Vimshottari Dasha Explained: Mahadasha, Antardasha and How to Read Yours (Dasha Kaise Dekhein)

Vedic astrology times events with dashas: periods ruled in turn by the nine grahas. The system almost every Indian astrologer uses first is Vimshottari, a 120-year cycle. Knowing which period you are in, and which planet rules it, is where any reading of timing starts.

What Vimshottari dasha is

Vimshottari means "of one hundred and twenty". The nine planets rule for fixed spans, always in the same order: Ketu 7 years, Venus 20, Sun 6, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19 and Mercury 17. Each span is a mahadasha. Nobody lives through the whole cycle; where you enter it depends on the moment of your birth.

How your first dasha is fixed at birth

Each of the 27 nakshatras is ruled by one of the nine planets, in the same order as the dashas. The nakshatra the Moon occupied at your birth decides which mahadasha you were born into, and how far the Moon had travelled through that nakshatra decides how much of it was left. A Moon halfway through Rohini, which Moon rules, means a birth in the Moon mahadasha with about five of its ten years remaining. That is why an accurate birth time and place matter: the Moon moves about a degree every two hours.

Maha, antar, pratyantar and sookshma

Each mahadasha divides into nine antardashas in the same order, starting with the mahadasha’s own lord; each antardasha divides again into pratyantardashas, and those into sookshma periods of days or weeks. The length of each sub-period is proportional to its lord’s years, so a Venus antardasha is always the longest in any mahadasha. On the Plus plan our birth chart shows all four levels with day-level dates: tap a period to open the one below it. The dasha calculator, free with an account, lists the dates of your nine mahadashas from your birth details.

How to read a dasha

A dasha lord gives the results of what it is in your chart, not of its general reputation. Four things decide that: the house it occupies; the houses it rules from your lagna; its dignity (exalted, own sign, friendly, debilitated) and strength, which the chart page measures as shadbala on the Pro plan; and the planets it joins or aspects. An antardasha then colours the mahadasha through the relationship between the two lords: friends placed well from each other blend smoothly, enemies placed 6-8 or 2-12 from each other rub.

Dasha and transit together

The dasha says what the period is about; transits say when its promise is triggered. A marriage promised in a Venus antardasha usually arrives when Jupiter and Saturn also activate the 7th house, which astrologers call the double transit. KP astrology goes further and reads the running dasha lords as significators of specific houses; see KP astrology.

The nine mahadashas

In order: Ketu (7 years), Venus (20), Sun (6), Moon (10), Mars (7), Rahu (18), Jupiter (16), Saturn (19) and Mercury (17). Each has its own guide in this series, published one a day from 12 October.

Vimshottari dasha: FAQs

How do I find my current mahadasha?
Enter your birth date, time and place in the dasha calculator, free with an account, for the dates of all nine mahadashas. Once you save your free kundli, your birth chart also shows the running mahadasha, and the Plus plan opens every sub-period down to the day.

Why is my mahadasha different on another website?
Usually because of a different birth time, a different ayanamsa, or a different year length in the calculation. A few minutes of birth time can move the dates of every sub-period.

Which mahadasha is the best?
None is good or bad by itself. A planet that is strong and well placed in your chart gives a good period; the same planet weak or badly placed gives a difficult one.

What is the difference between antardasha and pratyantardasha?
An antardasha is the second-level period inside a mahadasha; a pratyantardasha is the third level inside an antardasha, usually lasting weeks to months.

Is Vimshottari the only dasha system?
No. Yogini and Chara dasha are also used, and our birth chart shows both on the Plus plan, but Vimshottari is the default in most of India and the one this series explains.

To see your own periods read against your chart, get the ₹49 kundli report or talk to an astrologer.