Planetary and house strength in Kundli
The Strength section contains several traditional measures. They answer different questions and use different scales. A high score is not a success probability, and a technically strong graha is not automatically favourable for every house topic.
Shadbala
Shadbala combines six kinds of planetary strength for Sun through Saturn.
| Column | What it measures within the scheme |
|---|---|
| Sthana | Positional factors, including dignity and divisional relationships |
| Dig | Directional placement |
| Kala | Time-related factors, including day/night and lunar phase |
| Chesta | Motion-related strength |
| Naisargika | Fixed natural strength assigned to the graha |
| Drishti | Aspect contribution |
Components and Total are in virupas. Rupas expresses the same total on a scale of 60 virupas per rupa. The Needs (Rupas) comparison is graha-specific:
| Graha | Needs |
|---|---|
| Sun | 6.5 |
| Moon | 6 |
| Mars | 5 |
| Mercury | 7 |
| Jupiter | 6.5 |
| Venus | 5.5 |
| Saturn | 5 |
An emphasised value meets this selected threshold; it is not a favourable-life verdict. Drishti here is a numerical contribution, separate from the list of aspected houses.
Bhava Bala
Bhava Bala scores houses. Lord is the ruler of the sign containing the Sripati house middle in this measure. Adhipati (Rupas) is that lord's Shadbala in rupas; Dig and Drishti are house-direction and aspect components in virupas. Total is in virupas and Rupas converts it to the common 60-to-1 scale.
This house-strength convention keeps Sripati middles even when KP/Placidus is selected for the separate chalit display. Do not assume its Lord column must always match a whole-sign house lord or a KP cusp lord.
Avasthas
Baladi names degree-based states: Bala, Kumara, Yuva, Vriddha and Mrita. In odd signs they follow successive 6° portions in that order; in even signs the order reverses. These traditional age words do not describe a person's age, health or lifespan.
Jagradadi uses Jagrat, Swapna and Sushupti, conventionally described as waking, dreaming and sleeping. This tool classifies them by dignity and natural relationship to the sign ruler: own sign, Moolatrikona or exaltation gives Jagrat; a friendly or neutral ruler's sign gives Swapna; debilitation or an enemy ruler's sign gives Sushupti. These are technical states, not measures of consciousness.
Vimsopaka Bala
The four columns score planetary placement across different sets of divisions, each out of 20. The selected weights are:
| Division | Shadvarga | Saptavarga | Dasavarga | Shodasavarga |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3.5 |
| D2 | 2 | 2 | 1.5 | 1 |
| D3 | 4 | 3 | 1.5 | 1 |
| D4 | Not used | Not used | Not used | 0.5 |
| D7 | Not used | 1 | 1.5 | 0.5 |
| D9 | 5 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 3 |
| D10 | Not used | Not used | 1.5 | 0.5 |
| D12 | 2 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 |
| D16 | Not used | Not used | 1.5 | 2 |
| D20 | Not used | Not used | Not used | 0.5 |
| D24 | Not used | Not used | Not used | 0.5 |
| D27 | Not used | Not used | Not used | 0.5 |
| D30 | 1 | 2 | 1.5 | 1 |
| D40 | Not used | Not used | Not used | 0.5 |
| D45 | Not used | Not used | Not used | 0.5 |
| D60 | Not used | Not used | 5 | 4 |
The names refer to six, seven, ten and sixteen divisions. Weighting differs among traditions, notably within Saptavarga. Own-sign placement receives the full allowance; other placements use the selected relationship to the sign ruler. More included divisions does not mean that the birth time has become more accurate.
Ishta and Kashta
Ishta and Kashta are separate quantities derived from exaltation and motion-related strength, each on a 0–60 scale. They are not complementary success/failure percentages and need not sum to 60. The Sun and Moon have their own treatment within the motion-related factor.
Read all these measures with planetary dignity, divisions and birth-time accuracy, rather than combining unlike numbers into an invented overall rating.
See the chart and its tables on the Kundli page.