Dosha
An astrological 'affliction' or fault in a chart — a placement said to cause difficulty in a life area.
A dosha is a flaw or affliction: a planetary placement traditionally read as a source of difficulty in some area of life. Well-known examples are Mangal dosha (the Manglik condition), Kaal Sarp dosha and Pitra dosha.
Doshas are among the most commercialised ideas in popular astrology, often inflated to sell expensive remedies and pujas. In careful practice many supposed doshas are partial, cancelled by other factors, or far milder than fear-based marketing suggests.
A responsible reading checks whether a dosha actually holds in the full chart, looks for the many recognised cancellations, and weighs its real impact rather than treating it as a curse. A dosha is a factor to understand, not a sentence.
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Related terms
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