Mahadasas: Turning Points in Life

Vedic astrology is more effective and productive than Western astrology because it comes with a lot of techniques when compared to the latter. One among that primary technique which makes Vedic astrology more interesting and powerful is the Maha dasa system.

It is actually a complicated system taught by Sage Parashara, to his student Sage Maitreya. I am not mentioning the calculation methods, since they are highly complicated, but will be explaining the whole concept of Maha dasas in a simple manner.

There are 9 planets in Vedic astrology. There are secondary planets like Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, and a secondary point named Mandi as well. In Vedic astrology, the main games are played by the 9 primary planets. They are the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu. Rahu and Ketu are shadowy planets without any physical existence.

Our entire life-time is supposed to be under the influence of these planets, according to astrology. Each time period is known as a Maha dasa. These Maha dasas have subdivisions as well like the Antar dasa, Pratyandar dasa and Sookshama dasa.

How Are The Maha dasas Calculated

Look at this below table . You can see the duration of each dasa.

When you add the entire dasa frame, you will get 120 years. So, the lifespan of a human is supposed to be 120 years, according to astrology. The total time of a dasa is 120 years. So, the whole of 120 years is divided into various planetary time periods.

Vedic astrology doesn't consider Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, so no dasa is assigned for these planets. At the time of your birth, Moon will be in a particular nakshatra. This Nakshatra Lord will be the Dasa Lord at your birth.

For example, suppose your Nakshatra is Ashwini, then Ashwini's Lord is Ketu. So, your starting dasa at birth will be Ketu dasa. This dasas appear in a sequence.

Nakshathras And Their Lords

Sequence of the Maha dasa

Sun Dasha

Moon Dasha

Mars Dasha

Rahu Dasha

Jupiter Dasha

Saturn Dasha

Mercury Dasha

Ketu Dasha

Venus Dasha

If you are born in the Venus dasa, the next dasa would be the Sun dasa. After the Sun dasa, the Moon dasa would come next and so on. Antar dasa sequence is also the same as the Maha dasa sequence, but the first Antar dasa will be of the Maha dasa planet itself.

If it's the Sun dasa, then the sequence would be,

Sun-Sun Dasha

Sun-Moon Dasha

Sun-Mars Dasha

Sun-Rahu Dasha

Sun-Jupiter Dasha

Sun-Saturn Dasha

Sun-Mercury Dasha

Sun-Ketu Dasha

Sun-Venus Dasha

And then if it is the Moon dasa, then the first dasa and antar dasa will be of the Moon itself, like,

Moon-Moon Dasha

Moon-Mars Dasha

Moon-Rahu Dasha

Moon-Jupiter Dasha

Moon-Saturn Dasha

Moon-Mercury Dasha

Moon-Ketu Dasha

Moon-Venus Dasha

Moon-Sun Dasha

If it is Mars, then the below sequence is applicable,

Mars-Mars Dasha

Mars-Rahu Dasha

Mars-Jupiter Dasha

Mars-Saturn Dasha

Mars-Mercury Dasha

Mars-Ketu Dasha

Mars-Venus Dasha

Mars-Sun Dasha

Mars-Moon Dasha

Each Maha dasa will touch all the 12 houses in various frequencies. Every house will get activated in every dasa. In short, every dasa will give you opportunities to arrange all the sectors of your life in different time frames. So, you should be clear about the features of the houses. Only then you would be able to assess this dasa system effectively.

Suppose you are going through the Maha dasa of Jupiter and Antar dasa of Ketu. Jupiter is the Maha dasa lord and Ketu is the Antar dasa lord. Jupiter Maha dasa time period is for 16 years. Later, you can find out in which house Jupiter and Ketu are placed. Study the features of that house, and those features will be prominent at the entire dasa frame of that planet.

This is why it is important to study the qualities of the planet and the houses. You can't study astrology without studying what the house and planet are trying to indicate.

There are certain assumptions that certain Maha dasas are generally bad, but that statement may not be 100% true.

The 2nd and the 7th houses are known as the Maraka Bhava or killer houses, so dasa of the lords of these houses can be little complex. There are 3 negative houses in an astrology chart, and they are 6,8 and 12. The dasa of lords of these houses can also be complex.

Certain dasas can be a turning point of your life. Ketu dasa will of course help you to identify your life in the terms of spirituality. Mercury dasa will prompt you to do more studies; and during the Venus dasa, you will get attracted towards a sensuous lifestyle.

Maha dasas are further divided into Antar dasa, Pratyandar dasa and Sookshma dasa. This is a very effective method to study which factors will be prominent at the said point of time.

Information On The Balance Dasa At Birth

When you get your report, you will see a heading such as balance dasa at birth. This is based on the belief that we died during the time period of that particular dasa in the last birth, and we are continuing our life in this birth in the balance dasa. That's how it became your balance dasa.

According to astrology, our life is a cycle. It never ends, after our death, soul is released to take another form of life. Our life continues in a different form of life. We continue our life with our past life's debts. These are complex concepts and can never be proven scientifically, but it's true that we have certain cosmic alignment and we exhibit some characteristics. We have to go through everything what life has destined for us.

Astrology is just an eye opener and therefore the Maha dasa system shows you where you have to fix your vision to at a particular time period. If the dasa lord is placed in the house of career, then you can understand that in the coming days you will get many opportunities to improve your career. If the dasa lord is in the house of home and family, then it indicates that you will get opportunities for various real-estate deals and so on.