Draft. This lesson is being reviewed and may change before publication.
Lesson 18 of 20 · Timing and matching
Transits (gochar): reading the sky now against your chart
How current planetary positions are read against the natal chart, which transits matter, counting from the Moon, and the Ashtakavarga idea. Lesson 18.
Written by Khushal ThakkarReviewed by Review pendingUpdated October 29, 2026
Gochar, transit, is the reading of the planets' current positions against the natal chart: which house from the Moon each planet is crossing now, and what the tradition says of that house for that planet. Sade Sati is the best-known transit; this lesson sets it in the wider method.
The slow planets set the weather
Saturn, Jupiter, Rahu and Ketu move slowly enough to colour years. The tradition gives each a list of houses from the Moon where its transit is read as favourable:
| Planet | Favourable houses from the Moon | Time per sign |
|---|---|---|
| Saturn | 3, 6, 11 | about 2½ years |
| Jupiter | 2, 5, 7, 9, 11 | about 1 year |
| Rahu / Ketu | 3, 6, 11 (Rahu), 3, 6, 11 (Ketu) | about 1½ years |
| Sun | 3, 6, 10, 11 | 1 month |
| Mars | 3, 6, 11 | about 6 weeks |
| Mercury | 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11 | about 3 weeks |
| Venus | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12 | about 3 weeks |
| Moon | 1, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11 | 2¼ days |
Transits through the other houses are read as neutral or demanding, with Saturn's through the 12th, 1st and 2nd (Sade Sati) and 4th and 8th (dhaiya) singled out.
Jupiter's year
Jupiter's transit of the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th from the Moon is the classic "good year": growth, marriage, children, gains, depending on the house. Jupiter crossing the Moon sign itself or the 8th is read as a slower year. Because Jupiter changes sign yearly, this is the transit people most often ask about.
Vedha and refinements
The simple house rule has refinements: vedha, where a planet in a specific other house cancels the good transit; Ashtakavarga, where each sign carries a score for each planet from the natal chart; and the Moorthi nirnaya rules of the Moon's position when a planet enters a sign. They separate a careful transit reading from a quick one, and an astrologer applies them.
Reading transits with the dasha
The tradition's rule of precedence: the dasha says what chapter you are in, the transits say what is happening in it this season. A favourable Jupiter transit during a difficult dasha is read as relief; an adverse Saturn transit during a strong dasha as a test that is passed. Read both together, never one alone.
Worked example
For the Vrishabha Moon of the reference chart, in late 2026 Saturn is in Meena, the 11th from the Moon, a favourable house, which is why the Sade Sati calculator shows the period as clear until Saturn enters Mesha in June 2027. Jupiter, moving through Karka and Simha in 2026 and 2027, crosses the 3rd and 4th from the Moon, neutral houses, before reaching the favourable 5th in 2028.
Calculate yours
Try the calculator this lesson explains.