Daśā
दशा
Planetary period: a span of life governed by one graha.
Definition
Daśā ('state, condition') is a time-period assigned to a graha or sign, during which the texts read that graha's significations as active. BPHS describes many daśā systems, of which Vimśottarī is the one in general use today; others include Aṣṭottarī, Yoginī and Jaimini's Cara daśā. Periods are subdivided into antardaśā, pratyantardaśā and finer levels.
Articles that use this term
- Panchanga
The 27 nakshatras: a sky map older than the zodiac
Before the twelve signs reached India, the Vedic sky was read by the Moon's nightly stations. What they are and how they are still used.
7 min read · 13 October 2026
- Jyotish · Hora
Grahas are not planets: the nine "seizers"
Why Jyotish counts the Sun, the Moon and two invisible points among its nine grahas, and what the word actually means.
7 min read · 10 October 2026
- Jyotish · HoraExplainer
Vimshottari dasha: time, divided
A 120-year cycle of nine periods, started from the Moon's nakshatra at birth. How the system is built and how to read its arithmetic.
7 min read · 8 October 2026
- Jyotish · HoraExplainer
Transits (gochar) and what Sade Sati is
How the tradition reads the present sky against the birth chart, and a calm explanation of the seven and a half years of Saturn.
7 min read · 7 October 2026
- Jyotish · Hora
Space and Time: the two components of prediction
How the classical tradition separates what a chart shows from when it is said to unfold, and why that framework organises everything a student learns.
8 min read · 4 October 2026
- SiddhantaExplainer
Gochar explained: transits, sign changes and retrograde motion
What a transit calendar actually lists, why a graha seems to move backwards, and how the classical texts and modern astronomy describe the same motion.
8 min read · 29 September 2026