D11 Rudramsha: the chart of Rudra, of trials that transform and of gains

What is the D11 Rudramsha?

The D11 is the divisional chart of elevenths, also called Ekadashamsha (from ekadasha, “eleven”, and amsha, “part”). Like every divisional chart, it distributes the planets of your birth chart, the D1 Rasi, according to their exact degree, and draws a new wheel with its own Ascendant and houses.

Its most common name comes from Rudra, the storm god of the Vedas, whom tradition links with Shiva. The ancient texts count eleven Rudras, which sheds light on the name given to the chart of elevenths; Rudra is also the deity of Ardra, one of the 27 nakshatras. The D11 is not one of Parashara’s sixteen charts: it was added through practice, like the D5, the D6 and the D8.

Rudramsha or Labhamsha: two readings of the same chart

Traditions do not agree on what the D11 means, and it is best to say so plainly. For some, it is the chart of Rudra: the force that destroys in order to renew, the trials that tear away a worn-out form to free another. Here you look at how you go through hard knocks and at what they build in you.

For others, it is the chart of gains, the Labhamsha (from labha, “gain”). It then magnifies the 11th house of the D1, the house of profit, networks, friendships, elder siblings and wishes that come true. Here you read where what you receive comes from: a circle, a recognized talent, a community that backs you.

The two readings do not exclude each other: what Rudra clears away often makes room for a gain. On My Birth Chart, the D11 is offered as a confirmation: it is read with the D1, never on its own, and it settles nothing the birth chart has not already suggested.

How is the D11 calculated?

Each 30° sign is cut into eleven parts of about 2°44′, starting from the sidereal positions of the D1, calculated with the Lahiri ayanamsa. Methods vary from one school to another; My Birth Chart uses the continuous count from Aries: the hundred and thirty-two elevenths of the zodiac follow one another without a break, the first part of Aries going to Aries, the next to Taurus, and so on around the wheel.

In practice, the first part of each sign moves back by one sign each time. Aries starts in Aries, Taurus in Pisces, Gemini in Aquarius, Cancer in Capricorn, and so on up to Pisces, which starts in Taurus. The eleven parts of a sign run through eleven different signs: only one is missing.

The degree follows the same logic: the planet’s degree within its sign, multiplied by eleven, brought back under 30. That is the degree the site shows in the chart’s positions.

An example: a planet at 10° Taurus is in the 4th part (from 8°11′ to 10°55′). Taurus starts in Pisces: Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini. In the D11, it is in Gemini, at 20°.

What to look at in the D11

Like any divisional chart, the D11 is read in whole-sign houses from its own Ascendant. Whichever reading you follow, a few landmarks are enough to start with.

• The D11 Ascendant and its ruler: the way you meet trials and opportunities alike. A ruler in its own sign or exalted gives you staying power.
• The ruler of the D1’s 11th house: its place in the D11 confirms, or qualifies, the promise of gains in the birth chart.
• The 11th house of the D11 and the planets in it: the flavor of your networks and of the people who back you.
• Saturn and Mars, on the Rudra side: where the trial does its work. Saturn slows things down so they hold; Mars gives the courage to cut away what no longer serves.
• Jupiter and Venus, on the gains side: what opens doors for you, mentors, talents, bonds.
• Rahu: desires on a grand scale. Rahu brings ideas in bursts; order is your antidote.

An example of a D11 reading

Take an Aquarius Ascendant in the D1. The 11th house is then Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter, which also rules the 2nd house, the house of resources. Jupiter sits here at 7° Cancer, its sign of exaltation. In the D11, Cancer starts in Capricorn, and 7° falls in its 3rd part: Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces. In the D11, Jupiter is in Pisces, its own sign, at 17°.

On the gains side, the chart confirms the promise of the D1: what this person receives comes through Jupiter, through teaching, advice, mentors and a network that trusts them. Since Jupiter also rules the 2nd house, the D2 Hora will show how these gains turn into resources. On the Rudra side, the same strong Jupiter gives meaning to hardship: hard knocks meet a faith that lifts them back up.

If Saturn sat on the Ascendant of this D11, the reading would gain a nuance: trials would come slowly, and so would gains, but what gets built would last. The timing is then read in the dashas: it is often during the Jupiter period that this D11 makes itself heard.

Reading the D11 as a confirmation of the D1

My Birth Chart offers the D11 as a confirmation, not as a verdict. The method stays the same: the D1 gives the promise, the divisional chart of the area refines it, the dashas give the timing. For gains, the 11th house of the D1 speaks first, the D11 confirms, the D2 reads resources and the D10 Dashamsha the career that produces them. The D11 puts no figure on anything: it says where gains come from, never how much.

For trials, the D11 sits alongside the D8 Ashtamsha, the chart of transformation, and the D30, the chart of tendencies to watch: here again, an indication is kept when several charts point to it. This rule of caution, and the shape of a good reading, are explained in crossing the charts.

What birth time accuracy does the D11 need?

The D11 Ascendant changes on average every eleven minutes, faster or more slowly depending on the sign. A birth time accurate to within ten minutes is the minimum for reading its houses; to the minute is better. Without a birth time, the Vedic view is turned off on the site, because the Ascendant and the houses depend on it.

The planets hold up better: the Moon, the fastest, changes sign in the D11 roughly every four to five and a half hours, the others far more slowly. A planet sitting very close to the edge of a part should be read with care. The full, long-form birth certificate often shows the time; in France, the copie intégrale of the birth record does.

How to open your D11 on My Birth Chart

The D11 is on the page of your calculated chart, at the wheel. Everything is calculated by the site from your date, your exact time and your place of birth.

1. Calculate your birth chart with your exact time of birth.
2. At the wheel, choose Vedic (sidereal): the D1 Rasi opens by default.
3. In the list of twenty divisional charts, choose D11.
4. Read the wheel, the positions (sign, degree, house) and the line that sums up what the chart means, then go back to the D1 to confirm.

Rahu and Ketu stay exactly opposite each other in the D11, as in every chart. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto appear in the background: classical Vedic astrology reads only the seven visible planets and the nodes.