---
title: "Vimshottari Dasha: The 120-Year System, Order & Planet Periods"
url: https://adityaarsharma.com/vimshottari-dasha/
date: 2026-07-24
modified: 2026-07-24
author: ""
description: "The Vimśottarī daśā explained — the nine planetary periods, their exact lengths, the fixed order, and how the 120-year cycle is anchored to your Moon’s nakṣatra at birth."
categories:
  - "Jyotisha"
word_count: 323
---

# Vimshottari Dasha: The 120-Year System, Order & Planet Periods

Jyotiṣa · Timing System

Vimśottarī is the master timing system of Parāśara’s Jyotiṣa — a 120-year cycle of nine planetary periods, run in a fixed order, anchored to the exact nakṣatra your Moon occupied at birth.

Karma JyotiṣaReference≈ 5 min

Every graha rules a fixed number of years, and the sum is exactly 120 — a full symbolic lifetime. Which period you are born into, and where in it, is set by your Moon’s nakṣatra. From there the sequence never changes.

## 01The nine periods, in order
Vimśottarī mahādaśā lengths
| Graha | Period | Signifies |
| ----- | ------ | --------- |
| Ketuketu | 7 years | Detachment, endings and the inward pull. |
| Śukravenus | 20 years | Relationships, comfort and the arts. |
| Sūryasun | 6 years | Authority, the ego and the father-principle. |
| Candramoon | 10 years | The emotional mind, mother and inner tides. |
| Maṅgalamars | 7 years | Drive, courage and open conflict. |
| Rāhurahu | 18 years | Ambition and the unorthodox. |
| Gurujupiter | 16 years | Wisdom, dharma and expansion. |
| Śanisaturn | 19 years | Discipline, delay and endurance. |
| Budhamercury | 17 years | Intellect, speech and commerce. |
| Total cycle | 120 years | Ketu → Venus → … → Mercury, then repeats. |
Order: Ketu · Venus · Sun · Moon · Mars · Rāhu · Jupiter · Saturn · Mercury. Each mahādaśā subdivides into nine antardaśās in the same order.

## 02How your starting point is fixed
At birth, your Moon sits in one of the 27 nakṣatras, each ruled by a graha. That ruler’s daśā is the one you are born into — and how far the Moon has travelled through the nakṣatra decides how much of it remains. Everything after runs in the fixed order.

This is why *timing* in Jyotiṣa is computational, not intuitive: given an exact birth moment, the entire 120-year map is determined.

See your exact Vimśottarī Mahādaśā

Give your birth date, time and place, and Karma Jyotiṣa computes your real Vimśottarī timeline — every antardaśā start and end date, keyed to your Moon's nakṣatra.

[Get my free reading →](https://adityaarsharma.com/astrology)x

## 03Common questions
Why 120 years?It is the sum of the nine planetary allotments (7+20+6+10+7+18+16+19+17) — a symbolic full lifespan in the Parāśara system.

Which daśā am I running now?That depends on your birth Moon’s nakṣatra and the time elapsed since. Karma Jyotiṣa computes your current mahādaśā and antardaśā with exact dates, free.