Shadbala (six-fold planetary strength)

Shadbala (षड्बल, “six strengths”) is the classical Vedic metric for “how strong is a planet in this chart”. The strength is summed across six components and reported in rupa (1 rupa = 60 virupa). The result is an objective number — useful for ranking planets, evaluating dasha lords, and judging the quality of yogas. AstroWay exposes the six components individually plus an aggregate total.

What we calculate

Six strengths from Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (BPHS), chapter 27 “Grahabala-adhyaya”:

• Sthana Bala (sthāna, “positional”) — strength from sign, navamsa, vargas; outlined by 5 sub-components (Uchcha Bala, Saptavargaja Bala, Ojha-Yugma Bala, Kendradi Bala, Drekkana Bala).
• Dig Bala (“directional”) — Jupiter/Mercury strong in the east, Moon/Venus in the north, Saturn in the west, Sun/Mars in the south.
• Kala Bala (“temporal”) — 9 sub-components: Nathonnatha, Paksha, Tribhaga, Abda/Masa/Vara/Hora, Ayana, Yuddha. Depends on time-of-day, weekday, month, year, planetary war state.
• Cheshta Bala (“motional”) — planetary speed vs the mean. Retrograde planets max out; very slow (stationary) planets also score high.
• Naisargika Bala (“natural”) — fixed scale: Sun 60, Moon 51.43, Venus 42.85, Jupiter 34.28, Mercury 25.71, Mars 17.14, Saturn 8.57 virupa.
• Drik Bala (“aspectual”) — sum of incoming/outgoing aspects from other planets, weighted by orb and aspect type.

Total: Total Bala = Sthana + Dig + Kala + Cheshta + Naisargika + Drik. Compared to Required Bala (minimum threshold per BPHS Table 27.1) — a planet is “strong enough” when Total ≥ Required.

Endpoints

Endpoint	Credits	Returns
/v1/vedic/shadbala/sthana	30	Sthana Bala + 5 sub-components for 7 planets
/v1/vedic/shadbala/dig	20	Dig Bala (directional strength)
/v1/vedic/shadbala/kala	50	Kala Bala + 9 sub-components
/v1/vedic/shadbala/cheshta	30	Cheshta Bala (with speed & retro status)
/v1/vedic/shadbala/naisargika	10	Naisargika (fixed table)
/v1/vedic/shadbala/drik	30	Drik Bala (aspectual sum)
/v1/vedic/shadbala/full	100	All 6 + total + ratio to Required Bala

Example

cURL

curl -X POST https://api.astroway.info/v1/vedic/shadbala/full \
  -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/shadbala/full', {
  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();
const strongest = data.planets.reduce((a, b) => b.total > a.total ? b : a);
console.log(`Strongest planet: ${strongest.name} (${strongest.total} rupa)`);

Python

import os, requests

r = requests.post(
    'https://api.astroway.info/v1/vedic/shadbala/full',
    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']
for p in data['planets']:
    flag = 'OK' if p['total'] >= p['required'] else 'WEAK'
    print(f"{p['name']:8s} {p['total']:6.2f} / {p['required']:5.2f}  [{flag}]")

Sample response

{
  "ayanamsa": "lahiri",
  "unit": "rupa",
  "planets": [
    {
      "name": "Sun",
      "sthana":     1.21,
      "dig":        0.34,
      "kala":       1.05,
      "cheshta":    0.42,
      "naisargika": 1.00,
      "drik":       0.18,
      "total":      4.20,
      "required":   5.00,
      "ratio":      0.84
    },
    {
      "name": "Moon",
      "sthana":     2.43, "dig": 0.91, "kala": 1.78, "cheshta": 0.55,
      "naisargika": 0.86, "drik": 0.32, "total": 6.85, "required": 6.00, "ratio": 1.14
    }
  ]
}

Accuracy & sources

• Canonical text: Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (BPHS), chapter 27 — formulae of all six balas plus the Required Bala tables.
• Reference implementation: PyJHora (Apache 2.0), module shadbala.py. Our figures match PyJHora within ±0.05 rupa across all components except Drik Bala (we use the full BPHS orb table, PyJHora uses a simplified one).
• Status: GREEN for Sthana/Dig/Kala/Cheshta/Naisargika, YELLOW for Drik (due to orb differences). Details — /en/accuracy/.
• Ayanamsa: the same 9 options used elsewhere across our Vedic suite (Lahiri default).
• Kala Bala is intricate. Its 9 sub-components require an exact sunrise/sunset for the given location — make sure latitude/longitude/timezoneOffset are accurate.

Caution

Shadbala isn’t an oracle. High strength doesn’t mean “good events” — it means the planet is going to manifest actively. A weak planet inside a strong yoga can deliver better outcomes than a strong planet without one. Use Shadbala as one input to your analysis, not the sole predictor.

Related

• Dashas — Shadbala is critical when assessing the current dasha lord
• Panchang — the timestamp for Kala Bala depends on tithi/vara
• Vargas — Saptavargaja Bala (a Sthana sub-component) is built from 7 divisional charts
• Accuracy — detailed audit of components and drift vs PyJHora
• Credits — full pricing table
• Authentication — how to obtain an aw_live_* key