Palmistry or Hasta Rekha Vigyan is the most popular branch of Samudrik Shastra. Although, palmistry is being studied in a more scientific fashion in west or Europe, the original Samudrik Hasta Rekha embodies Vedic philosophy within itself in coalition with all the cosmic forces available. Up to 153 lines are recognized and studied well in the palm. A more spiritual insight in the readings is done by defining and studying the Atma rekha. Palmistry has also been derived from Greek ‘chiromancy’ connoting ‘foretelling through palm reading’. The word ‘chiromancy’ is formation of two words, Greek ‘cheir’ meaning hand and ‘manteia’ meaning divination. In recent times, Pamistry is being practiced all over the world.

The art of analyzing the palm as a blue print of person’s past, present, future, karmas, personality and life issues originated in the ancient mystique land of India. The hands of every individual are the constant recipients of the continuous flow of electrical impulses from the brain. In fact the coordination between the conscious and subconscious mind with that of the hands is almost miraculous. The nerve endings and energy flow in the palm is responsible for etching out the presence of lines and mounts on them. Studying these lines and other signs to know the details about a person comes under the practice of palmistry. Every sign in the palm foretells something about the characteristic, talents, strengths etc of a person. Since the free will of the person is the most important cosmic force of all, palm lines and signs are changeable through the changing circumstances in human life.

Palmistry commences with the obvious things and goes forward with countless elaborate affairs followed by proper judgment and elucidation that lead to the ultimate foretelling of an individual. The hands of individuals are reckoned as active and passive hands. In Palmistry, the passive hands are of great importance as it has been considered that the passive hands transmit innate human characteristics and the active hand entails the ‘karma’ of the individuals. Even as per Vedic Palmistry, the passive hands convey the karmic imprint of a person or the past life of a person. The study of Palmistry is dependant on reading the mounts of the palm, the lines in the palms, and the structure of fingers.

The process of palm reading is done maintaining some basic notions. The study of Palmistry divides the hands of an individual into three major sections namely the fingers, the middle of the palm and the lower half of the hand. Each section foretells important traits of the individual viz. the fingers of the hands are the representations of the higher self and the mind of the individual whereas the middle half of the palm depicts the conscious mind of the person and the mundane life. On the other hand, the lower portion of the palm defines health, basic drives of the subconscious and the original instincts of an individual.

The palm reader considers a number of Palmistry lines for giving perfect result of palm reading. The Palmistry lines are Head Line, Heart Line, Fate Line, Life Line, Simian Line. Significant changes between the two palms stand for the radical changes or degradations that the individual had gone through in life. In addition to that, even the colour and quality of the fingernails and skin; the prominence of the knuckles, different qualities of the hand, considering the lines and shapes of the palm and fingers; the sizes of the fingers and palms and several other things are scrutinized by the palm reader to make a perfect palmistry report. In almost all schools of Palmistry, the shapes of hands are considered of major importance as they define some important traits of individuals. As per Palmistry, the shapes of the hands are ramified into four or ten major categories though the modern palmists use only four common types of hands namely the Air, Earth, Fire and Water.