FREE · NO SIGNUP
See every mahadasha and antardasha of your Vimshottari dasha with start and end dates, and the period you are in today. Computed with Swiss Ephemeris. No signup, nothing stored.
Vimshottari is the main timing system of Vedic astrology, described by Parashara. It divides a 120-year life cycle into nine planetary periods called mahadashas. Each mahadasha is split into nine antardashas (sub-periods), and each antardasha into nine pratyantardashas.
Astrologers read what a period brings from where its planet sits in your chart: its sign, house, strength and the houses it rules. The dates themselves are pure arithmetic from your Moon's position at birth, which is what this calculator gives you.
Each of the 27 nakshatras is ruled by one of the nine dasha lords. The lord of the nakshatra your Moon was in at birth rules your first mahadasha. The periods then follow in a fixed order: Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, and back to Ketu.
You are born part-way through that first period. The share left is the share of the nakshatra the Moon still had to cross. For example, a Moon halfway through Rohini, which the Moon rules, starts life in Moon mahadasha with about 5 of its 10 years left, followed by Mars for 7 years and Rahu for 18.
| Order | Mahadasha | Years | Starts when the Moon is in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ketu | 7 | Ashwini, Magha, Mula |
| 2 | Venus | 20 | Bharani, Purva Phalguni, Purva Ashadha |
| 3 | Sun | 6 | Krittika, Uttara Phalguni, Uttara Ashadha |
| 4 | Moon | 10 | Rohini, Hasta, Shravana |
| 5 | Mars | 7 | Mrigashira, Chitra, Dhanishta |
| 6 | Rahu | 18 | Ardra, Swati, Shatabhisha |
| 7 | Jupiter | 16 | Punarvasu, Vishakha, Purva Bhadrapada |
| 8 | Saturn | 19 | Pushya, Anuradha, Uttara Bhadrapada |
| 9 | Mercury | 17 | Ashlesha, Jyeshtha, Revati |
Inside a mahadasha, the first antardasha belongs to the mahadasha's own planet and the rest follow the same fixed order. Each antardasha lasts the mahadasha's years times the antardasha planet's years, divided by 120.
For example, Saturn antardasha inside Jupiter mahadasha lasts 16 × 19 ÷ 120 = 2.53 years, about 2 years, 6 months and 12 days. Pratyantardashas divide each antardasha with the same rule.
The mahadasha running at birth began before you were born. Its antardashas are laid out over the full period from that earlier start, and your timeline begins inside whichever antardasha was running when you were born. That is why your first antardasha is often not the mahadasha's own planet.
The Moon moves about half a degree an hour, and each nakshatra is 13°20' wide. So each hour of error in the birth time moves the whole sequence by about 4 percent of the first period's length. With a Venus start, that is up to about ten months for every hour.
Dates here use years of 365.25 days and the Lahiri ayanamsa. Software that uses 360-day years or another ayanamsa will drift from these dates by weeks to months over a lifetime.
Not sure which nakshatra your Moon is in? Use the free nakshatra calculator.
Enter your birth date, time and place. The calculator marks the mahadasha, antardasha and pratyantardasha running today, with the dates each one starts and ends.
The mahadasha is the main period, from 6 to 20 years depending on the planet. The antardasha is a sub-period inside it, from a few months to about three years. The pratyantardasha is a sub-period of the antardasha, lasting days to months.
Ketu 7 years, Venus 20, Sun 6, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19 and Mercury 17, for 120 years in total.
The arithmetic is exact, so accuracy depends on your birth time. An error of one hour moves every date by up to about ten months if your life began in Venus mahadasha, and by less for shorter periods.
Different apps use different ayanamsas, different year lengths (365.25 days or a 360-day year) and different handling of historical time zones. Some also squeeze the sub-periods of the first mahadasha into the balance left at birth instead of starting part-way through, which changes every antardasha date in childhood.
No. Yogini, Ashtottari and Jaimini's Chara dasha are also used. Vimshottari is the default in most Vedic astrology and is the one Parashara recommends for general use.
No. The calculation runs on our server and the details are not saved, and no account is created.