The ninth division
The navamsa, or D-9, divides each sign into nine parts of three degrees twenty minutes and maps each part onto a full sign of its own. It is the most used of the sixteen divisional charts, and in practice it is read almost alongside the birth chart rather than after it.
What it is read for
The navamsa is the chart of marriage and of the partner, and more broadly of a person's inner strength — what they are once the surface of the birth chart is set aside. A planet weak in the birth chart but strong in the navamsa is understood to deliver its results late but genuinely.
Vargottama
A planet occupying the same sign in both the birth chart and the navamsa is called vargottama, and is treated as notably strengthened. It is one of the first things an astrologer looks for when weighing how much a placement can actually deliver.
Common questions
Is the navamsa more important than the birth chart?
Neither replaces the other. The birth chart shows the placement and the navamsa shows how much of it will hold, which is why the two are read together rather than in sequence.
What does vargottama mean?
A planet in the same sign in both the birth chart and the navamsa. It is treated as considerably strengthened.