Also called: Trishul Chinha · trident

Where on the hand: Most classically at the end of the Fate line, but recognised terminating the Head or Heart line, or standing on the Saturn, Jupiter, Sun, Mars, Rahu or Mercury mounts.

What it looks like: A single clear line that terminates by splitting into three distinct prongs — a central prong continuing the line's direction and two outer prongs flaring symmetrically to either side, like a Y with a third stroke through the fork. The prongs should be roughly equal in length and the 'handle' should be a real line, not a chance crossing. A second, cruder form is three short parallel uprights standing on a short cross-bar. Where the trident sits on top of a mount rather than terminating a line, draw the three prongs rising from a small base line. For the strong form, draw the prongs pointing toward the fingers.

Śiva's protection; wisdom and religiosity; expertise in astrology and spirituality; fame amounting to princely status; and the removal of obstacles. It is the most commonly found of the great auspicious signs, because a forked line-ending is easy to produce — which is exactly why the three-clear-prongs-on-a-real-line condition matters.

Western reading: Mrs. Dale's Indian Palmistry, fig. 10: the trident-bearer rises to great fame, almost a prince or princess; if the figure is indistinct, they will hold important appointments and be attached to royalty.

Read with care: Internal correction: this entry rightly says the trident is absent from the classical lists, then wrongly adds that it appears in Gauḍīya lists of marks on the Lord's soles. It is in neither the 19 Kṛṣṇa sole-marks nor the 35 Rādhā hand-marks.

rises to great fame, almost a prince or princessMrs. J. B. Dale, Indian Palmistry, fig. 10