The D30 and the D60 are the two divisional charts Vedic astrology reserves for the subtler layers of a life. The D30, called the trimshamsha (the thirtieth division), reads the difficulties a life is asked to meet and the strength of character that meets them; each sign splits into five unequal belts ruled by Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury, and Venus. The D60, called the shashtiamsha (the sixtieth division), splits each sign into sixty parts of half a degree and is read for accumulated karma, the oldest story a chart carries. The Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra describes both, and gives the D60 the greatest weight of any divisional chart in its larger scoring schemes.
This page covers the two charts together, because they are used together: after the everyday vargas have answered the everyday questions, these two go deeper. For the system behind all divisional charts, start with the divisional charts.
The two charts at a glance
| Attribute | D30 (Trimshamsha) | D60 (Shashtiamsha) |
|---|---|---|
| Division | 5 unequal belts per sign (5°, 5°, 8°, 7°, 5°) | 60 parts of 30′ per sign |
| Counting rule | Belts assigned to Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus; reversed in even signs | Counted from the sign itself, wrapping every 12 |
| Area of life | Difficulties, weaknesses, strength of character | Accumulated karma; the finest fine-tuning |
| Birth-time sensitivity | Moderate | The highest of all vargas |
| Special note | The Sun and Moon rule no belt | Largest vimshopaka weight of any varga |
What the D30 shows
The trimshamsha is the chart of troubles, and of the person who meets them. It maps the misfortunes, weaknesses, and inner difficulties a life is asked to face, and just as directly the resilience and integrity brought to that meeting. The classics, from the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra to the Brihat Jataka, treat it as a standing member of even the smallest varga groups.
Hear the additive spirit clearly, because this chart is easy to fear and should not be. The D30 does not pronounce doom. A hard indication here is a place where life will test a person, named in advance so it can be understood and prepared for, and the same chart shows the standing strength that does the meeting. Read it the way a good doctor reads a chart: to help.
How the D30 is calculated
The name trimshamsha means a thirtieth, a single degree, but the classical division does not assign thirty parts to thirty signs. Instead each sign splits into five belts of 5, 5, 8, 7, and 5 degrees, each ruled by one of the five planets that are neither Sun nor Moon, and each belt takes one of its ruler's own signs.
| Degrees (odd signs) | Ruler | Trimshamsha sign | Degrees (even signs) | Ruler | Trimshamsha sign |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0° to 5° | Mars | Aries | 0° to 5° | Venus | Taurus |
| 5° to 10° | Saturn | Aquarius | 5° to 12° | Mercury | Virgo |
| 10° to 18° | Jupiter | Sagittarius | 12° to 20° | Jupiter | Pisces |
| 18° to 25° | Mercury | Gemini | 20° to 25° | Saturn | Capricorn |
| 25° to 30° | Venus | Libra | 25° to 30° | Mars | Scorpio |
In even signs the same five belts run in reverse order, as the table shows. The Sun and Moon rule no trimshamsha belt, a feature unique to this varga. A worked example: a planet at 21 degrees of Gemini, an odd sign, falls in the Mercury belt (18 to 25 degrees) and so occupies Gemini in the D30. The same 21 degrees in Taurus, an even sign, falls in the Saturn belt (20 to 25 degrees) and lands in Capricorn.
How to read a D30
Read the trimshamsha as you read any chart: its houses, its lords, the planets that fall in difficult places, and the support that steadies them. The belts' rulers give the first layer, since a planet in a Jupiter or Venus trimshamsha sits in gentler territory than one in a Mars or Saturn belt, and the chart's own houses give the second.
The pairing rule applies with full force here. Every affliction found in the D30 is read in the same breath as its management: the benefic that aspects it, the strong lord that carries it, the dasha period that bounds it in time. A difficulty with a date and a description is a thing a person can meet well, and producing that description is the whole purpose of the chart.
What the D60 shows
The shashtiamsha is the finest chart in common use, sixty parts of half a degree to each sign. The classics treat it as the imprint of all that came before, the karmic seed a life grows from, and in the larger weighing schemes they give it the single greatest weight of any divisional chart: 5 points of 20 in the ten-chart dashavarga scheme and 4 of 20 in the full sixteen-chart shodashavarga, ahead of the birth chart itself.
Why so much weight in so fine a slice? Because dividing each sign sixty ways folds in the most information, the subtlest distinctions the broader charts smooth over. In practice the D60 serves as the master tie-breaker: when two charts of equal strength tell different stories, the shashtiamsha often settles which one a life follows.
How the D60 is calculated
Each part spans 30 minutes of arc, sixty parts to a sign, and the counting runs from the sign itself, wrapping around the zodiac every twelve parts. Find a planet's part number from its degree, count that many signs from the sign it occupies, and the D60 sign appears.
A worked example. A planet at 17 degrees 30 minutes of Libra has completed 35 half-degree parts and stands in the 36th. Counting 36 from Libra wraps the zodiac twice and lands on the twelfth sign from it, Virgo: the planet occupies Virgo in the D60. The Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra also gives each of the sixty parts its own name and quality, some gentle, some fierce, and traditional readers weigh whether a planet falls in a benign or a harsh shashtiamsha as a further shading.
The D60's one demand: an accurate birth time
Because its parts are so small, the shashtiamsha is exquisitely sensitive to the exact minute of birth. The D60 ascendant moves to a new sign roughly every two minutes of clock time, so an error of even a few minutes rebuilds the chart's houses entirely. Cast on a rough time, this chart misleads more than any other.
The discipline that follows is plain. Use the D60 when the birth time is documented and trustworthy, and set it aside, without loss, when the time is approximate; the coarser vargas still carry the reading. The page on why birth time matters covers how each level of precision limits what can be read. Cast on an accurate time, the D60 is read with reverence and with care, and it repays both.
Reading the deep charts kindly
Both of these charts describe, and description is the opposite of doom. The D30 names the tests a life will meet and the character that meets them; the D60 names the themes a life starts from. In both, every hard indication is paired with its support, and the dasha, the planetary period timeline, bounds every theme in time: active in its season, quiet outside it.
Neither chart is ever read in isolation. They confirm, refine, and qualify the birth chart and the working vargas above them, and when charts disagree, the disagreement itself is information about a layered life. For where these two sit in the full toolkit, see the which-chart-for-what guide, and to see your own D30 and D60 calculated from your birth details, run a free birth chart.