Chara Karakas are Jaimini astrology’s answer to the question “which planet plays which role in this life?”. Take the seven visible grahas, sort them by descending degree-in-rashi, and assign the seven roles in order: Atmakaraka (soul), Amatyakaraka (mind / advisor), Bhratrukaraka (siblings), Matrukaraka (mother), Putrakaraka (children), Gnatikaraka (struggle / relatives), Darakaraka (spouse).

The Atmakaraka is the most significant. Its dignity, house placement, and aspect-set drive the central life-pattern. Its position in the navamsa — the Karakamsa — opens a second layer of analysis: the 5th from Karakamsa names the Ishta Devata (personal deity for spiritual practice); the 12th points to moksha tendencies.

The 8-Karaka Jaimini variant (Sanjay Rath’s reading of the Upadesa Sutras) adds Rahu with its degree reversed (30 − degreeInRashi) and inserts Pitrukaraka — the father-significator — at slot 5. The Parashara 7-variant remains the default and is what most public-facing Jaimini calculators show.