The divisional charts: the D9, the D20, the D60 and their method

The D1, your sidereal birth chart, holds a whole life in a single picture. To look closely at one area, Jyotish changes focus: it divides each 30° sign into equal parts and gives a sign to each part. That is a divisional chart, a varga.

Each graha takes the sign of the part it occupies, and so does the lagna: a new chart is born, with its own lagna and its own whole-sign houses. Its name tells the division: the D9 cuts each sign into nine, the D10 into ten, the D60 into sixty.

The golden rule of this night: a divisional chart is never read alone. The D1 is the mother chart, it carries the promise; the chart of the area confirms it, nuances it or sharpens it.

The D9, the navamsha, is the most important chart after the D1: many astrologers conclude nothing without it. It looks at partnership, dharma and what the soul ripens over the years: where you are going. If the D1 is the tree, the D9 is the fruit.

It cuts each sign into nine parts of 3°20′, the navamshas: they are the padas from the night of the nakshatras. Three parts make 10°, and the boundaries fall at 3°20′, 6°40′, 10°, 13°20′, 16°40′, 20°, 23°20′ and 26°40′.

To find the number of a part without a table: multiply the degree by 3, divide by 10, keep the whole number, add 1. A graha at 14° of its sign: 14 × 3 = 42, so 4 whole parts have already passed. It is in part 5.

Once the part is found, it still needs its sign. Everything depends on the element of the sign the graha occupies in the D1. A fire sign counts from Aries, an earth sign from Capricorn, an air sign from Libra, a water sign from Cancer.

You then move forward in the order of the zodiac, starting sign included, up to the number of the part. Mars in the example sky is at 22° Aquarius in the sidereal zodiac: part 7, air sign, start in Libra. Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries: Mars is in Aries in the D9.

A graha that holds the same sign in the D1 and in the D9 is vargottama: what it promises is strengthened. The example sky shows two. The lagna, at 15° Leo: part 5, counted from Aries, is Leo again. Saturn, at 1° Capricorn: part 1, counted from Capricorn. Two solid supports.

The D9 also gives a second opinion on each graha. Strong in the D1 but weakened in the D9, it carries a promise whose delivery takes work. Quiet in the D1 but strong in the D9, it recovers over the years. The D1 states the promise, the D9 states its solidity: the gap between the two is the road to travel.

Each big question has its chart. The D10 looks at career and your place in the world. The D7, at children and descendants. The D2, at wealth and resources. The D4, at home, property and stability. The D12, at parents and lineage. The D24, at studies and knowledge.

A landmark: three of them enlarge the house that bears their number. House 2 speaks of resources, like the D2; house 4 of the home, like the D4; house 10 of career, like the D10. The other three are learned by heart: D7, children; D12, parents; D24, studies.

Practice turning a question into a chart. “Will I buy a place of my own?”: the D4. “What did I receive from my parents?”: the D12. “Should I go back to studying?”: the D24.

Two fine charts carry what runs deepest in a birth chart. The D20, the Vimshamsha, looks at spiritual life: practice, devotion, what connects you to something greater than yourself. It imposes no path: it shows the one that nourishes you, and what makes it last.

The D60, the Shashtiamsha, looks at past-life karma: where you come from. It is the background weave of the whole life, what you bring with you as you enter it. It describes a terrain, with its easy stretches and its slopes, never a verdict: what you make of it stays in your hands.

Hold them together: the D60 tells where you come from, the D9 where you are going, and the D1 life as it presents itself, between the two. Three charts, one single road.

The finer a chart divides, the smaller its parts. One part measures 30° ÷ n: 15° in the D2, 10° in the D3, 3°20′ in the D9, 3° in the D10, 2°30′ in the D12, 1°30′ in the D20, half a degree (0°30′) in the D60.

The lagna of the D1, the Ascendant, changes sign about every two hours: 120 minutes. The lagna of a Dn chart moves n times faster: it changes every 120 ÷ n minutes. About 13 minutes in the D9, 12 in the D10, 10 in the D12, 6 in the D20, 5 in the D24 and 2 in the D60.

The grahas keep their sign far longer: it is the lagna of the chart, and therefore its houses, that needs the exact time. For the D60, you need the time written on the birth certificate, to the minute. With a rounded time, lean on the D1 first and read the fine charts with care.

Here is the whole move, in three steps. The question: which area of life is it about? The chart: the D9 for partnership, the D10 for career, the D2 for resources. The graha: the ruler of the house of the subject in the D1, which you then find again in the chart of the area.

In the example sky, for partnership: house 7 of the D1 is Aquarius, its ruler is Saturn. Look for it in the D9: still in Capricorn, vargottama. The promise of the D1 is confirmed. A graha contradicted by its chart would show, instead, where to put in the effort.

You now know how to open the right chart and read it with the D1. Next night, the last one, you will cross everything: the karakas of Jaimini, the dasha, the transits and the Western chart.