Enter your birth date, time and place above, choose when to start and for how many weeks, and this free planner finds the planets in your chart that are below their Shadbala minimum. For each one it makes a simple plan: the planet’s beej mantra 108 times a day, its weekday with the dates of those days in your weeks, its verse in the Navagraha Stotra, and what is given for it. You can add one more planet, such as Rahu or Ketu or the planet of the dasha you are in. It is a plan of devotion and giving, kept as you are able, and not a prediction.
How it works
Which planets. The planner works out Shadbala, the six-fold strength of Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, for the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn, with the same engine and the same steps as our Shadbala calculator. A planet is below its minimum when its total in rupas is less than the figure the text gives for it (ch. 27, verses 32 and 33, Santhanam’s edition): Sun 6.5, Moon 6, Mars 5, Mercury 7, Jupiter 6.5, Venus 5.5 and Saturn 5. The plan takes the planets below the line, the weakest first. Rahu and Ketu have no Shadbala, so they enter the plan only if you add one.
Why support the weaker planet. The Yajnavalkya Smriti, in its section on the planet rite (Acharadhyaya 1.295 to 1.308, as numbered in the Sanskrit Wikisource text), says that whichever planet is ill-placed for a person at a given time should be worshipped with care (1.307). The planner shows that verse with the result.
The mantra and the day. The beej mantra of each planet is the one form used across this site, and the count of 108 a day is the simple practice our mantras index gives. The day is the planet’s weekday from the same table: Sunday for the Sun through Saturday for Saturn, Saturday for Rahu, and Tuesday or Saturday for Ketu, so a Ketu plan lists both. The dates are the calendar dates of those weekdays from the day you choose, for 4, 8 or 12 weeks.
What is given. Two lists are shown side by side. One is the simple gifts the remedies panel of our free kundali names for each planet, such as mustard oil, black sesame, iron, black cloth and urad dal for Saturn. The other is the gift the Yajnavalkya Smriti names for each planet’s rite, in the order of the planets (1.306): a milch cow, a conch, a draught ox, gold, cloth, a horse, a black cow, iron and a goat.
Reading the result
The headline names the planets below their minimum. A table then gives each planet’s total in rupas, its minimum, the ratio between them and whether it meets the line. The figures are cut, not rounded, to two decimals, so a planet just under its minimum never shows a ratio of 1.00. Each plan box gives the mantra in Devanagari and in English letters, with a link to count it on the japa mala counter, the day and its dates, the two lists of giving, the planet’s verse and a link to that planet’s remedies page. A print button prints the plan on its own.
If every planet meets its minimum, the result says so, and names the planet closest to its line in case you would like a plan for it anyway.
Where traditions differ
There are several ways to choose the planet to support. This planner uses Shadbala. The remedies panel of the free kundali uses another: a planet debilitated, in an enemy’s sign or too close to the Sun, as our rudraksha guide explains. Many people simply support the planet of the dasha they are in, which the Mahadasha calculator shows. The lists can differ, and none of them is the only right one.
The minimums differ too. This planner follows the figures of Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra in Santhanam’s edition, with 6.5 rupas for the Sun, as our Shadbala calculator does. Some modern tables give the Sun 5 instead, and that can change the plan: in the seven test charts with a birth time that we check our tools against, the Sun was under 6.5 rupas in four and over 5 in all seven. When the Sun falls between the two figures, the result says so, and says which planets would be below their minimum by the 5 rupa figure.
The beej mantras are the forms printed in modern Jyotish manuals and panchangs; our mantras index says we have not traced them to one classical text and gives them as the common convention. Lists of giving differ by region and family, which is why both lists are shown. Shadbala itself has steps that programs read differently, so a total can differ by a few tenths of a rupa from another program, as the Shadbala calculator page explains.
What it does not do
It does not predict events, and a planet below its minimum is not a fault: the tradition reads it as a planet that needs support from the rest of the chart. Nothing in the plan is required, and it promises nothing. The order our remedies guide follows puts conduct and service first, then mantra, charity and the weekday fast, so the plan’s link to each planet’s remedies page is worth reading first. For health, money or legal matters, please speak to a qualified professional. The planner needs a birth time, and it cannot work out the strengths when the Sun does not rise and set on the birth date or the day before or after, as can happen inside the polar circles.
Frequently asked questions
↳ How do I know which planet is weak in my chart?
This planner uses Shadbala: a planet is below its minimum when its total in rupas is under the figure Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra gives for it, such as 5 for Saturn or 7 for Mercury. The table in the result shows every planet against its minimum.
↳ What is the beej mantra for each planet?
The plan gives it for each planet in Devanagari and in English letters, for example Om Praam Preem Praum Sah Shanaischaraya Namah for Saturn. The full table of the nine, with their days, is on our mantras index.
↳ How many times should the planet mantra be chanted?
The plan uses 108 a day, the simple practice our mantras index gives. In the planet rite of the Yajnavalkya Smriti the offerings into the fire for each planet are 108 or 28 (1.303). Follow your family or teacher if they give another count.
↳ What daan is given for each planet?
The plan shows two lists: the simple gifts our free kundali names, such as wheat, jaggery, a copper vessel and red cloth for the Sun, and the gift the Yajnavalkya Smriti names for each planet's rite, such as a milch cow for the Sun and a black cow for Saturn. Lists differ by region and family.
↳ Why are Rahu and Ketu not in the strength table?
Shadbala is given only for the seven planets from the Sun to Saturn. You can still add Rahu or Ketu to the plan with "Also plan for this planet".
↳ Is a planet below its minimum a bad sign?
No. It means that planet has less of its own strength to draw on, and the tradition looks to the rest of the chart for support. In the seven test charts with a birth time that we check our tools against, every one had at least one planet below its minimum by the figures this planner uses.
↳ Why does the free kundali suggest a different planet?
It chooses planets another way, by debilitation, an enemy's sign or closeness to the Sun, while this planner uses Shadbala. Both are traditional measures and they can name different planets.