Shadbala measures whether a planet can actually deliver what it promises. Six independent sources of strength are combined into a single figure in virupas, and compared against a minimum prescribed for each planet.
Dignity alone tells you whether a planet is comfortable; Shadbala tells you whether it can act. A yoga formed by a planet below its required strength often underdelivers — which is why measuring it matters before predicting from it.
A quantitative system combining six sources of planetary strength into a single measure in virupas, where 60 virupas make one rupa.
Each planet has its own prescribed minimum: Sun 390, Moon 360, Mars 300, Mercury 420, Jupiter 390, Venus 330 and Saturn 300 virupas.
The minimums are traditional thresholds from classical texts, calibrated to each planet's natural strength — Mercury's requirement is the most demanding of the seven.
The total should not be, but Drik Bala alone can be — a planet under net malefic aspect loses aspectual strength, which is meaningful rather than an error.
Occasional emails when something genuinely moves — eclipses, retrogrades, dasha shifts — written the same way as these articles. No horoscope spam.