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In short
The Drekkana, or D3, is the divisional chart made by cutting each sign into three parts of 10 degrees. BPHS assigns the three parts to the 1st, 5th and 9th signs from the sign itself and reads siblings ("co-born") from it. This app computes it for every planet and, with a birth time, for the Ascendant.
What the term means
Drekkana (BPHS spells it Dreshkan) means a third of a sign. It is one of the vargas, the divisional charts derived from the birth chart. Each 30-degree sign is split into three parts of 10 degrees, and each part is given a sign. A planet's Drekkana sign is the sign of the part its degree falls in. Unlike most vargas, the three parts do not step through consecutive signs: they land on the 1st, 5th and 9th signs, the sign's own trine.
Where the term comes from
BPHS Ch. 6 Sl. 2-4 lists the Dreshkan third among the sixteen divisions. Sl. 7-8 defines it as one third of a sign, 36 in the whole zodiac, and says the 1st, 5th and 9th signs from a sign are its three Dreshkanas. Ch. 7 Sl. 1-8 gives its subject: "happiness through co-born", that is, brothers and sisters. In the Vimshopak scheme of Ch. 7 it carries a weight of 4 in the six-chart Shad Varga and 1 in the full sixteen-chart scheme, and Ch. 27 counts a Dreshkan Bal among the components of positional strength.
How this app computes it
- The part number is the degree within the sign divided by 10, rounded down: 0-10 is the first part, 10-20 the second, 20-30 the third.
- The count starts at the sign itself and moves four signs per part, so the parts fall on the 1st, 5th and 9th signs, as BPHS Ch. 6 Sl. 7-8 states. There is no odd/even or movable/fixed rule for this varga.
- A planet in the same sign in D1 and D3 (always the first 10 degrees) is flagged vargottama.
- D3 houses are drawn only when the Ascendant is known; the D3 also feeds this app's Vimshopaka bala with a weight of 1 out of 20.
A small illustration
For the chart of 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi, the engine puts the Moon at Sagittarius 12.66. That is the second part, so it moves to the 5th sign from Sagittarius: Aries. Mars at Aquarius 25.40 is in the third part and lands on the 9th from Aquarius, Libra. The Sun, Jupiter and Saturn all sit in the first 10 degrees of their signs, so all three are vargottama in this D3.
Pages that use this term
- Drekkana (D3) calculator - every planet's D3 sign from your birth details.
- The 3rd house (Sahaja Bhava) - the house of siblings that the D3 is read beside.
- The 1st house (Tanu Bhava) - where the rising third of the sign (its decanate) is tied to parts of the body.
- Mars in the 3rd house - a planet-in-house page that refers to the D3.
- Aries (Mesha Rashi) - a sign page that sets out its three Drekkanas and their lords.
Related terms
- Divisional chart - the family the D3 belongs to.
- Navamsa (D9) and Chaturthamsa (D4) - other vargas built by the same engine.
- Trikona - the 1-5-9 relation the three parts follow.
Drekkana D3 Chart
Thirds of 10 degrees, counted in trines - BPHS reads D3 for siblings and courage.
What it needs
Date, time and place
That is more than this article asks for - it only ever takes a date, and sometimes a time, and never a name or a birth place. So this one runs on its own page, which asks for exactly what it needs and stores none of it.
Run it on its own page