Ātmakāraka

The ātmakāraka ('significator of the self') is the first of Jaimini's cara kārakas: the graha with the highest degree within its sign, whichever sign that is. The Jaimini Upadeśa Sūtras rank the others below it (amātya, bhrātṛ, mātṛ, putra, jñāti and dāra kārakas), using seven grahas or, in another reading, eight including Rāhu, whose degrees are counted backwards. Its navāṃśa sign, the kārakāṃśa, is a principal reference point in Jaimini's method.