Dashas: time told in chapters
Vedic astrology has a distinctive way of describing time: as a series of planetary periods, or dashas, each coloured by one graha. Many traditional astrologers use them to time events. This guide takes a gentler approach and reads the periods as chapters of a life story that you can look back on and write about.
The most widely used system is the Vimshottari dasha, from the Sanskrit for one hundred and twenty. It divides a notional span of 120 years into nine main periods, called mahadashas, one for each graha. They always follow the same order, and each has a fixed length:
- Ketu: 7 years
- Venus: 20 years
- Sun: 6 years
- Moon: 10 years
- Mars: 7 years
- Rahu: 18 years
- Jupiter: 16 years
- Saturn: 19 years
- Mercury: 17 years
Periods within periods
Each main period is divided into nine sub-periods, called antardashas or bhuktis, one for each graha. The first sub-period belongs to the main period's own planet, and the rest follow in the same order as the list above. Their lengths are in proportion to the main-period lengths, so within any chapter a sub-period of Venus is the longest and one of the Sun the shortest.
If the main period is a chapter, the sub-period is a section within it. A Jupiter chapter might open with a Jupiter section, then move to a Saturn section, then a Mercury section, each adding its own flavour while Jupiter's theme continues underneath.
Where the sequence begins
The list above starts with Ketu, but your own sequence probably does not. Its starting point is set by the nakshatra, or lunar mansion, that the Moon occupied at your birth. Each of the 27 nakshatras is ruled by one of the nine grahas, and the ruler of your Moon's nakshatra gives your first period.
The rulers repeat in the same order as the list, starting with Ketu for Ashvini, the first nakshatra, so each graha rules three nakshatras spread evenly around the zodiac. Your sequence begins with Ketu only if your Moon was in one of Ketu's three.
You do not begin with the whole of that period. If the Moon had already travelled part of the way through its nakshatra when you were born, that part of the period counts as used, and only the balance remains. The rest of the sequence then follows in order.
Our sample chart, a teaching example rather than a real person's chart, has its Moon in Shravana, a nakshatra ruled by the Moon. Suppose the Moon was halfway through Shravana at birth. Then about five of the Moon's ten years remained. Mars would follow from about age five to twelve, Rahu from twelve to thirty, Jupiter from thirty to forty-six and Saturn from forty-six to sixty-five.
Finding your current main period
Most chart apps print a dasha table listing each main period with its start and end dates, and the sub-periods nested inside. Find today's date in the table and note both the main period and the sub-period you are in. Write them at the top of a fresh journal page.
Do not be surprised if two apps give dates that differ by months, or occasionally by more. The dates depend on the Moon's exact degree, which depends in turn on your birth time and on the ayanamsa, the offset an app uses to measure the sidereal zodiac against the stars. The order of periods will match; only the boundaries shift. Treat any change of period as a season of transition rather than a precise date.
If you know your birth time only roughly, look up the table for the earliest and latest plausible times as well. Where the tables agree, you can rely on the chapter boundaries; where they differ, hold the dates loosely.
Reading a period through its planet's houses
During a planet's period, its own story comes forward in your chart. Look at four things: the house the planet occupies, the houses it rules, the sign it sits in, and its natural meanings as a graha. Together they describe the themes the chapter tends to bring into focus. Our who's-who of the nine grahas is a handy reference for the last of these.
In the sample chart, Jupiter sits in the fifth house of creativity and learning, rules the third house of effort and skills and the sixth house of daily work, and casts its special aspects onto the first, ninth and eleventh houses. A Jupiter chapter for this person might therefore centre on learning or teaching, creative projects, the steady building of skills and a widening circle of mentors and friends.
Notice what this is and what it is not. It is a set of themes to watch for and reflect on. It is not a forecast of particular events, and no period is simply good or bad. A chapter of Saturn or Rahu, often spoken of with worry, has its own work to do, and it is common to look back on such chapters as times of real growth.
Looking back at past chapters
Past periods are the best way to see whether this approach speaks to you. List the main periods you have already lived through, with the ages they covered. For each, write three memories that stand out, then compare them with that planet's houses and meanings.
In the sample chart, the Rahu chapter runs from about twelve to thirty, and Rahu sits in Virgo in the twelfth house of distance, rest and the unfamiliar. A person with that chart might recognise those years as a time of study away from home, curiosity about other cultures or long stretches of solitary work. Or they might not, and that is equally informative.
Record the mismatches as carefully as the matches. Over several chapters you will learn which factors in your chart seem to speak loudest during their periods.
A reflection on the chapter you are in
Give your current chapter a title, as if it were a chapter in a book about your life. Then write down its planet's houses and meanings, and answer three questions. What does this chapter seem to ask of me? What is it teaching me? What would I like to have learned by the time it ends?
Revisit the page when your sub-period changes, using our house journaling prompts for the houses involved. Use these reflections to understand yourself, not to make major decisions; for those, and for questions a chart cannot answer, see when to ask someone experienced and the professionals mentioned there.
Frequently asked questions
What is a mahadasha?
A mahadasha is a main planetary period in the Vimshottari system. There are nine, one for each graha, lasting from six years for the Sun to twenty years for Venus.
Why do two apps show different dasha dates for me?
The dates depend on the Moon's exact degree, which varies with your birth time and the ayanamsa setting the app uses. The order of periods stays the same.
Is a Saturn or Rahu period something to fear?
No. Every period has its own themes and work. Saturn chapters often build patience and lasting structures, and Rahu chapters often bring curiosity and new directions.
Can dashas predict what will happen to me?
Traditional astrologers use dashas for timing, with varying approaches and results. This site uses them only as a framework for reflection, and no reading can promise outcomes.
