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In short
The Khavedamsa, or D40, also called the Chatvarimshamsa, is the divisional chart made by cutting each sign into forty parts of 45 minutes of arc. BPHS counts from Aries for an odd sign and from Libra for an even sign, and reads "auspicious and inauspicious effects" from it. This app computes it for every planet and the Ascendant.
What the term means
Khavedamsa names the fortieth division of a sign, and BPHS gives Chatvarimshamsa ("fortieth part") as its other name. It is the varga made by cutting each 30-degree sign into forty parts of 45 minutes of arc and assigning each part a sign. Forty parts run through the twelve signs three times and a third, so the D40 cycles through the zodiac more than three times inside one sign.
Where the term comes from
BPHS Ch. 6 Sl. 29-30 gives the rule: "For odd" signs count from Mesh (Aries) and for an even sign from Tula (Libra). Twelve presiding deities, Vishnu first, repeat in the same order for every sign, with no reversal. Ch. 7 Sl. 1-8 assigns the chart "auspicious and inauspicious effects", without narrowing it further. In the sixteen-chart Vimshopak scheme (Ch. 7 Sl. 21-25) it is one of the nine divisions weighted half a point.
How this app computes it
- The part is the degree within the sign divided by 0.75, rounded down (parts 1 to 40).
- An odd sign starts the count from Aries, an even sign from Libra, and the count moves one sign per part.
- The D40 sign is one of the sixteen placements in this app's Vimshopaka bala (weight 0.5 of 20). Same-sign D1 and D40 is flagged vargottama; the deity names are not returned.
A small illustration
For 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi, the Moon is at Sagittarius 12.66. Sagittarius is odd, so the count starts at Aries; 12.66 degrees is the seventeenth part, sixteen signs on, which comes round to Leo. The Sun at Capricorn 5.46 is in an even sign, so the count starts at Libra, and the eighth part lands on Taurus. The Ascendant, Pisces 23.04, gives a D40 Ascendant in Aries.
Only as firm as the birth time
A 45-minute part is narrow. The D40 Ascendant in particular moves with a small error in the birth time, as the essay on unknown birth times explains for the fine vargas in general.
Pages that use this term
- Khavedamsa (D40) calculator - every planet's D40 sign from your birth details.
- Navamsa: the second chart - lists the D40 among the sixteen vargas and their subjects.
- Vimshopaka bala calculator - shows the D40 placement in each planet's breakdown.
- Kundali features - the chart reading the divisional charts belong to.
Related terms
- Divisional chart - the family the D40 belongs to.
- Akshavedamsa (D45) - the next and finer division.
- Shashtiamsa (D60) - the finest of the sixteen.
Khavedamsa D40 Chart
Fortieths of 0°45', counted from Aries or Libra - classically read for maternal legacy.
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