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In short
A divisional chart, or D-chart, is a second chart for the same birth moment, made by cutting each sign into parts and mapping each part to a sign. The number after D is the number of parts: D9 cuts each sign into nine. This app computes fifteen divisional charts beyond the birth chart (D1), each with its own calculator.
What the term means
A divisional chart is the English name for a varga. The birth chart is D1: each planet sits in one of twelve signs. A divisional chart cuts every sign into N parts and gives each part a sign by a fixed rule, so a planet's position in the part it occupies yields a new sign. Planets that share a sign in D1 can be scattered across the divisional chart, and planets in different signs can come together.
Where the term comes from
BPHS Ch. 6 sets out sixteen divisions and the counting rule for each. The rules differ: the Saptansh counts from the sign itself for an odd sign and from the 7th for an even one (Sl. 10-11); the Dreshkan uses the 1st, 5th and 9th signs from the sign (Sl. 7-8); the Navansh starts by the sign's modality (Sl. 12). Ch. 7 Sl. 1-8 says what each is read for, from wealth in the Hora to parents in the Dvadashansh.
How this app uses it
- One shared function computes most of them: it finds the part from the degree in the sign, picks the starting sign by that varga's rule, and counts forward.
- Two are different in shape: the Hora (D2) resolves only to Leo or Cancer, and the Trimshamsa (D30) is reported as a ruling planet per degree band.
- Planets get divisional signs from their longitude alone. A divisional Ascendant, and whole-sign houses in the divisional chart, exist only when the birth time is known; the calculators ask for it.
- The finer the division, the narrower each part; a D60 part is half a degree, so its Ascendant can change with a small error in birth time.
A small illustration
For 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi, the birth-chart Ascendant is Pisces. In the divisional charts the engine gives an Ascendant of Scorpio in D3, Aquarius in D7, Capricorn in D9, Gemini in D10 and Capricorn in D60. Jupiter, at Capricorn 2.09, stays in Capricorn in the D3, D4, D9 and D12 and is flagged vargottama in each.
Pages that use this term
- When the birth time is unknown - which divisional charts survive without one.
- Navamsa: the second chart - the D9 in depth.
- The 10th house (Karma Bhava) - reads the D10 beside the birth chart.
- Ishta Devata and the Karakamsa - a reading made in the D9.
- Dashamsa (D10) calculator - one of the fifteen divisional calculators.
- Vimshopaka Bala calculator - all sixteen charts combined into one score.
Related terms
Varga, Navamsa, Dashamsa, Hora (D2), vargottama and degree in sign.