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In short
The Shashtiamsa, or D60, divides each sign into sixty parts of half a degree. BPHS gives the arithmetic (double the degrees, divide by 12, count on by the remainder), names the sixty parts benefic or malefic, and weights it most heavily in the sixteen-chart Vimshopaka scheme. This app computes the D60 sign but not the sixty names.
What the term means
Shashtiamsa means "sixtieth part". It is the finest of the sixteen vargas: each 30-degree sign is cut into sixty parts of half a degree, and each part is assigned a sign. Because the parts are so small, the D60 places of planets and above all of the Ascendant depend on a precise birth time.
Where the term comes from
BPHS Ch. 6 Sl. 33-41 gives the arithmetic: ignore the sign, take the degrees the planet has travelled in it, multiply by 2, divide by 12 and "add 1 to the remainder" to find the sign. The same slokas name the sixty parts, from Ghora to CandraRekha, each benefic or malefic, and say the order of the names is reversed for even signs. Ch. 7 Sl. 1-8 gives "all indications" to the D45 and D60 together and says a house whose lord sits in a malefic Shashtiamsa diminishes. Its Vimshopak weight is 5 in the ten-chart scheme (Ch. 7 Sl. 20) and 4 in the sixteen-chart scheme (Sl. 21-25), the largest single weight there.
How this app computes it
- The part number is the degree within the sign times two, rounded down (0 to 59). Its remainder after dividing by 12 is how many signs to count forward from the planet's own sign.
- The count goes forward for odd and even signs alike. The engine's code records that it once counted even signs backward and dropped that: the reversal BPHS states is of the names, not of the sign count.
- The sixty names and their benefic or malefic character are not returned, so the Ch. 7 rule about a lord in a malefic Shashtiamsa is not tested. The D60 sign does carry the largest weight, 4 of 20, in this app's Vimshopaka bala.
A small illustration
For 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi, the Sun is at Capricorn 5.46. Twice 5.46 is 10.92, so the part is 10 and the count runs ten signs on from Capricorn: Scorpio. The Vimshopaka breakdown grades Scorpio as a friendly sign for the Sun and credits 2.5 of the 4 available points. The Moon at Sagittarius 12.66 gives part 25, remainder 1, so Capricorn.
Pages that use this term
- Shashtiamsa (D60) calculator - every planet's D60 sign from your birth details.
- When the birth time is unknown - why the D60 Ascendant needs an exact time.
- Navamsa: the second chart - sets out the D60's weight and how quickly its Ascendant changes.
- Vimshopaka bala calculator - where the D60 row carries the most weight.
Related terms
- Akshavedamsa (D45) - the division BPHS pairs it with.
- Birth-time rectification - the practice that fine vargas depend on.
- Divisional chart - the family the D60 belongs to.
Shashtiamsa D60 Chart
Sixty half-degree amsas per sign - classically the most weighted varga of the fifteen.
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