Ashtakavarga, Explained — What Your Bindus Actually Mean

Ashtakavarga is a classical scoring system that gives each sign — and so each house — a number of bindus (points) that measures how much support its matters carry. The combined score across the seven planets and the lagna is the Sarvashtakavarga (SAV). It is one of the few genuinely quantitative tools in Vedic astrology, and it is best read as a strength indicator, not a verdict.

How the SAV is built

Each of the eight contributors (the seven grahas plus the ascendant) awards bindus to the twelve signs according to classical rules. Summed, they always total 337 across the twelve signs (a fixed invariant from BPHS Ch. 66), so the average house holds about 28 bindus. A house well above that average is comparatively well-supported; one well below carries less classical backing for its themes.

How to read it honestly

A high SAV does not guarantee good results, and a low one does not doom a house — it indicates relative support, which the rest of the chart (planetary dignity, yogas, dashas) then colours. Read the bands as a starting weight, not an outcome: see a strong house, an average house, and a modest house.

How the tool uses it

Mitram's Ashtakavarga tool computes your SAV for each house and bands it — a computed, cited reading, never a prediction.

FAQ

What is a good Ashtakavarga score?

Above the ~28-bindu average is comparatively strong; 30+ is usually read as strong support, under 25 as modest. But it is support, not a guarantee.

Does the SAV always total 337?

Yes — across the twelve signs the Sarvashtakavarga sums to 337, a classical invariant useful as a correctness check.