Open a Jyotiṣa program and a planet grows a row of integers. Sun 7.2, Moon 5.8, Mars 4.1 — rupas, usually, sometimes virūpas. The row is ṣaḍbala (shad bala, षड्बल): six kinds of strength added into a total. The six are real techniques with textual homes. The dump is a user-interface event. People treat the total as a health grade, a career forecast, or a reason to buy a stone.
This page names the six, tells you which one to keep on a first pass — sthāna bala, positional strength, the “seat” or kāya score — and why the rest can wait. It is not a medical chart. It is not a yoga replacement.
Parent: what is Vedic. Combinations that still matter more than a 0.4 rupa gap: yogas. Who signifies what regardless of score: karakas. A varga that people confuse with “career strength”: Daśāṃśa.
The Six, in Ordinary Language
Classical shad bala is a sum of:
- Sthāna bala — positional. Own sign, exaltation, friend, mūlatrikoṇa; kendra or trikoṇa; varga dignity including D9. Software may label it seat or kāya. This is the score that matches what a beginner already learned: dignity plus house category.
- Dig bala — directional. Jupiter and Mercury prefer the east (Lagna), Saturn the west (7th), Sun and Mars the south (10th), Moon and Venus the north (4th). Opposite that angle, the planet is directionally thin.
- Kāla bala — temporal. Day/night, pakṣa, weekday, hora. Two apps disagree here first.
- Ceṣṭā bala — motional. Retrograde, speed, combustion’s edge. A retrograde Jupiter can look ordinary in sthāna and “trying” here.
- Naisargika bala — natural. Fixed ranking: Sun, then Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Saturn. Everyone’s Saturn loses this column to everyone’s Sun.
- Dṛk bala — aspectual. Benefic aspects add, malefic subtract. You can name the aspects in English instead of taking the integer.
Totals are in rupas (1 = 60 virūpas). Textbook minima differ by planet. They are rules of thumb, not lab cutoffs. A planet 0.3 under the line is not broken. Ignore ishta/kashta ratios until you can explain the six.
Use Sthāna. Leave the Rest on Pass One.
A first sitting already has Lagna, Lagna lord, Moon, the house of the question, the karaka, the dasha pair. Six scores per graha is how that becomes a spreadsheet.
Keep sthāna as a second look at a planet you already care about. You decided the 10th lord matters; sthāna says whether that lord has a seat. High sthāna plus a kendra plus a yoga is a rhyme. High total only because naisargika and kāla inflated a debilitated planet is a rhyme you should not trust yet.
Glance at dig bala if the planet is angular. Park kāla, ceṣṭā, naisargika, and dṛk. Kāla is the disagreement engine. Naisargika is the same for every chart. Name aspects in English instead of taking dṛk.
Compare sthāna versus the planet’s job, not totals versus each other. Saturn’s sthāna higher than Jupiter’s means more positional support in this file, not a happier life.
What the Numbers Are Not
Not a health diagnosis. If the body is loud, use a clinician. A low Moon kāla bala is not a lab result.
Not a job title. A high Sun total does not mean government. See D10 for work as a varga — and still do not name an industry from a score.
Not a yoga. A Hamsa yoga with middling Jupiter sthāna is still a yoga. Do not delete a combination because a total missed a line by a fraction.
Not a remedy shop. Upāya sold against a red number is a SKU. If a planet is positionally thin, look at the domain first.
Not fate with a decimal. Choice versus map does not get settled at 6.49 rupas. The integer means “this function has a seat” or “this function is working from a weak chair.” You still sit in the chair.
A Worked Glance, Not a Dump
Suppose you care about career, so you take the D1 10th lord — say Mercury — and you look only at sthāna. Mercury is in Kanyā, a kendra, and dignified in D9. Sthāna will be high. You do not need the other five numbers to say: the work-lord has a seat. Then you read the 10th house, the 10th-from-Moon, and whether a Mercury dasha is running. If Mercury’s total is only average because dig bala is low (Mercury not in the east) and dṛk is negative (Saturn aspect), you can add a sentence: seated, but the angle and the aspect make the work effortful. That sentence came from houses and aspects. The scores agreed. If they had disagreed, you would have trusted the houses and named the disagreement, not the 4.7.
Vargas sit inside sthāna. If you do not trust the birth time, you do not trust D9 dignity in the score, and you do not trust D10. A time-unknown dump is a costume.
How Software Lies Without Meaning To
Textbooks weight the six blocks differently. Two programs, two totals. If you compare App A’s “Sun 6.8” with a forum’s “Sun must be 6.5,” you may be comparing two rulers. Ask which text, which ayanāṃśa, whether vargas sit in sthāna, rupas or virūpas — then read the sign and house in words.
The Whisper does not output shad bala. Daily Vedic lines use rāśi quality and gochara. A practitioner who can explain one planet’s sthāna in a sentence, and who will not diagnose blood from Saturn’s total, is using the tool as a tool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which shad bala number matters most? Sthāna, first. Dig if the planet is angular. The total last, and only after you can name the planet’s house job.
Is a planet below the textbook minimum useless? No. It is under a rule-of-thumb line inside one scoring system. Placement, lordship, yoga, and dasha still speak.
Can I use shad bala without birth time? Sthāna that includes house category and D9 needs time. Sign dignity alone you can discuss in words. A full six-fold dump without Lagna is theater.
Does high shad bala mean a “good” dasha? A well-seated dasha lord has more positional support. A well-seated Saturn dasha can still be heavy. Vimshottari is a chapter clock, not a happiness index.
Where next? The frame: what is Vedic. Combinations: yogas. Significators: karakas. Work as a varga, not a score: D10.