Ṣaḍbala
Ṣaḍbala combines position, direction, time, motion, natural strength and received aspects. Mạghā calculates Raman-based scores for the Sun through Saturn and compares each with its required minimum. Sixty virūpas make one rūpa; the lunar nodes are excluded.
Positional strength (Sthāna Bala) scores a planet's place five ways
Sthāna Bala combines exaltation strength (0–60), dignity in D1/D2/D3/D7/D9/D12/D30, odd/even sign strength (15 each in D1 and D9), angularity (60/30/15) and qualifying drekkāṇa (15). Moon/Venus favor even signs; others favor odd signs. Masculine, neuter and feminine planets favor the first, second and third drekkāṇas respectively.
Raman's dignity scale is 45/30/22.5/15/7.5/3.75/1.875; Parāśara's is 45/30/20/15/10/4/2. Mạghā grants 45 across the whole D1 mūlatrikoṇa sign, including Nila's Venus at 24° Libra, beyond Parāśara's 15° limit.
Each planet gains directional strength (Dig Bala) at its own angle
Parāśara gives every planet a direction of full strength: Jupiter and Mercury in the east, at the ascendant; the Sun and Mars in the south, at the midheaven; Saturn in the west, at the descendant; and the Moon and Venus in the north, at the nadir. Dig Bala is the planet's distance from the opposite point, divided by 3, so it runs from 0 to 60 virūpas.
Mạghā measures that distance in degrees from the chart's own ascendant and midheaven rather than from house cusps. Nila's Mercury, 10° past an ascendant at 0°46′ Libra, scores 56.52 virūpas, and her Mars, 12° past the midheaven, scores 55.97. Her Sun, risen only minutes before her birth, sits about 90° from both its weakest and its strongest points and scores 30.88.
Bars show Venus's Sthāna 207.82, Kāla 213.85, Dig 38.29, Cheṣṭā 52.21, Naisargika 42.86 and Dṛk minus 15.68 virūpas. They add up to 539.36 virūpas, 8.99 rūpas, which is 163.4% of Raman's 5.5-rūpa minimum for Venus.
The nine parts of Kāla Bala
Kāla Bala combines day/night strength, lunar phase, thirds of day/night, calendar lords, declination and planetary war. Mercury always receives 60 day/night virūpas; Sun/Jupiter/Venus favor day, Moon/Mars/Saturn night. Year, month, weekday and hour lords receive 15/30/45/60. War concerns Mars–Saturn within 1° of each other. Nila's Venus gains 135 from calendar lordships and totals 213.85; Jupiter's lower longitude wins their war, transferring 0.50 from Venus to Jupiter under Raman's rule.
Motional strength in retrogression
Cheṣṭā Bala measures a folded angular difference, divided by three, reaching about 60 during deep retrograde motion. Mạghā follows Raman’s historical mean-motion tables and treatment of the Sun and Moon.
Raman reads Cheṣṭā as retrogression. The method Parāśara gives subtracts the average of a planet's mean and true longitudes from its śīghrocca. For Mars, Jupiter and Saturn the śīghrocca is the mean Sun; Mercury and Venus have their own, and the mean Sun stands in for their mean. The arc, folded to at most 180°, is divided by 3, so the score nears 60 deep in a retrograde phase. Mạghā rebuilds the mean-motion tables Raman reproduced from Kedarnath Dutt's The Book of Fate rather than using modern mean elements.
The Sun and Moon never turn retrograde. Parāśara gives them Cheṣṭā equal to their Ayana and Pakṣa strengths; Raman gives them none and doubles those terms in Kāla Bala, so Mạghā shows 0 in their Cheṣṭā column. Nila's retrograde Mercury scores 59.36, and Jupiter, moving direct 27° from the Sun, 10.27.
Natural strength (Naisargika Bala) is the same in every chart
Naisargika Bala never changes. Parāśara divides one rūpa into sevenths and hands them out in a fixed order: seven to the Sun, six to the Moon, five to Venus, four to Jupiter, three to Mercury, two to Mars and one to Saturn. In virūpas that is 60, 51.43, 42.86, 34.29, 25.71, 17.14 and 8.57.
Raman ties the order to brightness, from the Sun, the brightest, to Saturn, the darkest, and cites Varāhamihira for it. Because these values are fixed, every difference between two charts comes from the other five strengths. Mạghā keeps the exact sevenths when it adds up a total, so rounding never shifts a result.
Aspect strength (Dṛk Bala) can add to a planet or take away
Dṛk Bala adds one quarter of benefic aspects and subtracts one quarter of malefic aspects. Scores range from zero below 30° to 60 at opposition, with special aspects for Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Mạghā follows Raman, omitting Parāśara's additional full Mercury/Jupiter aspects. The Moon is benefic between the bright and dark eighth tithis; Mercury becomes malefic sharing a sign with a malefic. Nila's Mercury shares Rāhu's sign; Mars alone has positive Dṛk Bala, 20.84 virūpas.
Each bar gives a planet's total in rūpas with a tick at its minimum: Sun 5.09 of 5, Moon 7.76 of 6, Mars 7.18 of 5, Mercury 8.43 of 7, Jupiter 6.70 of 6.5, Venus 8.99 of 5.5 and Saturn 6.27 of 5.
The Ṣaḍbala tab measures each total against Raman's minimum
The Ṣaḍbala tab lists six strengths in virūpas, totals in rūpas and percentage of minimum. It includes nine strength graphs and a Bhāva Bala switch, also available for Praśna and Muhūrta charts.
Raman’s minimums are 5 rūpas for Sun, Mars and Saturn; 5.5 Venus; 6 Moon; 6.5 Jupiter; 7 Mercury.
Note: these are Ṣaḍbala-style results following Raman’s 1992 rules. Parāśara asks 6.5 rūpas of the Sun, under which Nila’s Sun falls short. Iṣṭa and Kaṣṭa Phala are not calculated.
Questions astrologers ask about Ṣaḍbala
What is the minimum Ṣaḍbala for each planet?
Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra asks 390 virūpas of the Sun, 360 of the Moon, 300 of Mars, 420 of Mercury, 390 of Jupiter, 330 of Venus and 300 of Saturn: 6.5, 6, 5, 7, 6.5, 5.5 and 5 rūpas.
B. V. Raman gives the same figures except for the Sun, which he sets at 5 rūpas, and that is why published tables disagree about the Sun. Mạghā uses Raman's table.
What is a good Ṣaḍbala ratio?
The ratio is a planet's total divided by its minimum, and Mạghā shows it as “% of minimum”. At 100% the planet meets the requirement. Parāśara calls a planet that reaches its figure strong and one that exceeds it very strong; he gives no further bands. In Nila's chart the ratios run from 101.8% for the Sun to 163.4% for Venus.
Is Ṣaḍbala calculated for Rāhu and Ketu?
No. Parāśara sets minimums only for the seven planets from the Sun to Saturn, Raman scores the same seven, and so does Mạghā. The nodes still matter in one place: Mạghā counts Mercury as malefic when it shares a sign with Rāhu or Ketu, which changes Mercury's Pakṣa Bala and makes its aspects count against other planets.
Why do Ṣaḍbala figures differ between programs?
Programs follow different rulebooks. Raman and Parāśara differ on the Sun's minimum, the varga points, Mercury's and Jupiter's aspects and planetary war, and programs also differ in how they classify Mercury and the Moon and how they find declination. Birth time and ayanāṁśa move every position as well. Mạghā follows Raman's 1992 edition, so compare it with a program that does the same.
Open the Ṣaḍbala tab on your chart
See your seven planets' strengths in virūpas and rūpas, each measured against Raman's minimum. Ṣaḍbala is free for life, like every astrology feature in Mạghā.
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