What is Shadbala

What is Shadbala

Shadbala refers to the sixfold strength of a planet. It represents the sum of six types of strength possessed by the planets, which are used to measure their overall potency. The strength of a planet indicates its capability to yield results.

Through Shadbala, we can determine the strength or power of any planet. Shadbala isn’t a single force but rather a composite of six different factors, each representing the planet’s strength at different points. Points are assigned to the planet based on each factor, and the sum of these points is termed Shadbala. Since it encompasses six forces, it’s referred to as Shadbala.

These six forces are – Positional Strength(Sthana Bala), Directional Strength(Digbala), Temporal Strength(Kaal Bala), Motional Strength(Cheshta Bala), Natural Strength(Naisargik Bala) and Aspectual Strength(Drik Bala).

Measurement of Shadbala

Unit of measurement of planetary strength – The unit of measurement of planetary strength is Rupa.

1 Rupa= 60 Shashtiams

The six Forces of Shadbala are-

1)Sthan Bala/Positional Strength, 2)Digbala/Directional Strength, 3)Kaal Bal/Temporal Strength, 4)Chesta Bala/Motional Strength, 5)Naisargik Bala/ Natural Strength, 6) Drishti Bala/Aspectual Strength

1) Positional Strength(Sthan Bala)

Positional Strength is the first among the six forces. Points are given based on which house and zodiac sign a planet is placed in the Sthana Bala. Like whether a planet is in its exalted or debilitated sign, in its enemy or friendly sign, in its own sign or Moolatrikona sign.

Positional Strength is further divided into five parts-

• Uccha Bala(Exaltation Strength)
• Saptvargaja Bala
• Oja Yugma Bala
• Kendradhi Bala
• Dreshkan Bala

1)Ucch Bala-Exaltation strength

When a planet is situated in its exalted sign, it gets the maximum strength of 60 Shashtiansh, whereas when it is in its debilitated sign, it gets zero strength. If it is situated somewhere in the middle, it gets force in the same proportion.

For example, if the Sun is in Aries then it will get 60 Shashtiansh strength, and in Libra, it will be zero.

Aries(60)->Taurus(50)->Gemini(40)->Cancer(30)->Leo(20)->Virgo(10)->Libra(0)

2)Saptavargaja Bala-

Under Saptavargi Bal, Rashi (D-1), Hora (D-2), Dreshkand (D-3), Saptamansh (D-7), Navamsh (D-9), Dwadsamsh (D-12), Trishansh (D- 30) Points are given based on which zodiac sign the planet is in the horoscope.

Rashi	Strength(Shashtiams)
Mooltrikona Rashi	45
Own sign	30
Great Friend	22.5
Friend	15
Neutral sign	7.5
Inimical sign	3.75
Great enemy	1.875

3)Oja Yugma Bala

The force received by planets when they are situated in even or odd zodiac signs is called the Yugamyuga force. It is seen in both Rashi and Navamsa. According to this, a planet can get a maximum of 30 points.

Male planets get strength in odd zodiac signs and female planets get strength in even zodiac signs.

If the Sun, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn are in odd zodiac signs then they get 15 Shashtiansh strength. If Moon and Venus are in even zodiac signs then they get 15 Shashtiansh strength.

4) Kendra Bala-

A planet gets strength depending on where its Kendra, Panafar, or Apoklim is situated.

A planet in an angle gets full strength while one in a succedent house gets half and the one in
a cadent house gets a quarter (of Rupa) (as Kendradi bala).

Kendradi means angles etc. This denotes three groups of four Rasis each. These are angles, (i.e. lst, 4th, 7th and 10th), succedents, (i.e. 2nd, 5th, 8th and 11th) and cadents, (i e. 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th). The following are the Kendradi balas :
(1) Planet in angle(Kendra):60 Virupas
(2) Planet in succedent(Panfar):3O Virupas
(3) Planet in cadent(Apoklim):15 Virupas

5) Dreshkand Bala-

Strength is received depending on which Dreshkanda this planet has entered. Each zodiac sign is divided into three Dreshkandas. The planet situated between 0-10 falls in the first Dreshkand, the planet situated between 10-20 falls in the second Dreshkand, the planet situated between 20-30 falls in the third Dreshkand.

Male, female, and hermaphrodite planets respectively get a quarter Rupa according to
placements in the first, second, and third decanate.

Degrees	Planet Gender	Planets	Strength
0°-10°	Male Planet	Sun, Mars, Jupiter	15 Virupa
10°-20°	Hermaphrodite Planet	Saturn, Mercury	15 Virupa
20°-30°	Female Planet	Moon, Venus	15 Virupa

2) Digbala (Directional Strength)

Depending on which direction a planet is placed in the horoscope, it gets Digbal. The ascendant or first house indicates the east direction, the seventh house indicates the west direction, the tenth house indicates the south direction and the fourth house indicates the north direction.

Which planet is strong in which direction can be seen from the following table.

Direction	Digbali Planet
1st House	Jupiter and Mercury
4th House	Venus and the Moon
7th House	Saturn
10th House	Sun and Mars

Jupiter and Mercury have Digbala in the ascendant, Venus, and the Moon have this Bala in the 4th house, Saturn in the 7th, and the Sun and Mars in the 10th house.

3) Kaal Bala -Temporal Strength

Temporal Strength depends on the time at which a person is born. It is further divided into nine parts.

1)Nathonnatha Bala (diurnal and nocturnal strengths).
2) Paksha Bala (Paksha: fortnight).
3) Tribhaga Bala (strength due to day/night divided into three parts)
4) Varsha Bala(Varsha: astrological year )
5)Masa Bala( Masa: month,)
6)Vaar Bala(Vara: weekday)
7)Hora Bala (Hora: planetary hour).
5) Ayana Bala (equinoctial strength).
6) Yudhdha Bala (strength due to planetary war).

1)Natonnata Bala-

It is also called day and night force. As is clear from the name, the planets get this strength depending on what time of the day or night the person is born. Some planets are stronger during the day and some at night.

Sun, Jupiter, Venus Day 60 Shashtiansh
Moon, Mars, Saturn night 60 Shashtiansh
Mercury day and night 60 Shashtiansh

2) Paksha Bala-

The planets get strength depending on whether the person is born in Krishna Paksha or Shukla Paksha. Some planets are more powerful in Shukla Paksha and some planets are more powerful in Krishna Paksha.

Moon, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury get 60 Shashtiansha in Shukla Paksha.

Sun, Mars, and Saturn get 60 Shashtiansha in Krishna Paksha.

3)Tribhag Bala-

As the name suggests, Tribhag means force of three parts. This power is given to the owners of those parts by dividing the day and night into three equal parts.

Mercury gives 60 Shashtiansh strength in the first one-third of the day.

The Sun gets 60 Shashtiansh strength in the second one-third of the day.

Saturn gets 60 Shashtiansh strength in the third, one-third part of the day.

The Moon attains 60 Shashtiansh strength in the first third of the night.

The Venus attains 60 Shashtiansh strength in the second one-third of the night.

The Mars attains 60 Shashtiansh strength in the third one-third of the night.

Jupiter gets 60 Shashtiansh strength throughout the day and night.

4)Varsha Bala/Abda Bala/Varshadhipati Bala

According to Vikram Samvat, it is seen how much strength which planet will receive depending on who will be the ruler of the year. The planet that becomes the lord of rain gets the strength of 15 Shashtiansh.

5) Masadipati Bala-

The planets are given strength depending on who becomes the ruler of a month. The lord of the month gets the strength of 30 Shashtiansh.

6)Vara Bala-

On which day the person was born? Depending on the lord of that Vaar, the planets get more or less strength. The lord of the Vaar in which he is born gets the strength of 45 Shashtiansh.

7)Hora Bala-

The planets get strength depending on which Hora the person is born in. The planet in which Hora’s person is born gets the strength of 60 Shashtiansh.

8) Ayan Bala

The force received by the planets when they are situated in Uttarayan or Dakshinayan is called the Ayan force. Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus get more strength in Uttarayan, and Saturn and Moon get more strength in Dakshinayan. Mercury gets the strength of 60 Shashtiansh in both.

9) Yuddha Bala-

If the difference between the degrees(Bhogansh) of two planets is less than one degree then they are considered to be in a state of war. The planet which has lesser degrees(Bhogans) wins the war and some power is reduced from the losing planet and given to the winning planet.

4) Chesta Bala in Shadbal-Motional Strength

The force received by the planets due to their retrogression is called Cheshta Bal. Retrograde planets are closer to the Earth, hence their gravitational force on the Earth is greater.

Vakri/Retrogression – When a planet is in retrograde motion, it gets a strength of 60 Shashtiansh.
Anuvakri – When the planet enters the previous zodiac sign in retrograde motion, it gets 30 Shashtiansh strength.
Vikala – When the planet loses its motion before or after retrograde, it gets 15 Shashtiansh strength.
Manda/Slow – When the planet moves slower than normal, it gets 30 Shashtiansh force.

Mandatara – When the planet moves slower than Manda, it gets 15 Shashtiansh strength.
Sama – When the planet is moving at its normal speed which is faster than Manda, it gets 7.5 Shashtiansh force.
Chara – When the planet is moving faster than Sama, it gets 45 Shashtiansh force.
Atichari – When the planet is moving at a fast speed and is about to transit into another zodiac sign, it gets 30 Shashtiansh strength.

5)Natural Strength(Naisargik Bal)

This strength is acquired by a planet due to its luminosity. The brightest gets the highest Naisargika Bala while the least bright gets the least Naisargika Bala. It depends on how much light of a planet reaches the Earth. The Sun is the brightest among the 7 planets while Saturn is the darkest.

To find the Natural Strength of the planet divide one Rupa (or 60 Virupas) by 7 and multiply the resultant product by 1 to 7 separately which will indicate the Natural Strength due to Saturn, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, the Moon, and the Sun, respectively.
As per the above rule, the Naisargika Bala in Rupas are-

Planet	Strength(Rupas)
Sun	1
Moon	0.857
Venus	0.714
Jupiter	0.571
Mercury	0.429
Mars	0.286
Saturn	0.143

6) Aspectual Strength(Drishti Bala)

When a planet is aspected by another planet, it receives the strength of aspect. When the auspicious planets aspect the inauspicious planets, they also become auspicious. All the planets look at the house in front of the planet situated in it from their seventh aspect. This means they see 180° from themselves and this aspect is the most powerful.

When the angle of aspect is 180° then the strength of 1 Rupa or 60 Shashtiansh is obtained.
Similarly, zero force is obtained between 300 to 360 or 0 to 30.
At 60 or 270, a strength of 15 shashtiansh is obtained.
At 90 or 210, a strength of 45 shashtiansh is obtained.
At 120 or 240, a strength of 30 shashtiansh is available.

Apart from this, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn have special aspects. Mars has a special aspect of the fourth and eighth house, Jupiter has the fifth and ninth and Saturn has the third and tenth special aspect.

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