From Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra, the great book on vedic astrology, the D4 divisional chart has been described in Chapter 6 Verse 9 as follows:
स्वर्क्षादिकेन्द्रपतयस्तुर्यांशेशाः क्रियादिषु । सनकश्च सनन्दश्च कुमारश्च सनातनः ॥ ९॥ Translation: The lords of the 4 angles from a sign are the rulers of respective Chathurthamsa of a zodiac sign. The deities respectively are Sanaka, Sananda, Kumara, and Sanatana.
As we can see from the above translation, a simple definition without examples is not sufficient to understand the concept. Therefore, there are various methods for constructing a D4 Chaturthamsa Chart in Vedic Astrology. The traditional approach is similar to the creation of the Navamsa D9 Chart, while the modern method involves using angles from each zodiac sign. In total, there are 48 divisions of the zodiac in this chart. Each zodiac sign is divided into 4 equal parts of 7 degrees and 30 minutes each and these divisions are then categorised into various groups based on the method adopted.
Table 1 – Ancient Method of calculating D4 Chart
| D1 Zodiac Sign \ D1 Degrees | 0° to 7°29” | 7°30” to 14°59” | 15° to 22°29” | 22.30° to 30°” |
| Aries | Aries | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer |
| Taurus | Leo | Virgo | Libra | Scorpio |
| Gemini | Sagittarius | Capricorn | Aquarius | Pisces |
| Cancer | Aries | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer |
| Leo | Leo | Virgo | Libra | Scorpio |
| Virgo | Sagittarius | Capricorn | Aquarius | Pisces |
| Libra | Aries | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer |
| Scorpio | Leo | Virgo | Libra | Scorpio |
| Sagittarius | Sagittarius | Capricorn | Aquarius | Pisces |
| Capricorn | Aries | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer |
| Aquarius | Leo | Virgo | Libra | Scorpio |
| Pisces | Sagittarius | Capricorn | Aquarius | Pisces |
| Deities | Sanaka | Sananda | Sanat-Kumara | Sanatana |
Table 2 – Modern D4 Chart Method
| D1 Zodiac Sign \ D1 Degrees | 0° to 7°29” | 7°30” to 14°59” | 15° to 22°29” | 22.30° to 30°” |
| Aries | Aries | Cancer | Libra | Capricorn |
| Taurus | Taurus | Leo | Scorpio | Aquarius |
| Gemini | Gemini | Virgo | Sagittarius | Pisces |
| Cancer | Cancer | Libra | Capricorn | Aries |
| Leo | Leo | Scorpio | Aquarius | Taurus |
| Virgo | Virgo | Sagittarius | Pisces | Gemini |
| Libra | Libra | Capricorn | Aries | Cancer |
| Scorpio | Scorpio | Aquarius | Taurus | Leo |
| Sagittarius | Sagittarius | Pisces | Gemini | Virgo |
| Capricorn | Capricorn | Aries | Cancer | Libra |
| Aquarius | Aquarius | Taurus | Leo | Scorpio |
| Pisces | Pisces | Gemini | Virgo | Sagittarius |
| Deities | Sanaka | Sananda | Sanat-Kumara | Sanatana |