Gems and rudraksha The nine stones of the navaratna with their substitutes, the finger, metal, day and weight each is worn by, the mantra it is energised with, and the cautions that matter more than the table itself. A gem strengthens its graha whether that graha is helping the chart or hurting it.

For your chart#

Which of the nine, if any, this chart calls for. It is worked out from the birth details on this device; nothing is sent anywhere.

Birth details பிறப்பு விவரங்கள்

Name

Date of birth Time of birth

Time of birth not known Place of birth

Latitude Longitude

Time zone Hours from UTC

UTC+5:30

Gender

Enter the date of birth.

Until then, the three sheets below are the general tables: the nine gems, the fourteen rudraksha mukhis, and the rules for wearing either.

The nine gems#

Each stone with its graha, its substitutes, and the finger, metal, day, hour and weight tradition sets for it.

Ruby

Manikkam · Manikya

Graha: Suriyan

Strengthens Suriyan: confidence, standing, the father’s side and the health of the eyes and heart.

Substitutes: Red garnet, Red spinel, Sunstone
Colour: Pigeon-blood to rose red
Finger: Ring finger of the right hand
Metal: Gold, or copper for a plain ring
Day: Sunday
Time: In the first hour after sunrise, in the bright fortnight
Weight: Not below 3 ratti (about 2.7 carat); 5 ratti is the usual size
Mantra: Om Hraam Hreem Hraum Sah Suryaya Namah, 7,000 times before it is first worn
Never with: Diamond, Blue sapphire, Hessonite, Cat's eye

A ruby is worn only when Suriyan is a friend of the lagna; for Rishabam, Thulam and Magaram lagnas it is usually refused.

Pearl

Muthu · Mukta

Graha: Chandran

Strengthens Chandran: steadiness of mind, sleep, the mother’s side and peace at home.

Substitutes: Moonstone, White coral, Opal
Colour: White with a soft lustre
Finger: Little finger of the right hand
Metal: Silver
Day: Monday
Time: In the evening after moonrise, in the bright fortnight
Weight: Not below 4 ratti; 5 to 7 ratti is usual, a pearl being light for its size
Mantra: Om Shraam Shreem Shraum Sah Chandraya Namah, 11,000 times before it is first worn
Never with: Emerald, Diamond, Blue sapphire, Hessonite, Cat's eye

The gentlest of the nine and the one most often given first; a natural pearl is preferred to a cultured one.

Red coral

Pavalam · Praval

Graha: Sevvai

Strengthens Sevvai: courage, energy, blood and marrow, and the confidence to finish what was started.

Substitutes: Carnelian, Red jasper
Colour: Deep red to orange-red
Finger: Ring finger of the right hand
Metal: Copper, or gold
Day: Tuesday
Time: In the first hour after sunrise, in the bright fortnight
Weight: Not below 6 ratti (about 5.5 carat); 6 to 9 ratti is usual
Mantra: Om Kraam Kreem Kraum Sah Bhaumaya Namah, 10,000 times before it is first worn
Never with: Emerald, Blue sapphire, Hessonite, Cat's eye

Often prescribed for Sevvai dosham, but only where Sevvai owns a good house; for Mithunam and Kanni lagnas it is usually refused.

Emerald

Maragatham · Marakata

Graha: Budhan

Strengthens Budhan: speech, study, memory, accounts and the nerves.

Substitutes: Peridot, Green tourmaline, Green onyx
Colour: Grass to sea green
Finger: Little finger of the right hand
Metal: Gold, or panchaloha
Day: Wednesday
Time: In the first two hours after sunrise, in the bright fortnight
Weight: Not below 3 ratti; 4 to 6 ratti is usual
Mantra: Om Braam Breem Braum Sah Budhaya Namah, 9,000 times before it is first worn
Never with: Pearl, Red coral, Yellow sapphire

The gem families give a child struggling with study or speech; an emerald with visible internal cracks is not worn.

Yellow sapphire

Pushparagam · Pushparaga

Graha: Guru

Strengthens Guru: learning, guidance, dharma, the marriage of a daughter and the birth of children.

Substitutes: Citrine, Yellow topaz, Yellow zircon
Colour: Lemon to honey yellow
Finger: Index finger of the right hand
Metal: Gold
Day: Thursday
Time: At sunrise or in the morning, in the bright fortnight
Weight: Not below 3 ratti; 5 ratti is the usual size
Mantra: Om Graam Greem Graum Sah Gurave Namah, 19,000 times before it is first worn
Never with: Emerald, Diamond, Hessonite, Cat's eye

The one gem most astrologers treat as safe for almost every lagna, Guru being the natural benefic.

Diamond

Vairam · Vajra

Graha: Sukran

Strengthens Sukran: married happiness, comfort, art, beauty and the reproductive system.

Substitutes: White sapphire, White zircon, White topaz
Colour: Colourless with fire
Finger: Middle finger of the right hand
Metal: Platinum, white gold or silver
Day: Friday
Time: At sunrise, or in the Sukra hora of a Friday morning, in the bright fortnight
Weight: Not below half a ratti; one ratti is already a large stone, and a diamond is worn far smaller than the others
Mantra: Om Draam Dreem Draum Sah Shukraya Namah, 16,000 times before it is first worn
Never with: Ruby, Pearl, Yellow sapphire

A stone with a visible black inclusion or a chip is not worn; for Simmam and Kadagam lagnas a diamond is usually refused.

Blue sapphire

Neelam · Neelam

Graha: Sani

Strengthens Sani: patience, discipline, steady work and relief in Sade sati where Sani is a friend of the lagna.

Substitutes: Amethyst, Iolite (neeli), Blue spinel
Colour: Cornflower to royal blue
Finger: Middle finger of the right hand
Metal: Silver, panchaloha or iron
Day: Saturday
Time: Two hours before sunset, or before sunrise; Sani allows the dark fortnight too
Weight: Not below 3 ratti; 5 ratti is the usual size
Mantra: Om Praam Preem Praum Sah Shanaischaraya Namah, 23,000 times before it is first worn
Never with: Ruby, Pearl, Red coral

The fastest-acting and the most dangerous of the nine. It is never taken up without the trial period below.

Hessonite

Gomedhagam · Gomeda

Graha: Rahu

Strengthens Rahu: clarity where there is confusion, and steadiness in foreign work and sudden turns.

Substitutes: Orange zircon, Spessartite garnet, Agate (hakik)
Colour: Honey to cinnamon brown
Finger: Middle finger of the right hand
Metal: Silver or panchaloha
Day: Saturday
Time: In the evening after sunset, in the Rahu hora
Weight: Not below 6 ratti; 6 to 9 ratti is usual
Mantra: Om Bhraam Bhreem Bhraum Sah Rahave Namah, 18,000 times before it is first worn
Never with: Ruby, Pearl, Red coral, Yellow sapphire

A shadow gem. It is given for a specific Rahu period and put away when that period ends, not worn for life.

Cat's eye

Vaiduryam · Vaidurya

Graha: Ketu

Strengthens Ketu: detachment, insight, protection from unseen trouble and steadiness in spiritual practice.

Substitutes: Cat's eye quartz, Tiger's eye, Apatite cat's eye
Colour: Honey to smoky grey with a single band of light
Finger: Middle finger of the right hand
Metal: Silver or panchaloha
Day: Tuesday or Saturday
Time: In the evening after sunset, in the Ketu hora
Weight: Not below 5 ratti; the band of light must run clean across the stone
Mantra: Om Sraam Sreem Sraum Sah Ketave Namah, 7,000 times before it is first worn
Never with: Ruby, Pearl, Red coral, Yellow sapphire

A shadow gem, like Hessonite: given for a period, watched closely, and put away when the period ends.

The weight is counted in ratti: one ratti is about 0.91 carat (0.18 g) in the jeweller’s reckoning. The common convention is one ratti for every ten kilograms of body weight — six ratti for a person of sixty kilos — subject to the floor each gem carries below, and a stone lighter than that floor is treated as ornament rather than remedy.

Rudraksha#

The fourteen mukhis: the graha and deity each carries, what it is worn for, and who wears it.

Mukhi	Graha	Deity	Worn for	Who wears it
1	Suriyan	Sivan himself (Parabrahma)	The bead of detachment and clear authority; it is said to turn the mind towards moksha.	Heads of households and of institutions, and sannyasis. Rare and costly, so the half-moon Nepali bead is what most people actually get.
2	Chandran	Ardhanareeswara (Sivan and Parvati as one)	The bead of union; worn for harmony between two people.	A married couple, and anyone whose trouble is in a relationship rather than in work.
3	Sevvai	Agni, the fire that purifies	Said to burn off the weight of past mistakes and lift a sunken confidence.	Those who blame themselves, and those low in energy. Not for someone already quick to anger.
4	Budhan	Brahma, with Saraswati	The bead of speech and learning; for clear thought and study.	Students, teachers, writers and anyone who speaks for a living.
5	Guru	Kalagni Rudra	General well-being and calm; the bead of the daily mala.	Anyone, at any age. The commonest bead, and the one the 108-bead mala is strung from; a family that keeps only one keeps this.
6	Sukran	Kartikeya (Murugan)	Steadiness of feeling and the will to see work through.	Artists, those who manage people, and children who are restless in study.
7	Sani	Mahalakshmi, with the seven Nagas	Worn against money trouble and the grind of a hard Sani period.	Those in debt or in a long stretch of overwork; often given in Sade sati.
8	Rahu	Ganapathi (Vinayagar)	Removes obstacles and steadies a life that keeps being interrupted.	Anyone starting something new, and those in a Rahu dasha or bhukti.
9	Ketu	Durga (Bhairavi)	Courage and freedom from fear.	Those who carry fear or anxiety, and those in a Ketu period. Traditionally worn on the left arm.
10	—	Vishnu (Janardhana)	A shield: it is said to quieten all nine grahas at once rather than strengthen one.	Anyone who wants protection without singling out a graha; it has no ruling planet of its own.
11	—	The eleven Rudras, and Hanuman	Strength of body and of judgement, and success in what is undertaken.	Those who need endurance: athletes, those in physical work, and practitioners of long sadhana.
12	Suriyan	The twelve Adityas	Radiance and standing; it is said to lift a mind that has gone dull.	Administrators, those in public life, and anyone worn down by a long illness.
13	Sukran	Kamadeva, and Indra	Charm, persuasion and the fulfilment of a long-held wish.	Those who must win people over. The tradition itself warns that it is not for someone who wants only indulgence.
14	Sani	Hanuman; called the Deva Mani	The highest bead of the common set: intuition and relief from Sani’s pressure.	Worn on the forehead or the right arm rather than the neck, and usually only on the advice of a guru.

Rudraksha is worn for devotion and steadiness. Beads above fourteen mukhi and the Gauri Shankar and Ganesh beads exist but are rare, and the trade in them is full of fakes; a bead is bought from someone the family already trusts.

Wearing a rudraksha

A bead is strung in red or yellow silk thread, or capped in silver or gold; it is not worn on a leather cord.
It is soaked in cow’s milk, washed, and energised with Om Namah Shivaya, or with the bead’s own mantra, on a Monday or on a Sivan day.
Any number of beads may be worn, but the bead is personal: it is not lent, not shared and not worn by two people in turn.
It is taken off at a cremation and through the days of birth or death pollution in the family, and put back after a bath.
It is kept away from hot water, soap, oil that has gone rancid and chemicals; it is oiled lightly once or twice a year and dried in shade.
A cracked bead, a worm-eaten bead or one whose mukhi lines do not run the whole way round is not worn.
The float-and-sink test proves nothing: both real and fake beads sink, and a genuine bead is told by the natural mukhi lines and the seller, not by a bucket of water.
Tradition asks for a plain diet and plain living while a rudraksha is worn; the bead is a practice, not an ornament.

Wearing rules and cautions#

The part of the tradition that is usually left off a gem shop's chart.

How a stone is taken up

A gem is chosen for the chart, never for the birth star alone and never from a table like this on its own.
The stone is set so that its base touches the skin: the metal is left open underneath.
It is cleaned first in raw milk, then in water, with the leaves and flowers of the graha’s tree where the family keeps that custom.
It is energised with the graha’s mantra on the graha’s own day, at the hour given in the table, and worn the same hour.
The metal follows the graha: gold for Suriyan and Guru, silver for Chandran, Sani, Rahu and Ketu, copper for Sevvai.
A cracked, chipped, milky or treated stone is not worn; a flaw in the stone is read as a flaw in the remedy.
A gem is not borrowed and not inherited without being cleaned and re-energised; a stone that another person wore carries their period.
One graha is strengthened at a time. Two gems of grahas that are enemies are never worn together.
The effect is watched for forty days. If the period turns worse rather than better, the stone comes off.

Never worn together

Two grahas that count each other enemies are not strengthened at once: the stones pull against each other and the reader ends up worse than before. The pairs below are the naisargika enmities, with the two shadow stones kept off the luminaries, Sevvai’s stone and Guru’s.

Gem	Graha	Never with
Ruby	Suriyan	Diamond, Blue sapphire, Hessonite, Cat's eye
Pearl	Chandran	Emerald, Diamond, Blue sapphire, Hessonite, Cat's eye
Red coral	Sevvai	Emerald, Blue sapphire, Hessonite, Cat's eye
Emerald	Budhan	Pearl, Red coral, Yellow sapphire
Yellow sapphire	Guru	Emerald, Diamond, Hessonite, Cat's eye
Diamond	Sukran	Ruby, Pearl, Yellow sapphire
Blue sapphire	Sani	Ruby, Pearl, Red coral
Hessonite	Rahu	Ruby, Pearl, Red coral, Yellow sapphire
Cat's eye	Ketu	Ruby, Pearl, Red coral, Yellow sapphire

The trial period

Blue sapphire is worn on trial first. The stone is tied to the right arm in a cloth, or kept under the pillow, for three to seven nights before it is ever set in a ring. Bad dreams, a fall, a quarrel, a theft, a loss or illness in those nights is read as a refusal, and the stone is given away rather than worn. The same trial is traditionally extended to Hessonite and Cat’s eye, the other two shadow gems.

Weight

A gem is worn only on the advice of the family astrologer, after the graha's strength and role in the chart have been weighed; a gem strengthens its graha, so it is never taken up on a table like this alone.

Gems and rudraksha are traditional practice, offered for devotion and peace of mind. Nothing here is a cure of any condition, and none of it replaces medical, legal or financial advice. The stones are costly and the trade in them is not always honest: the family astrologer settles what is worn, and no table, this one included, settles it alone.