Are Vimshotri and Vimsottari dasha the same as Vimshottari?

Yes. Vimshotri, Vimsottari, Vimshottary and Vimshottari are different Roman spellings of the same Sanskrit word, विंशोत्तरी. All of them name the same 120-year, nine-planet Dasha system, so a calculator or article using any of these spellings is describing the same timing method.

How many years is each planet in Vimshottari Dasha?

Ketu 7, Venus 20, Sun 6, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19 and Mercury 17 years. These fixed lengths add up to exactly 120 and are the same for every person; what differs is only which planet a person starts with and how much of that first period was left at birth.

Why does Vimshottari Dasha total exactly 120 years?

The nine fixed Mahadasha durations (7+20+6+10+7+18+16+19+17) are defined by the classical system to sum to 120, and the name Vimshottari reflects that total. If a lifespan runs past 120 years, the cycle simply begins again from the first planet in the sequence.

How is my starting Dasha determined?

It is set by the Nakshatra your natal Moon occupied, since each Nakshatra maps to one of the nine planets, and refined by the Moon's exact degree within that Nakshatra, which tells the system how much of that first Mahadasha had already elapsed by your birth date. A birth-time error can therefore shift every later date.

Timing & dasha

Vimshottari Dasha

Vimshottari Dasha is the 120-year planetary period system that Vedic astrology uses to time the events of a life. Described in the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, it runs nine Mahadashas, one per graha, whose lengths are fixed and whose starting point is set by the Nakshatra the Moon occupied at birth. It is the default Dasha system in modern practice.

Vimshottari is also spelled Vimshotri, Vimsottari or Vimshottary, and is written विंशोत्तरी दशा in Devanagari; "Vimshottari Dasa" is the same system. It is not a transit (Gochara), and it is only one of several Dasha systems alongside Yogini, Ashtottari and Kalachakra.

See where this sits in your own chart

A glossary defines the term for everyone. Your chart shows whether it applies to you, and how strongly — in your Nakshatra, your Lagna and the Dasha running right now.

ExampleWhat a personal daily reading looks like

Written against

Your Moon sign
Your Nakshatra
Your current Dasha

Today the transiting Moon crosses your natal Moon — the one day this month your own Nakshatra is lit up directly.

Your current Mahadasha lord sits in the house this transit touches, which is why small decisions today carry further than usual.

A generic rashi horoscope cannot see any of this: it only knows the sign, not the degree, the Pada, or the period you are running.

Read my own chart — free

No card, no signup for the first reading.

Want this every morning, written for your chart? See Kundli Saathi Plus

What is Vimshottari Dasha?

Vimshottari Dasha ("the 120-fold period") is the default planetary timing system used in modern Vedic astrology, described in the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra. It divides a life into a repeating cycle of nine Mahadashas — major periods, one ruled by each graha — whose lengths are fixed by the classical system and always add up to exactly 120 years. It is one system among several in the wider idea of Dasha, and the one almost every Vedic astrology app and practitioner reaches for first.

How many years does each planet rule in Vimshottari Dasha?

The years are fixed and never change from person to person: Ketu rules 7, Venus 20, the Sun 6, the Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19 and Mercury 17. They add up as 7 + 20 + 6 + 10 + 7 + 18 + 16 + 19 + 17 = 120, which is where the name comes from. The periods follow one another in that order, wrapping back to Ketu after Mercury. The only thing that varies between people is which planet the sequence starts on and how much of that first period had already passed at birth. Mahadasha order and years covers each period in turn.

How is your starting Dasha calculated?

Each of the 27 Nakshatras belongs to one of the nine planets, in the same order as the Mahadasha sequence, cycling three times across the 27. The Nakshatra the natal Moon occupied gives the first Mahadasha lord. The balance left at birth is that lord's full years multiplied by the fraction of the Nakshatra the Moon had not yet crossed. For example, a Moon at 20° Aries is 6°40′ into Bharani, exactly halfway through its 13°20′, so Venus (20 years) has 10 years left at birth. The Dasha calculator does this for your own birth details, and the Nakshatra page explains the lord sequence.

Why 120 years, and why is this the default system?

The name Vimshottari itself reflects the total: a system "of 120." Because the nine fixed durations always sum to exactly that figure, the cycle can in principle repeat if a lifespan runs past it, though most practical use covers a single pass through the sequence. Vimshottari became the default in modern practice, over classical alternatives like Yogini or Kalachakra Dasha, largely because the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra treats it as the primary timing method and later commentaries and software followed that lead.

How do Antardasha and Pratyantardasha fit inside it?

Vimshottari Dasha is read at three nested levels by default. Each Mahadasha contains nine Antardashas — sub-periods using the same nine-planet order, scaled to the Mahadasha's length — and each Antardasha contains nine Pratyantardashas, scaled the same way one level deeper. This nesting lets one fixed sequence describe both broad multi-year themes and narrow month-level windows, and the same divide-by-120 rule works at every level.