We hear people say they have a Mangal/Mars Dasha, or someone they know is undergoing a Shani/Saturn Dasha, and often find ourselves asking the meaning of the word. What is a Dasha? How does it impact our lives? Does everyone have their own Dasha? Does it bring bad luck? Such questions plague our mind and we are left with answers beyond our understanding.
Let us understand Dasha in a simple manner…
The state of a person’s life is called Dasha. Vedic Shastra comprises of 32 such Dashas, but only Vimshottari, Yogini, Ashtottari, and Chara are essentially used. Out of these, Vimshottari Mahadasha is the most widely known as well as used.
the word Vimshottari can be broken down into two segments Vimsh + Uttari. Vimsh translates to ‘twenty’ (20) in Sanskrit,Uttara means after, meaning “twenty after”. When the suffix uttari or beyond is used in a Sanskritic term, the number 100 is taken for granted, i.e. 20 more than 100. We can hence conclude that Vimshottari Mahadasha expands over a total of 120 years. In the Kaliyug, we approximate an average individual’s lifespan to extend up to 120 years maximum.
A Dasha is applicable from the moment one takes birth, and for the entirety of their lifespan.
In the Vimshottari, each Dasha in every phase of a human’s life is divided into 5 parts. The part that has the most influence over their life is termed the Mahadasha (the 1stlayer) and the one that has the least time of influence is called the Praandasha (the 5thlayer).
Accordingly, the 5 parts of a Dasha are Mahadasha, Antardasha, Pratyantardasha, Sukshmadasha, and Praandasha. Their tenure is divided among the 9 planets in an uneven manner; each planet holds power over a person’s life for that definite period of time, and they keep alternating between the five layers.
The difference in the layers is that the planet in Mahadasha possesses power for a definite number of years. In the second layer the tenure is less by a few years, whereas the planet in the third layer holds power for only a few months. The fourth layer is concentrated over the period of few days, and the fifth over hours or mere minutes of a day.
Oftentimes, we think of Dasha as a negative occurrence only, but this isn’t at all true. The Dasha planet affects only the parts of life according to the Bhava in which it is posited in the Kundali. The most noticeable activity would take place in the Bhava where the Mahadasha (1st layer) planet is posited, followed by the Bhava where the Antardasha planet is posited, and so on.
If the planet whose Mahadasha is ongoing according to your Kundali is posited in an auspicious Bhava, or the planet itself is auspicious, then its results would also be blissful and prosperous. But if the planet is not connected to the field of one’s career or business, its effects would not be seen there. If it is connected to the Santati (kids) Bhava, then it will give fortune in that area.
Above, I used the word ‘most’ not entire. Wonder why? As we discussed there are five layers of Dasha, the remaining four may or may not be as auspicious. If, for instance, one of the layers contains a planet which is inauspicious for some parts of your Kundali, then they would give unpleasant results for those particular parts.
One can map the life event with the help of Mahadasha. It clearly indicates the timing of events in individual’s life.
In the end, we have to remember one thing, the Mahadasha of whichever planet, auspicious or inauspicious, is going to occur over a finite period. There are limits on the blissful times as well as the unkind times. The days would change.
To understand this better, I have an amusing example.
In the cinemaworld, Amitabh Bachchan was given the title of ‘The Angry Young Man’, which has stuck on for over fifty years as a top level celebrity. But in this same period, numerous actors have carved their own niche in the industry. Compared to Amitabh ji, their careers have spanned relatively short but they too have made a mark with their own name, like Jeetendra and Rishi Kapoor. After them came the age of romantic heroes, like Shah Rukh and Aamir. If I speak of Vivek Mushran, we can remember Saudagar, only one film. He was famous for that little while, to be forgotten later. These stars have had their glorious careers but Amitabh ji has had a longer run. Before he set his foot, Amitabh Bachchan was preceeded by Raj Kapoor and Rajesh Khanna, who were megastars in their own right. Years later, he would be succeeded by Akshay Kumar and the like, a cycle that would go on forever.
The Dasha cycle is akin to this, some bad days, some fortunate days pouring wealth, some days of glory others of drought. But the days always change.
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