Daśāṃśa (D-10)

Daśāṃśa (दशांश, also written Dashamsha) — the D-10 chart — is the seventh of the sixteen classical Ṣoḍaśa-vargas described in Brihat Parāśara Horā Śāstra. The Daśāṃśa reads the karma register — profession, career, public authority, professional reputation — and deepens the reading of the 10th-bhāva of the Rāśi-chart. The name daśāṃśa is Sanskrit for "tenth part." The D-10 is the classical primary varga for career and profession-register assessment alongside the Rāśi 10th-bhāva reading and the 10th-lord's placement.

Classical grounding

Brihat Parāśara Horā Śāstra's Ṣoḍaśa-varga-adhyāya names the Daśāṃśa's computational rule and its karma register signification; Bṛhat Jātaka of Varāhamihira chapter 8 names the same scheme; Phaladeepikā and Saravali extend the treatment with classical commentary on career-register applications. Classical sources emphasise that the D-10 is to the 10th-bhāva what the D-9 is to the 7th and 9th bhāvas — a specialised supplementary reading that refines the Rāśi's primary register.

Computational scheme

BPHS's division rule for D-10: each 30° rāśi is divided into ten 3° parts, with rāśi-ownership assigned by the rāśi's odd-even classification. For odd rāśis (Meṣa, Mithuna, Siṃha, Tulā, Dhanu, Kumbha), the daśāṃśa-count begins from the same rāśi and proceeds sequentially through ten consecutive rāśis: Meṣa's ten daśāṃśas are Meṣa (0°–3°), Vṛṣabha (3°–6°), Mithuna (6°–9°), Karka (9°–12°), Siṃha (12°–15°), Kanyā (15°–18°), Tulā (18°–21°), Vṛścika (21°–24°), Dhanu (24°–27°), Makara (27°–30°). For even rāśis (Vṛṣabha, Karka, Kanyā, Vṛścika, Makara, Meena), the count begins from the 9th rāśi from the same and proceeds sequentially: Vṛṣabha's ten begin from Makara and run Makara, Kumbha, Meena, Meṣa, Vṛṣabha, Mithuna, Karka, Siṃha, Kanyā, Tulā. Each daśāṃśa is classically named for a presiding deity (the ten Diś-pati of classical Vedic tradition — Indra, Agni, Yama, Pitṛ, Varuṇa, Vāyu, Soma, Īśāna, Brahmā, Ananta in the classical sequence), though the daśāṃśa-deity framework is used primarily in specific reading contexts beyond the basic placement scheme.

Classical significations

The Daśāṃśa-chart classically reads karma — profession, career, public recognition, professional reputation, and the domain-of- work significations. Classical reading: the 10th-bhāva of the D-10 chart reads the profession specifically; the Lagna of the D-10 reads the native's professional-register orientation; the 10th- lord of the Rāśi placed strongly in the D-10 classically strengthens the overall career-register reading. Sūrya as rājya-kāraka (authority-kāraka), Śani as karma-kāraka (work-kāraka), Budha as vyavahāra-kāraka (transaction-kāraka), and Guru as general success-kāraka are cross-referenced in the D-10 reading based on the domain of profession under consideration.

Classical interpretation register

The classical interpretation register of the Daśāṃśa is karma- specific — the chart specialises the 10th-bhāva reading of the Rāśi. Classical commentators note that the D-10 is the classical reference chart for professional-domain identification (whether the native's career register inclines toward authority, teaching, commerce, craftsmanship, medical, military, or ascetic registers) and for timing-register assessment of career-events through Daśā cross-referencing. The vargottama condition in the D-10 is classically a strength-register. The D-10 is included in graded- varga schemes from Ṣoḍaśa-varga and figures in classical career- prediction frameworks. The D-10 reading does not on its own prescribe a specific profession — it reads the classical register the tradition associates with the native's karma-orientation; the reader's circumstances and choices are the reader's.

Related Concepts

Rāśi (D-1) — primary chart
Karma-bhāva (10th) — 10th bhāva — karma register
Sūrya — rājya-kāraka for authority register
Śani — karma-kāraka for work register
Budha — vyavahāra-kāraka for transaction register
Caturthāṃśa (D-4) — paired sukha-karma reading