Dasa Balance

This section is devoted to the calculation Dasa Balance. Dasa balance is used to determine the elapsed time of the first Mahadasa at the time of birth.

We give examples for Vimsottari Dasa. Other dasas may be calculated in a similar way.

There are two methods.

1. Time Method

The Dasa balance is calculated according to the time the Moon has spent in the birth Nakshatra at the time of birth.

We must know the time of entry into birth Nakshatra and the time of entry to the next Nakshatra. The time of birth has to be taken as proportional value in relation to the total time the Moon spends in the birth Nakshatra.

So, let's say birth time is tb, entry time is t1, entry time to next Nakshatra is t2.

The balance b can be calculated with the formula

b = ( tb - t1 ) / ( t2 - t1)

This value must be between 0 and 1 (0 if the birth takes place near the beginning of the Nakshatra, etc). This value must be multiplied by the total time of the first Mahadasa to get the elapsed time.

Example

Male birth at July 6 1935, 11:45 AM local mean time. Location Chinghai/Kohonor Tibet, longitude 91:41:00 E, latitude 29:43:00 N. Universal time of birth is 5:38:16AM.

Moon's position is 20 37'00" leo (Lahiri Ayanamsa). Birth Nakshatra is Purvaphalguni. First Mahadasa is Venus.

Entry time of Moon into Purvaphalguni is Jul 05 14:52:14 UT.

Entry time of Moon into Uttaraphalguni is Jul 06 17:54:04 UT.

We get the equation

b = ( Jul 6 1935 5:38:16 - Jul 05 14:52:14 ) / ( Jul 06 17:54:04 - Jul 05 14:52:14 ) = 0.54631589

The Dasa balance at birth time is therefore 10 years, 11 months and 3.5 days.

The second Mahadasa (Sun) will begin on Aug 1 1944 8:49:08 UT.

2. Longitude Method

This method is quite simple because it doesn't require the entry times of the Moon. It is therefore most frequently used by astrological software.

The Dasa balance is calculated according to the longitude of the Moon in the birth Nakshatra at the time of birth.

Let the longitude of the Moon in birth chart be lb, start of Nakshatra l1, end of birth Nakshatra l2,

The balance b can be calculated with the formula

b = ( lb - l1 ) / ( l2 - l1 ) = ( lb - l1 ) / 13:20:00

Again this value must be multiplied by the total time of the Mahadasa to get the elapsed time.

Example

Again male birth with Moon's position at 20 37'00" leo (140:37:00).

Start of Nakshatra is 13:20:00 Leo (133:20).

The formula yields

b = ( 140:37:00 - 133:20:00 ) / 13:20:00 = 0.54625

This value has to multiplied by 20 (total period for Venus). So the elapsed time is 10 years 11 months 3 days.

The rest of the Dasa will take 9 years 0 months 27 days. So the second Mahadasa (Sun) will begin on Aug 1 1944 04:52:15 UT.

Remark This example shows only a smooth difference of results. But the difference between these two methods may be larger, say 2-3 days.