How common is Kaal Sarp Dosha?

In 20,000 randomly cast charts it appeared in 16.0%, about one chart in six, and was cancelled in 0%.

Is Kaal Sarp Dosha in the classical texts?

Its source is modern: named or defined by 20th-century authors rather than the classics. The rule as checked here comes from A modern pattern; not in the classical texts.

What weakens Kaal Sarp Dosha?

One planet lies outside the axis (the partial form); the ascendant lies outside the hemmed half, which B.V. Raman reportedly saw as nearly neutralising it; a strong Raja Yoga is present.

How do I know if I have Kaal Sarp Dosha?

Cast your free kundli on this site. The reading lists every yoga and dosha found in your chart, why it applies, and anything that weakens or cancels it.

Dosha · Modern source

Kaal Sarp Dosha

Every planet on one side of the Rahu–Ketu axis. A modern pattern the classics never mention.

Also written: Kaal Sarp Yoga, Kalsarp Dosh, Kala Sarpa Yoga, Kaal Amrita Yoga

Type: Dosha
Planets: Rahu, Ketu and the seven planets
Source tier: Modern
How common: 16.0% of charts
Source: A modern pattern; not in the classical texts

How it forms

All seven planets lie in the half of the zodiac that runs forward from Rahu to Ketu. The engine also reports the partial form, where six lie there and one has escaped, and marks it as partial.

Its type is named by the house Rahu occupies, from Anant in the 1st to Sheshnag in the 12th.

Kaal SarpModern
Six or seven planets between Rahu and Ketu, going forward from Rahu.
With every planet on one side of the nodal axis, life feels concentrated and intense. Goals are pursued single-mindedly, progress stalls and then surges, and trusted associates may test you. The mature expression is resilience, and with supportive yogas you can rise high.
In 16.0% of charts
Kaal AmritaModern
The mirror image: six or seven planets between Ketu and Rahu.
With the planets gathered on Ketu’s side of the nodal axis, life tends to turn inward: the rise it brings is more often in understanding than in worldly position.
In 17.3% of charts

What it means

Kaal Sarp. With every planet on one side of the nodal axis, life feels concentrated and intense. Goals are pursued single-mindedly, progress stalls and then surges, and trusted associates may test you. The mature expression is resilience, and with supportive yogas you can rise high.

Kaal Amrita. With the planets gathered on Ketu’s side of the nodal axis, life tends to turn inward: the rise it brings is more often in understanding than in worldly position.

What weakens it

Each of these makes the dosha weaker without removing it. The tag says how established the rule is.

One planet lies outside the axis (the partial form)Modern
The ascendant lies outside the hemmed half, which B.V. Raman reportedly saw as nearly neutralising itModern
A strong Raja Yoga is presentModern

How common is it?

We cast 20,000 charts with this site's engine, for random birth times and places between 1940 and 2010, and counted. Kaal Sarp Dosha appeared in 16.0% of them: about one chart in six. In 0% it was cancelled by another factor in the chart, and it stood at full strength in only 1.5%.

With all seven planets between Rahu and Ketu, the strict form, it appeared in 3.6%: about one chart in 30. Its mirror, Kaal Amrita with all seven, in 3.6%.

Where this rule comes from

Kaal Sarp is a modern pattern. It does not appear in BPHS, Brihat Jataka, Saravali, Phaladeepika or the other major classics. B.V. Raman considered it of little importance in individual charts, and K.N. Rao wrote a book against the fear built around it, noting that people with it have prospered, even in Rahu’s dasha. It is shown because it is widely asked about, not as a doom indicator.

Is it in your chart?

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