Jaimini Upadesha Sutras — Chapter 8: Adhyaya 2 Pada 4 - Chara Dasha System & Computations
Sanskrit verses with English translation from Maharishi Jaimini. Read the full classical treatise on AstroFusion Learning.
Chapter audio (Sanskrit)
Verse 1 — Chara Dasha — The Sign-Based Timeline
चरं शीघ्रं च मन्दं च स्थिरं वक्रं च दिग्गतम्। राशिदशा प्रवर्तते भुक्तिफलप्रदा नृणाम्॥
caraṃ śīghraṃ ca mandaṃ ca sthiraṃ vakraṃ ca diggatam | rāśi-daśā pravartate bhukti-phala-pradā nṛṇām ||
The Rasi (Chara) Dasha moves through the movable, fixed, and dual signs — the quick, slow, and retrograde principles in their directional order. This sign-based timeline, beginning from the Atmakaraka's or Lagna's sign, with periods equal to the signs' extent, yields the fruits of each bhukti. It is Jaimini's signature timing tool.
Verse 2 — Odd-Footed Direct, Even-Footed Reverse
विषमपादानां प्राक्क्रमः समपादानां विपरीतः ॥
viṣamapādānāṃ prākkramaḥ samapādānāṃ viparītaḥ
Signs of odd feet — Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius — run their dasa in zodiacal (direct) order; signs of even feet — Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces — run reverse. The 'feet' of a sign thus decide whether time marches forward or turns backward for it.
Verse 3 — Counting Years to the Trine
त्रिकोणगणनया वर्षाणि मीयन्ते ॥
trikoṇagaṇanayā varṣāṇi mīyante
The duration of each sign's dasa equals the count of signs from itself to its trinal (ninth) position, counted according to the direction rule — minus one when the trine coincides. Thus Aries beginning forward counts to Sagittarius; the number reached becomes the years of the Aries period.
Verse 4 — Stronger of Lagna and Seventh Begins
लग्नसप्तमयोर्बलवान् आदौ दशां ददाति ॥
lagna-saptamayor balavān ādau daśāṃ dadāti
The sequence opens from whichever of the Lagna and seventh house is stronger. Strength follows the classical hierarchy — planets associated, aspects received, dignity of lord. From that victor's sign the first dasa flows, thereafter proceeding sign by sign per the foot-direction rule.
Verse 5 — Antardashas — Twelfth Divisions of the Period
दशाराशेः स्वयमारभ्य द्वादशभागाः अन्तर्दशाः ॥
daśārāśeḥ svayam ārabhya dvādaśabhāgāḥ antardaśāḥ
Within each rasi dasa, twelve antardasas arise beginning from the dasa sign itself, each equal to one-twelfth of the parent period, running per the direction rule. The first antardasa always belongs to the major sign — the seed contains its own first fruit.
Verse 6 — Results from Occupants of the Dasa Sign
दशाराशिस्थकारकैः फलं वक्तव्यम् ॥
daśārāśistha-kārakaiḥ phalaṃ vaktavyam
Judge the dasa chiefly through the karakas occupying its sign: AK brings soul-events and authority matters, AmK career moves, DK marriage developments, GK obstacles and health tests, PK children and creativity. The dasa stage is set by the sign; the actors are its karakas.
Verse 7 — Arudha Signs in Dasha Bring Recognition
आरूढपददशायां कीर्तिः प्रसिद्धिश्च ॥
ārūḍhapada-daśāyāṃ kīrtiḥ prasiddhiś ca
When the dasa of Arudha Lagna or other prominent padas arrives, reputation events dominate — fame, promotion, public visibility or infamy according to pada condition. Material-world results concentrate in arudha periods because arudhas are the world's own measuring stations.
Verse 8 — Eighth from Dasa Sign — Hidden Obstruction
दशाराशेऽष्टमस्थं विघ्नबीजम् ॥
daśārāśe 'ṣṭamasthaṃ vighna-bījam
The eighth from the operating dasa sign carries the hidden obstruction of the period. Malefics there sabotage plans invisibly — delays, betrayals, health dips — even when the dasa sign itself shines. Wise counsel examines this eighth before promising outcomes.
Verse 9 — Karakamsa Dasa — Spiritual Focus
कारकांशदशायामात्मज्ञानमुपदिश्यते ॥
kārakāṃśa-daśāyām ātmajñānam upadiśyate
The dasa of the Karakamsa sign awakens soul-knowledge: teachers arrive, scriptures open, meditation deepens. Whatever planets grace Karakamsa dictate which door — devotion, knowledge, karma-yoga — swings widest in this period of inner curriculum.
Verse 10 — Benefic and Malefic Signs Colour Their Periods
Signs owned by benefics and occupied by them deliver their natural gifts — growth, harmony, wealth; signs under malefic sway bring their nature — friction, labour, endings — softened or sharpened by occupants. The dasa sign's own temperament is the base tone beneath all karaka melodies.
Verse 11 — Synthesis with Planetary Transits
दशाफलं गोचरेण सह मेलयित्वा वदेत् ॥
daśāphalaṃ gocareṇa saha melayitvā vadet
Declare results only after blending dasa promise with current transits of slow grahas — Saturn, Rahu-Ketu, Jupiter. A benefic dasa under hostile transit delivers late and thin; an adverse dasa under Jupiter's transit survives on borrowed grace. Prediction is the product of both clocks ticking together.