Sahams
Sahams derive sensitive degrees by adding and subtracting chart positions. Mạghā's annual charts include 37 rows: 36 Sahams from Rao's modern textbook plus Roga alternate. Read each point with its formula, placement and sign lord.
By day Puṇya is the Moon minus the Sun plus the ascendant: Scorpio 8°13′ minus Virgo 26°40′ gives 41°33′, and adding the Sagittarius ascendant at 7°38′ gives Capricorn 19°11′. The ascendant lies outside the arc from the Sun to the Moon, so 30° is added, giving Aquarius 19°11′.
- Moon minus SunScorpio 8°13′25″ − Virgo 26°40′23″41°33′02″
- Add the Ascendant+ Sagittarius 7°37′57″Capricorn 19°10′59″
- Apply the arc ruleAscendant outside the Sun–Moon arc: add 30°Aquarius 19°10′59″
A Saham adds and subtracts three positions
Sahams use A − B + C. Daytime Puṇya is Moon − Sun + Lagna, reversing Sun/Moon at night. If C lies outside the forward B-to-A arc, add 30°, a disputed rule defended by Balabhadra but rejected by Viśvanātha. Nila's return gives 41°33′ + Sagittarius 7°38′ = Capricorn 19°11′; the correction yields Aquarius 19°11′. Unlike Nīlakaṇṭha's fixed Vivāha/Putra/Bandhu formulas, Rao and Mạghā reverse most formulas at night.
Fortune, standing and learning
Eight Sahams in Mạghā's list concern merit, standing and the mind. Puṇya, merit and fortune, comes first, and Nīlakaṇṭha tells the astrologer to judge it before any other, because a year in which Puṇya is well placed brings good. Five other Sahams are built on Puṇya itself, among them Yaśas (fame) and Māhātmya (eminence). Vidyā covers learning, Gaurava honour, Śāstra skill and counsel, Śraddhā faith and Āśā hope.
In Nila's chart, Puṇya falls in Aquarius, the 3rd house from her Sagittarius ascendant, away from the 6th, 8th and 12th houses that Nīlakaṇṭha warns against. Vidyā, learning, falls in Libra at 26°05′, the 11th house, and Śāstra in Aries at 2°52′, the 5th.
Family and relationships
Nine Sahams cover the people in a life. Pitṛ, the father's Saham, is Saturn minus the Sun plus the ascendant, and Nīlakaṇṭha gives Rājya, status, the same formula; Mātṛ, the mother's, is the Moon minus Venus plus the ascendant. Bhrātṛ (siblings) uses Jupiter and Saturn, Putra (children) Jupiter and the Moon, and Bandhu (kin) Mercury and the Moon. Mitra (friends), Vivāha (marriage), Paradāra and Prīti (affection) complete the group, with Vivāha built from Venus and Saturn.
In Nila's chart, Vivāha falls in Leo at 3°14′, the 9th house of her annual chart. Pitṛ lands in Taurus at 27°16′, the 6th, and Mātṛ in Aquarius at 3°57′, the 3rd.
Seven work, wealth and travel Sahams placed by sign from the Sagittarius ascendant: Lābha in Sagittarius 3°21′ (1st), Vaṇik in Capricorn 24°16′ (2nd), Kāryasiddhi in Aries 11°13′ (5th), Rājya in Taurus 27°16′ (6th), Karma in Virgo 1°02′ (10th), Paradeśa in Libra 18°36′ (11th) and Sāmarthya in Scorpio 25°01′ (12th).
| Saham | Position | House |
|---|---|---|
| Lābha | Sagittarius 3°21′ | 1 |
| Vaṇik | Capricorn 24°16′ | 2 |
| Kāryasiddhi | Aries 11°13′ | 5 |
| Rājya | Taurus 27°16′ | 6 |
| Karma | Virgo 1°02′ | 10 |
| Paradeśa | Libra 18°36′ | 11 |
| Sāmarthya | Scorpio 25°01′ | 12 |
Work, wealth and travel
Work, wealth and travel Sahams include Karma, Rājya, Sāmarthya, Vyāpāra, Vaṇik, Artha, Lābha, Kāryasiddhi, Paradeśa and Jalapatana. Artha/Paradeśa/Lābha use houses 2/9/11 and their lords; Lābha is absent from Nīlakaṇṭha's fifty. Jalapatana starts from Cancer 15° and traditionally concerns water travel, although Mạghā labels it Water danger and instability. In Nila's annual chart, Karma is Virgo 1°02′ in house 10 and Lābha Sagittarius 3°21′ in house 1.
Health and hardship
Ten Sahams cover health and hardship. Nīlakaṇṭha reverses the usual reading of Roga, Śatru, Kali and Mṛtyu: greater strength traditionally means worse results. Mạghā’s “Roga alternate” labels a formula that his text associates with falling into water.
Ten rows track health and hardship. Roga, illness, is the ascendant minus the Moon plus the ascendant, the same by day and night. Jīva covers vitality, Mṛtyu and Apamṛtyu danger, Santāpa distress, Jāḍya dullness, Kali conflict, Śatru enemies and Bandhana confinement. Nīlakaṇṭha reads Roga, Śatru, Kali and Mṛtyu in reverse: the stronger they are, the worse the result. One label differs from his text: Saturn minus the Moon plus the ascendant, which Mạghā lists as Roga alternate, is his Saham for falling into water.
In Nila's chart, Santāpa falls in Libra at 15°43′ and Jāḍya in Pisces at 20°15′.
Mạghā lists 37 Saham rows for every annual chart
Tajik → Reference lists 37 annual Sahams with themes, signs/degrees and longitudes. Search names/themes; Annual markers can overlay five points including Muntha. Day/night follows return-place sunrise/set. Māsa does not list Sahams.
Mạghā tests the extra 30° by signs rather than exact degrees, moving one Nila row a sign away. It also reverses Lābha at night and inverts Sāmarthya when Mars rules the ascendant, departures from Rao that leave this sample unchanged.
What people ask about Sahams
Can Vivāha Saham show when I will marry?
Nīlakaṇṭha times a Saham's result by its distance from its sign lord, scaled by the rising time of its sign, counted in days from the start of the year, and he promises success when Vivāha is in Itthaśāla with benefics. Mạghā shows where Vivāha falls in each year's chart, built from Venus and Saturn, but calculates no dates and no Itthaśāla with the Saham.
What is Puṇya Saham?
It is the Saham of merit and good fortune: the Moon minus the Sun plus the ascendant in a daytime chart, with the Sun and Moon swapped at night. It descends from the Lot of Fortune of Arabic astrology. Nīlakaṇṭha judges it before every other Saham, because a year in which Puṇya is well placed brings good, and he warns against it falling in the 6th, 8th or 12th house.
How many Sahams are there?
It depends on the book. Nīlakaṇṭha lists 50, Samarasiṃha's Karmaprakāśa 32 and Balabhadra's Hāyanaratna 75, so apps and articles differ too. Mạghā calculates the 36 in P. V. R. Narasimha Rao's modern textbook, plus a row labelled Roga alternate, 37 rows in all, for whichever year you choose.
How is Puṇya Saham different for day and night?
By day it is the Moon minus the Sun plus the ascendant; by night the Sun and Moon swap, so the point can move far across the chart. For an annual chart, day and night belong to the moment of the return, not the birth: Mạghā checks whether the return falls between sunrise and sunset at the return place. Nila's 2026 return, at 11:19, uses the day formula.
See your annual Sahams in Mạghā
Explore 37 annual Saham rows and filter by theme. The 2026 daytime-return demo retains the sign-based 30° adjustment affecting one row, as explained above.
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