A classical system that tells you not just where a planet is transiting — but how strongly it acts in your specific birth chart.
Ashtakavarga (अष्टकवर्ग) — "eight-source division" — is a classical Vedic system for measuring the transit strength of each planet in each of the twelve zodiac signs, personalised to your birth chart. The word ashtaka means "eight" and varga means "division" or "group": the system takes contributions from eight sources to produce a score.
The core insight is that a planetary transit is not equally strong in every sign. Saturn in the 11th house from your Moon (classically favourable) may produce a stronger or weaker result depending on how many bindus — points of transit strength — that house holds in your Saturn Ashtakavarga. Two people with the same natal Moon sign can have very different Saturn Ashtakavarga scores for that house, making their experience of the same transit meaningfully different.
For each planet, there are eight contributors: the planet itself, six other classical Vedic planets (Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn — Rahu and Ketu are excluded from the classical Ashtakavarga), and the Lagna (Ascendant).
Each contributor has a fixed set of signs it "favours" from its own natal position. For example, for the Sun's Ashtakavarga, the Sun itself contributes a bindu to certain signs counted from the Sun's natal position; the Moon contributes from certain signs counted from the Moon's natal position; and so on for each of the eight contributors.
The contributions are added up for each of the twelve signs. The result is a table: for Saturn's Ashtakavarga, each sign from Aries through Pisces has a score from 0 to 8 representing how many of the eight contributors favour that sign. A score of 5 or above in a sign means Saturn transits that sign with greater effectiveness; a score of 3 or below indicates a weaker transit.
Sarvashtakavarga (SAV) is the sum of all seven planets' Ashtakavarga tables for each sign. The maximum possible SAV score for any sign is 56 (7 planets × 8 bindus each). The average across all signs is approximately 28.
Signs with high SAV scores represent areas of the chart where multiple planets contribute strength simultaneously — generally associated with greater output, opportunity, or resilience when planets transit there. Signs with low SAV scores may indicate areas where sustained transit activity produces more friction or requirement for effort.
SAV is often used in Vedic astrology to assess longevity, strength of houses in the natal chart, and the general quality of different life periods as planets cycle through various SAV zones.
MeriKundali calculates the full Ashtakavarga for all seven classical planets from your birth chart at the time of signup. In the weekly forecast, each Watch Point includes an Ashtakavarga modifier: when a highlighted planet transits a sign where its bindu count is notably high (5+) or low (3 or below), the modifier adjusts the Watch Point's tone accordingly.
This means two subscribers with the same natal Moon sign may receive the same Watch Point for a Saturn transit — but one sees "Saturn's transit is reinforced: 6 bindus in this sign" while the other sees "Saturn's transit is dampened: 2 bindus in this sign." The underlying Gochara house is identical; the Ashtakavarga modifier personalises it further.
One practical application of Ashtakavarga is timing within a transit period. Saturn, for example, takes 2.5 years to traverse a single sign. During that period, it moves through individual degrees — and practitioners sometimes use transit through high-bindu zones of the sign as windows of relative ease, and low-bindu zones as periods requiring more care. This sub-sign timing technique, called Ashtakavarga transit mapping, is more granular than the house-level analysis and is beyond the scope of MeriKundali's current weekly digest.
In the classical Ashtakavarga system as described in Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (BPHS), Rahu and Ketu are not assigned their own Ashtakavarga tables and are excluded from contributing to other planets' tables. Some modern practitioners compute Ashtakavarga for Rahu and Ketu using the same methodology extended from the classical seven planets; MeriKundali follows the classical treatment and does not include Rahu/Ketu in Ashtakavarga calculations.
For Saturn's own Ashtakavarga (SAV for Saturn in any sign), scores of 5 or above are generally considered strong, indicating Saturn's transit through that sign will have more pronounced and effective results (whether favourable or difficult depends on which house it occupies from the Moon). Scores of 4 are average. Scores of 3 or below indicate a weakened transit with muted results in either direction.
Ashtakavarga calculations require the Lagna (Ascendant), which is highly time-sensitive — it changes sign approximately every two hours. Without an accurate birth time, the Lagna-based contributions to Ashtakavarga will be incorrect, reducing the system's reliability. The remaining seven planets' contributions can still be calculated from birth date alone, but the full table requires a birth time.
Ashtakavarga is primarily used as a transit strength modifier rather than an event predictor. It tells you whether a planet's current transit is operating from a position of strength or weakness in your chart — which refines the Gochara interpretation. Event prediction in Vedic astrology also incorporates Dasha timing, natal chart strength, and multiple yogas (planetary combinations), of which Ashtakavarga is one component.
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MeriKundali computes your full Ashtakavarga from your birth chart and applies it as a modifier on every weekly Watch Point — so you know not just which planets are active, but how strongly they're acting in your specific chart.
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