Venus (Shukra) Mahadasha
20 years
16.7% of the 120-year cycle, divided into nine antardashas. Every length here is 20 × B / 120 — arithmetic, not opinion.
Venus Mahadasha in the cycle
20 of 120 yearsVenus Mahadasha runs for 20 years, which is 16.7% of the 120-year cycle. It follows Ketu Mahadasha (7 years) and is followed by Sun Mahadasha (6 years). Because the cycle is 120 years long and a life is not, most people meet it once or not at all — when it arrives depends entirely on where in the sequence you were born.
You are born into it if the Moon was in Bharani, Purva Phalguni, Purva Ashadha — the three nakshatras Venus rules.
The nine antardashas
20 years, dividedEvery mahadasha is divided into nine sub-periods in the same order, starting with its own lord. An antardasha of B inside Venus runs for 20 × B / 120 years — so the longest here is Venus–Venus and the shortest is Venus–Sun. The nine add to 7,305 days, which is the mahadasha’s own rounded length — they divide it with nothing left over and nothing borrowed.
| Antardasha | Length | In days |
|---|---|---|
| Venus–Venus | 3y 4m 0d | 1,217 days |
| Venus–Sun | 1y 0m 0d | 365 days |
| Venus–Moon | 1y 8m 0d | 609 days |
| Venus–Mars | 1y 2m 0d | 426 days |
| Venus–Rahu | 3y 0m 0d | 1,096 days |
| Venus–Jupiter | 2y 8m 0d | 974 days |
| Venus–Saturn | 3y 2m 0d | 1,157 days |
| Venus–Mercury | 2y 10m 0d | 1,035 days |
| Venus–Ketu | 1y 2m 0d | 426 days |
A DASHA YEAR HERE IS 365.25 DAYS, which is what the chart engine uses. It is the common modern convention and it is not the only one — software set to a 360-day savana year makes this mahadasha 7,200 days instead of 7,305, a difference of 105. So these figures match a panchang using the same year length, and will differ from one that does not. The ratio between the nine sub-periods is the same either way.
What the tradition associates with it
attributed, not predictedClassical jyotisha associates Venus with partnership, comfort, art, and the things money buys. That is the tradition’s reading and it is offered as such: everything above this line is arithmetic, and this line is not. What a period does in a particular life depends on where Venus actually sits in that chart — which house it rules, which it occupies, and what aspects it. A page cannot know that; a chart can.
All nine mahadashas
120 years end to endCommon questions
3 questionsHow long is Venus Mahadasha?
20 years, which is 16.7% of the 120-year Vimshottari cycle. It is divided into nine antardashas, the longest being Venus–Venus.
When does Venus Mahadasha start?
It runs from birth if the Moon was in Bharani, Purva Phalguni, Purva Ashadha — the nakshatras Venus rules. Otherwise it arrives in sequence after Ketu Mahadasha, and whether it arrives in your lifetime depends on where in the cycle you were born.
What are the antardashas of Venus Mahadasha?
Nine, in the fixed order starting with Venus itself. Each runs for 20 x its own dasha years / 120 — for example Venus–Venus is 3y 4m 0d. The nine together come to exactly 20 years.
Which dasha you are running is a fact about your chart.
It follows from the Moon’s nakshatra at your birth. Cast the chart free and the whole 120-year timeline comes with it.