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Dasha systems

Why dasha systems give different timelines

Vimshottari, Yogini, Ashtottari and Chara divide a life by different lords, lengths and starting points. See all four for one birth on one timeline.

01 · Four schedules

Each system starts from a different input and runs on different lengths.

Vimshottari, Yogini and Ashtottari all start from the birth Moon’s nakshatra but use different lords and period lengths, so their boundaries rarely meet. Chara starts from the rising sign and names signs, not planets.

Four dasha systems for one birthFour rows over the 40 years after the fictional Delhi birth of 1 November 2026: Vimshottari, Yogini, Ashtottari and Chara periods. At birth: Vimshottari Saturn until Apr 2036; Yogini Dhanya (Jupiter) until Apr 2028; Ashtottari Sun until Jan 2029; Chara Mesha until Nov 2029.ONE FICTIONAL BIRTH, FOUR SYSTEMS, 40 YEARSVimshottari, 9 lords, 120 yearsSaturnMercuryKetuVenusYogini, 8 periods, 36 yearsBhramaBhadriUlkaSiddhaSankatAshtottari, 8 lords, 108 yearsSunMoonMarsMercuryChara, periods of signsMeshaVrishaMithunKarkaSimhaKanya20302035204020452050205520602065
Periods from the site’s birth chart engine for the fictional Delhi chart, in the conventions the site’s dasha guide describes.

Four schedules from one birth

A dasha system is a rule for dividing a life into periods from the birth moment. Several are in use, and they do not divide time the same way, because each starts from a different input and uses its own lords and lengths:

System Starts from Periods Cycle
Vimshottari the Moon’s nakshatra nine planets 120 years
Yogini the Moon’s nakshatra eight Yoginis, each with a planet 36 years
Ashtottari the Moon’s nakshatra, in its own grouping eight planets, no Ketu 108 years
Chara the rising sign the twelve signs varies with the chart

The first three are all keyed to the Moon, but because their lords and lengths differ, the same Moon gives three different sequences. Chara is a different kind: its periods are signs, not planets, and their lengths come from where each sign’s ruler stands.

One birth, four answers

For the fictional chart of 17:05 IST on 1 November 2026 in Delhi:

  • Vimshottari starts in Saturn, running to April 2036, as how the first dasha and its balance are found shows.
  • Yogini starts in Dhanya, Jupiter’s Yogini, running to April 2028, then Bhramari, Mars’s, to April 2032.
  • Ashtottari starts in the Sun’s period, running to January 2029, then the Moon’s fifteen years to January 2044.
  • Chara starts from the rising sign, Aries, with three years, then Taurus for five.

So in November 2030 this chart is in a Saturn period by Vimshottari, a Mars Yogini, a Moon period by Ashtottari and a Taurus period by Chara. None of them is wrong for its own rules; they are different questions answered on different clocks.

When a system applies

Some texts give conditions for using a system. For Ashtottari the site’s Kundli page reports two: Rahu’s position relative to the lagna lord, which this chart does not meet, and birth in Krishna Paksha by day or Shukla Paksha by night, which it does, since 1 November 2026 was in Krishna Paksha and 17:05 was before sunset. The page shows the periods either way and leaves the choice of rule to the reader, as the other dasha systems guide explains.

See all four systems for any chart on the Kundli page, or explore another topic in Learn.