Vimshottari dasha: the planetary periods

How the dashas are counted: five steps

1. The Moon's nakshatra and its lord. Find the Moon's nakshatra at birth. Its lord opens the first mahadasha of life.
2. How much of the nakshatra is behind. Work out what share of its 13°20′ the Moon has already covered: degrees covered ÷ 13°20′.
3. The balance of the first dasha. The remaining share × the lord's years = how many years of the first dasha are left after birth. For example, 78% of the Sun's 6 years is 4.7 years.
4. Then round the circle. The mahadashas run in a fixed order: Ketu 7 years, Venus 20, Sun 6, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19, Mercury 17 — 120 years in all.
5. The antardashas. Every mahadasha splits into nine antardashas in the same order, starting with its own planet: mahadasha years × the planet's years ÷ 120.

Why 120 years

“Vimshottari” means “one hundred and twenty”. The classics took 120 years as a full human life and shared it among the nine grahas in a fixed order: Ketu 7 years, Venus 20, Sun 6, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19, Mercury 17. After Mercury the cycle starts again with Ketu. The texts do not explain the proportions, but centuries of practice rest on them.

A worked example

15 May 1990, 08:30, Dubai. The Moon is at 29°35′ Sagittarius, in Uttara Ashadha, ruled by the Sun (6 years). The nakshatra begins at 26°40′ Sagittarius, so the Moon has covered 2°55′ of 13°20′, or 21.9%. That leaves 78.1%, and the balance of the Sun dasha is 0.781 × 6 = 4.7 years: it ran until January 1995.

Then round the circle: the Moon for 10 years (to 2005), Mars for 7 (to 2012), Rahu for 18. This person's Rahu mahadasha lasts until 20 January 2030, exactly as the JyotiSoft engine shows it.

Which dasha you start with

Each of the 27 nakshatras has a ruler in the same order: Ashwini — Ketu, Bharani — Venus, Krittika — Sun and so on, three times round. The first dasha of life is that of the ruler of the Moon's birth nakshatra. Its length is proportional to the part of the nakshatra the Moon still had to travel: near the start of the nakshatra the first dasha is almost full; near the end, only months remain.

Mahadasha, antardasha, pratyantardasha

Each mahadasha (major period) splits into nine antardashas in the same order, starting with the mahadasha planet itself. Each sub-period is proportional to its planet's years: Saturn's antardasha within Jupiter's mahadasha lasts 16 × 19 / 120 ≈ 2.5 years. Antardashas split again into pratyantardashas, giving precision to weeks.

How to read a dasha

A planet's period brings themes on three levels: its natural significations (karakatva), the houses it rules and the house it occupies. A strong planet — own sign, exaltation, kendra — delivers its themes clearly and usefully; a weak or afflicted one with difficulty. Saturn's dasha for a Taurus ascendant (Saturn is the yoga karaka) often brings a career rise, while for a Cancer ascendant it raises partnership (7th house) and obstacles (8th).

Dashas and transits

The dasha shows what is on the agenda; transits show when events ripen. The classical rule: an event happens when the chart promises it, the running dasha supports it and a transit triggers it — above all the double transit of Saturn and Jupiter over the relevant house or its lord.

Dashas in JyotiSoft

JyotiSoft calculates Vimshottari from the exact Moon position (Lahiri, true node), with start dates for every period down to pratyantardashas. Readings explain your current mahadasha and antardasha and what follows from them for work, relationships and decisions.

Questions

See also

• Nakshatras
• Planets (grahas)
• Saturn (Shani)
• Rahu mahadasha
• When will I get married: the chart
• Ashtakavarga
• Yogini dasha

Positions and tables: sidereal zodiac, Lahiri ayanamsha — the same as professional Jyotish astrologers use, and the same calculation as the charts in JyotiSoft. Updated 2026-10-14.