Vedic Astrology Glossary
Planetary Period System
A dasha is a planetary period in Vedic astrology that governs a specific phase of your life. Each planet rules a slice of the 120-year Vimshottari cycle. During its dasha, that planet's themes, strengths, and karmic patterns become the dominant story.
Most astrological traditions give you a birth chart and stop there. Vedic astrology doesn't — it also tells you which planet is running the show at any given moment. That's the dasha system. Vimshottari is the standard: 120 years split across nine planets, each with a fixed slice. Ketu gets 7 years, Venus 20, Sun 6, and so on.
Each dasha subdivides into antardasha (sub-periods) and pratyantardasha (sub-sub-periods), allowing timing down to weeks. Your current dasha planet colors every major life event. Career breakthroughs, relationship changes, spiritual openings, and health patterns all correlate with the ruling planet's nature and its strength in your birth chart. A strong Jupiter dasha typically brings expansion and opportunity. A challenged Saturn dasha often demands structural work and discipline.
Stellr computes your full dasha timeline from your exact birth date and displays it as a scrollable timeline, showing which planet governs any date — past, present, or future.
Each planet's mahadasha length is fixed: Ketu 7 years, Venus 20, Sun 6, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19, Mercury 17. The starting dasha at birth depends on the moon's nakshatra position.
Your current dasha is calculated from your moon's nakshatra at birth. Most Vedic astrology software (and Stellr) shows you the full dasha timeline once you enter your birth date, time, and place.
Mahadasha is the major planetary period lasting years to decades. Antardasha (also called bhukti) is a sub-period within the mahadasha, typically lasting months to a few years. Together they create layered timing of events.
Birth Chart Report
