Last Updated on July 30, 2020 by astrologerbydefault

There was a question on which is the worst dasha period in life. I would not use the word ‘worst’. Some events may seem unfavourable on the material planes, but they ultimately do help as they help in rebalancing your pending karma or grant you disillusionment from the Game of Creation or pull your more strongly towards your own Reality/Advaita. Perspectives.

But to answer the question, considering the Vimshottari system. I would choose the following mahadasha (MD) and sub-period antardasha (AD). These six antardasha periods in life have to be navigated carefully.

• Venus mahadasha Saturn antradasha (written as Venus-Saturn) Or Saturn mahadasha Venus antardasha is the worst possible combination for the antardasha. These two periods will give everyone a karmic kick in the.. .
• Saturn mahadasha Jupiter antardasha Or Jupiter mahadasha Saturn antardasha. These two are not so bad as the ones above, but yes they represent a very complex mix of karma which has to be endured.
• And then would be the Venus mahadasha Jupiter antardasha or Jupiter mahadasha Venus antardasha. Both Gurus, one Dev-Guru and the other Daitya-Guru and there are very complex things happening during the periods controlled by them together.

So first, the Venus-Saturn antardasha and the Saturn-Venus antardasha. You will go through somewhat similar experiences in both of these sub-periods.

If anyone around you is going through these antar-dasha periods do observe them. If you are in these sub-periods, then be aware. These periods can have such terrific negative karma packed in that life turns into one confusing roller-coaster of bewildering issues, which seem to have no head or tail. You are put into fruitless arguments and issues. You know that there is no point, yet you argue, fight and get into conflicts. Intellectually you know that what you are doing or saying or thinking has to real sense, no real relevance but yet you put yourself through the grinder. This is the most intense karmic burst and both these periods are significantly long, go on for years. By the time you come out of these sub-periods, you are a completely different person. If you are lucky then these karma will be on the emotional levels, so you will suffer grief, anxiety, worry etc the astral body will suffer, but the physical situations will remain by and large ok. But if these planets also control important physical houses of your chart then in addition to the mental stress, you will suffer losses and reverses in life, health, wealth, social status, job, relationships are all affected in a very real way. And it can get very intense, there might be strange diseases, loss of job, breaks in education, financial problems, riches to rags type of situations.

Venus is the toughest, the highest Guru with the most cryptic tests, he rules one-one relationships, equitable binding contracts, partnerships, luxuries, wealth, treasuries, love, spiritual practice, refinement, Moksha. The other face of these qualities is degradation, immorality, deviation in the moral compass and entanglement in even more karma. Venus is the natural Marak of the zodiac, he decides when this current life should be terminated. And also when should the illusion of Maya be terminated, ie when should Moksh be granted.

Saturn ensures that you repay your karmic pendency in the most disciplined manner, he is very strict about it. He will not tolerate laziness, cheating, immaturity, non-responsibility. Saturn will rip off the illusions around you, if you feel that your friend is really your friend wait till a Saturn period comes along and see if he sticks with you. Saturn will bring reality before you in the most direct, unemotional manner possible. He makes you ‘grow up’ whether you like it or not.

Venus and Saturn are friends yet they can wreck havoc together. So when a combined period of Saturn-Venus or Venus-Saturn begins know that you are going to be taught the lesson of karma so thoroughly that you will be disillusioned with the material stuff you see around you. If your horoscope is powerful enough you will move strongly towards the inner spiritual but if not then you will suffer.

You will face the most intense karmic rebalancing with the one you love the most. This is the most traumatic aspect of these two sub-periods. The one you love the most, the one whom you know loves you the most, you rely on him/her the most, he/she relies on you the most, but his/her overt love/support can be denied to you, your overt love/support will be denied to him/her in these two sub-periods.

The negative effects are reduced if your ascendant is Taurus or Libra as Venus is the ascendant lord and Saturn is the Yogkarak. Or if your ascendant is Capricorn or Aquarius where Saturn is the ascendant lord. Or if Venus and Saturn both are capable of giving auspicious results together. But this does not mean that you escape the trouble! It simply means that the turmoil you face finally makes sense and you are given some significant gain eventually.

Now the Jupiter and Saturn periods together. Jupiter-Saturn antardasha or the Saturn-Jupiter antardasha.

Here the logic is quite clear, one is the lord of expansion the other is the lord of contraction! When equal and opposite forces are forced to work together in one time period there is going to be intense confusion.

In this period you will face another burst of karma. Saturn makes you work. Jupiter hopeful and benevolent, expands anything he touches! So you will face strange contradictions as work increases, stress increases, emotions are suppressed etc. All of Saturn’s qualities can be expanded by Jupiter’s influence. And Jupiter’s qualities can be restricted by Saturn’s activities. Some astrologers believe that Jupiter can tone down Saturn’s influence, which is true in some cases, but the other side is that Saturn affects Jupiter’s beneficial influence too! Do analyse what these two planets signify in your chart and how strong your chart is in the first place. There might be problems in the profession and social status. Education and finances can be affected. Litigations and issues with the government machinery can begin. Personal health issues can start. The immediate family is disturbed, relationships with the extended family can be affected. There can be losses, failures and unfavourable events etc depending on which aspects of your life are controlled by Jupiter and Saturn.

If your ascendant is Sagittarius, Pisces, Capricorn or Aquarius then you will have an easier time. Or if Jupiter and Saturn both are capable of giving auspicious results together, then too the negativity can be reduced. Then the turmoil will exist in life, but on manageable levels and it will eventually be for your own good.

And finally the Jupiter-Venus or the Venus-Jupiter sub-periods.

In both these sub-periods, both Guru’s will try to teach you their lessons together, simultaneously. Do read my this post on Venus-Jupiter energies working together. The logic for Venus-Jupiter interaction remains the same in the Dasha interpretation too. I have written about the Jupiter Mahadasha and Venus Mahadasha in case anyone wants to get into these main-periods in depth.

Jupiter is the Dev-guru. His students are the easier ones, the front-benchers. His teaching method is rather simplistic. He will give you all the expansion you need for a reasonably comfortable life. He hopes that if you are given all these reasonable necessities then you will naturally turn towards the spiritual. But he forgets that human mind always wants more desires. No human is satisfied with the “reasonable comforts”, the mind always wants more and more. Even if it knows that desires is all an illusion still it expects happiness from the material and tries to finds strange justifications in pursuing these desires. So Jupiter’s premise is very gentle, kind, hopeful and is not really suitable for the Kali-yug’s human mind. He is generally kind and benevolent to everyone.

Venus has the worst students, the back-benchers. He knows that given half the chance, his students will indulge in all sorts of inauspicious, immoral, out of control behaviour. So his teaching methods are very practical and very cryptic. He will give you all the luxuries, more than you ever thought you wanted, but poison them subtly so that you are never satisfied with them. He will let you run frantically behind your illusory desires, let your mind exhaust itself. He waits patiently for you to realise that complete satisfaction is not possible in these created worlds, he waits for you to subdue your own mind. Once you realise this fact, understand and experience its truth, he offers you spiritual practice. Then he continually tests you, keeps you on your toes, makes you understand the illusion of the material very thoroughly and only then if you pass, he grants you Moksh. Very very few make pass in his classes.

Now in these two antardashas, you are under the control of these two teachers simultaneously. These periods become highly confusing as your internal self, your mind, your personal spiritual practices, your outer religious observances are all muddled up. This muddle overflows into every part of your life, you are uncomfortable. The actual results will depend on the actual horoscope and the transits but the overall theme of this two antardashas will be a soul-stirring confusion. Something good will come of it, but eventually.

This was a general discussion on the most karmic antardashas. In these typical periods try to keep your moral compass steady, develop a mature perspective, consider the other party’s views also and do some spiritual practice so that you have reserves of inner strength to deal with the issues which will crop up. I have written on remedies, Homa, mantra jaap, charity, simple remedies and complex ones, do use the Index page to locate those posts in case you wish to read about them.

To evaluate these periods more specifically in your own context, you will have to analyse the power of the Mahadasha-ruler and the Antardasha-ruler in depth from your own birth chart. I have written several posts on Vimshottari dashas, do use the Index page to locate them in case you wish to read them. Then the background energy of the Dasha will be modulated by the current transits. So locate the current position of the MD and AD Ruler planets in the skies and find out which house of your birth chart they are influencing at present. Thus you will get an all-round perspective on what is happening. If your birth horoscope and current transits are powerful and auspicious then you will be able to use these very same situations to your advantage. If not, then the suffering will be as above.

eg, I know someone whose ascendant lord is Venus, Saturn is the Yogkarak. This man is now in the Venus-Saturn antardasha. Despite these two planets being auspicious and strong in his birth chart, he is going through difficult times now exactly as above. Now Venus is going to do his retrograde/combust act in Taurus, so this person is in for some very tumultuous times. The only saving grace is that he will gain something significant after Sept. But till then things have to be endured. (How is sweet perfume made? Delicate flowers are crushed to release their essences. This man is now being crushed by Venus and Saturn, systematically and dispassionately.)

The present times are very upside-down! I have written several posts on the current year 2020-21, Sharvari naam samvatsara, the retrograde Saturn, retrograde Jupiter, retrograde Venus etc in my previous posts do go through them. These will help you understand the energies which are active now. The current year is a very typical environment. Your actions and reactions now will have implications stretching on for several lifetimes. All of us will be facing challenges in several parts of our life, and these challenges will all come at once. Those who have weaker birth horoscopes will suffer more, this would be the majority of us. But those few, who have powerful planetary placements in their birth charts, will use these challenges proactively and rise to even greater heights, emerging even stronger after this turbulence settles down.