Saadhe- Satti

One of the most dreaded words in Vedic astrology, heard by almost everyone in India is Saadhe Satti and its (supposedly) debilitating effects on an individual’s life. Hopefully this article can serve to explain the meaning, implication and dispel some rumors regarding it.

What is Saadhe-Satti?

The transit of Saturn in a house before moon, then over the natal moon and consequently one sign after moon (in total 3 houses) is a period called as Saadhe-satti. Or in other words, transit of Saturn in the 12th house, 1st house and 2nd house as reckoned from the natal Moon is a period called Saadhe-satti.

Saadhe-satti translates from Hindi as 7 1/2 which is the number of years this transit last roughly as Saturn takes approximately 2 1/2 years to transit in one sign. Hence to cover 3 signs it will take 3 x 2 1/2 = 7 1/2 yrs

Technically speaking, Saadhe satti starts when Saturn transits 45 degrees before Moon and continues till 45 degrees after the longitude of Moon in a person’s horoscope. However as a generalization, the degrees are ignored and the signs are considered. As an example currently Saturn is transiting scorpio. Hence saadhe satti is running for individuals with the following moon signs – Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius.

Also related is the transit called is ‘Dhaiya’ which occurs when Saturn transits the 4th sign or 8th sign from moon. Dhaiya means 2 1/2 yrs and this period is also reputed to be in results similar to the saadhe-satti period.

What are the Effects of Saadhe- Satti as per common belief? (Why the fear regarding the same?)

As per rumor/ belief or partial knowledge, Saadhe satti brings about misery of all kinds in a person’s life in the form of physical, financial, professional and mental agony. A person suffers in all areas of life and progress in career or education becomes very hard and sometimes impossible. Obstacles occur in any area the person touches and delays, denials and misfortunes occur regularly. As per further belief, barring some relief from remedies, life becomes a drag/ pain and this period can cause deep frustrations and/ or depression in an individual. For those who are very old in age, this period can even cause death.

What is the Reality of Saadhe-Satti?

This transit of Saturn is NOT always bad. Further bad or good are relative words and hence generalizing something as bad is by itself, a fallacy.

Saturn by nature is a hard task master. The planet does not easily give results and neither does it give anything in a hurry. It demands hard work, discipline and honesty in any activity before it awards the person with any desired results. It does have a tendency to ‘delay’ results in general, especially if one wishes quick returns on their effort or sometimes returns without any effort.

Having said this, this transit can sometimes be the best period of someone’s life. It can be constructive, progressive and full of professional, personal or educational achievements for particular natives. It depends on their basic horoscope. Strength and dignity of Saturn in the horoscope of the native along with its functional nature. Also since this transit is defined around Moon, the placement, strength/ dignity of Moon and aspects on Moon in the basic horoscope are vital to consider as well.

Further, most important to remember is that this is just transit, that too of just one of the 9 planets. Hence it is not a be-all/ do-all situation and not the end of the world even if Saturn is negative in one’s horoscope.

The operating dasas and other transits also contribute their own positive/ negative results as be and the net result is a combination of the entire horoscope, its Yogas, dasas and overall transits. Saadhe-satti, hence, is just one of the 100’s of factors to be considered for a final reading for any given time for any given individual.

During Saadhe satti, in general a person has to work hard in life to get success. Success can be achieved all right, but not without effort and a dedicated effort towards the chosen area of the native. For students, hard work is needed to get good grades and to attain the diplomas. In general the more disciplined life a person leads during Saadhe satti, the more constructive the results over the period.

Factors to be considered for Saadhe- Satti (SS) analysis-

1) SS is not negative for Moon signs of – Taurus, Libra, Capricorn and Aquarius. The latter 2 as Saturn is the owner of the moon sign and hence a functional benefic and in case of Taurus or Libra moon signs, Saturn becomes a Yoga Karaka or a highly benefic planet

2) SS is relatively more negative but still not too negative for the Mercury owned signs of Moon – Gemini and Virgo. For both these signs, Saturn considers the ruler Mercury as its friend and in addition owns one good and one not so good house and hence neutral in functionality for these signs

3) SS is worst, in general, for signs of Cancer and Leo. This is because Saturn is enmical to the rulers of these signs and in addition rules negative houses from these signs

4) SS will be felt more intensely when the maha dasa or antar dasa of Saturn is also operating in addition to the SS transit in the context of Vimshottari dasa

5) Functional nature of Saturn is the most important from both the Lagna and Moon sign. If Saturn is a functional benefic from both the signs, SS can be a very constructive period.

6) Look at the signs Saturn rules from the Moon sign, these houses will be activated during this transit. Example for Taurus moon, Saturn rules 9th and 10th house. So effects related to the 9th and 10th house will be felt strongly during a SS period for the Taurus natives

7) Along the same lines, look at the signs Saturn rules from Lagna, these will also be activated during SS period

8) SS is much more harshsly felt when Saturn is conjunct Moon, Mars, Ketu or Rahu in the natal horoscope. (Especially if the conjunction is less than 5 degrees)

9) SS is less malefic when Saturn conjuncts Jupiter or Venus in the natal horoscope

10) Even when SS gives constructive results, the ‘Generic’ effects of Saturn will also be felt. Saturn is a generically a malefic planet. Hence its effects, even when functionally benefic, will not be devoid of some level of delay/ stress and anxiety in the process. However, remember that Functional effects are always predominant and over-rule generic effects. Hence when functionally benefic, the results of SS will be constructive long term for the native

11) When Saturn sits in 3rd, 6th or 11th in the natal horoscope SS is usually constructive in overall effects

12) When Saturn sits in 1st, 4th, 8th or 12th houses in the natal horoscope, SS results will be more negative in general

13) Very important is BAV (ashtakvarga) bindus of Saturn in the signs during SS. If Saturn has 4 or more bindus (dots/ points) in any sign, the malefic effects, if any, are greatly reduced. With 3 points, the results are average. For 0, 1 or 2 points, the results are negative

14) Likewise observe the SAV bindus for the signs where SS or dhaiya is occurring. If the sign has between 25 to 29 points, the results will be average. Below 25 will be bad (lower the worse). Above 30 will be good (the higher the score, the better the result)

15) If the BAV score of Saturn is high (say 5) but SAV score of sign is average or low (say 24) then BAV effect will dominate and in this example, results will be good

16) While SS, if Rahu/ Ketu also transit in conjunction with Saturn or over the natal moon, the effects are more negative ofcourse as now more general malefics are combining at the same time

17) Likewise when Jupiter aspects Saturn during SS, the malefic/ delaying effects of Saturn are reduced accordingly

18) Keep Vipreet Vedha in mind as well. When Saturn transits 12th from moon, SS is active. However if any planet (except Sun) transits in the 3rd house from Moon. It puts a Vipreet Vedha (reverse block) on Saturn. This implies the negative effects of Saturn are reduced or diverted during such a transit and hence SS effects will be temporarily abated

19) If Saturn is causing SS and problems for a native, typically during the retrograde periods of Saturn, the negative results will take a back seat. They don’t go away – just get into a limbo mode. Meaning the intensity of negative events abates for some time and gives the native a breather during the roughly 5 months per every 12 months when Saturn is retrograde

20) During SS, when Saturn transits the 3rd, 5th or 7th Nakshatra from Moon, the negative effects are amplified

21) When Saturn transits in the 2nd, 6th or 8th Nakshatras from Moon, the negative effects are reduced

22) During SS, when Mars conjuncts or aspects Saturn in transit, stress, anger and frustration sort of results are obtained

23) Effects of SS are most intense when Saturn is transiting within 6 degrees before and after the natal Moon degree. Also important is the natal Moon’s brightness and strength in the horoscope. A Moon that is bright and strong in the natal horoscope will be affected much less than a dark and weak moon. In the latter case, there will be a tendency to depression during such Saturn transits

Finally, suffice to say, that despite its highly feared reputation, SS is NOT always bad. It can be a constructive period as well depending on an individual horoscope. However, keep in mind that the main lesson of Saturn is discipline and perseverance. During SS, one must learn to inculcate these qualities, else Saturn will teach those lesson anyways and it will feel harsh to the native.

63 Responses to Saadhe- Satti

  1. anjan says:

    Excellent,even a person with no knowledge of astrology would understand

  2. Vandana Tummala says:

    Dear Vivek,

    In point 3 above, are you refering to Moon sign of Cancer and Leo, “SS is worst for…”? or is it Sun signs i.e. ascendants of Cancer and Leo? Please clarify.

    Also, it is said sade sathi happens 3 times in person’s life, assuming they live long life. But is it less harmful, if say, the person is in 40s versis 20s, or 50s versis 30s. The gap will be 29 1/2 years correct?

    Thanks, sir. Your website is very helpful!

    • VS says:

      Hello Vandana,

      Sadhe satti is always seen from Moon as the reference point (lagna). Vedic astrology lays more emphasis on the moon sign for interpreting transits.

      Please read the generic effects of saturn article as well. which will help in some of your questions. SS is not good or bad in itself, it is a period when saturn houses and placement will be more illuminated, so to speak, in terms of effects than other times. For individuals where saturn rules good houses and is placed well in the horoscope, SS can only do good

      since saturn is a slow moving and harsh natured taskmaster by Generic effects, even its good effects come only after a lot of hardwork and some initial setbacks. That is why to some extent SS seems harsh to all, but the actual functional results will differ markedly for different people. As one grows older, the wisdom to mould oneself to testing times in life also increases and so does financial cushion (in general) and hence some generic results will be better for someone in 40s -50s as opposed to teens or 20s

  3. Sundar says:

    Sri VS:
    For Dhanur Rasi saadhe saati seems to have started on Nov 2 2014 and ends Jan 16 2023; that is 8 years and 3 months. This apparently is due to retrogression, am I correct? Also, what is the effect of Saadhe Saati during Rahu Dasha? Thanks.

    • VS says:

      For exact sadhe sati, dont take just the rashi but exact 45 degrees behind the moon degree and 45 degrees after the moon degree.
      Rahu or any other planet will give its promise in the chart which is mainly from placement, aspects, strengths etc. Sadhe sati by itself wont change that. Sadhe satti just means an influence of saturn on the person for that time, which is not always bad. It depends on the functional nature of saturn in the horoscope as well as the aspects, placement and dignity of saturn in the horoscope

  4. saroj says:

    Really nice description. ….

  5. Adidam says:

    Hello VS,
    In Second Cycle of Sadhe Sati in Rahu Mahadasha.
    Saturn in Capricorn(7) for Cancer Ascendant,Moon sign is Capricorn.
    SAV of the Sign’s Sagg,Capricorn And Aquarius is 28,27,29 respectively.
    BAV of Saturn is 3
    V.B of Saturn is 12
    S.B of Saturn is 5 (1.5%). Kindly can you predict some effects of this period .
    Thank you very much .

    • VS says:

      i dont give personal readings
      SS is not always bad. depends on dasa antar and also dignity of saturn, which in this case is strong being in full dig bala and own house causing sasa mahapurush yoga

      • adidam says:

        Thank you VS,
        As you mentioned in your article that sadhe sati should not be severe for capricorn moon signs .
        Kindly mention few points about sasa mahapurush yoga.
        Also,
        As saturn is strong here it should not give bad results,what will be the results if it is debilitated in navamsa being in 5th house (aries) .
        Thank you .

        • VS says:

          a planet placed strongly in rasi but debilitated or afflicted in navamsa will usually give good results in the first half of life/ dasa but the good results will taper off and even become negative in the 2nd half…this is a generic rule which can be applied with caution

  6. Ravi Vaish says:

    Dear Vs
    If Saturn is retrograde in Natal chart, is it positive in SS period.

    Thanks
    Ravi

  7. Varun says:

    Sir,
    Just one question, as you mentioned –
    “Functional nature of Saturn is the most important from both the Lagna and Moon sign. If Saturn is a functional benefic from both the signs, SS can be a very constructive period”
    If lagna happens to be LEO and moon sing is Capricorn and Saturn exalted in Libra. Further in Navamsa Saturn is in Capricorn Moon sign.
    In view of the above shall we term – Saturn is functional benefic.
    Thank you

  8. MKS says:

    VS,
    Wondering “lower (< 25)" SAV bindus in 6, 8 & 12 houses could be considered good as they are dushtana (evil) houses. Please guide. Thanks

  9. Siva says:

    Hi VS
    Great article !
    If Lagna and Rasi are adjacent signs ( Sag Lagna – Capri Rasi ), Saturn transit over Sag – will the impact be more intense as it is kind of 7.5 return for Lagna as well ?
    Also, is Saturn transit over Ascendant star adverse in general ?
    thanks

    • VS says:

      there is no real concept of saadhe satti from lagna as the definition is from moon. however that said, what Saturn will give or not will be different as per its functional nature and strength and yogas etc in the chart as well as ashtakvarga bindus in the said signs and not just placement

  10. Saket says:

    Saade sathi for virgo asdentant who has saturn in 3rd house and moon in 6th house of aquarius so for a native how would its saade sathi be since virgo is friendly to saturn and moon in own saturn mool trikona sign

  11. Sundar says:

    Hello VS,
    You have mentioned that for Aquarius and Capricorn Moon signs Saade Saati is not negative. You have mentioned other caveats as well and I understand that. For a Pisces lagna is aquarius moon less negative than say a Saggi Moon? As a related question, can we apply this generally to other Moon signs? Example, Taurus asc and Saggi Moon?

    Thank you.

    • VS says:

      yes among lagna, moon lagna, arudha lagna and surya lagna, the more the lagnas that a person has which have saturn as a functional benefic, less toxic sadhe satti will be

      • Sundar says:

        Hello VS,
        For a Pisces Moon, Taurus Lagna, from a lagna angle Jupiter is lord of 8 and 11 and a FM. Does being lord of the Moon Lagna make Jupiter better for this combination?

        Thanks.

        • VS says:

          it will all depend on where jupiter is placed and what is conjuncting and aspecting and trining it. If FBs do and the FB are stronger than Jupiter, then jupiter will become a benefic else remain a malefic

  12. KRS says:

    Dear VS:
    You say “in case of Taurus or Libra moon signs, Saturn becomes a Yoga Karaka or a highly benefic planet”. I have a general question in this regard. Can we define Yoga Karaka from both ascendant and moon sign? I read that it is only relevant from ascendant. Would appreciate your clarification.
    Thanks and regards
    KRS

  13. Mrugesh says:

    Hi VS,
    If such secondary lagna becomes super powerful (e.g., Sun, Moon, AK, AL and GL all fall in one sign is great dignity) then how one should read the chart?

    How much importance should be given to such lagna?

    Appreciate you view on this.

    Thanks,
    Mrugesh

  14. narayan says:

    Hi VS,
    I have 2 braod queries:-

    1. Sun is delibilated in libra and jupiter in capricorn. If sun crosses 10* and jupiter 5* will the delibilation go down or the planet be more comfortable. Can we say the planet is there but not delibilated.
    2. If a person undergoes Rahu-Jupiter period (libra-taurus), venus being rasi lord will he have any external role to play when MD-AD is in action.

    Regards, Narayan

    • VS says:

      once the planet crosses the debilitation degree but is still within the neecha sign, it is still neecha but the intensity is now decreasing or in other words the ‘worst is over’ and recovery has started

  15. Sanjivni says:

    Sir,

    Could you please share your insights regarding Retrograde Saturn in the birth chart? And what if Sadhe Sati coincides with Saturn Mahadasha for a person with such a combination?

    Regards
    Sanjivni

    • VS says:

      retrograde saturn will usually bring out more delays than a regular saturn. however saturn will also behave a bit more in functional nature like the owner of the sign it sits in and the planets that aspect or conjunct saturn

      apart from these generic guidelines, it will vary per chart and its yogas etc

      • Mks says:

        Is there a general concept that if Saturn is retrograde, then by how much things are delayed (e.g., by 5 or 10 or 15 years since at age around 36 Saturn matures).

        Also, if retrograde Saturn in 9th house with mutual aspects from Venus & Mercury both in 3rd for a Gemini Ascendant, then what aspects of life will generally get delayed. Is there any yoga here.

        • VS says:

          these sort of general concepts are just guidelines but wont be true in all charts as each chart will have different good and bad yogas of different intensities and different dasas/ transits operating. So such generic rules are at best just to kept in mind but predictions should be based on more concrete rules specific to the chart

          • Mks says:

            For Gemini asc, if retrograde Saturn in 9th house with mutual aspects from both Venus & Mercury in 3rd, then what general aspects of life will get delayed. Is there any yoga here. Thanks

          • VS says:

            you must have asked this question atleast 10 times here. Is neither professional nor serves any purpose in learning I am afraid!

  16. Mks says:

    Sorry VS didn’t mean to frustrate you, but trying to find out if there is any “generic rule of thumb” for by how much things will get delayed (e.g., months or years or decades) if Saturn is retrograde. Haven’t been able to find the answer anywhere. Thanks

  17. Ashish Kapur says:

    Dear Vivek Ji,

    Taking further knowledge/understanding of astrology to a solution in trying to salvage a weak Saturn’s position would you please recommend Neelam for Kanya lagna (Chitra Nakshtra-1) with Mercury(R in Chitra-2), moon(Uttraphaguni-2) & sun (Hast-1) when Capricorn Saturn is retrograde in Sravan-1 nakshtra with Ketu also in Sravan-1. Mangal in punarvasu-3 is fully aspecting Saturn/Ketu conjunction with ashtam dristi.

    In D-9 leo ascendant, Saturn is in Mesh Raashi at Bhagya sthan with Ketu & Sun. All 3 planets just A degree apart. Saturn Dasha commenced on 30th Nov’16. Mercury, Mars are vargottam in D-1 & D-9.

    In case your recommendation is yes, also kindly share your views, how will it affect the 6th house i.e. Aquarius which hosts retrograde Jupiter. (shatabhisha-2)

    With Best Regards.

    • VS says:

      i would not recommend neelam in this case if saturn is with ketu as both also have co rulerships of the 3rd and 6th houses in this scenario. can cause accidents and health issues

      • Ashish Kapur says:

        Vivek Ji,

        The clarity & the simplicity with which you share deep insights/knowledge, not just for the above query, but in the entire website about various topics on many specifics of astrology puts you in the category of reverent Guru (Sir!)

        Am sure many will further enlighten other torch bearers.

        With Warm Regards,

        • VS says:

          thank you for your kind words. However I am a simple mortal and no guru or the likes. I believe we all have the ability to learn this beautiful ancient art which got lost in space in time. It just takes tremendous effort, time and patience like learning any other discipline properly

  18. Mrugesh says:

    Hi VS,

    For Sade Satti, often the entire 2.5 year slot of colored good/bad according to 4 “Paya”. Viz Gold Silver Iron Copper.

    How important is that according to your observations?

    Thanks,
    Mrugesh

    • VS says:

      Paya needs to be considered but it can not change the overall flavor of factors like bhaav from lagna, bhaav strength, natal planets activated, ashtakvarga etc

  19. Varun N says:

    Good day Sir,

    Grateful if you could clarify following:

    The Sarvashtakavarga (SAV) where SS is occurring (1st house) from moon (Capricorn) is 33 but from ASC (Leo) it happens to be 6th house. Is it positive or negative ?

    Thank you.

    • VS says:

      bindus are to be seen purely for transit ONLY
      secondly higher numbers suggest that typically planets give the results freely and easily/ strongly in that rashi. good or bad depends on the general astrological analysis of which bhaav from moon, ascendant, rashi lord placements etc

  20. M says:

    Also.. is blue sapphire beneficial? There are mixed opinions among astrologers with some saying never advise a blue sapphire for Saturn in the 12th house while. some saying the ascendant lord cannot be malefic hence blue sapphire is beneficial in saadesaati

  21. Sundar says:

    Hello VS:
    During the bad transit from Moon of any planet, the mental effects will be seen in the house from the Moon, the physical effects will be seen from the lagna. Is this correct?
    Thx.

    • VS says:

      I see no problem in the logic. makes sense

      however in reality I would argue that the principles of ‘psychosomatic’ always exist. meaning the mind and the body affect each other and hence are always seen in tandem

  22. Subramanya says:

    Dear VS:
    You note that sade sathi happens when trasiting over moon sign. However, I am noting in many horoscopes that sade sathi type effects are being felt when transiting over ascendant rather than moon sign. In fact, it is indeed remarkable how life has chaged for the worse as soon as Saturn enters 12th from ascendant. However, transit over moon has hardly had any ill effects for these folks. In some cases they are going through a bad dasha, but not always. Could you please comments on this?
    As always we are all extremely gratreful at how patiently you share your knowledge with us.
    Regards.

    • VS says:

      transits have to be seen from all focal points like moon, lagna and arudha lagna. however the definition of saadhe sati is only from moon and not lagna. that said if saturn is afflicted in the chart or rules bad houses, its transits near lagna or lagnesh will create problems for sure. lagna will show more of health and physical life effects and moon shows more of emotional and mental life effects

      • Sundar says:

        VS, For Uttarabhadra Moon, Guru in 9th bhaav but Saturn in 8th ( YK for Taurus lagna), will the tara’s dispositor Saturn’s effect be pronounced from Lagna? Despite being a YK, it does give troubles related to 8th when activated, hence asking.

        Thx

        • VS says:

          i didnt fully understand the question. for tara analysis, I prefer to use moon only, though there is no logic as to why lagna doesnt apply as well. just from experience, I have seen tara analysis is more accurate from the moon

  23. raghu says:

    Good afternoon sir,iam dhanurlagnam and vrishabarasi…2 h-mars,3h-rahu 5h-saturn (neecha vakri),6h-moon,9h-ketu,10h-jupiter & venus -11h-sun & mercury (s-12.50 degress & mercury-0.55 degress)…i request your valuable advise for sun debilitation prediction as per this…whether any remidies are suggested for sun especially…

  24. Ashish Kapur says:

    Dear VS,

    For sade saati does the depositor concept works? Let me elaborate : For example the owner of raashi of 12th bhav from moon if sitting in a formidable position and likewise for chandr’s depositor & also the 2nd bhav’s owner from Chandra if sitting in good position then saade saati will elavate the person depending on the 3 bhaavs getting affected on saturn’s transit? an example could be for Capricorn lagna, Chandra is Meen raashi (prakram bhav – Ekadashi) while saturn (R) is with jupiter in Mesh raasi in 4th Bhav.

    Looking forward for your guidance.

    With very warm regards,
    Ashish Kapur.

    • VS says:

      hi absolutely. you have to look at the strength of the bhaav, strength and position of its depositor, planets in the natal chart in the rashi and their relationship with saturn, ashtakvarga etc. in the end the result is always a combination of all this

  25. Ashish Kapur says:

    Hi Vivek Ji,

    Warm Greetings for 2022!

    Wanted to take your views if the saade saati concept be applied when the moon completes the 28 days journey covering all 12 raashis? Means for almost 7 days in the 360 degrees travel of moon, one is under saade saati influence? (2.25 days x 3 raashi = 6.75 approximately 7 days) Basically GOCHAR influence?

    Eagerly looking forward for your views pls.

    Thanks
    Ashish

    • VS says:

      moon moves really fast. hence her motion is not used to determine larger impact on life as saturn, jupiter and nodes have in transit due to being slow moving and impactful

  26. Rahul says:

    How are you vivek sir

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