What is a dasha? The timing of your life in Vedic astrology

What does dasha mean?

The Sanskrit word dasha means “state”, “condition”, and by extension “period”. In Vedic astrology, a dasha is a stretch of your life during which one planet plays the lead role: it sets the tone, opens certain doors, closes others, then hands over to the next one.

The birth chart is the map of the landscape; the dashas are the route: they tell you which region you are walking through right now. Two people with a brilliant Jupiter will not live it at the same age: it all depends on when Jupiter’s period comes along their path.

Why are dashas so important?

Jyotish, the astrology of India, is first of all an astrology of timing: beyond character, it looks for when things ripen (see what is Vedic astrology). One principle sums it up: a planet gives its fruits mainly during its own period. The chart promises, the dasha delivers.

Take a Cancer Ascendant with Mars in Aries, in the 10th house. Mars is in its own sign there, it rules the 5th and the 10th houses, and it becomes the chart’s best ally (it is called yogakaraka). That strength exists from birth, but it is during the Mars mahadasha that career and projects move forward most clearly.

Dashas work hand in hand with transits: the period says which theme of life is open for years, the sky of the moment says which weeks set it off.

Mahadasha, antardasha, pratyantardasha: what is the difference?

Dashas nest inside one another like the years, months and days of a calendar. Each level divides into nine parts, ruled by the same nine planets, in the same order, starting with the planet of the level above.

An example: in the Saturn mahadasha (19 years), the Mercury antardasha lasts 2 years, 8 months and 9 days; within it, the Venus pratyantardasha lasts about 5 months and 11 days. It is written Saturn–Mercury–Venus and read from left to right: effort as the setting, exchange as the scene, a meeting or an agreement as the precise moment.

1. Mahadasha, the great period: from 6 years (the Sun) to 20 years (Venus). It sets the stage for a chapter of life.
2. Antardasha (or bhukti), the sub-period: from 3 months and 18 days (Sun–Sun) to 3 years and 4 months (Venus–Venus). It tells you which scene is being played on that stage.
3. Pratyantardasha, the sub-sub-period: from about five and a half days (Sun–Sun–Sun) to 6 months and 20 days (Venus–Venus–Venus). It pinpoints the moment.
4. Sookshma, then prana: the finest levels, which go down to days and hours, and only hold with a very reliable birth time.

The length of a pratyantardasha is calculated like that of an antardasha, with one more step: years of the mahadasha × years of the antardasha × years of the pratyantardasha, divided by 14,400 (120 × 120). The details of the system are on the Vimshottari dasha page.

The nine mahadashas of the Vimshottari

In the Vimshottari, the cycle lasts 120 years and the nine great periods always follow one another in the same order. Each has its own page, with its nine sub-periods:

• Ketu mahadasha, 7 years: letting go, turning inwards, going to the essential.
• Venus mahadasha, 20 years: the longest, the period of bonds, beauty and the joy of living.
• Sun mahadasha, 6 years: the shortest, the one in which you take your place and own your role.
• Moon mahadasha, 10 years: the heart, the home, your needs, the bond with the public.
• Mars mahadasha, 7 years: the energy to act, building projects, the courage to decide.
• Rahu mahadasha, 18 years: the appetite for the new, distant horizons, an ambition to channel.
• Jupiter mahadasha, 16 years: growing, learning, passing on, finding your teachers.
• Saturn mahadasha, 19 years: building over time, gaining maturity, keeping your commitments.
• Mercury mahadasha, 17 years: studying, writing, exchanging, negotiating.

What are the different dasha systems?

The classical texts describe dozens of systems of periods. They form two broad families: nakshatra dashas, which start from the Moon and give periods of planets, and sign dashas (rashi dashas), which give periods of signs. The best known:

• Vimshottari (“of one hundred and twenty”): nine planets over 120 years, starting from the nakshatra of the Moon. Parashara makes it the reference dasha; it applies to every chart and reads every area of life.
• Yogini: a short 36-year cycle, shared between eight yoginis, goddesses each linked to a planet, who rule from 1 to 8 years. It also starts from the nakshatra of the Moon and is often used to confirm the Vimshottari.
• Ashtottari (“of one hundred and eight”): eight planets over 108 years, Ketu having no period in it. The texts reserve it for certain charts, under conditions that vary from one author to another.
• Kalachakra (“the wheel of time”): it starts from the pada of the Moon’s nakshatra and runs through periods of signs. Its calculation is one of the most delicate in Jyotish.
• Chara dasha of Jaimini: a sign dasha, in which each sign rules from 1 to 12 years, starting from the Ascendant. It is read with the Jaimini karakas, for the path of the soul and the major directions of life.
• Narayana dasha: another sign dasha from the Jaimini school, valued for following concrete events, such as a move, a change of career or a union.

Which dasha does the site calculate?

The site calculates the Vimshottari, the most widely used: it applies to every chart, with no condition, and it is the one most Vedic astrologers look at first.

The calculation is done in the sidereal zodiac, with the Lahiri ayanamsa and a 365.25-day year, from the exact position of your Moon in its nakshatra. The other systems serve the astrologer as cross-checks; the site does not calculate them.

Why does the birth time matter so much for dashas?

Everything starts from the Moon. It moves about 13° a day, or half a degree an hour, and a nakshatra is only 13°20′ wide: one hour of difference changes by nearly 4% the share of the first period already elapsed at birth.

That shift carries over to every date of your life: about 9 months if your life opens with Venus (20 years), a little under 3 months if it opens with the Sun (6 years). Near the boundary between two nakshatras, one hour can even change the planet that opens your life: so the site asks for the exact time.

What happens when your mahadasha changes?

The passage from one great period to the next is called the sandhi, the junction. It is often felt as a change of season: the themes of the outgoing planet close, those of the incoming one announce themselves.

Moving from Saturn to Mercury means leaving nineteen years of patient building for seventeen years of exchange and movement. Look at the incoming planet before it arrives: its house and its condition in your chart show where to direct your attention.

How do I find my current dasha?

The dasha calculator does the whole calculation from your date, time and place of birth. Here is what the result gives:

1. The starting point: the nakshatra of your Moon and the share of the first period already elapsed at birth.
2. The current period: your mahadasha and your antardasha, with their dates.
3. The timeline of your life: all the great periods, dated, and for each one its nine antardashas, to unfold.
4. The pages of the periods: each mahadasha leads to its own page, to read what it activates.

To read the planet of your period in context (house, sign, D9), then open your Vedic birth chart, which brings together the wheel, the twenty charts, the nakshatras and the dashas.