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What is a Dasha?

A Dasha is a planetary period. Vedic astrology divides a life into a sequence of these periods, each associated with one planet, as a way of describing timing.

The Vimshottari system

The most widely used system is Vimshottari Dasha, a cycle of 120 years shared out among nine planets. The periods always follow the same order, and each planet's period has a fixed length:

Where your sequence starts

Your first Dasha is set by the Moon's nakshatra (birth star) at the moment of birth. Each of the 27 nakshatras belongs to one of the nine planets, so a birth in a Venus nakshatra begins in the Venus period. How far the Moon had already travelled through that nakshatra decides how much of the first period remains: someone born as the Moon was leaving the nakshatra starts with only a little of it left.

Periods within periods

Each main period, or Mahadasha, is divided into nine sub-periods called Antardashas (or Bhuktis), in the same order and in proportion to the same lengths, starting with the main period's own planet. These can be divided again into Pratyantardashas, which is how astrologers describe timing in months rather than years.

How Dashas are read

An astrologer looks at where the period's planet sits in the birth chart, which houses it rules from the ascendant, and its strength, to describe the themes a period traditionally brings forward. Because the starting point depends on the Moon's exact position, an accurate birth time matters. Dashas describe a traditional framework for reflection, not fixed events.