Navamsha (D9) and divisional charts: a second look at your kundli

What a divisional chart is

The main birth chart (the rashi chart, D1) shows where each planet is by sign and house. A divisional chart takes the exact degree of each planet inside its sign and uses it to place the planet again in a second chart. The number in the name is how many parts each sign is cut into: D9 is nine parts, D10 is ten, and so on. Tradition lists sixteen standard vargas, and most readers use only a few.

How the navamsha is found

Each navamsha is 3 degrees 20 minutes wide, the same size as a nakshatra pada, so there are 108 of them around the zodiac. Number them from 0 degrees of Aries, give them the signs in the order Aries, Taurus and so on, and repeat after twelve. That is the whole rule: the navamsha sign of a planet is the number of 3 degrees 20 minute steps from 0 degrees Aries, counted modulo twelve.

The same rule written another way is easier to remember: in a movable sign (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) the first navamsha is the sign itself, in a fixed sign (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) it is the sign nine places on, and in a dual sign (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) it is the sign five places on, and then the signs follow in order.

A worked example

Take a Moon at 8 degrees of Scorpio, which is 218 degrees from the start of Aries. Dividing 218 by 3 degrees 20 minutes gives 65.4, so the Moon is in the 66th navamsha, and 65 leaves a remainder of 5 when divided by twelve, which is the sixth sign, Virgo. By the second rule: Scorpio is a fixed sign, so its first navamsha is the ninth sign from it, Cancer, then Leo, then Virgo for the third navamsha, which runs from 6 degrees 40 minutes to 10 degrees. Both methods say the Moon is in Virgo in the navamsha, in the second pada of Anuradha.

Vargottama: the same sign in both charts

A planet is called vargottama when it is in the same sign in the main chart and in the navamsha. This happens in the first navamsha of a movable sign (the first 3 degrees 20 minutes), the fifth of a fixed sign (13 degrees 20 minutes to 16 degrees 40 minutes) and the ninth of a dual sign (the last 3 degrees 20 minutes). Tradition reads a vargottama planet as steady and strong, because its sign matches in two views. Like any dignity, this is a tendency and not a guarantee.

What the navamsha is used for

• Marriage and partnership: the navamsha is read for the nature of a partner and the spirit of a marriage, together with the seventh house in the main chart.
• Planetary strength: a planet that is weak in the main chart can be read as stronger if it is well placed in the navamsha, and the other way round.
• Dharma and inner direction: the word means one ninth, and some teachers read it as the fruit of the main chart.
• Dasha reading: many readers check the dasha lord's navamsha before describing the period.

Other divisional charts at a glance

The finer the division, the more the chart depends on an exact birth time. A D60 part is only half a degree wide, which the rising sign crosses in about two minutes, so a D60 reading from a time known only to the hour is guesswork.

Limits worth knowing

Divisional charts are a layer of interpretation and not additional facts about a person. They multiply the number of things a reader can point to, which is why a long list of positive and negative indications can be assembled for almost any chart. Use them as a second view for reflection, keep the main chart as the base, and be careful with any reading that leans on a high-order varga when your birth time is approximate.

Frequently asked questions