What is Ashtakavarga in Vedic astrology?
Ashtakavarga ("eight-fold strength") is a classical Jyotish scoring system that measures how supportive each sign and house is, by counting benefic points called bindus. For each of the seven grahas (Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn), points are contributed from the positions of all seven grahas plus the Lagna, using the standard Parashari tables.
Each graha gets its own Bhinnashtakavarga (BAV) row of 0–8 bindus per sign. Adding all seven rows gives the Sarvashtakavarga (SAV) — twelve totals that always sum to 337. A sign with more than the average of about 28 bindus is well supported; 30 or more is strong, while 25 or fewer asks for extra effort.
Astrologers use SAV to judge the strength of houses and to time transits (Gochar) — a planet moving through a high-bindu sign tends to give better results. Enter your exact birth time and pick the city from the dropdown so the Lagna and planetary signs are calculated correctly on the sidereal (Lahiri) zodiac.