Is Kāla-sarpa doṣa mentioned in the scriptures?

it is not found in the major classical texts like Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra or Phaladīpikā; it is a later idea that became popular recently.

Kāla-sarpa “doṣa” is said to occur when all seven planets lie on one side of the Rāhu–Ketu axis. The well-known classical works — Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra, Bṛhat Jātaka, Sārāvalī, Phaladīpikā — do not describe such a doṣa. (Bṛhat Jātaka has a “sarpa yoga”, but it is a different combination.) The term spread mainly through 20th-century writing and, more recently, through costly online pūjās.

Many respected astrologers therefore do not use it at all, and some note that people with this pattern have lived very successful lives. Others treat it as a mild indication to be read with the whole chart.

So there is no reason to panic. If it troubles your mind, simple devotion — Śiva worship, Mahāmṛtyuñjaya japa, or a modest Nāga-pañcamī offering — is enough. Be wary of anyone who says only an expensive ritual at one place can “remove” it.

Source: absent from Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra, Bṛhat Jātaka, Phaladīpikā · A modern-era term

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