Bite-size learnings · Dashas

What is mahadasha and antardasha, and which one am I in?

By Tushar Gupta, founder of LotusAstro · Published 11 November 2026

The short answerA mahadasha is a major planetary period in the Vimshottari system, a 120-year cycle shared among the nine planets (from Sun 6 years to Venus 20). Each mahadasha divides into nine antardashas (sub-periods), and each of those into nine pratyantardashas. Your first mahadasha is set by your birth nakshatra; most people live through about seven mahadashas in 80 years.

1. The nine periods

Order	Planet	Years
1	Ketu	7
2	Venus	20
3	Sun	6
4	Moon	10
5	Mars	7
6	Rahu	18
7	Jupiter	16
8	Saturn	19
9	Mercury	17
	Total	120

The order never changes; after Mercury it starts again with Ketu.

2. How your first period is set

Your birth nakshatra’s lord is the lord of your first mahadasha. How far the Moon had travelled through that nakshatra at birth decides how much of the period had already “passed”: if the Moon was halfway through, half the period was used and you were born with the other half, the balance at birth.

3. Antardashas: periods within periods

Each mahadasha splits into nine antardashas in the same order, starting with its own planet. The length of each is mahadasha years × antardasha years ÷ 120. For Saturn’s 19-year mahadasha, the Saturn–Saturn sub-period is 19 × 19 ÷ 120 = 3.0 years, and Saturn–Sun is 19 × 6 ÷ 120 = 11.4 months.

7mahadashas is how many most people live through in 80 years (the average is 6.95).Our calculation over every possible Moon position with the Vimshottari periods.

4. How a period is read

A period gives results according to its planet’s house, sign, lordship and strength in your chart; the antardasha lord adds its own story, and the relation between the two (friends or enemies, and the houses each rules) matters. That is why the same Saturn period can be very different for two people. Our article on the “hardest” mahadasha goes into this.

Worked example: Albert Einstein

Einstein’s Moon was in Jyeshtha, ruled by Mercury, so he was born in the Mercury mahadasha, with almost ten years left (to December 1888). Then came Ketu (to 1895), Venus (1895–1915), the Sun (1915–1921), the Moon (1921–1931), Mars (1931–1938) and Rahu (1938 onwards). His great papers of 1905 fell in the Venus period; his world fame after 1919, in the Sun’s.

5. Which one am I in?

You need your birth date, time and place to find the Moon’s exact position; our dasha calculator then lists every period with dates and marks the current one.

Go deeper

Frequently asked questions

What happens during a mahadasha?

The planet’s significations come to the fore, as placed in your chart: its house, sign, lordship and strength decide whether the period is easy or demanding.

Which mahadasha was I born in?

The one ruled by the lord of your birth nakshatra. Our nakshatra and dasha calculators show it with the balance at birth.

How is antardasha calculated?

Mahadasha years × antardasha planet’s years ÷ 120. Saturn–Saturn: 19 × 19 ÷ 120 = 3 years.

How long is each mahadasha?

Ketu 7, Venus 20, Sun 6, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19 and Mercury 17 years.

Why do dasha dates differ between websites?

Mostly the year length (we use 365.2425 days) and small differences in the Moon’s position from the time zone or ayanamsa.

Sources. The Vimshottari dasha, its order and lengths, the balance at birth and the sub-period rule: Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, Vimshottari dasha chapter. Year length of 365.2425 days is our stated convention (assumption log E6). Einstein’s periods from our engine.

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