What is Ashtakavarga?

Ashtakavarga is a point-scoring system in Vedic astrology that reduces the complexity of a birth chart to a simple numerical map of the twelve signs. The name means "eightfold division", because the score for each planet is built from the contributions of eight reference points — the seven classical planets (Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn) plus the Lagna or Ascendant.

Each contributed point is called a bindu, usually translated as a benefic point or dot. Where a sign or house collects many bindus, the tradition regards that area of the chart as well supported; where bindus are few, results in that area are held to come with more friction. In Vedic the bindu tables are generated directly from the birth chart, so the same rules are applied consistently to every planet.

Bhinnashtakavarga: The Individual Planetary Tables

Bhinnashtakavarga — literally "separate" or "individual" Ashtakavarga — is the table computed for one planet at a time. Classical texts such as the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra and the Phaladeepika lay out, for each of the eight contributors, the set of houses counted from that contributor in which the planet under study receives a bindu.

For example, in the Sun's Bhinnashtakavarga the Sun contributes benefic points to certain houses counted from its own position, the Moon contributes to a different set counted from the Moon, and so on through all eight contributors. The result is a row of twelve numbers, one per sign, each between 0 and 8.

A key arithmetic check follows from the rules themselves: the eight contributors together give a fixed number of points, so every planet's Bhinnashtakavarga totals exactly 56 bindus across the twelve signs. If a table does not add to 56, the calculation is wrong. This makes Ashtakavarga unusually easy to verify compared with most chart techniques.

• Zero to two bindus — the sign is considered weak for that planet's significations.
• Three to four bindus — an average or mixed result is expected.
• Five to eight bindus — the sign is considered strong and supportive for that planet.

Sarvashtakavarga: The Combined Total

Sarvashtakavarga, often abbreviated SAV, is produced by adding the Bhinnashtakavarga tables of the seven planets sign by sign. Because each of the seven tables totals 56, the grand total across the twelve signs is always 7 × 56 = 337 bindus in the standard reckoning used by most classical commentators. The average per sign is therefore roughly 28.

Signs carrying noticeably more than the average are read as areas of ease and capacity; signs carrying noticeably less are read as areas that demand more effort. Traditional practice pays particular attention to the bindus in the houses that govern the question at hand — the tenth for career, the seventh for partnership, the second and eleventh for income.

Practitioners also compare the bindu count of a house with the bindu count of the sign occupied by its lord. A well-populated house whose lord also sits in a well-populated sign is read as a doubly supported area of life. The planetary positions page shows the underlying placements that feed these totals.

Using Ashtakavarga in Transit Judgement

The most common practical application of Ashtakavarga is refining Gochara, or transit analysis. A transit is not judged in isolation: the tradition asks how many bindus the transiting planet has in the sign it is passing through, in its own Bhinnashtakavarga.

1. Note the sign a planet is currently transiting.
2. Look up that sign in the planet's own Bhinnashtakavarga row.
3. A high bindu count suggests the transit expresses its supportive side; a low count suggests obstruction.
4. Cross-check the Sarvashtakavarga total for the same sign for the overall tone of that period.

This is why a Saturn transit that troubles one person may pass quietly for another — the same sign carries different bindu counts in different charts. Ashtakavarga in Vedic is therefore most useful when read together with the running Dasha periods, since the Dasha indicates which planet is active and the bindus indicate how well that planet is supported.

Some traditions extend the system further with Trikona Shodhana and Ekadhipatya Shodhana, two reduction procedures that refine the raw bindus before they are used for longevity and timing work. These reductions are optional refinements rather than part of the basic reading, and schools differ on when to apply them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Sarvashtakavarga always total 337?

Because the contribution rules are fixed. Each planet's Bhinnashtakavarga necessarily sums to 56 bindus across the twelve signs, and the Sarvashtakavarga adds the tables of the seven planets, giving 7 × 56 = 337. The total is the same in every chart; only its distribution among the signs changes.

How many bindus in a sign count as good?

For a single planet's Bhinnashtakavarga, five or more out of eight is traditionally read as strong and two or fewer as weak. For Sarvashtakavarga the average is about 28 per sign, so counts above 30 are treated as favourable and counts below 25 as needing care. These are interpretive conventions, not measurements.

Are Rahu and Ketu included in Ashtakavarga?

In the standard system the seven classical planets and the Ascendant are the eight contributors, and separate tables are prepared only for the seven planets. Some later schools add a Rahu Ashtakavarga, but it is not part of the classical 337-bindu scheme and is treated as an optional extension.

Can Ashtakavarga be used on its own?

The tradition treats it as a supporting tool rather than a complete method. Bindu counts indicate relative strength but say nothing about timing, which comes from the Dasha system, or about the specific themes of a placement, which come from house and sign analysis. A full reading from the Kundali section combines all three.