Why does my dasha sequence start with that particular planet?

It depends on your janma nakshatra. The 27 nakshatras are shared among the nine dasha lords in a cycle that repeats three times, and the lord of your birth nakshatra opens your timeline.

Is every Mahadasha the same length?

No. Shukra (Venus) gets the longest at 20 years and Surya (Sun) the shortest at 6. The full list: Ketu 7, Venus 20, Sun 6, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19 and Mercury 17, adding up to 120 years.

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How Vimshottari Dasha Works

When an astrologer in India says someone is 'in Shani ki Mahadasha' or 'running Rahu's dasha', they are using the Vimshottari scheme. 'Vimshottari' means one hundred and twenty: the system spreads 120 years across the nine grahas in a set order, giving each a fixed share — Ketu 7, Venus (Shukra) 20, Sun (Surya) 6, Moon (Chandra) 10, Mars (Mangal) 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter (Guru) 16, Saturn (Shani) 19 and Mercury (Budh) 17.

Your starting Mahadasha, and the balance of it left at birth, comes from the exact longitude of the Moon in your chart. From there every Mahadasha is split into nine Antardashas, one per graha, so two cousins both in Guru Mahadasha may be living through very different Antardasha chapters at the same moment.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my dasha sequence start with that particular planet?: It depends on your janma nakshatra. The 27 nakshatras are assigned to the nine dasha lords in a cycle that repeats three times — Ashwini, Magha and Mula all belong to Ketu, for instance — and the lord of your birth nakshatra opens your timeline.
Can I go deeper than the Antardasha level?: Yes. Open a Mahadasha in the timeline to reveal its nine Antardashas, and open any Antardasha to list its Pratyantardashas, all with start and end dates. If you want an AI interpretation of what these periods mean for your career, health or marriage, create your free janam kundli.

What will this dasha bring?

Dates are only the start. Your free janam kundli reads the running Mahadasha and Antardasha against your whole chart — career, money, marriage — with AI.

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