Dashas (planetary periods)
Vimshottari dasha in Vedic astrology
Updated
Vimshottari dasha: how the API computes it
Vimshottari is a 120-year cycle of nine periods in a fixed order (DA-01). Ketu runs 7 years, Venus 20, the Sun 6, the Moon 10 and Mars 7. Rahu runs 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19 and Mercury 17.
The ruler of the Moon's nakshatra (birth star) at birth runs the first period (DA-02). How far the Moon has moved through that nakshatra sets how much of the period was already over at birth (DA-03). Take John Doe.
His Moon was in Mrigashira, which Mars rules. So his life began in the Mars period, with 6.35 of its 7 years left. Rahu followed in 1996, and Jupiter runs from Dec 20, 2014 to Dec 20, 2030.
Each period is split into sub-periods in the same order (DA-04). POST /v1/dasha/vimshottari returns the periods with calendar start and end dates. So a timeline does not have to add years to a starting point.
Set the levels field from 1 to 5 to choose how deep to go. Yogini dasha is a separate 36-year system on POST /v1/dasha/yogini. Both take the same birth details as the chart endpoints.
Get it from the API
POST /v1/dasha/vimshottari
# John Doe, born Aug 15, 1990, 10:30 AM, New York
curl -X POST "https://apiforastrology.com/api/astrology/v1/dasha/vimshottari" \
-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"}'{
"system": "vimshottari",
"year_length_days": 365.25,
"moon_nakshatra_index": 5,
"nakshatra_fraction_elapsed": 0.09303881,
"starting_lord": "Mars",
"balance_at_birth_years": 6.348728,
"balance_method": "time",
"levels": 3,
"periods": [
{
"lord": "Mars",
"start": "1989-12-20T13:27:09.380502",
"end": "1996-12-20T07:27:09.380502",
"years": 7,
"partial_at_birth": true,
"balance_years": 6.348728,
"periods": [
{
"lord": "Mars",
"start": "1989-12-20T13:27:09.380502",
"end": "1990-05-18T16:54:09.380502",
"years": 0.408333,
"elapsed": true,
"periods": [
{
"lord": "Mars",
"start": "1989-12-20T13:27:09.380502",
"end": "1989-12-29T06:15:13.880502",
"years": 0.023819,
"elapsed": true
},
{
"lord": "Rahu",
"start": "1989-12-29T06:15:13.880502",
"end": "1990-01-20T15:10:16.880502",
"years": 0.06125,
"elapsed": true
},
{
"lord": "Jupiter",
"start": "1990-01-20T15:10:16.880502",
"end": "1990-02-09T12:25:52.880502",
"years": 0.054444,
"elapsed": true
}
]
},
{
"lord": "Rahu",
"start": "1990-05-18T16:54:09.380502",
"end": "1991-06-06T05:12:09.380502",
"years": 1.05,
"periods": [
{
"lord": "Rahu",
"start": "1990-05-18T16:54:09.380502",
"end": "1990-07-15T05:32:51.380502",
"years": 0.1575,
"elapsed": true
},
{
"lord": "Jupiter",
"start": "1990-07-15T05:32:51.380502",
"end": "1990-09-04T08:47:15.380502",
"years": 0.14
},
{
"lord": "Saturn",
"start": "1990-09-04T08:47:15.380502",
"end": "1990-11-04T02:08:06.380502",
"years": 0.16625
}
]
},
{
"lord": "Jupiter",
"start": "1991-06-06T05:12:09.380502",
"end": "1992-05-12T02:48:09.380502",
"years": 0.933333,
"periods": [
{
"lord": "Jupiter",
"start": "1991-06-06T05:12:09.380502",
"end": "1991-07-21T16:04:57.380502",
"years": 0.124444
},
{
"lord": "Saturn",
"start": "1991-07-21T16:04:57.380502",
"end": "1991-09-13T15:30:09.380502",
"years": 0.147778
},
{
"lord": "Mercury",
"start": "1991-09-13T15:30:09.380502",
"end": "1991-10-31T22:33:45.380502",
"years": 0.132222
}
]
}
]
},
{
"lord": "Rahu",
"start": "1996-12-20T07:27:09.380502",
"end": "2014-12-20T19:27:09.380502",
"years": 18,
"periods": [
{
"lord": "Rahu",
"start": "1996-12-20T07:27:09.380502",
"end": "1999-09-02T11:39:09.380502",
"years": 2.7,
"periods": [
{
"lord": "Rahu",
"start": "1996-12-20T07:27:09.380502",
"end": "1997-05-17T05:40:57.380502",
"years": 0.405
},
{
"lord": "Jupiter",
"start": "1997-05-17T05:40:57.380502",
"end": "1997-09-25T17:26:33.380502",
"years": 0.36
},
{
"lord": "Saturn",
"start": "1997-09-25T17:26:33.380502",
"end": "1998-02-28T20:54:27.380502",
"years": 0.4275
}
]
},
{
"lord": "Jupiter",
"start": "1999-09-02T11:39:09.380502",
"end": "2002-01-26T02:03:09.380502",
"years": 2.4,
"periods": [
{
"lord": "Jupiter",
"start": "1999-09-02T11:39:09.380502",
"end": "1999-12-28T08:46:21.380502",
"years": 0.32
},
{
"lord": "Saturn",
"start": "1999-12-28T08:46:21.380502",
"end": "2000-05-15T03:51:09.380502",
"years": 0.38
},
{
"lord": "Mercury",
"start": "2000-05-15T03:51:09.380502",
"end": "2000-09-16T08:17:33.380502",
"years": 0.34
}
]
},
{
"lord": "Saturn",
"start": "2002-01-26T02:03:09.380502",
"end": "2004-12-02T01:09:09.380502",
"years": 2.85,
"periods": [
{
"lord": "Saturn",
"start": "2002-01-26T02:03:09.380502",
"end": "2002-07-09T21:42:36.380502",
"years": 0.45125
},
{
"lord": "Mercury",
"start": "2002-07-09T21:42:36.380502",
"end": "2002-12-04T08:58:57.380502",
"years": 0.40375
},
{
"lord": "Ketu",
"start": "2002-12-04T08:58:57.380502",
"end": "2003-02-03T02:19:48.380502",
"years": 0.16625
}
]
}
]
},
{
"lord": "Jupiter",
"start": "2014-12-20T19:27:09.380502",
"end": "2030-12-20T19:27:09.380502",
"years": 16,
"periods": [
{
"lord": "Jupiter",
"start": "2014-12-20T19:27:09.380502",
"end": "2017-02-07T00:15:09.380502",
"years": 2.133333,
"periods": [
{
"lord": "Jupiter",
"start": "2014-12-20T19:27:09.380502",
"end": "2015-04-03T16:53:33.380502",
"years": 0.284444
},
{
"lord": "Saturn",
"start": "2015-04-03T16:53:33.380502",
"end": "2015-08-05T01:51:09.380502",
"years": 0.337778
},
{
"lord": "Mercury",
"start": "2015-08-05T01:51:09.380502",
"end": "2015-11-23T11:07:57.380502",
"years": 0.302222
}
]
},
{
"lord": "Saturn",
"start": "2017-02-07T00:15:09.380502",
"end": "2019-08-21T07:27:09.380502",
"years": 2.533333,
"periods": [
{
"lord": "Saturn",
"start": "2017-02-07T00:15:09.380502",
"end": "2017-07-03T12:23:33.380502",
"years": 0.401111
},
{
"lord": "Mercury",
"start": "2017-07-03T12:23:33.380502",
"end": "2017-11-11T14:24:45.380502",
"years": 0.358889
},
{
"lord": "Ketu",
"start": "2017-11-11T14:24:45.380502",
"end": "2018-01-04T13:49:57.380502",
"years": 0.147778
}
]
},
{
"lord": "Mercury",
"start": "2019-08-21T07:27:09.380502",
"end": "2021-11-26T05:03:09.380502",
"years": 2.266667,
"periods": [
{
"lord": "Mercury",
"start": "2019-08-21T07:27:09.380502",
"end": "2019-12-16T14:18:45.380502",
"years": 0.321111
},
{
"lord": "Ketu",
"start": "2019-12-16T14:18:45.380502",
"end": "2020-02-02T21:22:21.380502",
"years": 0.132222
},
{
"lord": "Venus",
"start": "2020-02-02T21:22:21.380502",
"end": "2020-06-19T20:58:21.380502",
"years": 0.377778
}
]
}
]
}
],
"balance_conventions": {
"longitude": {
"fraction_elapsed": 0.09312764,
"balance_years": 6.348107,
"first_period_ends": "1996-12-20T02:00:06.412309"
},
"time": {
"fraction_elapsed": 0.09303881,
"balance_years": 6.348728,
"first_period_ends": "1996-12-20T07:27:09.380502"
},
"used": "time",
"other": "longitude",
"shift_days": 0.2271,
"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/vimshottari | Vimshottari dasha periods with dates |
| POST | /v1/varshaphal | The Tajik annual chart (varshaphal) for one year |
| POST | /v1/kp | Krishnamurti Paddhati: cusps, sub lords, significators |
| POST | /v1/dasha/yogini | Yogini dasha periods (a 36-year cycle) |
| POST | /v1/dasha/ashtottari | Ashtottari dasha periods (a 108-year cycle) |
| POST | /v1/dasha/narayana | Narayana dasha: the Jaimini sign periods |
What the API reference says
Each line is quoted from the reference page of the endpoint named above it.
- POST /v1/dasha/vimshottari · Vimshottari dasha periods with datesVimshottari divides a 120-year cycle into nine periods, each ruled by one planet.
- POST /v1/varshaphal · The Tajik annual chart (varshaphal) for one yearmudda dasha, Vimshottari squeezed into one year.
- POST /v1/dasha/yogini · Yogini dasha periods (a 36-year cycle)Returns the Yogini dasha timeline, a second system of dashas (planetary periods) next to Vimshottari.
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
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Your first answer
John Doe, New York
- RisingVirgoHast
- SunCancerAshlesha
- MoonTaurusMrigashira
- MarsAriesKrittika
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