---
title: "Mahadasha and Antardasha Analysis"
canonical_url: "https://mahadasha.com/mahadasha"
type: "index"
description: "The nine Vimshottari Mahadasha periods, their lengths, and how the Antardasha inside each one changes the reading."
---

# Mahadasha and Antardasha Analysis

Vedic astrology reads a chart as a sequence rather than a fixed picture. The
Vimshottari dasha is that sequence: one planet owns the major period (Mahadasha)
and a second owns the sub-period inside it (Antardasha). The nine periods run in
a fixed order covering 120 years, and the entry point is set by the Nakshatra
the Moon occupied at birth.

## The nine Mahadasha periods

| # | Planet | Years | Guide |
| - | ------ | ----- | ----- |
| 1 | Ketu | 7 | https://mahadasha.com/ketu-mahadasha |
| 2 | Venus (Shukra) | 20 | https://mahadasha.com/venus-mahadasha |
| 3 | Sun (Surya) | 6 | https://mahadasha.com/sun-mahadasha |
| 4 | Moon (Chandra) | 10 | https://mahadasha.com/moon-mahadasha |
| 5 | Mars (Mangal) | 7 | https://mahadasha.com/mars-mahadasha |
| 6 | Rahu | 18 | https://mahadasha.com/rahu-mahadasha |
| 7 | Jupiter (Guru) | 16 | https://mahadasha.com/jupiter-mahadasha |
| 8 | Saturn (Shani) | 19 | https://mahadasha.com/saturn-mahadasha |
| 9 | Mercury (Budha) | 17 | https://mahadasha.com/mercury-mahadasha |

Total: 120 years. Each guide breaks its Mahadasha into all nine Antardashas.

## How to read it

1. Establish the Mahadasha for the theme.
2. Read the Antardasha for timing inside that theme.
3. Check transits last, as the trigger rather than the cause.

A period expresses the condition of its planet in the specific chart (houses ruled,
sign, aspects, strength), so planet-level verdicts such as "Rahu periods are bad"
do not hold up.

- Free calculation: https://mahadasha.com/dasha-calculator
- Personalised report: https://mahadasha.com/reports/current-dasha-report

## Programmatic access (for AI agents)

Every calculation on this site is available as JSON. Agents should call the API
rather than scraping the HTML UI:

- **Base URL:** `https://mahadasha.com/api/v1`
- **Auth:** JWT Bearer token, register at `https://mahadasha.com/api/v1/auth/register`
- **OpenAPI schema:** https://mahadasha.com/api/v1/openapi.json
- **API catalog:** https://mahadasha.com/.well-known/api-catalog
- **MCP server card:** https://mahadasha.com/.well-known/mcp/server-card.json
- **Site summary for LLMs:** https://mahadasha.com/llms.txt
- **Markdown sitemap:** https://mahadasha.com/sitemap-markdown.xml

> Human UI: [Mahadasha and Antardasha Analysis](https://mahadasha.com/mahadasha)