D6 Chart Calculator - Shashthamsa Chart
A free shashthamsa (D6) chart calculator — each sign cut into six parts of five degrees, counted from Aries for odd signs and from Libra for even signs.
The shashthamsa is the D6. Every sign's thirty degrees are cut into six slices of five degrees each. Jagannatha Hora uses the rule given in P.V.R. Narasimha Rao's textbook: for an odd-numbered sign the slices are counted from Aries, so they fall in Aries through Virgo; for an even-numbered sign they are counted from Libra, so they fall in Libra through Pisces.
Put another way, the D6 sign of any longitude is simply the number of whole five-degree steps from 0 degrees Aries, wrapped around the twelve signs. Every sixty degrees of the zodiac therefore passes through all twelve signs exactly once — a regularity the calculator reproduces at every point we checked.
This D6 (shashthamsa, six parts) is a different chart from the D60 (shashtiamsa, sixty parts), though the names look alike. It is also not one of the sixteen vargas of Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra; the method here follows Narasimha Rao, and other schools may divide it differently.
Where the six parts go
The table lists the D6 sign of each five-degree slice for odd and even signs, then two worked placements from Narasimha Rao's textbook (Example 13), which the calculator reproduces.
| # | Position | Shashthamsa sign |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Odd sign, 0–5 deg | Aries |
| 2 | Odd sign, 5–10 deg | Taurus |
| 3 | Odd sign, 10–15 deg | Gemini |
| 4 | Odd sign, 15–20 deg | Cancer |
| 5 | Odd sign, 20–25 deg | Leo |
| 6 | Odd sign, 25–30 deg | Virgo |
| 7 | Even sign, 0–5 deg | Libra |
| 8 | Even sign, 5–10 deg | Scorpio |
| 9 | Even sign, 10–15 deg | Sagittarius |
| 10 | Even sign, 15–20 deg | Capricorn |
| 11 | Even sign, 20–25 deg | Aquarius |
| 12 | Even sign, 25–30 deg | Pisces |
| 13 | Mercury at 11 deg Gemini | Gemini |
| 14 | Jupiter at 19 deg Scorpio | Capricorn |
Mercury at 11 degrees of Gemini (odd) is in the third slice, counted from Aries: Gemini. Jupiter at 19 degrees of Scorpio (even) is in the fourth slice, counted from Libra: Capricorn.
How to read the result
Choose D-6_shashthamsa from a cell's menu, where it falls between the D5 and D7 entries; D-60_shastiamsa, a different chart, is listed far lower, after D-45. Point at a body to see its D6 sign and a degree — six times its degree in the rasi sign, wrapped below 30 — so 0 opens its five-degree slice and 30 closes it. Rahu and Ketu sit in one box in every D6, because 180 degrees is exactly thirty-six slices, three full rounds of the twelve signs.
For the reading itself, Narasimha Rao's lesson notes, which also spell the chart Shashtamsa, look to the 6th and 8th houses counted from the D6 ascendant for problems to the person's existence, and treat planets in the D6's 3rd house as fighting back. One author in the library, taught the method of Sheshadri Iyer, calls the D6 a Tajika chart and reads it together with the D8 and D27 for health.
The amber tags are the D6's own arudha padas, A6 among them, which the engine names Roga Pada. And although the D6 has no place in the Vimshopaka schemes, the Tajaka part of Narasimha Rao's textbook counts it with the other eleven charts from D1 to D12 when tallying dignities for dwadasa vargeeya bala.
Key terms
- Shashtamsa
- A lesson-note spelling of the D6 — the six-part chart, not the sixty-part one, whose menu key D-60_shastiamsa sits far lower in the list.
- Tajika chart
- One library author's label for vargas such as the D6, D8 and D11, which that author says entered Vedic astrology later, with methods that vary by school.
- Iyer method
- The approach of Sheshadri Iyer, explained by Hart de Fouw, that the same author follows: it centres on where the running dasa lord sits in each D-chart.
- A6 (Roga Pada)
- The 6th-house arudha, drawn in amber; for this cell the engine computes it from D6 placements, like every other tag shown there.
- Retrograde
- A planet drawn in brackets, such as (Sa), was moving retrograde at birth; hovering adds the word Retrograde, and the brackets carry into every cell.
Five-degree slices
A planet's D6 sign changes every five degrees, so the ascendant's D6 placement shifts every twenty minutes or so of birth time on average.
Odd from Aries, even from Libra
The two starting points sit exactly opposite each other, which is why the whole chart reduces to counting five-degree steps around the zodiac.
Signification, attributed
According to P.V.R. Narasimha Rao's table, the D6 is classically consulted for health troubles; according to two other authors in the library, it is the chart consulted for health and the type of disease. Given here as stated, without prediction.
Common questions
What is a shashthamsa chart?
The shashthamsa is the D6, the six-part division of each sign. Each part is five degrees wide; for odd signs the parts are counted from Aries, for even signs from Libra.
Is the D6 the same as the D60 shashtiamsa?
No. The D6 shashthamsa has six parts of five degrees; the D60 shashtiamsa has sixty parts of half a degree. The names differ by one syllable, the charts are entirely different.
Is the D6 one of Parashara's vargas?
No. It is not among the sixteen divisional charts of Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra and carries no weight in the Vimsopaka schemes. The rule used here is the one in P.V.R. Narasimha Rao's textbook.
How accurate does my birth time need to be?
Five degrees of the zodiac rise in about twenty minutes on average, so the D6 lagna needs a birth time accurate to a few minutes near a slice boundary. Planets change their D6 sign far more slowly.
Is the D6 chart used for enemies and litigation?
Narasimha Rao's lesson notes say yes: the D6 is used to see health, enemies and litigation. His textbook's table is narrower and lists health troubles alone, so the wider scope comes from his classes rather than his book, and other authors in the library read the chart chiefly for health.