In the article comparing Vedic vs Western astrology, I made a list of techniques used to predict life events. As per my research, the planetary time periods calculated using "Vimshottari" Dasha system is the most accurate method of predicting life events. All the classics written on Vedic astrology has written extensively about this method and I've personally found this method to be very accurate.
It’s based on the position of the Moon. Moon travels 13 degrees 20 minutes in a day, and the path it covers is called a Lunar Mansion or a Nakshatra. It takes Moon ~27 days to travel across the entire zodiac (360 degrees) so there are 27 Nakshatras (click to read more), which play a pivotal role in Vedic astrology.
Each Nakshtra is ruled by a planet for a specific number of years (time period) based on the Vimshottari Dasha system. So depending on the degree of Moon in your birth chart, you go through the time period of the ruler of the Nakshatra - and that ruler (planet) affects your life the most. Take a look at this table.
Sequence | Nakshatra | Degree (longitude) of the Moon | Ruler | Number of years |
1 | Ashwini | 0 - 13 degrees 20 minutes | Ketu | 7 years |
2 | Bharani | 13 degrees 20 minutes – 26 degrees 40 minutes | Venus | 20 years |
3 | Krittika | 26 degrees 40 minutes – 40 degrees | Sun | 6 years |
4 | Rohini | 40 degrees – 53 degrees 20 minutes | Moon | 10 years |
5 | Mrigashira | 53 degrees 20 minutes – 66 degrees 40 minutes | Mars | 7 years |
6 | Ardra | 66 degrees 40 minutes – 80 degrees | Rahu | 18 years |
7 | Punarvasu | 80 degrees – 93 degrees 20 minutes | Jupiter | 16 years |
8 | Pushya | 93 degrees 20 minutes – 106 degrees 40 minutes | Saturn | 19 years |
9 | Ashlesha | 106 degrees 40 minutes – 120 degrees | Mercury | 17 years |
10 | Magha | 120 degrees – 133 degrees 20 minutes | Ketu | 7 years |
11 | Purva Phalguni | 133 degrees 20 minutes – 146 degrees 40 minutes | Venus | 20 years |
12 | Uttara Phalguni | 146 degrees 40 minutes – 160 degrees | Sun | 6 years |
13 | Hasta | 160 degrees – 173 degrees 20 minutes | Moon | 10 years |
14 | Chitra | 173 degrees 20 minutes – 186 degrees 40 minutes | Mars | 7 years |
15 | Swati | 186 degrees 40 minutes – 200 degrees | Rahu | 18 years |
16 | Vishaka | 200 degrees – 213 degrees 20 minutes | Jupiter | 16 years |
17 | Anurada | 213 degrees 20 minutes – 226 degrees 40 minutes | Saturn | 19 years |
18 | Jyeshta | 226 degrees 40 minutes – 240 degrees | Mercury | 17 years |
19 | Mula | 240 degrees – 253 degrees 20 minutes | Ketu | 7 years |
20 | Purva Ashadha | 253 degrees 20 minutes – 266 degrees 40 minutes | Venus | 20 years |
21 | Uttara Ashadha | 266 degrees 40 minutes – 280 degrees | Sun | 6 years |
22 | Shravana | 280 degrees – 293 degrees 20 minutes | Moon | 10 years |
23 | Dhanishta | 293 degrees 20 minutes – 306 degrees 40 minutes | Mars | 7 years |
24 | Shatabhishak | 306 degrees 40 minutes – 320 degrees | Rahu | 18 years |
25 | Purva Bhadrapada | 320 degrees – 333 degrees 20 minutes | Jupiter | 16 years |
26 | Uttara Bhadrapada | 333 degrees 20 minutes – 346 degrees 40 minutes | Saturn | 19 years |
27 | Revati | 346 degrees 40 minutes – 360 degrees | Mercury | 17 years |
Let's say you were born 11th April 1990 at 18 30 in London, then as per your birth chart your Moon’s degree is 15 degrees Libra, so what that means is that Moon has travelled 6 signs (Aries to Virgo) of 30 degrees each, and another 15 degrees of Libra taking the Longitude of Moon, in your birth chart, to 195 degrees (6x30 + 15).
So look at the table shown above, you could see you were born in the Nakshatra of Swati that is ruled by Rahu. But Moon has already traveled 8 degrees and 20 minutes (195 - 186.33) of the 13 degrees 20 minutes of the Nakshatra so you’ll go through the remaining years as per this formula.
Time period of Rahu left = (13.33 - 8.33)/ 13.33 * 18 years = 6 years and 9 months
After you have finished the remaining time period of Rahu, you'll enter the time period of the next ruling planet in the sequence (refer table above), which in this case is Jupiter for 16 years, followed by Saturn for 19 years and so on.
*you could move on to the next section if you are more interested in the application of this method.
The main time period is further broken down to a sub-time period and a sub-sub time period. For the sake of simplicity, I call them time period#1, #2, and #3. So how are they broken down? if you are starting a time period#1 of a new planet, then time period#2, and #3 are also of the same planet. Now time period#3 (ruling planet) first changes as per the sequence in the table above, and once it completes the cycle, only then does time period#2 changes, and after its cycle is over that is when time period#1 changes.
Let's say you starting a time period of Sun, so time period#1,#2, and #3 are all Sun. The next time period will be Sun-Sun-Moon, followed by Sun-Sun-Mars....all the way till Sun-Sun-Venus, and then it becomes Sun-Moon-Moon, and the same cycle follows, until time period #1 changes.
Another interesting question is how to calculate the duration of these time periods. Let's take Sun-Sun-Sun as an example, as per the table the duration of Sun's time period is 6 years, and as per vimshottari dasha system the life of a person is 120 years, for the purpose of calculations.
So, the duration of Sun-Sun will be = 6 x 6/120 = 109 days, and Sun-Sun-Sun = 109* 6/120 = 5 days.
You don't need to worry about the calculations they've already been done on this website.
The life of every human being is taken as 120 years and it is divided into different phases controlled by different planets. You could find the planets controlling your life right now by navigating to the table on farfaraway that says "planetary time periods" (as shown above). In this table, you'll find 4 columns: 1. Time period #1, which is the main time period. 2. Time period #2, which is the sub time period. 3. Time period #3, which is the sub-sub time period. 4. The end date i.e. that the date till which this phase will last. Now, the planets in time periods #1 & #2 are responsible for creating the circumstances for a life event to take place whereas the planet in time period #3 is responsible for executing that life event at that time.
Let's take an example. If the planet in time period #1 is Jupiter, the planet in time phase #2 is the lord of the 7th house, and the planet in time phase #3 is sitting in the 11th house then this time period would create a very high possibility of marriage. Since Jupiter (blessings) is joining the planet controlling (lord) the 7th house (marriage) and the planet sitting in the 11th house (desires). I hope you are able to see this connection. Similarly, if at a certain time the planets controlling your life are having a strong connection with the career related houses (the 10th & the 6th) then a career-related event is likely to happen at that time.
Check how planets are linked in your birth chart e.g. if you are trying to predict your time of marriage then see which planets are ruling the 7th house in your birth chart, which planets are sitting in it, and which planets are aspecting it. Now do the same for the 11th house. Now check when in the future are you going to go through a combination of planets which influence the marriage house (7th) and the house of desires (11th). The phase of those planets would be your time of marriage :)
--If you'd like me to do this analysis for you then check out this link. Thanks for reading--
...is a picture of the sky at the time of his birth.
The position of the planets are fetched using Swiss Ephemeris, who capture their data from NASA.
Planetary
Time periods
His
Birth details
...are times in his life when certain planets affected him the most
e.g. A time period of Moon - Venus - Jupiter means, Moon is the main planet, followed by Venus & Jupiter. Vedic astrologers call them Dashas.
Birth chart in
Tabular form
His
Birth chart
...the degrees mentioned in the chart are longitudes of the planets
e.g. 15 degrees Gemini equals 75 degrees. You can read more about this in the coming slides. Please continue.
What do
Planets represent
Planetary
Time periods
...we all know the 7 planets. Besides them
Rahu and Ketu play an important part in Vedic astrology. They represent the North and South node of the Moon.
# | Planet | Details |
---|---|---|
1 | Sun | Soul, Career, Father, Govt, and Authority |
2 | Moon | Mind, Emotions, and Mother |
3 | Mercury | Intelligence, and Communication skills |
4 | Venus | Creativity, Luxuries, and Wife |
5 | Mars | Courage, Willpower, and Passion |
6 | Jupiter | Teachers, Knowledge, Guidance, and Husband |
7 | Saturn | Discipline, Delay, Order, and Hard work |
8 | Rahu | Obsession, and Aggression |
9 | Ketu | Detachment, Isolation, and Spirituality |
What do
Houses represent
Birth chart in
Tabular form
...the rising sign at the time of your birth occupies the first house Each house represents a section of your life e.g. the 7th house represents Marriage and the 10th house represents Career
# | House | Details |
---|---|---|
1 | First House(H1) | Body & Personality |
2 | Second House(H2) | Fixed assets/Savings, Material possessions, and the Family you are born in |
3 | Third House(H3) | Communication skills, Analytical ability, Willpower, Short distance travel,and Siblings |
4 | Fourth House(H4) | Home & Family life, and Emotions |
5 | Fifth House(H5) | Creativity, Media & Entertainment, Early Education, and Children |
6 | Sixth House(H6) | Enemies, Diseases, Debts, Litigation, Healing ability, Analytical ability, and Daily routine |
7 | Seventh House(H7) | Marriage, and Legal partnerships |
8 | Eighth House(H8) | Death/Transformation, Ability to rise after a fall, Research and exploration, and Secret affairs |
9 | Ninth House(H9) | Higher Education, Teachers, Religion, Culture, Long distance travel, and Luck |
10 | Tenth House(H10) | Career, Public life, and Discipline |
11 | Eleventh House(H11) | Income, Wealth, Hopes & Wishes, Professional network, Social circle, and Philanthropy |
12 | Twelfth House(H12) | Losses, Isolation(Foreign lands, Jails, Hospitals), Spirituality, Imaginatition, and Hidden talent |
What do
Signs represent
What do
Planets represent
...imagine the sky the broken down into
12 constellations starting from Aries till Pisces, each occupying 30 degrees.
# | Sign | Details | Degrees | Ruler |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Aries | Action oriented, Impulsive, Aggressive, and indicator of Willpower | 0 - 30 | Mars |
2 | Taurus | Determined, Stubborn, Materialistc, and indicator of Family assets | 30 - 60 | Venus |
3 | Gemini | Expressive, Talktaive, Forthcoming, Clever, and Intelligent, and indicator of Communication skills | 60 - 90 | Mercury |
4 | Cancer | Emotional, Moody, Indecisive, and indicator of Life at Home | 90 - 120 | Moon |
5 | Leo | Regal, Creative, Individualistic, Performer, and indicator of Early Education, and Children | 120 - 150 | Sun |
6 | Virgo | Analytical, Perfectionist, and indicator of the ability to fight Enemies, Obstacles and Diseases | 150 - 180 | Mercury |
7 | Libra | Balanced, Diplomatic, Peaceful, and indicator of Relationships, and Business partnerships | 180 - 210 | Venus |
8 | Scorpio | Explorer, Researcher, Mysterious, Manipulative, and indicator of Death/Transformation | 210 - 240 | Mars |
9 | Sagittarius | Philosopher, Traveller, Life-long student, and indicator of Higher Education | 240 - 270 | Jupiter |
10 | Capricorn | Disciplined, Organized, Structured, and indicator of Career and Public life | 270 - 300 | Saturn |
11 | Aquarius | Unconventional, Scientific Thinker, Humanitarian, and indicator of Wealth and Network circles | 300 - 330 | Saturn |
12 | Pisces | Imaginative, Dreamer, Spirtual, and indicator of Isolation | 330 - 360 | Jupiter |
His
Birth details
What do
Houses represent
...your time of birth has been coverted to Coordinated Universal Time(UTC).
His
Birth chart
What do
Signs represent
A feature that calculates the best time for marriage, career, wealth, and travel. So, if you are curious to know when you’ll get married, or change your job, or when you'll get rich, or when you'll make a trip abroad, then this is for you.
A feature that checks compatibility. So if you are in relationship and curious to know how your mental & physical connection is like, or how is it affecting your career, or how much wealth will you accumulate together, then this is for you.
A feature that explains how your planets have moved since the time your were born. So if you want to know what is happening with your life right now then this is for you. I promise you won't need to read the weekly horoscope from now.