Siṃha, Tulā, Dhanu, Kumbha), the caturviṃśāṃśa- count begins from Siṃha and proceeds sequentially through twenty- four rāśis (wrapping twice through the zodiac). For even rāśis (Vṛṣabha, Karka, Kanyā, Vṛścika, Makara, Meena), the count begins from Karka. The classical convention places odd-rāśi starting at Siṃha (Sūrya's rāśi — the classical learning-authority register) and even-rāśi starting at Karka (Chandra's rāśi — the classical learning-reception register). BPHS is explicit on this convention.

Classical significations

The Caturviṃśāṃśa-chart classically reads vidyā — learning in its full classical register: primary schooling, higher education, scholarly specialisation, intellectual accomplishment, and the cultivated-expertise dimension of the native's life. Classical reading: the Lagna of the D-24 chart reads the native's learning- register orientation; the 4th-bhāva of the D-24 reads formative education specifically; the 5th-bhāva reads higher learning and intellectual creativity; the 9th-bhāva reads scholarly-register culmination and dharmic-knowledge pursuit. Budha as vidyā-kāraka (knowledge-kāraka) and Guru as jñāna-kāraka (wisdom-kāraka) are cross-referenced.

Classical interpretation register

The classical interpretation register of the Caturviṃśāṃśa is vidyā-specific — the chart specialises a reading that the Rāśi- chart's 2nd-bhāva and the Vimśāṃśa (D-20, spiritual register) only partially overlap with. Classical commentators note the D-24's particular reading weight for scholarly-register assessment and for identifying the domain of learning toward which the native's chart classically inclines. The vargottama condition in the D-24 is classically a strength-register for the learning-register. The D-24 is included in classical graded-varga schemes from Ṣoḍaśa- varga. The classical Siddhāṃśa naming emphasises the accomplishment-register: the chart reads not merely capacity for learning but the register of cultivated expertise the native may come to embody. As with all vargas, classical tradition reports the register; the reader's pursuits and choices are the reader's.

Related Concepts

• Rāśi (D-1) — primary chart
• Dhana-bhāva (2nd) — 2nd bhāva — primary learning register
• Sukha-bhāva (4th) — 4th bhāva — formative education
• Putra-bhāva (5th) — 5th bhāva — higher learning
• Dharma-bhāva (9th) — 9th bhāva — scholarly dharma register
• Budha — classical vidyā-kāraka
• Bṛhaspati — classical jñāna-kāraka
• Vimśāṃśa (D-20) — paired upāsanā-vidyā reading