Enter your birth date, time and place above and this free calculator tells you whether any two of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn were at war, graha yuddha, at your birth. For each war you see the two planets, how far apart they were, their latitudes north or south of the ecliptic, and the victor. You also see the Surya Siddhanta’s own test: when the two planets meet, and how far apart their latitudes are then. If there is no war, it names the two planets that came closest.
How it works
The calculator calls two of the five star-planets, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn, at war when they are less than one degree apart in longitude, the same test our free kundali and Shadbala calculator use. Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (ch. 79, verse 9, in R. Santhanam’s translation) calls the five at war when they are together, which the translation glosses as within one degree of each other, and Santhanam’s notes to ch. 11 record the usual teaching as two planets on the same degree. The Sun and the Moon never take part, and nor do Rahu and Ketu.
The Surya Siddhanta (ch. 7, in Ebenezer Burgess’s translation of 1860) measures its one degree another way. Its degree is the gap between the two planets’ latitudes, north and south of the ecliptic, at the moment the two share a longitude (verse 12). Under a degree, it calls the meeting a war (apasavya, verse 19, when one of the two is faint); over a degree, a conjunction (samagama, verse 20) when both are bright. So two planets less than a degree apart in longitude can still be a conjunction by the Surya Siddhanta, and the result shows both tests.
The calculator works out the sidereal longitude of the five (Lahiri ayanamsa, from the NASA JPL DE440 tables) and checks every pair. For each war it reads each planet’s latitude at birth from the same engine our Shadbala calculator uses. It then follows the two planets forward or back in time to the moment they share a longitude and reads their latitudes there. If the two come closest and part again without sharing a longitude, it says so. In our checks the latitudes were within about 0.02 degree of the Swiss Ephemeris, and the moment of meeting within a minute.
Reading the result
Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (ch. 79, verse 9) names the victor: Venus, whether north or south, and among the other four the planet to the north. The Surya Siddhanta says the same (ch. 7, verses 21 and 23): the one to the north, bright and large, is the victor, and even one to the south if it is powerful, and Venus is generally the victor. So when Venus is at war, the calculator names Venus; otherwise it names the planet to the north at birth. When the two latitudes are within 0.05 degree of each other, it says the victor is too close to call rather than guess.
Below the victor, each war shows when the two meet, the gap between their latitudes then, and whether that gap is under one degree, the Surya Siddhanta’s line between a war and a conjunction. A gap within 0.05 degree of one degree is shown as too close to call.
Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (ch. 27, verse 20, in R. Santhanam’s edition) moves strength from the defeated planet to the victor in its Shadbala, and it counts a house lord defeated in war among the marks that weaken that house (ch. 11, verses 14 to 16).
Where traditions differ
Texts and teachers name the victor in different ways, and this page follows Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (ch. 79) and the Surya Siddhanta:
- North, and Venus. Both texts name the planet to the north, and Venus in general. This page uses it.
- The lower degree. R. Santhanam’s notes to Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (ch. 11) record as the usual teaching that the planet with the lesser longitude wins. The dosha list of our free kundali uses this rule, so it can name a different victor; when it does, the result says so.
- Strength. Our Shadbala calculator, for its yuddha bala, takes the planet with the greater sum of the other strengths as the victor.
Teachers also differ on what makes a war. This page, the free kundali and the Shadbala calculator measure the degree in longitude; the Surya Siddhanta measures it as the gap in latitude when the two meet, and the result shows that test beside the verdict. The free kundali also counts a war only inside one sign; Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (ch. 79, verse 9) sets no condition of sign, and neither do this page and the Shadbala calculator. A pair across a sign boundary is marked as such.
What it does not do
It does not predict a contest or a loss in life, and it offers no remedy. A war is one factor in a chart, read with the signs, houses, dignity and dasha of the two planets. Many charts have none, and nothing here is a reason for worry. The Surya Siddhanta also weighs how bright and large the two planets are, and it takes the meeting on a circle through the north and south points of the horizon, which ties its moment to the place (ch. 7, verses 7 to 12); this page does not judge brightness and takes the moment the two share a longitude on the ecliptic. To see which planets were too close to the Sun to be seen, use the combust planets calculator.
Frequently asked questions
↳ What is graha yuddha?
Graha yuddha, planetary war, is two of the five star-planets, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn, less than a degree apart in longitude, the test our free kundali and Shadbala calculator use. Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (ch. 79, verse 9) describes it and names the victor: the planet to the north, and Venus whether north or south.
↳ How is the winner of a planetary war decided?
This page follows Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (ch. 79, verse 9) and the Surya Siddhanta (ch. 7, verses 21 and 23): the planet to the north of the other, by its latitude, is the victor, and Venus is the victor whether north or south. Other teachers decide by the lower degree or by Shadbala strength, and the page explains both.
↳ Why does the result say the Surya Siddhanta reads it differently?
The Surya Siddhanta's one degree is not a distance in longitude. It is the gap between the two planets' latitudes, north and south of the ecliptic, at the moment they share a longitude (ch. 7, verse 12). Two planets less than a degree apart in longitude can be several degrees apart in latitude, and the text calls such a meeting a conjunction (samagama) rather than a war when both are bright (verse 20). The result shows that gap for each war.
↳ Why does the free kundali name a different winner?
The dosha list of the free kundali names the planet with the lower degree, a rule R. Santhanam's notes to Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (ch. 11) record as the usual teaching. This page follows ch. 79 of the same text and the Surya Siddhanta instead, so the two can differ, and the result says when they do.
↳ Can the Sun or the Moon be in a planetary war?
No. The war is between the five star-planets only. A planet very close to the Sun is combust instead, which the combust planets calculator checks.
↳ Do the two planets have to be in the same sign?
Not by Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (ch. 79, verse 9), which sets only the distance, and not on this page. The free kundali counts a war only inside one sign, so a pair across a sign boundary appears here but not there.
↳ What does "too close to call" mean?
When the two planets' latitudes are within 0.05 degree of each other, the page does not name the planet to the north, because the difference is near the limit of the calculation. Venus, when she is at war, is named in any case. In the same way, a gap in latitude within 0.05 degree of one degree is not read either way by the Surya Siddhanta's test.