Antardaśā · the sub-period (bhukti)

A major period, the mahādaśā, does not run as one undivided block. It is split into antardaśās, sub-periods each governed by one of the nine grahas in turn. The tradition reads the two together: the mahādaśā lord sets the theme of the whole stretch, the antardaśā lord colors the passage inside it. The same major period feels different from one sub-period to the next.

The sequence always opens with the major lord’s own sub-period, then moves through the other planets in the same fixed order the daśā system uses. Each sub-period’s length is proportioned to its planet’s share of the full cycle, so a long major period holds many sub-periods and a short one holds fewer.

A benefic sub-period inside a difficult major is read as a lighter stretch within a heavier season, and a hard sub-period inside an easy major as a passing weight. The finer the scale, the more carefully it is held as timing rather than verdict. Classically the sub-period is read against the natal chart and the navāṁśa, to see whether the planet keeps its word.