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In short
The Saptamsa, or D7, is the divisional chart made by cutting each sign into seven equal parts. BPHS counts the parts from the sign itself for an odd sign and from its 7th for an even sign, and reads "sons and grandsons" from it. This app computes it for every planet and, with a birth time, the Ascendant.
What the term means
Saptamsa means "seventh part". It is one of the vargas: each 30-degree sign is divided into seven equal parts of a little under 4°18', and each part is assigned a sign. Where the count begins depends on whether the sign is odd (Aries, Gemini, Leo and so on) or even (Taurus, Cancer, Virgo and so on), the split explained on the odd and even signs page.
Where the term comes from
BPHS Ch. 6 Sl. 10-11 gives the rule: for an odd sign the count starts from the sign itself, for an even sign from the seventh sign from it. The same slokas give the seven parts names, running from Kshaar to Suddh Jal, in reverse order for an even sign. Ch. 7 Sl. 1-8 assigns the chart its subject, "sons and grandsons". Ch. 7 Sl. 17-19 adds the Saptamsa to the six Shad Varga charts to make the seven-chart Sapt Varg, and the positional strength of Ch. 27 counts it among the seven vargas of Sapt Vargaj Bal.
How this app computes it
- The part number is the degree within the sign divided by 30/7, rounded down (parts 1 to 7).
- An odd sign starts the count from itself; an even sign starts from its 7th sign. The count then moves forward one sign per part, the same step the Navamsa uses.
- A planet whose D7 sign equals its D1 sign is flagged vargottama; D7 houses exist only when the Ascendant is known.
- The D7 sign is one of the sixteen placements graded in this app's Vimshopaka bala, with a weight of 0.5 out of 20. The seven named parts are not returned.
A small illustration
For 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi, the engine places the Sun at Capricorn 5.46. Capricorn is an even sign, so the count starts at its 7th, Cancer; 5.46 degrees is the second part, which moves one sign on to Leo. The Moon at Sagittarius 12.66 is in an odd sign and the third part, so the count runs Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius. No planet in this chart is vargottama in the D7.
Pages that use this term
- Saptamsa (D7) calculator - each planet's D7 sign from your birth details.
- The 5th house (Putra Bhava) - the house of children, read beside the D7.
- Jupiter in the 5th house - a planet-in-house page that refers to the D7.
- Jupiter in Vedic astrology - the graha page that points readers to the Saptamsa.
- Navamsa: the second chart - sets the D7 among the other vargas.
Related terms
- Divisional chart - the family the D7 belongs to.
- Dashamsa (D10) - the other varga whose start depends on odd and even signs.
- Navamsa (D9) - the varga BPHS reads the spouse from.
Saptamsa D7 Chart
Sevenths of a sign, counted from the 7th when the sign is even - BPHS reads D7 for children.
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