New Numerology API

Dashas (planetary periods)

Sankata yogini dasha in Vedic astrology

In the Yogini dasha, Sankata dasha is the 8th of eight periods: it lasts 8 years and belongs to Rahu. All eight run in a fixed order from Mangala to Sankata, 36 years in all. Which period a life starts in depends on the Moon's nakshatra (birth star) at birth.

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More terms in Dashas (planetary periods)

© API for Astrology (apiforastrology.com). "Glossary dasha bar". All rights reserved. Not to be copied or reused.36 year cycle, one period after anotherPiDhaBhrBhaUlkaSiddhaSankataSankata: 8 years

Sankata yogini dasha: how the API computes it

Sankata is the eighth and last period of the Yogini dasha. It belongs to Rahu and lasts 8 years, the longest of the eight (YD-01). A life starts in Sankata when the Moon is in Mrigashira, Hast or Uttara Ashadha at birth (YD-02).

The name means trouble or crisis. Tradition reads it as the hardest of the yoginis. It is linked to Rahu's themes of confusion, sudden change and desire. It is also the answer when the birth count gives a remainder of 0 (YD-02).

Count the nakshatra (birth star) from Ashwini, add 3 and divide by 8. A remainder of 0 means Sankata. At that point the count wraps around, and that is where a program is most likely to be wrong. That is why the API tests all 27 nakshatras.

After Sankata, the cycle goes back to Mangala and starts again. POST /v1/dasha/yogini returns the dates of every period and sub-period. When you show Sankata to a user, keep the tone calm.

A long period with a harsh name needs a careful explanation. Say that it is a time to be careful with big decisions. Also point to the sub-periods. They are shorter and can look very different from each other.

Get it from the API

Yogini dasha periods (a 36-year cycle). Here is the call to API for Astrology (apiforastrology.com) for our sample, John Doe, born Aug 15, 1990, 10:30 AM, New York.

POST /v1/dasha/yogini

# John Doe, born Aug 15, 1990, 10:30 AM, New York
curl -X POST "https://apiforastrology.com/api/astrology/v1/dasha/yogini" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ASTROLOGY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"year":1990,"month":8,"day":15,"hour":10,"minute":30,"second":0,"latitude":40.7128,"longitude":-74.006,"timezone":"America/New_York"}'
Answer (long lists shortened)200 OK
{
  "system": "yogini",
  "total_years": 36,
  "year_length_days": 365.25,
  "moon_nakshatra_index": 5,
  "nakshatra_fraction_elapsed": 0.09303881,
  "starting_yogini": "Sankata",
  "balance_at_birth_years": 7.25569,
  "balance_method": "time",
  "levels": 2,
  "periods": [
    {
      "yogini": "Sankata",
      "lord": "Rahu",
      "years": 8,
      "start": "1989-11-16T13:52:27.863431",
      "end": "1997-11-16T13:52:27.863431",
      "periods": [
        {
          "yogini": "Sankata",
          "lord": "Rahu",
          "start": "1989-11-16T13:52:27.863431",
          "end": "1991-08-27T21:52:27.863431"
        },
        {
          "yogini": "Mangala",
          "lord": "Moon",
          "start": "1991-08-27T21:52:27.863431",
          "end": "1991-11-17T01:52:27.863431"
        },
        {
          "yogini": "Pingala",
          "lord": "Sun",
          "start": "1991-11-17T01:52:27.863431",
          "end": "1992-04-27T09:52:27.863431"
        }
      ],
      "partial_at_birth": true,
      "balance_years": 7.25569
    },
    {
      "yogini": "Mangala",
      "lord": "Moon",
      "years": 1,
      "start": "1997-11-16T13:52:27.863431",
      "end": "1998-11-16T19:52:27.863431",
      "periods": [
        {
          "yogini": "Mangala",
          "lord": "Moon",
          "start": "1997-11-16T13:52:27.863431",
          "end": "1997-11-26T17:22:27.863431"
        },
        {
          "yogini": "Pingala",
          "lord": "Sun",
          "start": "1997-11-26T17:22:27.863431",
          "end": "1997-12-17T00:22:27.863431"
        },
        {
          "yogini": "Dhanya",
          "lord": "Jupiter",
          "start": "1997-12-17T00:22:27.863431",
          "end": "1998-01-16T10:52:27.863431"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "yogini": "Pingala",
      "lord": "Sun",
      "years": 2,
      "start": "1998-11-16T19:52:27.863431",
      "end": "2000-11-16T07:52:27.863431",
      "periods": [
        {
          "yogini": "Pingala",
          "lord": "Sun",
          "start": "1998-11-16T19:52:27.863431",
          "end": "1998-12-27T09:52:27.863431"
        },
        {
          "yogini": "Dhanya",
          "lord": "Jupiter",
          "start": "1998-12-27T09:52:27.863431",
          "end": "1999-02-26T06:52:27.863431"
        },
        {
          "yogini": "Bhramari",
          "lord": "Mars",
          "start": "1999-02-26T06:52:27.863431",
          "end": "1999-05-18T10:52:27.863431"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "balance_conventions": {
    "longitude": {
      "fraction_elapsed": 0.09312764,
      "balance_years": 7.254979,
      "first_period_ends": "1997-11-16T07:38:41.614067"
    },
    "time": {
      "fraction_elapsed": 0.09303881,
      "balance_years": 7.25569,
      "first_period_ends": "1997-11-16T13:52:27.863431"
    },
    "used": "time",
    "other": "longitude",
    "shift_days": 0.2596,
    "sources_agree": true,
    "note": "longitude measures how far the Moon has moved through its birth nakshatra; time measures how long it has been there (bhayat over bhabhog), as a desktop program does. Every later date moves by the same shift."
  },
  "meta": {
    "ayanamsa": "lahiri",
    "ayanamsa_value": 23.7260727,
    "julian_day": 2448119.10483,
    "ephemeris": "JPL DE440s",
    "node": "true",
    "timezone": {
      "source": "zone",
      "offset_hours": -4,
      "zone": "America/New_York",
      "abbreviation": "EDT",
      "dst": true,
      "dst_hours": 1,
      "ambiguous_resolved_by_fold": null,
      "note": "read from the IANA tz database at this instant, so daylight saving and historical offset changes are included"
    }
  }
}

Where the API returns it

POST/v1/dasha/yoginiYogini dasha periods (a 36-year cycle)

Feature page: Dashas (planetary periods). Who uses it: Astrology apps. See dasha periods in a full reading in the sample report. The classical rules the API follows are in the rulebook.

How we check the numbers

Every value here starts from planet positions worked out from NASA JPL planet data (DE440). We test them against NASA JPL Horizons, NASA's planet position service. On 25,571 positions from 1850 to 2149, the Sun and planets agree within 0.001 arc seconds. The Moon agrees within 0.011. On 2,000 random birth charts, the rising sign agrees with Swiss Ephemeris within 0.004 arc seconds. An arc second is 1/3,600 of a degree. A practicing astrologer reviews the rules behind these answers. See how we test.

Related terms

From the blog

Astrology API

Get these values from the API

Create a free test key and call any endpoint on this page. Or try a request in the API reference first.

Your first answer

John Doe, New York

POST /v1/planets200 OK
  • RisingVirgoHast
  • SunCancerAshlesha
  • MoonTaurusMrigashira
  • MarsAriesKrittika

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