vimshottari mahadasha
Saturn Mahadasha (Shani): The Nine Antardashas
19 years · follows Jupiter · precedes Mercury
The Saturn mahadasha runs 19 years in the 120-year Vimshottari cycle. It comes after the Jupiter mahadasha and gives way to the Mercury mahadasha. A birth with the Moon in Pushya, Anuradha or Uttara Bhadrapada begins life inside it, part-way through, because those are the three nakshatras Saturn rules.
Its nine antardashas start with Saturn’s own and follow the cycle from there, so the last of them is Jupiter’s. Inside these 19 years the Venus sub-period is the longest, at 3 years 2 months, and the Sun sub-period the shortest, at 11 months 12 days.
| # | Antardasha | Classical | Solar days | Opens after | Closes at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saturn–Saturn | 3y 3d | 1099 | — | 3y 3d |
| 2 | Saturn–Mercury | 2y 8m 9d | 983 | 3y 3d | 5y 8m 12d |
| 3 | Saturn–Ketu | 1y 1m 9d | 405 | 5y 8m 12d | 6y 9m 21d |
| 4 | Saturn–Venus | 3y 2m | 1157 | 6y 9m 21d | 9y 11m 21d |
| 5 | Saturn–Sun | 11m 12d | 347 | 9y 11m 21d | 10y 11m 3d |
| 6 | Saturn–Moon | 1y 7m | 578 | 10y 11m 3d | 12y 6m 3d |
| 7 | Saturn–Mars | 1y 1m 9d | 405 | 12y 6m 3d | 13y 7m 12d |
| 8 | Saturn–Rahu | 2y 10m 6d | 1041 | 13y 7m 12d | 16y 5m 18d |
| 9 | Saturn–Jupiter | 2y 6m 12d | 925 | 16y 5m 18d | 19y |
The “opens after” and “closes at” columns are measured from the start of a full Saturn mahadasha on the classical year. A Saturn mahadasha that was already running at birth is entered part-way, so for that birth the early rows may be in the past; the dasha calculator places the rows on the calendar from the Moon’s longitude.
Reading the Saturn Mahadasha
This page is arithmetic. For how the Saturn mahadasha is interpreted, see our Saturn mahadasha article; for Saturn’s dignities, friendships and remedies, the Saturn (Shani) page; and for the system as a whole, Vimshottari dasha explained. This page in Hindi: शनि महादशा.
The Saturn Mahadasha by Ascendant
Which houses Saturn and each of its sub-period lords rule depends on the ascendant. The Saturn mahadasha read through each lagna’s lordships: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.