A sign dasa gives its periods to the twelve signs instead of the planets. Each system names a starting sign, such as the lagna, the stronger of the lagna and the 7th, or the 9th, a direction through the zodiac, and a rule for the years. In chara dasa a sign's years are the count from it to its lord; in sthira they are 7, 8 or 9 by the kind of sign. Narayana dasa, worked through Rath's chart studies, is a sign dasa of the same school. The Nava app does not compute this. This page explains the rule only.
☕ Periods that belong to signs
In a star dasa the periods belong to planets. In a sign dasa they belong to the twelve signs, and three choices make each system: the sign it starts from, the direction it runs, and the years each sign gets. Parashara's versions are in the card “Parashara's sign dasas and their years” below: chara (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 46, vv. 155–167, pp. 553–555), sthira (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 46, vv. 168–173, pp. 556–557), yogardha (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 46, v. 174, p. 560), kendradi (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 46, vv. 175–177, p. 561), trikona (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 46, vv. 183–184, p. 566), drig (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 46, vv. 185–187, p. 567) and lagnadi rasi (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 46, vv. 188–190, p. 569). Two more run through the signs: chakra, which picks its starting sign by the time of birth (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 46, vv. 50–51, p. 529), and sandhya, which gives 10 years to each sign from the lagna on (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 46, v. 204, p. 573).
Chara dasa sets the pattern. The zodiac is cut into four groups of three signs, in “Chara's four groups of signs” further down; a sign in the 1st or 3rd group counts forward to its lord, one in the 2nd or 4th backward, and the count gives its years. The book's worked example reads as counting the steps between, so that a lord in the next sign gives one year; the verse does not say so outright. The whole sequence runs forward from the lagna if the 9th house falls in an odd group and backward if it falls in an even one.
Two signs have two lords: Vrischika (Scorpio) has Mars and Ketu, Kumbha (Aquarius) has Saturn and Rahu. If both lords are in their own sign the sign gets 12 years; if one is, count to the other; if neither, count to the stronger, judged first by the number of planets with it, then by the kind of sign, dual above fixed above movable. An exalted planet in the sign counted to adds a year, and a debilitated one takes a year away. Sthira dasa starts from the sign of a planet the chapter calls the Brahma graha, chosen among the lords of the 6th, 8th and 12th by a verse the translation gives in two readings.
Narayana dasa is a sign dasa from the Jaimini school that Rath works through his chart studies; Parashara's chapter does not name it. Rath states how a Narayana period divides, in “Narayana in Rath's casebook” further down, but not the rule for its years, which he leaves to his translation of Jaimini. A few more sign systems in the chapter are used only for questions this site does not cover, and are left out. The Nava app does not compute this. This page explains the rule only.
Where each one starts and how long a sign runs
- Chara: from the lagna; each sign runs as many years as the count from it to its lord's sign, forward or backward as the 9th house sets
- Sthira: 7 years for a movable sign, 8 for a fixed, 9 for a dual; from the sign of the Brahma graha
- Yogardha: half the sum of a sign's chara and sthira years; from the stronger of the lagna and the 7th
- Kendradi: kendras first, then panapharas, then apoklimas, from the stronger of the lagna and the 7th; years as chara
- Trikona: from the strongest of the 1st, 5th and 9th, trine by trine; years as chara
- Drig: the 9th, 10th and 11th signs, each followed by the signs it aspects; years as sthira
- Lagnadi rasi: from the sign reached by moving the lagna on in step with the part of the birth star already run; years as sthira
- Chakra: from the lagna at night, the lagna lord's sign by day, the 2nd at twilight; 10 years each, forward
- Sandhya: 10 years for each sign from the lagna on
- Mix-up: sign dasas start from the birth star. They start from a sign: the lagna, the stronger of the lagna and the 7th, the 9th, or another the system names.
- Mix-up: every sign gets the same years. In chara the years depend on where the sign's lord stands; in sthira on whether the sign is movable, fixed or dual.
- Mix-up: chara dasa and the chara karakas are one thing. Both use the word chara, moving; one is a period system, the other a ranking of the planets by degree.
Frequently asked questions
Is chara or Narayana dasa in my Nava chart?
No. This page explains the books' rules only; no sign dasa is worked for any chart.
Are chara dasa and Narayana dasa the same?
They come from the same school and share the counting to a sign's lord, but the names are used differently by different authors. Parashara's chapter names chara and not Narayana; Rath uses Narayana and leaves its rule to his other work.
Why do so many sign dasas start from the stronger of two signs?
Because the start decides the whole sequence. Yogardha and kendradi start from the stronger of the lagna and the 7th, trikona from the strongest trine, and chara's two-lord signs count to the stronger lord; the chapter judges strength by occupants first, then by the kind of sign.
Deep dive: chara's groups, Narayana's parts, and what this builds on
The table “Chara's four groups of signs”, then “Narayana in Rath's casebook”, and the page this one builds on.
🔁 Chara's four groups of signs
| Signs | Group and direction of the count |
|---|---|
| Mesha (Aries), Vrishabha (Taurus), Mithuna (Gemini) | group 1, counted forward |
| Kataka (Cancer), Simha (Leo), Kanya (Virgo) | group 2, counted backward |
| Tula (Libra), Vrischika (Scorpio), Dhanu (Sagittarius) | group 3, counted forward |
| Makara (Capricorn), Kumbha (Aquarius), Meena (Pisces) | group 4, counted backward |
📖 Narayana in Rath's casebook
Rath divides a Narayana period into twelve equal sub-periods, beginning from the sign of the dasa sign's lord. He also reads a period in three parts, ruled in turn by the sign, its lord and the planets in it (Sanjay Rath, Crux of Vedic Astrology, pp. 157, 233). The tables of his worked charts give the ages at which each period begins.
🧭 What this builds on
Where the sign dasas sit among the thirty or so systems is on the dasa family. Kalachakra, which also runs through signs but from the quarter of a star, is on Kalachakra dasa.