Ashtakavarga
Parashara's benefic-point system — Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra
Ashtakavarga ('the eightfold division') scores every sign by how many of eight contributors — the seven classical grahas and the Lagna — cast a benefic point into it, from fixed per-planet tables. It is one of the most mechanical techniques in Jyotish, which is exactly why it lends itself to checking: the classical tables carry their own arithmetic (Sun 48, Moon 49, Mars 39, Mercury 54, Jupiter 56, Venus 52, Saturn 39 bindus), and every chart's grand total must come to exactly 337.
What it measures
For each graha, the count of contributors granting a point to each sign (BAV, 0–8); summed over the seven grahas, the Sarvashtakavarga (SAV) — a per-sign support score whose whole-chart total is always 337. Rahu and Ketu do not take part in Parashara's scheme.
Sources
- Parashara (attrib.), Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra, Ashtakavarga chapters