Dama

The seven classical planets occupy exactly six different signs. Five signs hold one planet each, and one sign holds two. If the planets spread across seven signs, the pattern is Veena; if they contract to five, a different Sankhya shape applies.

Sankhya counts the signs occupied by the seven planets. Six signs means exactly one pair must share a sign, while the other five planets stand alone. That single shared sign is the pattern's identifying feature.

The pair is the knot. Two planets in one house combine two kinds of motivation in one area of life: for example, resources and communication, or home and career. The rest of the chart is spread, so the native has range with one point of intensity.

Sankhya is reported only when no Asraya, Dala or Akriti pattern is present (BPHS 35.16-17); it is not a second label. Dama describes a chart that is genuinely spread across six signs and does not fit a tighter geometry.

The difference from Veena is one sign. The difference from Kedara is two signs and several more shared pairs. Dama sits in the middle of the Sankhya range: enough spread for social range, enough concentration for a clear knot.

A garland is held together by the string, not by the beads. Dama puts six signs on one string and ties two beads together. The native's life is social: the pattern's dignity comes from being able to hold different people and roles on one thread. The classical generosity is the natural behaviour of a chart with enough range to see other people's positions.

The one shared sign is where the native gives most, or where two loyalties pull on the same point. That knot can be a marriage, a business partnership or a family bond that carries two kinds of duty. The pattern works when the knot is conscious. When it is not, the same generosity becomes over-commitment, and the garland becomes a harness. The string is meant to hold the beads, not to tie the wearer down.

• Generosity and a genuine desire to be useful.
• Social respect: people trust the native with responsibilities.
• The ability to hold different groups on one thread.
• A wide but not scattered range of interests.
• One area of concentrated intensity, shown by the shared sign.

• Venus or Jupiter strong, supporting generosity and social grace.
• The Moon in the 3rd or 11th, which adds friendship and community.
• The two planets in the shared sign well dignified, so the knot is strong rather than tangled.
• A strong 11th lord, so the social network produces real support.
• The ascendant lord in a sign that supports the social axis.

Dama is structural and life-long. Its themes are most visible during the periods of the two planets sharing a sign, and when Jupiter transits the 11th or the 5th. The knot is life-long; the dasha tugs on it. A period that highlights the shared sign often brings the pattern's generosity and its boundary question into the same conversation.

• Dama is not only about charity. It describes a social, generous pattern that can express through business, family or public service. The giving may be time, attention or resources rather than money.
• The shared sign is not a flaw in the chart. It is the knot that gives the garland its shape and the reading its focus. A pattern with no shared sign is Veena, a different yoga.
• Dama is not the same as Veena. Veena fills seven signs and has no conjunctions; Dama fills six and has exactly one shared sign. The one-sign difference changes the life theme.

1. 1.Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, Ch. 35 (Nabhasa Yogas, Sankhya group)
2. 2.Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, Ch. 36 (Yoga combinations)
3. 3.Sithar's Astrology, "Nabhasa Yogas Explained"
4. 4.AstroCentral, "Nabhasa Yogas" (source summary of BPHS Ch. 35)

The formation and strength of this yoga are calculated by the RajYog engine. The interpretation is an original paraphrase of the classical rule; it is not a personal prediction. Read the methodology.