Shadbala is the calculated value of a planetary strength which is sourced from six different areas.
These sources are as below:
- Sthana Bala – positional strength
- Uchcha Bala – The strength of exaltation
- Saptavarga Bala – Divisional strength
- Ojayugma Rashi Bala – The strength of the planet’s placement in odd/even signs
- Kendradi Bala – The strength when the planet is placed in Kendra (1, 4, 7, 10) Panaphara (2, 5, 8, 11) and Apoklima (3, 6, 9, 12) houses
- Drekkana Bala – Strength of planet when placed in specific 15-degree divisions in a sign
- Dig Bala – Directional Strength of the Planet
- Kaala Bala
- Nathonatha Bala – diurnal and nocturnal strength of the planet
- Paksha Bala – Strength related to the Lunar phase
- Tribhaga Bala – Strength of The planet during hrs of day and night
- Varsha Bala – Strength of the planet during the astrological Year
- Maasa Bala – Strength of the planet during the astrological Month
- Dina Bala – Strength of the planet during the astrological Day
- Hora Bala – Strength of the planet during the astrological hour
- Yudha Bala – Strength gained through planetary war
- Ayana Bala – Equinoctial strength of Planet
- Chestha Bala – Strength of Motion of Planet
- Naisargika Bala – Natural strength of the planet
- Drik Bala – Aspect strength or Strength gained through drishti.
Calculation of Shadbala is a tough job if manually conducted. There are computer software programs available nowadays to easily compute the following strength of the planets.
Shadbala provides deep insight into a person’s planetary strength present in their birth chart. Since any major birth chart analysis is dependent on planetary strength, Shabala is always checked by an astrologer.
The major benefit of Shadbala comes while analyzing a planetary yoga formed by multiple planets. Here the planet with the highest Shadbala value becomes the yoga handler and orchestrates the events predicted by that Yoga. This means certain yoga which is formed by a specific combination of planets does not always yield the same results for everyone.
For Example, a Gajakesari Yoga formed by Jupiter and Moon where Moon is having highest Shadbala will show a different flavour of result in one person and where Jupiter is having highest Shadbala will show a different pattern of result in another person. Here both people are having the same yoga named Gajakesari but may not be the exact same result outcome.