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Glossary

Vimshottari Dasha defined: the 120-year cycle of nine planetary periods counted from the Moon's birth nakshatra, its BPHS Ch. 46 rules, and how this app builds the timeline.

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In short

Vimshottari Dasha is the 120-year cycle of nine planetary periods, started from the lord of the Moon's birth nakshatra. BPHS Ch. 46 calls it the most appropriate dasha for the general populace. It is the main timeline in this app, computed to three levels: mahadasha, antardasha and pratyantardasha.

What the term means

Vimshottari is named for its total of 120 years, the length of one full cycle. It is a dasha system with nine lords: Ketu, Venus, the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury, each owning three of the 27 nakshatras. Where the Moon stood at birth decides which lord's mahadasha comes first and how much of it is left.

Where the term comes from

BPHS Ch. 46 Sl. 2-5 ranks it first among the many dashas. Sl. 12-14 give the method: count the nakshatras from Krittika to the birth nakshatra and divide by nine; the remainder names the first lord, and the others follow in order. The same slokas give 120 years as the natural span of a life, the reason for the system's name. Sl. 15 lists the years, and Sl. 16 the rule for the balance still to run at birth. Ch. 51 subdivides the periods. Advanced Predictive Astrology (Vol. II) calls Vimshottari the most popular of the dasha systems it names, and Jyotisha Siddhanta Sara (Ch. V, p. 119) the one "most widely followed", calling the first lord the Udu dasa lord.

How this app computes it

  • Years: Ketu 7, Venus 20, Sun 6, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19, Mercury 17, summing to 120. A year is 365.2425 days.
  • The first lord is the lord of the Moon's nakshatra; its period is cut to the share of the nakshatra the Moon had not yet crossed.
  • The nine mahadashas are laid out once. Each is divided into antardashas and each antardasha into pratyantardashas by the same proportional rule, so any date gives three lords.
  • The same proportions, applied to the arc of a nakshatra instead of a span of time, give the nakshatra sub-lord. The engine's note says this extends the BPHS rule rather than quoting it.

A small illustration

For 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi, the engine puts the Moon at 252.6569 degrees sidereal, in the fourth pada of Mula, a Ketu nakshatra. The timeline opens with 0.3551 of a year of Ketu, then the full Venus period from 28 May 1985. On 13 October 2026 it reads Mars mahadasha, Venus antardasha, Rahu pratyantardasha.

Pages that use this term

Related terms

Antardasha, Pratyantardasha, Dasha balance, Ashtottari Dasha and Janma Nakshatra.

Now on yourself

Vimshottari Dasha

The 120-year cycle of nine lords, dated from the nakshatra your Moon held at birth.

A birth time is optional. Without one this is read at local noon on your birth date - and the Moon moves about 13 degrees in a day, so add the time if you know it.

No place is asked for on this page, so the time is read as Indian Standard Time (IST). Born outside India? Run it on its own page, where you can add the place.

This date is sent only to compute the answer. Nothing is stored, no account is created, and no email is asked for.

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