Cheshta Bala: Eight Motion States, Speed Thresholds and Worked Examples

What is Cheshta Bala?

The score is expressed in Virupas. It is a convention inside an astrological calculation, not a measurement of physical energy or a demonstrated probability of a life event. To understand a report, reproduce its inputs and classification before interpreting its total.

This guide documents the local profile parashari-motion-shadbala-2026.2. Its exact boundary choices and one-day comparison matter. A report using a continuous Cheshta Kendra calculation or another comparison interval is a different method and should be identified as such.

Three inputs that should not be mixed together

First, v is the signed apparent longitude rate in degrees per day: negative for retrograde motion, positive for direct motion. A longitude is a position; a longitude rate describes change. A planet at 12° in a sign is not necessarily moving at 12° per day.

Second, m is the positive reference rate for that planet. The dimensionless ratio r = v/m makes the thresholds comparable across planets. Keep the negative sign. Replacing v with its absolute value would incorrectly move every retrograde example into a direct-motion band.

Third, the sign comparison is a separate yes/no input. The current app compares the current sidereal sign with the sign at the same UTC instant one day earlier. It does not ask whether the planet has ever visited another sign during the whole retrograde episode.

Use the same calculation settings for both positions. A changed zodiac convention or ayanamsa can shift a sign boundary and therefore alter this flag. The comparison also does not reconstruct every crossing between the two sampled times.

The eight states and their discrete scores

The state names and scores are described in Maitreya's Cheshta Bala documentation. The interval endpoints in this table specify Astrogyana's implementation. Read the negative-speed branch first, then the non-negative bands in order.

A dash means that changing the sign flag does not change this branch. A moderate direct rate with r = 0.75 remains Manda even if the sampled signs differ. Sign change selects Anuvakra only in the negative branch, and Atichara only above the fast-motion threshold.

These scores are not a steadily increasing scale of speed. Sama receives 7.5, while both slower Manda and faster Chara receive more. Calling a value “faster” is a statement about motion; calling it “larger Cheshta Bala” requires the actual classification.

Use the reference rate for the correct planet

The rates above are the constants used in this profile, not freshly measured orbital velocities. Mercury and Venus use the same annual-mean reference rate here. Substituting their heliocentric orbital rates would change every normalized threshold and would no longer reproduce this report.

For Jupiter, m = 0.083056° per day. A hypothetical direct speed of 0.05° per day gives r ≈ 0.602003, inside Manda. For Saturn, 0.04° per day gives r ≈ 1.194850, inside Sama. The smaller absolute speed in the second example belongs to the larger normalized band.

Display rounding is for reading only. Use the underlying reference constants and unrounded input speed when deciding the branch. If a report shows only two decimals, request more precision before concluding that two near-boundary results conflict.

Calculate eight complete examples

These invented speeds illustrate the algorithm; they are not ephemeris predictions for a date. Start with the first Mars row. Its speed is negative, so no comparison with 10%, 50% or 150% is necessary. With the sign unchanged it receives Vakra and 60 Virupas. With the sign changed it receives Anuvakra and 30.

The third row has a positive Mars speed of 0.03° per day, below 0.1 × 0.524039. It is classified as Vikala. The label therefore includes a small positive band in this implementation; it does not prove the speed was exactly zero at an astronomical station.

The final two Venus rows have the same rate and ratio. Only the sign flag differs. Their scores change from 45 to 30, even though their speed does not change. This is why a screenshot containing only “retrograde/direct” and the final score cannot fully explain the calculation.

Exact thresholds: zero, 10%, 50%, 100% and 150%

Exactly zero enters Vikala. Exactly 10% enters Mandatara, and exactly 50% enters Manda. Exactly the reference rate enters Sama. Exactly 150% remains Sama; Chara or Atichara begins strictly above it.

The table deliberately includes a tiny negative ratio. It still enters the negative-speed branch rather than the near-zero direct band. This is a consequence of the order of rules, not a claim that an infinitesimal physical change suddenly produces an observable jump in a person's life.

At 10%, the state name changes but the score remains 15. At 50%, the score changes from 15 to 30. At 100%, it drops from 30 to 7.5. At 150%, moving just above the boundary changes it to 45 when no sign crossing is flagged. These are discrete classification boundaries, so smooth interpolation between table entries would describe a different model.

What the previous-day sign comparison does

In this illustrative table, normalized sidereal longitude identifies a sign by floor(λ/30). The rate ratio is supplied separately; the two longitudes are not being used to estimate the instantaneous speed. This separation keeps a finite displacement from being confused with an ephemeris rate.

The 359.8° to 0.2° example crosses the zodiac origin and changes sign. It must not be treated as a huge backward jump. Likewise, 0.2° to 359.8° can represent a small retrograde crossing. A subtraction of raw longitudes without circular normalization would be misleading.

The last row is retrograde but stays within the same sign, so it receives Vakra. The fifth row changes sign at an ordinary direct ratio and remains Manda. Neither “sign changed” nor “retrograde” by itself determines every possible output.

A one-day sampling convention creates a time window after an ingress during which the sampled signs may differ. It is not an exact event-duration calculation. Comparisons with software using a different window must record that difference before diagnosing an error.

The Sun and Moon use separate components

The Sun does not go through the five-planet speed table in this profile. Its Cheshta entry equals its Ayana value. The Moon's Cheshta entry equals its Paksha value. Neither rule is a reason to invent a retrograde state for a luminary.

For an accounting example, if the Sun's Ayana is 42 Virupas, the Cheshta entry is 42. If a hypothetical Moon has Paksha 24, its Cheshta entry is 24. Both values also appear within their respective Kala breakdowns in this implementation. Keep the two named total components distinct when adding the report.

Read the Ayana Bala worked guide and the Paksha Bala angle guide for those inputs. The eight-state table is not a replacement for either calculation.

Why two programs may report different results

Compare five things: the method family, the reference rate, the exact speed, the boundary inclusions and the sign-comparison interval. A method name alone may hide different numeric conventions. The methodology page provides the broader calculation context.

Combustion, exaltation, house position and aspects are separate ideas. Do not subtract a combustion penalty from this table unless the selected profile explicitly defines one. Likewise, a large Cheshta component does not establish a large total Shadbala, because the remaining components still contribute.

To convert Virupas to Rupas, divide by sixty: 7.5 Virupas is 0.125 Rupa; 30 is 0.5; 60 is 1. A normalized ratio r = 1.5 is dimensionless and is not 1.5 Rupas. The Shadbala units guide explains the report's different ratios.

A worksheet for checking your report

1. Write down the planet, date, time and calculation settings.
2. Record the signed rate with enough decimals and the correct degrees-per-day unit.
3. Record the planet's reference rate and calculate r without rounding.
4. Compare the present sign with the same UTC time one day earlier.
5. Choose the first matching interval, including its exact endpoints.
6. Record both the state name and Virupa score.
7. Check the Sun and Moon with their separate rules.

This gives a traceable explanation of the result. It also shows where uncertainty in a displayed input matters. Near a station or sign boundary, rounding can conceal the distinction that selected a branch; keeping the underlying calculation is more useful than assigning meaning to a rounded label alone.

Frequently asked questions