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In short
A planet is Vargottama when it occupies the same sign in the birth chart and in the Navamsa (D9). BPHS and Saravali treat that as a strengthening condition. This app flags it for every graha and, when the birth time is known, for the Ascendant; it applies the same same-sign test to the other divisional charts too.
What the term means
Vargottama joins varga, "division", and uttama, "best". A planet is Vargottama when its sign in the Navamsa is the same as its sign in the birth chart. Each sign has one ninth-part that maps back to itself: the first for a movable sign, the fifth for a fixed sign and the ninth for a dual sign. So the Vargottama band is a 3°20' stretch at the start, middle or end of each sign.
Where the term comes from
BPHS Ch. 36 Sl. 38-39 lists Vargottama among the division dignities of the Lagna lord, and the translation glosses it as a graha "occupying the same Rāśi and the same Navāńś". Ch. 46 Sl. 31-32 recommends the Shatabdik Dasha when the Lagna is Vargottama. Saravali Ch. 24 Sl. 22-24 grades the Moon's effects as full in a Vargottama Navamsa, medium in its own Navamsa and minor in another's.
How this app computes it
- When it builds the Navamsa, the engine compares each point's D9 sign with its D1 sign and lists the matches. All nine grahas are tested; the Ascendant is tested only when there is a birth time.
- In a 1990-05-15, 10:30 IST Mumbai chart the engine lists three: the Ascendant at Cancer 2.42 and Saturn at Capricorn 1.47, both in the first part of a movable sign, and the Moon at Sagittarius 29.84, in the last part of a dual sign.
- The same same-sign test runs in every divisional chart it builds, so a planet can be Vargottama in the D10 without being so in the D9. The career and money reading notes D10 Vargottama planets.
- The alternate-dasha list marks the Shatabdik Dasha as applicable when the Ascendant's D9 sign equals its D1 sign.
Near the edges
For movable and dual signs the Vargottama band touches a sign boundary, so a small error in birth time can move the Ascendant in or out of it.
Pages that use this term
- Navamsa: the second chart - the chart the test is made against.
- The 1st house (Tanu Bhava) - a Vargottama Lagna.
- Cancer (Karka) rashi - a movable sign, Vargottama in its first 3°20'.
- Navamsa (D9) calculator - lists your Vargottama planets.
- Dashamsa (D10) calculator - the same test in the career chart.
- Alternate dashas calculator - where the Shatabdik condition is checked.
Related terms
- Navamsa (D9) - the ninth-division chart.
- Varga - the divisional charts in general.
- Chara rashi, Sthira rashi and Dvisvabhava rashi - the modalities that place the band.
- Dignity - the sign-based ranking it is often read beside.
Navamsa D9 Chart
Nine parts of 3°20', started by the sign's modality - the most consulted varga of the set.
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