Divisional charts (varga): an overview
Divisional charts (varga) divide each sign into equal parts and read the graha in a smaller division, so that a fine detail of the chart can be seen. The D1 chart is the birth chart, and the others are divisional.
What it is
The best known are the navamsha (D9), which divides each sign into nine parts, and dashamsha (D10), which divides each into ten. Other vargas are used in some traditions, up to sixteen.
How it is worked out or read
Each varga has its own mapping of the sign's parts to signs. The mapping is in the classical texts and differs between schools, so each varga should be checked against its source.
Where it appears on this site
This site computes only the D1 birth chart. The navamsha article and the dashamsha article describe the next two.
What a divisional chart divides
A divisional chart, varga in Sanskrit, divides each sign into equal parts and assigns each part to a sign by a fixed rule. The result is a second chart in which the grahas are placed according to the finer divisions. The D1 chart is the ordinary birth chart, and the others, such as the navamsha and the dashamsha, are divisional charts used for finer questions.
The idea is that the divisions reveal detail that the main chart does not show. A graha's sign in the main chart gives its general position, and its sign in a divisional chart gives a finer shade of the same theme.
The commonly used divisions
The best known divisional charts are the navamsha, which divides each sign into nine parts of 3 degrees 20 minutes, and the dashamsha, which divides each sign into ten parts of 3 degrees. Some traditions use sixteen or twenty divisions for special questions, and the classical lists differ on which are standard. Each division has its own rule for mapping the parts to signs.
The navamsha is the most used of the divisional charts and is traditionally consulted for marriage and for the strength of grahas. The dashamsha is associated with career and public action.
The mapping rules differ
Each varga uses its own mapping rule, based on the sign's quality or its position in the zodiac. The rules are given in the classical texts, and the sources differ on some details. A reader using a divisional chart should therefore name the source for the mapping, since a different source can place the same graha in a different sign.
The site and the divisional charts
This site computes only the D1 birth chart. The navamsha and the dashamsha are described in their own articles, where the rules are stated, and the reader can apply them by hand from the sign and degree of each graha in the birth chart. A future version may compute these charts, but until the mapping tables have been checked against a stated source, they are not presented as results.