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In short
A dasha is a period of life assigned to a ruling graha (or, in some systems, a sign), worked out from the birth chart. BPHS Ch. 46 says dashas are of many kinds and names Vimshottari the most suitable for most people. This app runs Vimshottari as its main timeline and computes ten alternate systems and Chara Dasha alongside it.
What the term means
Dasha (often written "dasa") is Sanskrit for a state or condition, and in Jyotish it names a period of time. A dasha system cuts a life into consecutive chapters and gives each one a ruler: a graha in the nakshatra-based systems, a sign in the sign-based ones. The top-level chapter is the mahadasha; each is cut again into antardashas and further levels below that. The starting point and the length of every chapter are worked out from the birth chart, usually from the Moon's position at birth.
Where the term comes from
BPHS gives the subject its own run of chapters. In Ch. 46 Sl. 1 Maitreya asks about "the different kinds of Dashas", and Parashara answers in Sl. 2-5 that dashas "are of many kinds", that Vimshottari is the most appropriate for the general populace, and that a group of other nakshatra-based systems is followed in special cases. Sl. 6-11 call the Kala Chakra dasha supreme, then list a further set, Char and Yogini among them, and say that in Parashara's view these "are not appropriate". Ch. 47 Sl. 2 adds that a dasha's effects are of two kinds: general ones from the graha's nature and distinctive ones from its placement. Advanced Predictive Astrology (Vol. II) frames the working method as dasha for the hour hand and transit for the minute hand.
How this app computes it
- The main timeline is Vimshottari: nine mahadashas from the Moon's birth nakshatra, the first shortened by the part already spent (the dasha balance), each subdivided twice, so every date resolves to a mahadasha, antardasha and pratyantardasha lord.
- Ten alternate nakshatra systems from BPHS Ch. 46 are computed beside it, each with its starting lord, its balance at birth and a verdict on whether the chart meets the condition the text attaches to that system.
- Chara Dasha, the Jaimini sign-based system, is computed separately; it needs a birth time, because the whole sequence is anchored on the Ascendant sign.
- Systems the text lists but this app does not build, such as Yogini, are not shown with invented values.
A small illustration
For the chart of 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi, the engine places the Moon in Mula. Asked about 13 October 2026, its dashaStack() returns Mars as mahadasha lord, Venus as antardasha lord and Rahu as pratyantardasha lord. The alternate-dasha builder returns ten rows for the same chart, each with its own starting lord.
Pages that use this term
- What is a Mahadasha? - the essay on the top-level period and how it is dated.
- Vimshottari Dasha calculator - your nine mahadashas and the running sub-periods.
- Alternate dashas calculator - the ten other BPHS nakshatra systems for one chart.
- Chara Dasha calculator - the sign-based Jaimini sequence.
- Antardasha and pratyantar - how the sub-levels divide a period.
- Timing - where the running dasha meets transits.
Related terms
Pratyantardasha, Ashtottari Dasha, Kalachakra Dasha, Yogini Dasha and Gochara (transit).
Vimshottari Dasha
The 120-year cycle of nine lords, dated from the nakshatra your Moon held at birth.
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