The D1 and D9 charts

The chart you have studied so far, with each graha placed in one of the twelve signs, is only the first of many charts drawn from the same birth moment. Classical texts also divide each sign into smaller parts and build a separate chart from each kind of division. This lesson explains the idea and works through the most widely used of these charts, the Navamsha.

Vargas: the divisional charts

A varga, or divisional chart, splits each 30° sign into a set number of equal parts and assigns a sign to every part. Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra describes sixteen of them, the shodashavarga. They are named by the number of parts: D2 (hora), D3 (drekkana), D9 (navamsha), D10 (dashamsha), D12 (dvadashamsha) and so on up to D60 (shashtiamsha). Each is traditionally linked to particular areas of life.

The ordinary birth chart is the D1, the rashi chart: one part per sign, so each graha simply sits in the sign of its longitude. Every divisional chart is derived from the same longitudes, so no new observation is involved — only a different way of counting.

The Navamsha: nine parts of 3°20′

Navamsha means “ninth part”. Each sign is split into nine equal parts of 30° ÷ 9 = 3°20′. Across the zodiac that makes 12 × 9 = 108 navamshas. Since 27 nakshatras of four padas also make 108 parts of 3°20′, every navamsha matches one nakshatra pada exactly.

The nine parts of a sign do not all start from Aries. The counting starts from a sign fixed by the element of the sign being divided:

• Fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius): count from Aries.
• Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn): count from Capricorn.
• Air signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius): count from Libra.
• Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces): count from Cancer.

A worked example

Take a Moon at 15° Taurus. First find which ninth it is in: 15 ÷ 3.333 = 4.5, so it has passed four full parts and is in the 5th navamsha (6°40′ to 10°00′ is the 3rd, 10°00′ to 13°20′ the 4th, 13°20′ to 16°40′ the 5th). Taurus is an earth sign, so count from Capricorn: Capricorn 1, Aquarius 2, Pisces 3, Aries 4, Taurus 5. The Moon’s navamsha sign is Taurus.

A second example: Mars at 5° Gemini. 5 ÷ 3.333 = 1.5, so it is in the 2nd navamsha. Gemini is an air sign, so count from Libra: Libra 1, Scorpio 2. Mars falls in Scorpio in the D9, even though it is in Gemini in the D1.

വർഗ്ഗോത്തമം

In the first example the Moon is in Taurus in both the D1 and the D9. A graha that occupies the same sign in the rashi chart and the Navamsha is called vargottama, “best in the divisions”. The classical texts treat a vargottama graha as strengthened, able to express its sign more fully. With the counting rule above, it happens in the 1st navamsha of movable signs, the 5th of fixed signs and the 9th of dual signs.

The example above lists the D1 and D9 sign of each graha for your saved birth details, or for the sky right now, and marks any that are vargottama.

How the D9 is traditionally used

Astrologers traditionally read the Navamsha in two main ways. First, as a check on a graha’s strength: a planet well placed in the D1 but debilitated in the D9 is read as weaker than it first looks, and the reverse as stronger. Second, as the chart of marriage and partnership, where the 7th house of the D9 and its lord are examined alongside the 7th house of the D1. Many teachers say the D9 should always be read with the D1, never alone.

The D9 is very sensitive to the birth time. The planets move slowly enough that their navamshas are usually stable, but the ascendant crosses a navamsha boundary roughly every 13 minutes on average (about two hours per sign ÷ 9). An error of ten minutes can therefore change the D9 lagna and all its houses. Treat the Navamsha lagna with caution unless the birth time is well recorded.