Shani mahadasha is about
hard work, duty and delay
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Shani · Rahu
Shani Mahadasha, Rahu Antardasha
Rahu antardasha in Shani mahadasha runs 2 years 10 months 6 days. It is the eighth of the nine and begins 13 years 7 months 12 days after the mahadasha starts.
How long it runs
Shani’s 19 years × Rahu’s 18 years ÷ 120
2 years 10 months 6 days · 1,041 days
Mangal antardasha comes before it, and Guru antardasha after it.
How the two grahas get on
Shani counts Rahu neither friend nor enemy (neutral), and Rahu counts Shani a friend. That natural relationship is where reading a Shani–Rahu period starts; where Shani and Rahu sit in your kundli decides what it brings. Texts differ on the friendships of Rahu and Ketu; this is the table the kundli here uses.
Rahu antardasha adds
ambition, the unfamiliar and sudden turns
What it touches in life
Shani–Rahu area by area, in plain words, from Parashara’s verses set out below
| Area | What the verses give |
|---|---|
| Work and standing | When it goes well: you enjoy good relations with those in power; when it is hard: you face danger from the government. |
| Money and property | When it goes well: you gain wealth, better harvests, more livestock, vehicles, prosperity and fine clothes; when it is hard: you spend needlessly and lose house and farmland. |
| Family | When it goes well: your family thrives and friends bring happiness; when it is hard: you clash with your sons and close relations. |
| Health | When it is hard: you suffer mental anguish, bodily distress, the danger of illness, and fear for your life. |
| Faith and journeys | When it goes well: you grow devoted to the deities and Brahmins, and go on pilgrimage; when it is hard: you are forced abroad. |
What Parashara says
Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, chapter 57, verses 63–70
Parashara reads Rahu’s antardasha in Shani’s mahadasha by where Rahu sits, counted from the lagna and from Shani, and by what it rules; your kundli shows which line is yours, and though the text speaks of a man, its results apply to anyone.
When it goes well
- When Rahu is joined by the lord of the lagna (ascendant) or by a yogakaraka (a graha that rules both a kendra and a trikona, and so gives strong results); or Rahu is exalted or in his own sign; or Rahu is in a kendra (the 1st, 4th, 7th or 10th house) or the 11th house, counted from the lagna (ascendant) or from Shani, the mahadasha lord (ruler of the main period), BPHS gives, at the start of the antardasha (sub-period), enjoyment, wealth, better harvests, devotion to the deities and Brahmins, pilgrimage, more livestock and well-being in the family. In its middle part it gives good relations with those in power and happiness from friends.BPHS 57.65–67
- When Rahu is in Mesh (Aries), Kanya (Virgo), Kark (Cancer), Vrishabh (Taurus), Meen (Pisces) or Dhanu (Sagittarius), BPHS gives vehicles, prosperity and glory, good relations with those in power, and fine clothes.BPHS 57.68–68½
When it is hard
- When Rahu is neither exalted nor in any other good position, BPHS warns of quarrels, mental anguish, bodily distress, friction with one's sons, the danger of illness, needless spending and discord with close relations. It also warns of danger from the government, journeys abroad, and loss of house and farmland.BPHS 57.63–64
Parashara’s remedy
For relief from these troubles, BPHS prescribes the Mrityunjaya japa (the Mahamrityunjaya mantra, recited for health and long life) and giving a goat in charity.
BPHS 57.69–70A caution: When Rahu is joined by the lord of the 2nd or 7th house, BPHS warns of distress to the body. The 2nd and 7th are the maraka houses, which the texts link with danger to life. BPHS 57.69–70
Shani–Rahu for your lagna
What Shani is for each lagna, as Parashara lists it; Rahu follows the lord of its rashi
The labels, from Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, chapter 34:
- Yogakaraka: the strongest graha a lagna can have: the one Parashara names as bringing yoga, or the one lord of both a kendra (1st, 4th, 7th, 10th) and a trikona (1st, 5th, 9th) (34.13)
- Benefic, Malefic, Neutral: works for the lagna; brings its harder matters; neither
- Lagna lord: the lagna’s own graha, where the verse calls it neither good nor hard
- Maraka: a killer Parashara names for the lagna, watched for health and longevity; printed alone, or after another label. It is not always the lord of the 2nd or 7th: where it differs, the line under it gives the verse
- · Yoga: one of two grahas he says give yoga together for this lagna
| Lagna | Shani is (lord of) |
|---|---|
| Mesh (Aries) | Malefic 10th and 11th |
| Vrishabh (Taurus) | Yogakaraka 9th and 10th |
| Mithun (Gemini) | Neutral 8th and 9th |
| Kark (Cancer) | Maraka 7th and 8th |
| Singh (Leo) | Malefic · Maraka 6th and 7th |
| Kanya (Virgo) | Neutral 5th and 6th |
| Tula (Libra) | Yogakaraka 4th and 5th |
| Vrishchik (Scorpio) | Malefic 3rd and 4th |
| Dhanu (Sagittarius) | Maraka 2nd and 3rd |
| Makar (Capricorn) | Neutral— the lagna lord; not a killer on his own, the verse says (34.39) 1st and 2nd |
| Kumbh (Aquarius) | Benefic— the lagna lord, and one the verse itself names auspicious for Kumbh (34.41) 1st and 12th |
| Meen (Pisces) | Malefic · Maraka— lord of the 11th and 12th, not the 2nd or 7th; the verse names it a killer all the same (34.43–44) 11th and 12th |
Rahu rules no house, so no lagna makes it good or bad by lordship: it gives the results of the house it sits in and of the lord of that rashi. Rahu in each house shows how.
Read on a real kundli
One kundli that meets Shani–Rahu at 45, read the way the report reads yours
From the Janam Kundli report
Shani mahadasha Mixed
Shani rules your 2nd house and 3rd house and sits in your 11th house: this period brings those matters forward — the money at hand, the family, and speech; effort, courage, younger siblings and short journeys. Mixed — a house of wealth or gain and strong in its sign; on the other side: short of Shadbala and debilitated in the navamsa.
Rahu antardasha Care
In this kundli it runs 3 April 2029 – 8 February 2032, from the age of 45 to 48. Its length here can differ from the one above by a day, because each kundli’s dates round to the day.
Rahu: sits in your 6th house. It brings illness, debt, disputes, and thankless work. Go carefully — a difficult house and at a hard angle from Shani.
Shadbala: the six-fold measure of a graha’s strength the report computes; “short of Shadbala” means below the strength the texts ask of it. Navamsa: the ninth-division chart, read for a graha’s inner strength. Debilitated: in its sign of fall, where a graha is weakest.
Its nine pratyantars
Shani–Rahu divides into nine pratyantars from Rahu’s own on. Each length is counted between the dates beside it, and comes out the same in any kundli give or take a day; the dates and readings are this one’s.
| Pratyantar | Length | In this kundli | The report reads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rahu | 5 months 3 days | 3 April 2029 – 6 September 2029 | Care |
| Guru | 4 months 17 days | 6 September 2029 – 23 January 2030 | Mixed |
| Shani | 5 months 13 days | 23 January 2030 – 6 July 2030 | Care |
| Budh | 4 months 25 days | 6 July 2030 – 1 December 2030 | Care |
| Ketu | 1 month 30 days | 1 December 2030 – 31 January 2031 | Mixed |
| Shukra | 5 months 23 days | 31 January 2031 – 23 July 2031 | Mixed |
| Surya | 1 month 21 days | 23 July 2031 – 13 September 2031 | Mixed |
| Chandra | 2 months 26 days | 13 September 2031 – 9 December 2031 | Care |
| Mangal | 1 month 30 days | 9 December 2031 – 8 February 2032 | Opens |
The dasha calculator finds your own Shani–Rahu dates free, and the Janam Kundli report reads your antardashas this way, with the pratyantars of the one you are in.
Upay in Shani–Rahu
Suggestions for Rahu’s months, which your kundli confirms
For this pair
Parashara gives Shani–Rahu a remedy of its own (BPHS 57.69–70), set out above under “Parashara’s remedy”; it comes first.
Rahu’s beej mantra and daan
ॐ भ्रां भ्रीं भ्रौं सः राहवे नमः
Daan: a coconut and black cloth, on Saturday
Every Rahu upay
What helps and what to keep clear of in any Rahu period: Rahu mahadasha. Its vrat, ratna, stotra and puja: Rahu upay.
Rahu antardasha in the other mahadashas
Common questions
How long is Shani mahadasha Rahu antardasha?
2 years 10 months 6 days (1,041 days): Shani’s 19 years × Rahu’s 18 years ÷ 120. It begins 13 years 7 months 12 days after a Shani mahadasha starts.
Is Shani mahadasha Rahu antardasha good or bad?
Not in advance: it turns on your lagna and on where Shani and Rahu sit in your kundli. Rahu has no lagna of its own to be good or bad for; it gives the results of the lord of the rashi it sits in. Shani is favourable for Vrishabh (Taurus), Tula (Libra), Kumbh (Aquarius) lagna. Shani is hard for Mesh (Aries), Kark (Cancer), Singh (Leo), Vrishchik (Scorpio), Dhanu (Sagittarius), Meen (Pisces) lagna. By nature the friendship is uneven: Shani sees Rahu as neutral, and Rahu sees Shani as a friend. On the Dhanu lagna kundli above, the Janam Kundli report reads it as “Care”, as its chip above says.
What are the pratyantars of Shani mahadasha Rahu antardasha?
Nine, in the order Rahu, Guru, Shani, Budh, Ketu, Shukra, Surya, Chandra, Mangal. Each is Shani–Rahu’s length × the pratyantar lord’s years ÷ 120, so the longest is Shukra’s, about 5 months 23 days, and the shortest Surya’s, about 1 month 21 days.
What upay helps in Rahu antardasha?
Parashara gives this antardasha a remedy of its own (BPHS 57.69–70), set out above under “Parashara’s remedy”. The Rahu beej mantra, Om Bhraam Bhreem Bhraum Sah Rahave Namah, and a daan of a coconut and black cloth on Saturday are the everyday upay for Shani–Rahu, where your kundli shows the need.
Which dasha you are running is a fact about your chart.
It follows from the Moon’s nakshatra at your birth. Enter your birth details and the whole 120-year timeline comes with it, each period read for your chart.
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