Vimshottari Dasha Calculator

Where the planets in your chart show what can happen, the dasha shows when. Vimshottari — meaning “one hundred and twenty” — is the most widely used dasha system: it shares 120 years among the nine planets in a fixed order and length (Ketu 7, Venus 20, Sun 6, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19, Mercury 17). Whichever planet's major period, or mahadasha, is running colours that whole stretch of life.

The starting planet is set by the nakshatra your Moon occupied at birth, and the distance the Moon had already travelled through that nakshatra decides how much of the first period was already spent — your “balance of dasha” at birth. From there the periods follow in their fixed sequence for the rest of life.

Each mahadasha divides again into nine antardashas — sub-periods in the same planetary order, scaled to the major period's length. So you might be in a Jupiter mahadasha but a Saturn antardasha, and astrologers read the pair together: the major period sets the theme, the sub-period the current chapter. This calculator shows your mahadasha timeline and the antardasha running right now.

A dasha is not “good” or “bad” on its own — it depends on how that planet sits in your chart. A strong, well-placed planet gives a supportive period; a weak or afflicted one asks for more care. The timeline tells you which planet is currently in charge; a full reading weighs its condition in your chart.

The starting planet of your dasha comes from the Moon's nakshatra, and the Moon crosses a nakshatra in about a day. On most dates this is settled, but if you were born while the Moon was near a nakshatra boundary, the exact birth time decides which planet's period you began in — and therefore the dates of every period after it. If your birth falls on such a day, the calculator tells you, and an exact time removes the doubt.

A dasha points to the timing and flavour of a life chapter — which planet's themes come forward — not to fixed events. The Saturn mahadasha that tests one person matures another; the Venus period that brings one person marriage brings another artistic success. The planet is the same; how it lands depends on your whole chart. Use the timeline to see the rhythm of your life, then read each period through the planet's place in your kundli.

The same planet's period can lift one person and test another — the difference is the planet's condition in the birth chart. A dasha tends to go well when its planet is strong: in a good house (a kendra or trikona), in its own or exaltation sign, joined or aspected by benefics, and friendly with the sign it sits in. It asks for more care when the planet is weak — debilitated, in a difficult 6th, 8th or 12th house, combust near the Sun, or hemmed by malefics. This is why “is my Saturn dasha bad?” has no general answer: read the running planet in your own chart before judging the period.

Each planet rules a major period of a fixed length, totalling 120 years. The running mahadasha colours that whole stretch of life; here is the theme of each, with its length.

Each period's actual flavour depends on how that planet sits in your chart — these themes are the starting point, not the verdict.

1. 1 Enter your date of birth — enough to build the timeline for most dates.
2. 2 Add your birth time if you know it; near a nakshatra boundary it fixes the starting period.
3. 3 Add your birth place so the Moon is read in the right timezone.
4. 4 Press Show to see your mahadasha sequence, the period running now and its current sub-period.