Why does a week have seven days? In this Drops of Light, Vish explores the Vedic connection between the days of the week and the seven visible planets, revealing how each day carries a different quality. From courage on Tuesday to wisdom on Thursday, the week becomes an invitation to notice the rhythms already woven into everyday life.
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About the Host:
Vish Chatterji is an executive coach, Vedic Astrology teacher, author, and former business executive who helps people bridge ancient wisdom with modern life. After a career spanning engineering, entrepreneurship, and corporate leadership, he now guides leaders, founders, and seekers toward greater clarity through the traditions of Yoga, Meditation, Ayurveda, Vedic Philosophy, and Jyotish, the ancient science of light.
Through his coaching practice, Head & Heart Insights, Vish combines practical business experience with timeless spiritual teachings, inviting people to lead and live with greater awareness, purpose, and presence. He is the author of The Business Casual Yogi and Astrology Decoded, and serves as a Faculty Coach and Educator with the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute at UC Berkeley.
Have you ever wondered why we have seven days of the week? Why isn't it 10 days? Why isn't it three days? Why is it seven? Well, the ancient Vedic people, the ancient Vedic rishis, the seers, the enlightened beings that brought us yoga and Ayurveda and Vedic philosophy, they also brought us Jyotish, Vedic astrology, and what they noticed is each 24 hour period from sunrise to sunrise had a different planet's energy that was more potent on that particular day, and the Vedic seers, the Vedic rishis, used seven planets that they could see with their naked eye. So there was
Vish Chatterji:the sun, there's the moon, then there was Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and then finally Saturn. And Saturn was the farthest planet they could see with their eyes. So they only used those seven planets for Vedic astrology. Plus, there's two nodal planets, their shadows. But out of those seven planets, they noticed that each day had a very specific planetary energy. So they assigned the day of the week to that planet. So in Sanskrit, Sunday-the Sanskrit name for sun is Ravi. Sunday is Ravivar. Of course, in English, what do we call it? Sunday, i.e. the sun's day. Monday, the moon's day.
Vish Chatterji:All pretty obvious. Saturday, Saturn's day. Pretty obvious, right? But the other days sort of get mixed up a little bit. So let's start one by one. So Ravivar, which is the Sunday, Sunday, no problem there. Monday is the lunar day, Monday Moon Day in French, Landi, lunar day. So that tracks. Then Tuesday gets a little bit confusing. Tuesday is named after the god Tu. Tu was a Norse god of war, who is connected to the Roman god Mars, which is connected the planet Mars, the Vedic planet Mars Mungal. So in Sanskrit, Mungalvar is Mars Day. In French, we say Maldi, Mars Day. In Spanish, Martes.
Vish Chatterji:Tuesday is Mars Day. So then we move to Wednesday. Wednesday in in Sanskrit, Mercury is Bud, so it's known as Budvar. In French, we call it Mercadie. In Spanish, Mircoles. Why is it Wednesday? Well, there was a Norse god Woden, who was another god who is connected, the Roman god Mercury, and of course Mercury is connected to Buddha, which is the Sanskrit god. And so Wednesday comes from Woden. Thursday, Thor's day. We're all familiar with Thor. Thor is very similar to the energy of Jupiter in Sanskrit. Jupiter's Guru. So in Sanskrit Guruvar, it became Thursday, which is literally Thor's
Vish Chatterji:day, so it's that's Jupiter's day. Judi in French and Jueves in Spanish, all sounding like Jupiter. Friday is Venus's day, so Shukra is the name for Venus in Sanskrit. Shukravar means Venus's day, and we call it Vangradie in French, Viernes in Spanish, which sounds like Venus, but why Friday? Well, there was a goddess Frigg, who was the Norse goddess of fertility, and fertility is connected to the planet Venus, and so Friday is the fertility Frigg Day. Frig Day became Friday, and then of course Saturday is Saturn's day. No change there. Shanivar in Sanskrit. So that's how we get the seven days
Vish Chatterji:of the week. The seven days a week are tied to the seven planets of Vedic astrology. The other two planets add Rahu and Ketu, their shadow planets. When you have nine planets, that's how we get our number nine numbering system. So the nine numbers correlate to those nine planets. The seven weekdays correlate to the seven visible planets. And why is this important? Well, if you want to honor a particular planet, if you want to change a particular energy in your life, that planet's day is the day to do that activity. So, for instance, if you want to improve your willpower and your will in
Vish Chatterji:the world and your self confidence, Sunday is the day to do some kind of remedy for that. If you want to improve your emotional intelligence, Monday is the day to do that. If you want to improve your courage, Tuesday is the day to do that. You want to improve your intellectual ability and thinking ability. That's a Wednesday. That's Mercury's day. You want to improve wisdom, or you want to do some big, deep studies. Thursday is the day to do you know read scripture or do your philosophical practice as Jupiter's day. You want to go out and have fun. Well, Friday night's the night to go out and
Vish Chatterji:have fun.
Vish Chatterji:Venus is about fun and romance, and Friday is that day for that. Saturday is a day of discipline. Saturn likes discipline. Saturday is a good day to do things that improve your overall discipline and get organized. Saturday is a great organization day, so we find that each day of the week has that particular energy. And if you leverage that days of the week energy, you can get things done in a great way. For instance, if you have to debate someone, Tuesday is a great day to do it. If you have to have a tough argument with someone, Tuesday is a day because that's. Mars energy and Mars all
Vish Chatterji:about fighting and war. If you need to do a bunch of technology stuff, do it on Wednesday, Mercury's day. If you want to read a complex scripture or ancient text, Thursday that's Jupiter's day. If you want to meet your teacher or you want to give a class, do it on Thursday. So think about things like that. If you want to worship a central main deity, Sunday is a great day to do that. If you want a day to take a rest, Saturday. In fact, the Jewish people take rest on Saturday because it's Saturn is a slow-moving, restful planet that wants rest. Christian religions, Christianity, and Islam
Vish Chatterji:typically worship on Sundays because everything revolves around one central figure, and everything revolves around the sun. So Sunday is a good day for worship. So as you go through each day, one thing you can also do is just say a quick prayer to the planet of the day. So today, this episode launches on a Thursday. Why do I pick Thursday? Because it's a great day to share wisdom, and so on Thursday morning I offer a little gratitude and a little prayer to Jupiter because it's Jupiter's day. Get your personal karmic blueprint-a 10-minute Vedic astrology mini reading, where I personally
Vish Chatterji:explore your birth chart, share key insights, and send you a private audio recording. The links are in the show notes.