What is the D60 chart?
The Shashtiamsa, or D60 chart, is the finest of the sixteen classical divisional charts. It divides every sign into sixty parts of half a degree each. Parashara gives it a very high weight among the divisional charts, and tradition reads it for past-life karma: the deeper causes behind the whole birth chart.
How the D60 is calculated
Take a planet's degree within its sign, divide it into half-degree parts, and count that many signs on from the sign itself: the first half degree of Aries is Aries, the next is Taurus, and so on round the zodiac. The calculator does this for every planet and for the lagna, from positions cast by the Swiss Ephemeris under the Lahiri ayanamsa.
Why the birth time matters so much
Because each part is only half a degree, the D60 lagna changes about every two minutes of birth time, and the Moon's D60 sign changes within about an hour. Use the D60 only with a birth time you trust to the minute, ideally one that has been rectified. With an approximate time, read the planets' D60 signs rather than the D60 houses.
How to read it
- Planets strong in the D60 (own sign or exalted) are read as carrying merit from the past.
- Planets weak in the D60 point to lessons the soul is still working on.
- Vargottama planets (same sign in D1 and D60) are read as especially consistent.
Go deeper with our chapter on divisional charts, or see how the D60 shapes a past-life reading.
Questions people ask
What is the D60 chart?
The D60 or Shashtiamsa chart divides each sign into sixty parts of half a degree. Parashara weights it very highly, and tradition reads it for past-life karma behind the birth chart.
How accurate does my birth time need to be for the D60?
Very accurate: the D60 lagna changes about every two minutes of birth time. Use it with a time you trust to the minute; otherwise read only the planets' D60 signs.
How is the D60 sign worked out?
The planet's degree within its sign is divided into half-degree parts, and the D60 sign is counted that many signs on from the sign itself.