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In short
Ishta phala is a planet's benefic tendency on a 0-60 scale, from BPHS Ch. 28. It averages two "rays": how far the planet is from its deep debilitation point and how far along it is in its motional cycle. This app computes it for the seven grahas beside Shad Bala, without adding it to the Shad Bala total.
What the term means
Ishta phala (BPHS writes Isht Phala) means "desired result": the share of a planet's capacity that leans towards good effects. It is the counterpart of Kashta phala, and the two always add to 60. It is not the same thing as Shadbala: Shadbala measures how strong a planet is, Ishta phala which way that strength is said to lean.
Where the term comes from
BPHS Ch. 28 opens by calling these the planets' benefic and malefic tendencies, "based on which the Dasha effects can be decided". Sl. 2 builds the Uchch Rasmi from the planet's distance to its deep debilitation point; Sl. 3-4 builds the Chesht Rasmi the same way from the Chesht Kendr, the motional arc. Sl. 6 gives the formula: reduce each ray by 1, multiply by 10, add the two and halve the sum. Sl. 11-12 adds that where auspiciousness predominates, the planet's Dasha and houses are read as auspicious.
How this app computes it
- Each ray is the arc in degrees divided by 30, plus 1, so it runs from 1 at deep debilitation to 7 at deep exaltation. Ishta is then ((Uchcha - 1) x 10 + (Cheshta - 1) x 10) / 2, which runs from 0 to 60.
- For the Sun the motional arc uses the tropical Sun plus three signs, as Sl. 3-4 asks; for the Moon, its distance from the Sun. For Mars to Saturn BPHS never says what the reference point is, and the engine takes it from Surya Siddhanta, saying so in its code.
- It is reported in the Shad Bala calculator and the Kundali reading beside the twenty-point score, and does not change that score.
A small illustration
For 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi, Venus has an Uchcha ray of 5.85 and a Cheshta ray of 4.71, which gives an Ishta phala of 42.81 out of 60. Jupiter, close to its deep debilitation point in Capricorn, has rays of 1.1 and 1.01 and an Ishta phala of 0.56.
Pages that use this term
- Shad Bala calculator - the Ishta and Kashta columns for each planet.
- Kundali features - notes that Ishta and Kashta sit beside Shad Bala without entering it.
- Ayanamsa calculator - explains why the Sun's motional arc needs the ayanamsa.
Related terms
- Planetary rays - Saravali's related ray count.
- Uchcha and Neecha - the exaltation and debilitation points the first ray is measured between.
- Mahadasha - the period whose results BPHS reads through it.
Shad Bala calculator
Six components, one simplified score out of 20 for each of the seven grahas.
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