Dashas are an important part of Jyotish. They are basically timelines of dates that span and cover each and every day of your life. Dashas are a dated listing of often changing “periods”, which are governed by the Planets in stacks of up to say reasonably, three at a time, such that you are said to be, for example, in the period of Jupiter, Saturn, Moon, or say Sun, Mercury, Saturn They mix up in succession in a planned and fixed order, but the lengths of time each keeps control varies according to lengths set in scripture.

So do not think right now about how the dateline of periods is created, but understand this: The Dashas Work. One of the most amazing things that happens to you when you 1st begin to study Jyotish is finding out that YES, the significant events of your life make sense as you 1st begin to see the Dashas you were running at each and every main event time. You will see the reality of the Dashas, and you will be stunned. This happens to most people who contact Jyotish through their own study or through a reading with a really good Jyotishi.

Dashas are the main tool, which, when added to the basic charts of Jyotish, give its predictive edge that is lacking in Western Astrology. Dashas are easy to calculate from scratch, but it is even easier to let a computer do it for you. Learning how to predict from the Dashas is something we will work on later.

In order to learn what a Planet will do in a certain Sign, and in a certain House of the chart or horoscope, we 1st learn from the old books of readings that come from authors that lived long ago in India, and the updated versions of those same ideas in the books of modern authors.

There are many old and new “books of readings” that are written specifically for Jyotish. Reading them to gain an idea of what the various placements in a chart can cause is essential. Thereafter, it is essential to see if those readings come true in the lives of persons whom you both know and have charts calculated for. I have done this a lot, and I can tell you that many do come true as stated in the books, but that many do not, mainly, I’ve learned, because the influences blend with other placements and opposite influences in the same chart.

But nevertheless, the classical statements about the Planets in the Signs and Houses are the basis upon, which everything is happening. The classical understanding of the Planets, Signs and House significations and combinations is a baseline reality that is coming down to us to learn from, and not to reject. These ideas need translation into modern time, place, and circumstance, but translation is fine, because it represents a people connecting to unchanging concepts using their own reference and reality. The fact is, the influences are the same, but the oxen is now a Toyota, for example.

Indians have a tradition of stressing points more strongly than we do in the West. Therefore, many verses may say something like “this reading never fails”. Well, it can fail, usually, in some chart. So, knowing this about the culture of their speaking, tune your gullibility accordingly.

Jyotish is never as easy as applying some rules you read in a book. It is an organic living culture, which is challenged at each new chart. To actually be able to know about someone or the future events in a life from some dry mathematical charts and lists is a tall order. We get very exact at times with Jyotish, but application of just one rule is not how it is done. By learning many things and blending them with experience over much time, the Jyotishi sharpens their abilities and vision.

Your Dasha sheet is laid out in this way: The major periods are long, and they are represented down the left side of the sheet. A large Planet symbol is shown in each section with the Planet’s name written there as well. These are the major periods. During these long periods, the Planet whose name and symbol is shown in large on the left side of the sheet is the master controller of that period of time.

Each such major period is then broken down into 9 sub periods, known in Sanskrit as “Bhuktis”, but that name is not so important. We can just call them sub periods. These are the columns just to the right of the large symbols whose start dates appear in a bolder print. So, these bold dates next to the 9 symbols within each major period are the sub period start dates. On these dates, the sub period of the Planet begins whose symbol is to the left of the date. For example, if the large symbol is K and the small symbol next to a start date is L, then we say on that date the sub period of Saturn (L) begins within the major period of Jupiter (K). Put another way, we say that during the period from that date to the next date below it you will be in Jupiter, Saturn This is how you read and refer to the periods you go through. You just say, I am in Jupiter, Saturn, or I am going through Mercury, Venus. Then we look to your chart to see what effects might be happening at that time based on the placements of those Planets in the chart.

Now, that is enough to begin with, but just to be complete let me tell you what all those symbols and dates going over the right stand for. As I said, the first column next to the large major period Planet is the sub period Planets and start dates. Well, the Planet symbols and dates next to each on a specific row are the sub, sub period’s lords and start dates. In other words, the Dasha printout we have given you here shows three levels of detail. We give you the major, sub, and sub, sub periods and their start dates.

Each Sub Period (That is the column on the left next to each major period symbol) starts with itself as the sub, sub period lord. The next sub, sub period is the next Planet and date to the right, and the next one after that is the next one to the right, and so on. If you study it carefully, you will notice the following principles:



1. The periods always go in the following order:

Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Ketu, Venus



2. Each period begins with itself as the sub and sub, sub lord as well.

For example: Venus Major actually begins as Venus, Venus, Venus (3 levels)



The period you start life in is determined in a way, which is too technical to cover here, but there is an exact science to it.



The Dasha system is incredible and amazing. It is basically a fixed pattern of lengths of planetary influences, going in a set pattern, but everybody starts life in a slightly different part of the entire 120-year cycle (That is how long it takes to run the whole cycle for all the Planets). Then again, everybody’s Planets are in at least slightly different arrangements in their charts, thus, what the Planets give in their periods is different for everybody.

Did you ever think about this: Your chart is based on your birth moment at your birthplace. If another child was born at the same moment as you, but just 10 miles away, their Ascendant angle would be slightly different, and so they would have a different chart. Similarly, if they were born just the right amount of time after or before you so that they would have the same Ascendant angle, well, the Moon, the other highly important sensitive point in the chart, would be at then a slightly different place in it is 27 day cycle around the Zodiac. So, the bottom line is this: It is physically impossible for two people to have the same exact chart because no too babies can be born at the exact same place at the exact same time. Even twins are born moments apart from each other, giving them slightly different Ascendant and Moon positions. But just see the facts, they have similar charts, and indeed, they grow up in the same House, often look the same, act the same, marry similar people, and so on. It is well documented that often they suffer similar diseases at roughly the same time, even though having moved apart from each other.

The next thing I want to tell you about in your printout are the Karakas listing we have provided. This refers to the section herein labeled “What the Houses, Signs and Planets Rule”. Karaka means significator, stands for, or rules over. So, we have herein provided you with lists of some of the main things each of the Houses, Signs, and Planets rule over. Astrological charts are built primarily with these three building blocks: 12 Houses, 12 Signs, and 9 Planetary bodies. The combinations of these are what your basic chart is made of.

When you speak of a planetary placement in a chart, you have to mention three things, the House, the Sign and the Planet. So, we might say, “In my chart I have Jupiter in Sagittarius in the 9th House”. See? I mentioned all three things. Another example from my own chart would be Venus in the 1st in Aries. Again, I mention all three.

Now the nice thing about having these lists is that you can combine these ruled, over items to come up with your own predictions of planetary effects. For example, remember that I said I have Jupiter in the 9th in Sagittarius? That is true, in my chart I have that placement. OK, so let us look at these lists and see what is listed under these three things: Jupiter, Sagittarius, and 9th House.

Now, what we do here is combine these things. I have Jupiter in Sagittarius in the 9th So, the combined influences of these three are what my Jupiter Planet promises. Now, I went through Jupiter Major from when I was about 10 years old to 26 years of age, and now, at 36, I am in Saturn major, which is with Jupiter, so also under its influence and that of the 9th House and Sagittarius.

I first met up with Vedic Astrology when I was 21, in the religious barracks of an orthodox Hindu Ashram , which was a quite a “religiously militant” place, let me assure you. So, the “belief in God”, the “barracks”, and the “astrology” were all present in my Jupiter Major period. But now, during Saturn Major, right now, I am sitting in a room, which is the barracks of a major mission to bring Vedic Astrology to prominence in the West, and it is based on very high ideals, believe me. I have high ideals about astrology, I live in what are as barracks dedicated to astrology, and it is also strongly based on my belief in God, and there has already been great attainment in the field, and many benedictions. So, if someone were to simply yet intelligently piece together the words in these lists of Karakas (significators) they could come up with rather meaningful and correct judgments of their own or anybody’s chart!

But then there is the negative side of everybody’s chart too! Again, from my chart lets examine my Rahu in the 5th , in Leo.

Here are a few words for each from the enclosed lists:

In Jupiter, Rahu period, when I was 25 years old, my first child was suddenly badly burned and that accident has stayed with her and me as an affliction in our lives since then. She experienced immense pain then and since then sometimes as well. She lives with large scars, now and forever because of this sudden, fierce, fiery, accident, which took place logically during a Rahu in Leo in the 5th Sub Period in my Dashas. Do not worry, she is OK now.

Would I have ever believed an astrologer if they told me that my first child would be nearly burned to death when she was only one years old? Would I have wanted to know that in advance? Probably not. Seeing the future brings a lot of responsibility, detachment, and acceptance of God’s divine will. Lord Chaitanya of India called such things the “rough embrace” of God. Are we ready to understand God’s divine will, including his rough embrace, through the revealed science of “God’s Light”, or “Jyotish”? With humility and detachment we can be.

So, we have given you a page right before the Karakas sheet, which lists for you what Signs and Houses your Planets are in. Using this lists, and the Karakas lists that follow it, you can easily do what I have demonstrated above.

Finally, in closing, I want to once again point out that the readings contained herein for your chart are unblended. Yet, they are excellent for entering into a deeper study of your chart than most readings you would get from an astrologer. Also, using them in conjunction with your Dashas is an ideal way for you to seek out what might happen in the coming periods. To train yourself, go over past periods, thinking about the major events of your life that took place in each period, read the readings for each Planet, and see if you can find how the events match the descriptions of the Planets involved at the time via your Dashas.

By the way, to the right of each reading in the 20 or so pages of readings included herein, you will see a description of the Planet or Planets, and sometimes Signs and Houses, which caused the reading. This is how you can best see, which Planets, Signs and Houses caused each reading.

Now, if a reading mentions the lord of a House, it is referring to the Planet, which owns or lords the Sign that is in the respective House. We have given you a list of the lords of your Houses herein. You can refer to it, and eventually memorize the Planets that rule your 12 Houses.

For example, if a reading says the lord of the 10th causes it then you can:



1. Look to the list we have provided herein, see, which Planet rules your tenth House,

2. Then look to the Dashas for the periods and sub periods of that Planet

3. In order to get an idea when to expect those kinds of results