VedicReader

In short. A daśā is a period of life ruled by one graha, and the Vimśottarī divides 120 years among the nine grahas from the Moon’s nakṣatra at birth.

During a daśā, the ruling graha’s significations come to the front. So do the affairs of the houses it rules and occupies.

Vimśottarī: the lords and their years

This daśā divides a life of 120 years among the nine grahas. Its name means “of 120”. Ketu has 7 years, Venus 20, the Sun 6, the Moon 10, Mars 7, Rāhu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19 and Mercury 17. The sequence starts with the lord of the nakṣatra the Moon is in at birth.

Order	Lord	Years	Lord of the nakṣatras
1	Ketu	7	Aśvinī, Maghā, Mūla
2	Venus	20	Bharaṇī, Pūrva Phalgunī, Pūrva Āṣāḍhā
3	Sun	6	Kṛttikā, Uttara Phalgunī, Uttara Āṣāḍhā
4	Moon	10	Rohiṇī, Hasta, Śravaṇa
5	Mars	7	Mṛgaśirā, Citrā, Dhaniṣṭhā
6	Rāhu	18	Ārdrā, Svātī, Śatabhiṣā
7	Jupiter	16	Punarvasu, Viśākhā, Pūrva Bhādrapadā
8	Saturn	19	Puṣya, Anurādhā, Uttara Bhādrapadā
9	Mercury	17	Āśleṣā, Jyeṣṭhā, Revatī

The years add up to 120. After Mercury the cycle starts again at Ketu. Each lord rules every ninth nakṣatra.

The balance at birth

At birth the Moon has already covered part of its nakṣatra. The same fraction of the first daśā has already passed. The rest is the balance of daśā at birth. If the Moon has crossed a quarter of its nakṣatra, three quarters of that lord’s period remain.

1. Find the Moon’s nakṣatra at birth and its lord.

2. Measure how far the Moon has gone into the nakṣatra, out of its 13°20′.

3. Multiply the fraction still to go by the lord’s years. The result is the balance.

4. After the balance, give each next lord in order its full years.

Example

The Moon is at 20° Meṣa. Bharaṇī runs from 13°20′ to 26°40′ of Meṣa, and its lord is Venus.

The Moon has gone 20° − 13°20′ = 6°40′ into Bharaṇī. This is half of 13°20′. Half of Venus’s 20 years remains: a balance of 10 years.

The Sun’s 6 years follow from age 10 to 16, the Moon’s 10 years from 16 to 26, and then Mars’s 7.

Antardaśās and the levels below

Each mahādaśā has nine antardaśās. They follow the same sequence and begin with the mahādaśā lord. The length of each antardaśā is proportional to its lord’s years. Each antardaśā splits again into pratyantardaśās. The texts read the results of the antardaśā lord within the limits of the mahādaśā lord.

Each level splits from the one above in the same proportions. A graha takes the same share of its parent period as it has of the 120 years. Saturn has 19 of the 120. His antardaśā in Jupiter’s 16-year mahādaśā lasts 19/120 of 16 years, about two and a half. The pratyantardaśās split from the antardaśā the same way (BPHS 46.1).

Example

In Venus’s 20-year mahādaśā each antardaśā lasts its lord’s years × 20 ÷ 120 years. That comes to twice the lord’s years, in months.

Antardaśā	Lord’s years	Length in Venus’s 20 years
Venus	20	40 months (3 years 4 months)
Sun	6	12 months (1 year)
Moon	10	20 months (1 year 8 months)
Mars	7	14 months (1 year 2 months)
Rāhu	18	36 months (3 years)
Jupiter	16	32 months (2 years 8 months)
Saturn	19	38 months (3 years 2 months)
Mercury	17	34 months (2 years 10 months)
Ketu	7	14 months (1 year 2 months)

The nine add up to 240 months, the whole 20 years.

The Sun’s 12-month antardaśā splits the same way. The Moon’s pratyantardaśā in it lasts 12 × 10 ÷ 120 = 1 month, and the Sun’s own 12 × 6 ÷ 120 = 0.6 of a month, about 18 days.

Parāśara gives two more levels. These are the sūkṣma daśā within each pratyantardaśā (47.1) and the prāṇa daśā within each sūkṣma (48.1). A prāṇa daśā lasts hours. The board’s daśā cards show three levels. Click an antardaśā to open its pratyantardaśās.

Other daśā systems

Parāśara prescribes Aṣṭottarī (108 years, eight lords) when Rāhu is in a kendra or trikoṇa from the lagna lord and not in the lagna. Yoginī (36 years) runs through eight yoginīs, each ruled by a graha. Jaimini’s Chara daśā runs through the signs. The years of each sign are the count from the sign to its lord.

Narāyaṇa daśā is the other daśā of signs in wide use. It begins from the stronger of the lagna and the 7th, according to Jaimini’s tests of strength (JS 2.3.6–10). The number of years for each sign is its distance from its lord (JS 1.1.28).

The antardaśās of a sign start from the pāka rāśi. The pāka rāśi is the sign occupied by that sign’s lord. Parāśara gives the results of such a daśā (BPHS 50). The name and the order of the signs follow a modern reading by P. V. R. Narasimha Rao, not the sūtras. The Jaimini chapter sets out the rules.

Parāśara gives eight more nakṣatra daśās, each for a chart that meets its own condition. Each counts the nakṣatras from its own starting star.

Daśā	Years	Used when
Ṣoḍaśottarī	116	the Moon is waxing and the lagna in the Sun’s horā, or waning and the lagna in the Moon’s
Dvādaśottarī	112	the lagna is in a navāṁśa of Venus
Pañcottarī	105	the lagna is Cancer, in Cancer’s dvādaśāṁśa
Śatābdikā	100	the lagna is vargottama
Caturaśītisamā	84	the 10th lord is in the 10th
Dvisaptatisamā	72	the lagna lord is in the 7th, or the 7th lord in the lagna
Ṣaṣṭihāyanī	60	the Sun is in the lagna
Ṣaṭtriṁśatsamā	36	a day birth with the lagna in the Sun’s horā, or a night birth with it in the Moon’s

Source: BPHS 35.16–39.

Reading a period

The texts read a period by its lord. They note the houses it rules, the house it is in, its dignity and strength, and its relation to the lagna lord. A strong, well-placed lord of good houses brings good results. A weak lord of the 6th, 8th or 12th brings the troubles of those houses. The texts judge the antardaśā lord the same way, counting from the mahādaśā lord.