Shani mahadasha is about
hard work, duty and delay
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Shani
Shani Mahadasha, Shani Antardasha
Shani antardasha in Shani mahadasha runs 3 years 3 days. It is the first of the nine: every Shani mahadasha opens with it.
How long it runs
Shani’s 19 years × Shani’s 19 years again ÷ 120
3 years 3 days · 1,099 days
Budh antardasha follows it.
What Shani brings to its own antardasha
Every mahadasha opens with its own lord’s antardasha. For these months Shani rules both levels alone, so its matters show at their plainest.
What it touches in life
Shani–Shani 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 rise to authority and gain a command position through the favour of those in power; when it is hard: you fear the authorities, especially early in the period. |
| Money and property | When it goes well: you gain vehicles, clothes, livestock, land and property. |
| Family | When it goes well: you find happiness through spouse and children. |
| Health | When it is hard: a weapon may injure you, your gums bleed, you suffer dysentery, then face thieves and mental anguish, though the final part turns good. |
| Faith and journeys | When it is hard: you may have to leave your homeland for a time. |
What Parashara says
Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, chapter 57, verses 1–7
Parashara reads Shani’s own antardasha by where Shani sits from the lagna 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 Shani (Saturn) is in his own sign, exalted or at his point of deepest exaltation; or Shani is in a kendra (the 1st, 4th, 7th or 10th house) or a trikona (the 1st, 5th or 9th house); or Shani is a yogakaraka (a graha that rules both a kendra and a trikona, and so gives strong results), BPHS gives a rise to authority, happiness from spouse and children, vehicles and clothes, and a position of command through the favour of those in power. It also gives livestock, property and land.BPHS 57.1–3
When it is hard
- When Shani (Saturn) is in the 8th or 12th house, or is debilitated and joined by malefics (the naturally harsh grahas), BPHS warns, at the start of the period, of fear of the authorities, injury from a weapon, bleeding gums and dysentery. In the middle part it warns of danger from thieves, leaving one's homeland and mental anguish. It says the last part gives good results.BPHS 57.4–5½
Parashara’s remedy
BPHS says Lord Shiva gives protection and relief when the Mrityunjaya japa (the Mahamrityunjaya mantra, recited for health and long life) is performed in the prescribed way.
BPHS 57.6–7A caution: When Shani rules the 2nd or 7th house, BPHS counts this sub-period maraka (a time the texts link with danger to life) and warns of the danger of untimely death. BPHS 57.6–7
Shani’s own antardasha for your lagna
What Shani is for each lagna, as Parashara lists it
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, where the period asks for the most care. For Mithun (Gemini), Kanya (Virgo), Makar (Capricorn) lagna Shani is neutral, and where it sits decides the period.
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) | This antardasha |
|---|---|---|
| Mesh (Aries) | Malefic 10th and 11th | Hard |
| Vrishabh (Taurus) | Yogakaraka 9th and 10th | Favourable |
| Mithun (Gemini) | Neutral 8th and 9th | Placement decides |
| Kark (Cancer) | Maraka 7th and 8th | Hard |
| Singh (Leo) | Malefic · Maraka 6th and 7th | Hard |
| Kanya (Virgo) | Neutral 5th and 6th | Placement decides |
| Tula (Libra) | Yogakaraka 4th and 5th | Favourable |
| Vrishchik (Scorpio) | Malefic 3rd and 4th | Hard |
| Dhanu (Sagittarius) | Maraka 2nd and 3rd | Hard |
| Makar (Capricorn) | Neutral— the lagna lord; not a killer on his own, the verse says (34.39) 1st and 2nd | Placement decides |
| Kumbh (Aquarius) | Benefic— the lagna lord, and one the verse itself names auspicious for Kumbh (34.41) 1st and 12th | Favourable |
| 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 | Hard |
A favourable Shani gives its own antardasha readily, a hard one asks for care, and a neutral one leaves it to where Shani sits.
Read on a real kundli
One kundli that meets Shani–Shani at 31, 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.
Shani antardasha Mixed
In this kundli it runs 21 August 2015 – 24 August 2018, from the age of 31 to 34. Its length here can differ from the one above by a day, because each kundli’s dates round to the day.
Shani: rules your 2nd house and 3rd house, sits in your 11th house. It brings the money at hand, the family, and speech; effort, courage, younger siblings and short journeys. Read as Shani mahadasha above: its own sub-period.
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–Shani divides into nine pratyantars from Shani’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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shani | 5 months 21 days | 21 August 2015 – 11 February 2016 | Mixed |
| Budh | 5 months 5 days | 11 February 2016 – 16 July 2016 | Mixed |
| Ketu | 2 months 2 days | 16 July 2016 – 18 September 2016 | Mixed |
| Shukra | 6 months 2 days | 18 September 2016 – 20 March 2017 | Mixed |
| Surya | 1 month 24 days | 20 March 2017 – 14 May 2017 | Mixed |
| Chandra | 3 months | 14 May 2017 – 14 August 2017 | Mixed |
| Mangal | 2 months 3 days | 14 August 2017 – 17 October 2017 | Opens |
| Rahu | 5 months 14 days | 17 October 2017 – 31 March 2018 | Care |
| Guru | 4 months 24 days | 31 March 2018 – 24 August 2018 | Mixed |
The dasha calculator finds your own Shani–Shani dates free, and the Janam Kundli report reads your antardashas this way, with the pratyantars of the one you are in.
Upay in Shani–Shani
Suggestions for Shani’s months, which your kundli confirms
For this pair
Parashara gives Shani–Shani a remedy of its own (BPHS 57.6–7), set out above under “Parashara’s remedy”; it comes first.
Shani’s beej mantra and daan
ॐ प्रां प्रीं प्रौं सः शनैश्चराय नमः
Daan: black sesame and iron, on Saturday
Every Shani upay
What helps and what to keep clear of in any Shani period: Shani mahadasha. Its vrat, ratna, stotra and puja: Shani upay.
Shani antardasha in the other mahadashas
Common questions
How long is Shani mahadasha Shani antardasha?
3 years 3 days (1,099 days). It is the first antardasha of every Shani mahadasha.
Is Shani mahadasha Shani antardasha good or bad?
Not in advance: it turns on your lagna and on where Shani sits in your kundli. By Parashara’s lists it is strongest for Vrishabh (Taurus), Tula (Libra), Kumbh (Aquarius) lagna. It is hardest for Mesh (Aries), Kark (Cancer), Singh (Leo), Vrishchik (Scorpio), Dhanu (Sagittarius), Meen (Pisces) lagna. On the Dhanu lagna kundli above, the Janam Kundli report reads it as “Mixed”, as its chip above says.
What are the pratyantars of Shani mahadasha Shani antardasha?
Nine, in the order Shani, Budh, Ketu, Shukra, Surya, Chandra, Mangal, Rahu, Guru. Each is Shani–Shani’s length × the pratyantar lord’s years ÷ 120, so the longest is Shukra’s, about 6 months 2 days, and the shortest Surya’s, about 1 month 24 days.
What upay helps in Shani antardasha?
Parashara gives this antardasha a remedy of its own (BPHS 57.6–7), set out above under “Parashara’s remedy”. The Shani beej mantra, Om Praam Preem Praum Sah Shanaishcharaya Namah, and a daan of black sesame and iron on Saturday are the everyday upay for Shani–Shani, 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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