Yogini Dasha Calculator

The eight yoginis and their years

The order never changes: Mangala (the Moon, 1 year), Pingala (the Sun, 2), Dhanya (Jupiter, 3), Bhramari (Mars, 4), Bhadrika (Mercury, 5), Ulka (Saturn, 6), Siddha (Venus, 7) and Sankata (Rahu, 8). The spans are simply the numbers one to eight, so they add up to 36, and Ketu, the ninth graha, has no yogini of its own.

Because the spans climb steadily, the round has a recognisable shape. Its first five yoginis, Mangala to Bhadrika, take fifteen years together; the last three, Ulka to Sankata, take twenty-one. Wherever a chart enters the round, the next 36 years pass through all eight yoginis exactly once before the sequence repeats.

Which yogini is running at birth

The starting point is the janma nakshatra, the lunar mansion the Moon occupied at the moment of birth, numbered from Ashwini as 1 to Revati as 27. Add three to that number and divide by eight; the remainder names the yogini, counting Mangala as 1, and a remainder of nothing means Sankata, the eighth. Ardra, the sixth nakshatra, therefore gives Mangala, and so do Chitra and Shravana, the fourteenth and twenty-second, since every eighth nakshatra lands on the same yogini.

In the example chart the Moon is at Aquarius 3°18′, inside Dhanishta, the twenty-third nakshatra. Twenty-three plus three is twenty-six, which leaves two after dividing by eight, so the birth falls in Pingala, the Sun's two-year period.

The balance left at birth

A child is rarely born at the very start of a yogini, so the first period is shortened. The share still to run is the share of the nakshatra the Moon had not yet crossed. Each nakshatra spans 13°20′ of the zodiac; Dhanishta runs from Capricorn 23°20′ to Aquarius 6°40′, and the example Moon had covered 9°58′ of it, about 74.8 per cent, leaving about 25.2 per cent.

A quarter of Pingala's two years is a little over six months, so the Sun's period, which began in June 1960 counted backwards, closes on 15 June 1962. From there every period runs its full length: Dhanya to June 1965, Bhramari to 1969, Bhadrika to 1974, Ulka to 1980, Siddha to 1987, Sankata to 1995 and Mangala to June 1996, when Pingala opens the second round. The calculator uses a sidereal year of 365.2564 days for every span.

Sub-periods inside each yogini

Each yogini divides into eight antardashas that follow the same order, starting with the yogini itself. The length of a sub-period is the major period's years multiplied by the sub-period's years and divided by 36. Inside Sankata's eight years, for instance, Sankata's own sub-period lasts 8 × 8 ÷ 36, about 1 year 9 months, while Mangala's lasts 8 × 1 ÷ 36, a little under three months.

Within a sub-period the same proportion can be applied again to give finer divisions, though the calculator stops at two levels: the major periods for the whole life, and the sub-periods of whichever yogini is running today.

How this calculator computes the periods

The Moon's sidereal position comes from the same birth-chart calculation the full workspace uses. The yogini, the balance and every date are then worked out on this page by the rule above, from that position alone. For a Moon in the first six nakshatras, Ashwini to Ardra, the full workspace's Yogini tab can currently start from a different yogini, so its dates may not match this page for those charts.

Yogini dasha is used here as a timing reference to set beside the other systems, not as a forecast. The page reports which period is running and when it changes; reading what a period means is left to the whole chart and to the reader's own tradition.

The 1961 example, period by period

Laid end to end, the example's first round runs from the mostly elapsed Pingala at birth to Mangala's single year in 1995–1996, about 34 and a half years in all, because only a quarter of the opening period was left. The second round then runs its full 36 years, from June 1996 to June 2032; within it, Sankata, Rahu's eight years, runs from June 2023 to June 2031.

Comparing this with the same chart's Vimshottari periods shows how differently the two systems slice one life: Vimshottari gives this native a single eighteen-year Rahu period from 1963 to 1981, while Yogini returns to Rahu every 36 years for eight years at a time.

How is Yogini dasha calculated?

Take the number of the Moon's birth nakshatra (Ashwini 1 to Revati 27), add three and divide by eight. The remainder names the starting yogini, from Mangala as 1 to Sankata as 8 (a remainder of 0 means Sankata). The unelapsed share of that nakshatra, times the yogini's years, is the balance at birth; the other yoginis then follow in order with their full spans.

What are the eight yoginis and their periods?

Mangala, the Moon, 1 year; Pingala, the Sun, 2; Dhanya, Jupiter, 3; Bhramari, Mars, 4; Bhadrika, Mercury, 5; Ulka, Saturn, 6; Siddha, Venus, 7; and Sankata, Rahu, 8. Together they make a 36-year round.

Why is the Yogini dasha cycle only 36 years?

Because the eight spans are the whole numbers one to eight, and 1 + 2 + … + 8 = 36. A life of a hundred years therefore passes through the round nearly three times, unlike Vimshottari's single 120-year sequence.

How long is each antardasha in Yogini dasha?

Major-period years × sub-period years ÷ 36. The sub-periods start with the major period's own yogini and follow the usual order, so inside Ulka's six years Ulka comes first (1 year), then Siddha (about 1 year 2 months), Sankata (1 year 4 months), Mangala (2 months) and so on.

Is Yogini dasha used instead of Vimshottari?

Usually beside it. Many readers keep Vimshottari as the main timing system and look at Yogini as a second reference; some texts recommend Yogini for particular charts. This page simply computes the periods and does not choose between systems.

Why might another Yogini dasha calculator give different dates?

Three things move the dates: the ayanamsa (this page defaults to Lahiri), the year length used for the spans (here a sidereal year of 365.2564 days; a 360-day year moves later periods by about five days for every year of life, while a 365.25-day year changes them by less than a day), and the birth time, since the Moon moves about half a degree an hour and the balance follows the Moon's degree.