Also called: Vidya Rekha · Education Line

Where on the hand: A short line at the top of the palm in the web or space between the middle and ring fingers, inclining slightly toward the ring finger. Some Hindi sources place it between the middle and ring fingers; others describe it as a small line on the Jupiter mount — the between-fingers location is the commoner modern rendering.

What it looks like: A short stroke standing high in the palm between the middle and ring fingers, tilted toward the ring finger.

Educational capacity and academic completion — literally kitna padh paate hain, how far one gets in one's studies. Some writers distinguish it from raw intellect: it is said to reflect gyan and common sense as much as formal schooling. Purely Indian; it has no Western counterpart.

Read with care: Telling someone a line shows they will fail their studies is a damaging reading with no basis. The sources disagree even on where the line sits.