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Shadbala Calculator

Calculate how strong each planet in your chart is, measured in rupas against Parashara’s required minimum.

Calculated on your device. Your birth date and time are never sent to us.

What is Shadbala?

Shadbala, “six-fold strength”, is Parashara's method of measuring how able each planet is to deliver its results. It adds six kinds of strength: position (sthana bala), direction (dig bala), time (kala bala), motion (cheshta bala), natural strength (naisargika bala) and the aspects it receives (drik bala).

The total is given in rupas, where one rupa is 60 virupas. A strong planet gives its results clearly, for better or worse; a weak one struggles to give them at all.

The required minimum

Parashara sets a minimum each planet needs to be called strong: Sun 6.5 rupas, Moon 6, Mars 5, Mercury 7, Jupiter 6.5, Venus 5.5 and Saturn 5. The result shows each planet's total against its own minimum, which is fairer than comparing raw totals: Mercury needs more than Saturn to count as strong. Rahu and Ketu have no Shadbala.

How this calculator works

Planetary positions come from the Swiss Ephemeris, the reference used by professional astrology software, converted to the sidereal zodiac with the Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa, the standard in India and Nepal.

Your birth time is converted using the timezone history of your birthplace, including old offsets such as Nepal's +05:30 before 1986 and wartime clock changes. Getting that wrong shifts every position, and generic calculators often do. The chart is calculated in your browser: your birth date and time are never sent to us, and the place search sends only the town name you type.

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Frequently asked questions

What is a good Shadbala score?
Anything above the planet’s own required minimum: for example 5 rupas for Saturn but 7 for Mercury. The ratio of total to minimum is the fairest comparison between planets.
What does it mean if a planet is weak in Shadbala?
That it has less power to deliver its results on its own, so its periods and the houses it rules tend to need more effort. It does not make the planet harmful.