Mahadasha: the nine periods of a life
A mahadasha is one of the long planetary periods Vedic astrology divides a life into. Nine planets share a 120-year cycle, each ruling a set number of years, from Venus’s 20 to the Sun’s 6. Which one you are in depends on where the Moon was when you were born.
Each planet’s page shows your own dates for its years. The dasha calculator shows every one of them at once.
The nine, in order
| Mahadasha | Length | Followed by |
|---|---|---|
| Ketu mahadasha | 7 years | Venus |
| Venus mahadasha | 20 years | Sun |
| Sun mahadasha | 6 years | Moon |
| Moon mahadasha | 10 years | Mars |
| Mars mahadasha | 7 years | Rahu |
| Rahu mahadasha | 18 years | Jupiter |
| Jupiter mahadasha | 16 years | Saturn |
| Saturn mahadasha | 19 years | Mercury |
| Mercury mahadasha | 17 years | Ketu |
120 years in all. After Mercury the cycle starts again with Ketu. Find which one you are in now, free.
How the cycle works
The system the classical texts call the main one is Vimshottari: 120 years shared among nine planets in a fixed order. You enter the cycle at the planet that rules your birth nakshatra (one of the 27 lunar mansions the Moon passes through), partway through its years, and the rest follow in order.
Each mahadasha holds nine antardashas, shorter chapters in the same order, starting with its own planet. So at any time there is a long theme and a shorter one inside it.
How to read them
Classical astrology reads each period by what its planet stands for and by where that planet sits in your chart. Two people in the same planet’s years can have very different ones.
Read the dates as seasons, not appointments. A mahadasha shows what a stretch of years tends to lean toward.
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Open the sample readingWhat is a mahadasha?
One of the long planetary periods Vedic astrology divides a life into. There are nine, from 6 to 20 years long, and together they make a cycle of 120 years.
Which mahadasha is the longest?
Venus, at 20 years, then Saturn at 19 and Rahu at 18. The Sun’s is the shortest, at 6.
How many mahadashas will I have?
Most often seven by the age of 80, counting the one you were born into; some people have six, some eight. In our 200,000 sample birth moments, about half had seven. Which ones depends on where you entered the cycle, and the dasha calculator shows yours in order.
Which is the hardest mahadasha?
Classical astrology reads every period by where its planet sits in your chart, so there is no fixed hardest one. Popular lists usually name Rahu and Saturn.
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