Samudrika Shastra: the classical Indian study of the body's features, from the face and feet to the hands. Its palm-reading branch, Hast Rekha Shastra, reads the shape of the hand, the fingers, the mounts, the lines and the signs. Traditional texts also made forecasts from the hand; Rekha leaves those out and reads it for character and reflection.
What is Samudrika Shastra?
Samudrika Shastra is a Sanskrit name for reading a person from the features of their body, also called Anga Vidya, the knowledge of the limbs. Tradition credits its first teaching to Samudra, the sea god, and its name to the sage Samudra who gave it shape. It shares a patron deity, Skanda, with astrology. Of all the parts of the body it reads, the hand is held to matter most, more even than the head.
The tradition is old and varied, and different texts use slightly different names for the same line. The old texts ask the reader to come to the work with care, an open mind and balanced judgment.
What is hast rekha?
Hast means hand and rekha means line, so hast rekha is, word for word, the lines of the hand. In everyday Hindi and in many Indian languages, it is simply the name for palmistry. Its fuller name, Hast Rekha Shastra, covers more than lines. It takes in the shape of the palm, the length of the fingers, the raised mounts and the small marks between them.
How does a classical Indian palm reading proceed?
The Indian texts name three stages: Darsana, seeing the hand; Sparsana, touching it; and Rekha Vimarsana, reading its lines. Within the lines, they look to the heart line first. Rekha works through the hand in seven steps, from the broad to the fine.
- Which hand. Indian texts start with a man's right hand and a woman's left. Rekha photographs both.
- The first impression. Before any line, the whole hand: the length of palm and fingers, the hand's type and its texture.
- Fingers and phalanges. Each finger belongs to a planet. Each of its three sections speaks to a sphere of life: the base to the physical, instinctive side, the middle to business and practical affairs, the tip to the mind. On the thumb, the top section is will and the second is logic.
- The mounts. The raised pads under the fingers and thumb, each with an Indian name.
- The lines, by their Indian names. Each major line has a classical name and its own reading.
- The signs. Stars, triangles, crosses, squares and islands, read by the mount they sit on. Indian texts also treat rarer figures, such as the fish and the tripod, as fortunate.
- The lunar day. An old horary count moves through the finger sections with the tithi.
What are the Indian names for the lines and mounts?
The classical names tie each line and mount to a sphere of life. Two names, Pithru and Mathru, appear twice: once for a line and once for a mount. They are read separately.
| Line | Classical Indian name | How it is read |
|---|---|---|
| Life line | Pithru Rekha | The line of the family tree. Indian texts trace it from the wrist up toward the index finger, and read its branches toward the thumb as friends and well-wishers. |
| Head line | Mathru Rekha or Dhan Rekha | Read for wealth; its sprouts toward the thumb for a feel for money |
| Heart line | Jeevith Rekha or Ayu Rekha | Ranked first of the three main lines. The texts also made forecasts from it; Rekha leaves those out. |
| Fate line and other upright lines | Oordhva Rekhas, the rising lines | Read for your standing among other people; the finger each line reaches shapes the reading |
| Mount | Indian name | Meaning of the name |
|---|---|---|
| Jupiter, under the index finger | Pithru Sthana | The place of the father |
| Saturn, under the middle finger | Mathru Sthana | The place of the mother |
| Apollo, under the ring finger | Vidya Sthana | The place of learning |
| Mercury, under the little finger | Jaya Sthana | The place of success |
| Venus, the base of the thumb | Brathru Sthana | The place of siblings |
| Luna, the outer edge above the wrist | Dharma Sthana | The place of virtue |
| Mars | Sathru Sthana | The place of the adversary |
See the full guide to the mounts for how each is read.
Hath ki rekha: the lines of the hand
Hath ki rekha is the everyday Hindi phrase for the lines of the hand. Popular Hindi palmistry uses plainer names than the classical ones. These come from everyday usage, not from the classical texts Rekha draws on, but you will often meet them:
- Jeevan rekha: the life line. Take care: in the classical scheme, the similar-sounding Jeevith Rekha is the heart line.
- Hriday rekha: the heart line.
- Mastishk rekha: the head line.
- Bhagya rekha: the fate line.
- Surya rekha: the Sun line, rising toward the ring finger.
In the same popular usage, mounts are called parvat, or hill. Each takes its planet's Hindi name: Guru parvat for Jupiter, Shani for Saturn, Surya for the Sun, Budh for Mercury, Shukra for Venus, Chandra for the Moon and Mangal for Mars.
What is the tithi finger count?
The Indian lunar month has thirty tithis, or lunar days. They fall into two fortnights: shukla paksha, as the Moon waxes, and krishna paksha, as it wanes. Each fortnight has fifteen tithis, ending in Purnima, the full moon, or Amavasya, the new moon.
An old horary count lays those fifteen days across the right hand, and a reader used it to answer a question put on a given day. It starts at the little finger and moves toward the thumb: little, ring, middle, index, thumb. The first five tithis fall on the base sections of the five digits, the next five on the middle sections, and the last five on the tips. For the thumb, the outer edge of its ball counts as the base section. Then the count begins again with the next fortnight.
Rekha's free daily card follows this count. Each morning it points to one finger and one section and offers a small reflection. It is a prompt, not a prediction.
How is Indian palmistry different from Western palmistry?
The two share the planets on the fingers and the same set of mounts. They differ mainly in names, emphasis and a few practices.
| Indian | Western | |
|---|---|---|
| Which hand | A man's right hand and a woman's left | The right hand for everyone; the passive hand shows the inherited nature |
| Line names | Pithru, Mathru or Dhan, Jeevith or Ayu, and the Oordhva Rekhas | Life, head, heart and fate lines |
| Emphasis | Lines and mounts named for parts of life, such as family, wealth, learning and success; fortunate figures such as the fish | Character and temperament; seven hand types, such as square, spatulate and conic |
| The planets | In popular Hindi: Guru, Shani, Surya, Budh, Shukra, Chandra, Mangal | Jupiter, Saturn, Apollo, Mercury, Venus, Luna, Mars |
| The daily count | The tithi moves through the finger sections, to answer a question on a given day | No equivalent |
How does Rekha set both traditions side by side?
Rekha photographs both of your palms and the back of one hand. An AI describes only what is visible, and Rekha's own rules read it through both traditions. Every insight names what was seen, on which hand, and which tradition reads it that way. See how the Rekha app works.
Questions about Samudrika Shastra
Is Samudrika Shastra the same as palmistry?
Not quite. Samudrika Shastra reads the whole body. Palmistry, or hast rekha, is the branch that reads the hand. In everyday speech the two names are often used for the same thing.
Is Samudrika Shastra a science?
No. "Shastra" means a body of teaching, and it is often translated as science, but there is no evidence that palm reading predicts events. Rekha presents it as a tradition for reflection and entertainment.
See your hand read the Samudrika way
Rekha works through your hand in order, uses the Indian names for every line and mount, and sets the Western reading beside it. Free to start.
Palmistry is a tradition, not a science. These readings are for reflection and entertainment.