Predicting with Dasamsa

P. V. R. Narasimha Rao

January 2003

Introduction
Maharshi Parasara has taught us sixteen divisional charts in his monumental classic Brihat
Parasara Hora Sastra. Even before he defines what different houses stand for, he defines the
divisional charts and lists the matters to be judged in each divisional chart. It is clear that he
considers divisional charts to be a very important building block of Jyotisha.

The divisional chart based on the 10th division of signs is called Dasamsa or Dasamamsa or
Karmamsa or Swargamsa.
The Dasamsa chart is very easy to cast. Each sign is divided into 10 equal parts. If the sign is
odd, the 10 parts of the sign go into the 10 consecutive signs starting from the sign itself. If the
sign is even, the 10 parts of the sign go into the 10 consecutive signs starting from the 9th sign
from the sign in question. For example, the 10 parts of Leo go into signs from Leo to Taurus and
the 10 parts of Scorpio go into signs from Cancer to Aries.
Notation: In the rest of this article, Dasamsa will be denoted as D-10. Arudha Pada of the nth
house will be denoted as An
(e.g. A2, A3 etc). AL will stand for Arudha Lagna. HL stands for Hora Lagna.

Judgment
D-10 shows one’s professional activities as well as other activities in society related to hobbies
and interests.The 10th house in the Rasi chart is also important for judging career as it shows the
physical Karma (actions) of the native. The strength and placement, in D-10, of the 10th Rasi lord
is an important factor when judging career. If the 10th lord is in own sign or exaltation sign or a
quadrant or a trine in D-10, one will have a good career. In addition, we should look at the D-10
placement of the planets involved in any Raja Yogas present in the Rasi chart.

The Lagna of the D-10 chart shows one’s true nature in career. It also shows new beginnings.
The 2nd house shows the resources available for one’s activities (including wealth and speech).
The 3rd house shows initiative, creativity and communications. The 4th house shows the overall
sense of comfort and happiness in career. The 5th house shows the popularity and following one
commands. The 6th house shows service and rivalries. The 7th house shows partnerships and
business. The 8th house shows occult and hidden activities. The 9th house shows Dharma
followed in one’s Karma and guidance received. The 10th house shows one’s overall activities.
The 11th house shows gains made in career. The 12th house shows losses and giving things
away (charity). If the 6th house is stronger than the 7th, one will be in service. If the 7th house is
stronger than the 6th, one will be in business.
While the Lagna shows true self, AL (Arudha Lagna) shows the perceived self. It shows the maya
associated with the person. The true self is hidden inside a person and the world cannot see it.
What the world sees is what rises from the true self and manifests
in the world. Arudha means “risen one” and it shows what rises and becomes visible to the
material world.

AL shows one’s image and status in career. The 10th house from AL shows the forces supporting
one’s image. Natural benefics in the 10th from AL give a good image and malefics give a bad
image. The 7th house from AL shows the people working against one’s image and the 4th house
from AL shows the forces supporting them. The 2nd house from AL shows the factors that feed
one’s image and the resources that one’s image can draw from. Malefics in the 3rd and 6th
houses from AL give the rise of fortune through bold acts. Benefics in the 8th from AL give sudden
gains in one’s image and malefics give upsets. Any planet (even an Upagraha) in the 9th house
from AL protects one’s image and keeps one’s status intact. The 9th from AL is a crucial house.
Planets in the 11th from AL give gain in status and planets in the 12th from AL give losses. In
addition, we can look at the Arudhas of houses also. The Arudha of a house shows things that
rise from the matters shown by a house and manifest in the material world in a visible way. For
example, the 5th house shows success, popularity and one's following. A5 (Arudha of 5th house)
shows the formal recognition one gets (i.e. certificates, awards etc.), followers and sub-ordinates.
The 3rd house shows initiative and communications and
A3 shows one’s bold actions. For example, if a person has founded a company, you can expect
A3 to be involved. A3 also shows books, articles and other documents written by one. The 7th
house shows relationships and A7 shows the people that one associates with. Similarly, intelligent
astrologers can understand the meaning of other Arudha Padas.

Rasi Drishti (aspects) given by Parasara and Jaimini shows influences that are always present.
Graha Drishti shows desires that may fructify at some point of time. Argalas show important
influences. For judging careers represented by various planets, signs and Nakshatras, one can
refer to [2] and [3].

Analysing D-10
Let us consider the native of Chart 1.

The Rasi chart has Ketu in the 10th in Gopuramsa showing spiritual activities in society. The 10th
lord Jupiter is in Simhasanamsa in Lagna, showing excellent fame and activities related to
traditional knowledge. In addition, Jupiter is in Revati which shows the possibility of being a
businessman. The presence of Mercury in the 10th from HL (Hora Lagna) confirms business.
Now let us look at D-10 for finer indications.

In D-10, the 6th house has 2 planets and the 7th house has only one planet. This would normally
show service (as opposed to business). However, the lord of the 6th house is debilitated in a
Dustana and so the native
does not like service. The 7th lord is well-placed in a quadrant in A7. This makes business very
likely. However, due to the strength of the 6th house, the native was in service for a few years
before he got into business.

Thus, Moon in the 6th shows service while the 7th lord Mercury in the 10th and Mars in the 7th
show business.
We should also look at the 10th lord. The 10th lord Jupiter is in the 5th house
Cancer with 8th lord Venus. This shows activities related to traditional knowledge (Jupiter) and
occult subjects (8th house).
As Cancer, the sign containing Jupiter and Venus in D-10, is the 2nd house of ruling Jyotisha in
D-24 (the chart of learning),
the hidden traditional knowledge could relate to Jyotisha. The native is indeed a well-known
Jyotisha teacher from a traditional school
of Puri in Orissa. Exalted Jupiter in the 5th house gives a big following for his activities in society.
As A5 is in Virgo with Mars in it
and Mercury aspecting it (by sign aspect), his followers, students and sub-ordinates would have
prominent Virgo, Mars and
Mercury in their charts.

The native’s career started in mid-1991 in Moon Bhukti in Saturn Dasa. Saturn is the significator
of service. He has Graha Drishti on HL in D-10 (which shows earnings from activities) and on
10th lord Jupiter. Thus career and earnings started in Saturn Dasa.
The Bhukti lord Moon is in the 6th house ruling service. Being placed in a solar sign with solar
aspect (sign aspect), the Moon can give government service. As the Moon is in the 6th in D-24
(the divisional chart showing education), he can show a competitive examination. So he can show
starting government service after a competitive examination. The native indeed belonged to the
1991 batch of civil services and worked for the government. After Mercury Dasa, Mercury Bhukti,
the native resigned his job and started a
financial services business. Mercury is a Maraka (2nd lord) for service matters (6th house) and
shows business (7th house). He clearly shows business. As A7 has Mercury, the native would
associate with traders and businessmen. As Mercury is in the 2nd house from AL, Mercury would
feed the image well. In fact, Parasara has said that Mercury in the 2nd from AL gives one a
kingdom. Thus, Mercury Dasa should give excellent material success in career. Mercury is the
lord of A5 and aspects A5. So he will bring a lot of followers. Mercury is also the lord of A3 and
aspects A3. A3 in Virgo aspected by Mercury shows a lot of books. The native indeed published
several books in Mercury Dasa and more books can be expected. He started publishing an
astrology journal too.
Venus is the 8th lord in the 5th. He is the 3rd lord having unobstructed Argala on A3.

It was during Venus Bhukti that he started publishing his journal and organizing astrology
seminars in Ireland and USA. Venus Bhukti will continue to be good for activities in society (D-10)
related to communication (3rd) of knowledge (5th). Venus has no influence on the 6th house, but
has Labha Argala on the 7th house. His Bhukti will be good for business. More importantly, Venus
is in the 9th house from AL. Being the 8th lord from Lagna and the dispositor of Saturn, he may
make the native work very hard in his activities, but he will thoroughly protect his image and
status. The planets in the 9th from AL in D-10 will,
at all costs, protect one’s image in career.

Transits
The analysis we have done above is static analysis based on the natal chart and dynamic
analysis based on Dasas. In addition, we can use transits also for timing events. It is customary in
India to analyze transits of planets with respect to the natal Moon. Though astrologers normally
consider the Moon in the Rasi chart, his position in the divisional charts is also important. The
Moon shows mind and transits with respect to him show what forces the mind is subject to with
changing times. The Moon in a divisional chart shows the mind from the perspective of the
matters shown by that chart. For example, the Moon in Dasamsa (D-10) shows the mind as it
applies to one’s activities in society (Karma). Transits from Dasamsa Moon show the forces that
this aspect of mind is subjected to. When predicting events related to one’s career, one can get
better results if the natal Moon of the Dasamsa is used as the reference point. We can use the
rules given in standard texts to judge the transits. The only difference is that the sign containing
the Moon in the natal D-10 is used instead of the Rasi chart Moon. The transit positions of planets
are still marked as per the Rasi transits, as these would show the physical forces at work with
changing times.

Let us consider the case of Indira Gandhi, late prime minister of India. She was born on 19th
November 1917 at 11-07 pm (IST) at 25 N 28, 81 N 52. The natal Rasi chart has the Moon in
Capricorn. After being out of power for a couple of years, Indira Gandhi's party won the elections
and came back to power in January 1980. The Rasi transit planets are given in Chart 2. One can
see that several planets have an unfavorable transit with respect to Capricorn (natal Rasi Moon).
Only Venus in the 1st and the Moon in the 7th are favorable transits. Jupiter in the 8th, Mars in
the 8th, Rahu in the 8th, Sun in the 12th, Mercury in the 12th, Saturn in the 9th and Ketu in the
2nd are all considered to be bad transits. With 7 out of 9 planets under bad transit, one would
normally not expect excellent results. However, a very good event happened in Indira Gandhi’s
career then.

Let us look at the same transits with respect to Libra, which contains the Moon in Indira Gandhi’s
natal D-10. Jupiter, Mars and Rahu are in the 11th house in transit instead of the 8th house
transit! The Sun is in the 3rd, Venus in the 4th and Jupiter in the 11th which gives happiness and
recovery of health and position. Mars in the 11th gives authority, gains and good name. Rahu in
the 11th gives wealth, success and gains. The Sun in the 3rd gives wealth, good health and
victory. Venus in the 4th gives prosperity, omforts
and success over enemies. With 6 out of 9 planets being in favorable transit, no wonder very
good things happened in Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s career. Transits from the Rasi chart Moon don’t lie.
There may have been a lot of worries on her mind, but the happenings in her career must have
made her happy. That is what favorable transits from natal D-10 Moon show. Progressions

Another technique of timing involving the divisional charts is progressions. Progressions are
controversial and many Indian astrologers do not approve their use. But some scholars accept it
as endorsed by Manu Smriti. Western astrologers mainly use the “1 degree per year”
progression. But it is based on Trimsamsa and shows only evils. For career matters, we can use
the Dasamsa based progression, where the Sun is progressed by 3 degrees per year. This
technique is well-known in some traditions. Look at the progressed Sun’s position in D-10 and
analyze which factors of natal D-10 are activated by progressed Sun. When the progressed Sun
is in a trine or the 7th or the 12th from a natal point, that point will be activated. In addition, results
of the lord of the sign occupied by the progressed Sun will be given. For example, let us take the
native of Chart 1. He joined service in his 29th year,
when progressed Sun was in Libra in Rasi and in Pisces in D-10. As Pisces is the Lagna in the
natal D-10, he started his service then. When progressed Sun was in Scorpio in Dasamsa, he left
service and started business. Mars, the lord of Scorpio, occupies the 7th house. In addition,
Scorpio is the 12th sign from the 7th lord Mercury. For these reasons, the progressed Sun in
Scorpio in D-10 took the native to business. When progressed Sun came to Capricorn in D-10,
the native taught at astrology conferences in Ireland and USA. One can see that Capricorn
activates the 3rd house, 3rd lord, A3 and exalted Jupiter in the 5th. In addition, its lord Saturn is in
the 3rd house of communications ! l 151.02
References :
1. Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra translated by
G.C. Sharma.
2. How to Judge a Horoscope (Vol. I),
by Dr. B.V. Raman and Vol. II - Gayatri Devi Vasudev.
3. Crux of Vedic Astrology: Timing of Events,
by Sanjay Rath, Sagar Publications.
4. Vedic Astrology: An Integrated Approach,
by P.V.R. Narasimha Rao, Sagar Publications.