Matching doshas are covered separately
Nadi and Manglik come up most often in kundli matching rather than in a single chart, so they are explained alongside the other Guna Milan factors. Read the matching explainers →
Vedic Astrology
Doshas, explained without fear
A dosha is a pattern in a birth chart, not a curse and not a sentence. Most of what is written about them online exists to frighten people into buying a remedy, usually from the same person who delivered the warning. These pages explain what each rule actually says, state the cancellations that classical texts themselves provide, and recommend nothing you need to purchase.
- Kaal Sarp Dosha
Kaal Sarp Dosha describes a chart where all seven classical planets sit on one side of the axis between Rahu and Ketu, the lunar nodes. It is a real astrological pattern, but the alarm attached to it is far larger than the classical texts ever intended.
- Pitra Dosha
Pitra Dosha is read from affliction to the Sun, or to the ninth house, usually involving Saturn or Rahu. In classical thought it is less a punishment than an unfinished thread of family duty, and it carries several standard reliefs.
- Kemdrum Dosha
Kemdrum Dosha forms when no planet occupies the houses immediately before or after the Moon, leaving it isolated. Classical texts list several common conditions that cancel it, and most charts carrying the raw pattern meet at least one.
- Guru Chandal Dosha
Guru Chandal Dosha forms when Jupiter sits with Rahu (some traditions include Ketu) in the same house. It describes an unconventional relationship with belief and teachers, and is moderated whenever Jupiter itself is strong.
- Sade Sati
Sade Sati is the roughly seven-and-a-half-year period when Saturn transits the sign before, the sign of, and the sign after the natal Moon. It is a calculable window with a start and end date, not an open-ended sentence.
- Shrapit Dosha
Shrapit Dosha names a conjunction of Saturn and Rahu in the birth chart, traditionally read as an old, unresolved pattern needing patience. It points to delayed timing and hard-earned growth, not a fixed verdict on a life.
- Grahan Dosha
Grahan Dosha describes the Sun or Moon sitting in the same sign as Rahu or Ketu, the two points where eclipses occur. It points to an unconventional way of perceiving or feeling, not a personal eclipse cast over someone's life.
- Vish Dosha
Vish Dosha names a conjunction of the Moon and Saturn in the birth chart, read as an emotional temperament shaped by seriousness and restraint. It describes a way of feeling, not poison in any literal sense, and is often linked to maturing early.