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How 7 planets contribute beneficial points across 12 signs from 8 sources, creating a transit-prediction matrix that pinpoints favorable and challenging periods
Ashtakavarga is a unique Vedic system that creates a numerical map of benefic influence across all 12 signs for each planet. The word means “eight divisions” — referring to the 8 sources (7 planets plus the Lagna) that contribute “bindus” (beneficial points, either 0 or 1) to each of the 12 signs. For every planet, this creates a 12-sign table showing where that planet's transit will be supported and where it will be challenged.
Bhinna Ashtakavarga (BAV) is the individual planet's table — each of the 7 planets has its own BAV with scores 0-8 per sign. Sarvashtakavarga (SAV) is the combined total of all 7 BAV tables, giving a score of 0-56 per sign. BAV tells you about a specific planet's transit quality; SAV tells you about the overall strength of a sign in the chart.
Ashtakavarga is described in detail in Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (chapters 66-72) and further elaborated in Varahamihira's Brihat Jataka. The system predates computer-era algorithms by over two millennia, yet its matrix-based approach to scoring planetary influence anticipates modern computational methods. Parashara prescribed specific rules for which positions (counted from each source) generate a bindu — these rules encode empirical observations about when planets in certain relative positions produce beneficial effects.