Dashas (planetary periods)

Dashas are planetary ruling periods in Vedic astrology. Each planet “governs” a stretch of the native’s life, and the sequence of these periods is what explains the timing of events. AstroWay computes 10 dasha systems × 5 nesting levels = 50 endpoints through a single API.

What we calculate

• Vimshottari — the primary system (120-year cycle, anchored to the Moon’s nakshatra at birth). Used by ~95% of modern jyotish practitioners.
• Yogini — 36-year cycle, eight governing goddesses (Mangala, Pingala, Dhanya, Bhramari, Bhadrika, Ulka, Siddha, Sankata).
• Ashtottari — 108-year cycle, Sun-anchored.
• Kalachakra — cyclic dasha based on nakshatra, non-linear progression.
• Chara — rasi-dasha (signs rule, not planets), Jaimini school.
• Tribhagi — variant of Vimshottari with tripled pace.
• Shatabdika — 100-year cycle (rare, for longevity charts).
• Shodashottari — 116-year cycle, anchored to tithi.
• Sthira — fixed rasi-dasha (Jaimini).
• Shoola — rasi-dasha with unequal periods (Jaimini).

Inside each system there are 5 levels of granularity: Maha (main period) → Antar (sub) → Pratyantar (sub-sub) → Sookshma (micro) → Prana (smallest, sub-daily).

Key endpoints

Endpoint	Credits	Purpose
/v1/vedic/dashas/vimshottari/maha	30	Vimshottari maha-dashas across 120 years
/v1/vedic/dashas/vimshottari/antar	50	Antar-dashas within current maha
/v1/vedic/dashas/vimshottari/pratyantar	80	Pratyantar (3rd nesting level)
/v1/vedic/dashas/vimshottari/sookshma	100	Sookshma (4th level)
/v1/vedic/dashas/vimshottari/prana	150	Prana (finest, sub-daily intervals)
/v1/vedic/dashas/yogini/maha	30	Yogini 36-year cycle
/v1/vedic/dashas/ashtottari/maha	30	Ashtottari 108-year cycle
/v1/vedic/dashas/kalachakra/maha	50	Cyclic Kalachakra
/v1/vedic/dashas/chara/maha	40	Chara rasi-dasha (Jaimini)
/v1/vedic/dashas/shodashottari/maha	30	Shodashottari 116-year cycle

Full list of all 50 endpoints — in the OpenAPI (tags Vedic / Dashas).

Example

cURL

curl -X POST https://api.astroway.info/v1/vedic/dashas/vimshottari/maha \
  -H "X-Api-Key: aw_live_your_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "date": "1990-07-14",
    "time": "14:30:00",
    "timezoneOffset": 3,
    "latitude": 50.45,
    "longitude": 30.52,
    "ayanamsa": "lahiri"
  }'

Node.js

const r = await fetch('https://api.astroway.info/v1/vedic/dashas/vimshottari/maha', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'X-Api-Key': process.env.ASTROWAY_API_KEY!,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    date: '1990-07-14',
    time: '14:30:00',
    timezoneOffset: 3,
    latitude: 50.45,
    longitude: 30.52,
    ayanamsa: 'lahiri',
  }),
});
const { data } = await r.json();
console.log(`Current maha: ${data.current.lord} until ${data.current.endDate}`);

Python

import os, requests

r = requests.post(
    'https://api.astroway.info/v1/vedic/dashas/vimshottari/maha',
    headers={'X-Api-Key': os.environ['ASTROWAY_API_KEY']},
    json={
        'date': '1990-07-14', 'time': '14:30:00', 'timezoneOffset': 3,
        'latitude': 50.45, 'longitude': 30.52, 'ayanamsa': 'lahiri',
    },
)
data = r.json()['data']
print(f"Current: {data['current']['lord']} until {data['current']['endDate']}")

Sample response

{
  "system": "vimshottari",
  "level": "maha",
  "ayanamsa": "lahiri",
  "moonNakshatra": "Rohini",
  "birthBalance": { "lord": "Moon", "yearsRemaining": 7.32 },
  "current": {
    "lord": "Rahu",
    "startDate": "2018-03-12",
    "endDate": "2036-03-12",
    "durationYears": 18
  },
  "periods": [
    { "lord": "Moon", "startDate": "1990-07-14", "endDate": "1997-11-04", "durationYears": 7.32 },
    { "lord": "Mars", "startDate": "1997-11-04", "endDate": "2004-11-04", "durationYears": 7 },
    { "lord": "Rahu", "startDate": "2018-03-12", "endDate": "2036-03-12", "durationYears": 18 }
  ]
}

Accuracy & sources

• Canonical text: Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (BPHS), chapters 46–52 — each dasha system is described separately.
• Reference implementation: PyJHora (Apache 2.0) — our cross-check for all 10 systems. Vimshottari/Yogini/Ashtottari/Kalachakra match PyJHora exactly; Sthira/Shoola have minor drift at transition timestamps due to differences in Jaimini sign-strength helpers.
• Ayanamsa: supported are lahiri (default, MoSh/IISc), raman, krishnamurti, fagan-bradley, yukteshwar, sassanian, j2000, aldebaran, galactic-center. Lahiri is the official Indian Ephemeris standard.
• Tropical fallback: all dashas use sidereal coordinates — if your key sends tropical: true we apply the ayanamsa offset internally.
• Audit: separate entry in /en/accuracy/ for each dasha system, with last-fix date and drift vs reference.

Caution

Jaimini dashas vs Parashara dashas. Chara/Sthira/Shoola belong to the Jaimini school — the algorithms differ fundamentally from Parashara (signs rule, not planets). If you’re building a classical jyotish app, use Vimshottari as your primary; treat others as supplementary overlays.

Related

• Panchang — daily Vedic almanac parameters (tithi, karana, yoga, nakshatra)
• Shadbala — six-fold planetary strength at the moment a dasha runs
• Vargas — divisional charts D1–D60 (Navamsha is critical for assessing the strength of a dasha lord)
• Accuracy — lineage, snapshot tests, cross-check against swetest + PyJHora
• Credits — full pricing table across all 50 dasha endpoints
• Authentication — how to obtain an aw_live_* key