Our Methodology & Sources

Every calculation is astronomical, not approximated. We compute real planetary positions with the Swiss Ephemeris — the same high-precision engine used by professional astronomers — and apply standard Vedic conventions:

AstroZivi uses transparent, widely-accepted defaults — and shows you exactly which ones are in play, so a practitioner can verify every figure:

• Ayanamsha: Lahiri (Chitrapaksha), the Government of India standard.
• House system: Whole-Sign (Rāśi) houses.
• Both are surfaced in the UI and can be changed in your preferences.
• We never silently switch methods — precision is the product.

We default to Lahiri because it is the official Government of India (Rashtriya Panchang) standard and the most widely used ayanamsha in Indian practice — so your chart matches the panchang most people already reference. We default to Whole-Sign because it is the oldest and most common house system in the Parashari tradition, where each sign equals one house, keeping the classical result-rules aligned. Prefer a different convention? Switch the ayanamsha or house system in your preferences at any time — the active choice is always shown alongside your chart.

Yes. Rather than anonymous predictions, AstroZivi traces its interpretations to named classical texts, so you can see where a reading comes from. Our primary sources are:

• Brihat Parashara Hora ShastraThe master natal text — grahas, bhavas, yogas and the Vimshottari dasha.
• Brihat Jataka (Varahamihira)A ~6th-century classic; its 1885 English translation is public domain and may be quoted.
• Phaladeepika (Mantreswara)House and planet result rules; strong for bhava and dasha phala.
• Saravali (Kalyana Varma)Detailed planet-in-sign and planet-in-house results (~10th century).
• Jataka Parijata (Vaidyanatha Dikshita)A ~14th–15th-century compendium of natal (jataka) astrology.
• Jaimini SutrasThe parallel Jaimini system — chara karakas, arudha, chara dasha and argala.
• Uttara Kalamrita (Kalidasa)Consulted for karakas, argala and remedies.
• Brihat Samhita (Varahamihira)Varahamihira's compendium; our source for gemstone (ratna) material.
• Lal KitabA 20th-century (1939–1952) remedial tradition; editions differ, so we version-lock.

Every interpretive claim in the app carries an on-page source chip. Tap it and you see the named text, the chapter or verse where known, and a confidence label. Where the text and a pre-1925 translation are both public domain, we may quote it directly; where only copyrighted modern translations exist, we ground on the classical rule and write our own prose. The chart engine detects each condition deterministically — the citation simply names the text that reading rests on.