Mercury Mahadasha: 17 Years of Budha

Budha, Mercury, is regarded as the prince, the youth of the sky. It governs the seventh mahadasha of the vimshottari cycle, right after Shani and right before Ketu. Each mahadasha is a major period of a planet whose length never varies; Mercury's extends over seventeen years and is subdivided into antardashas, sub-periods that other planets share in turn. It is the first period in the life of someone whose natal Moon is in Ashlesha, Jyeshtha or Revati.

It unfolds in three phases. Study progresses and happiness settles in first, then those in authority recognize you, and the end is said to be painful. Everything is read through the condition of your natal Mercury. Exalted, in its own sign, in a friendly sign, or settled in houses 11, 5 or 9, it supports the period; the beneficial effect is complete if a benefic aspects it, if it sits in house 9 or if it rules the 10th. Reputation, deepening knowledge, the goodwill of people in position and rejoicing are then the areas in play. Joined to a malefic, or lodged in 6, 8 or 12, Mercury shows the opposite: friction with those around you, leaving for abroad and dependence on others.

A second method first ranks the planets by strength and describes Mercury's period without regard to its condition. It speaks of messages passed on, of friends and teachers through whom good arrives, of praise from educated people, of a talent for mockery and of service under others. In this case the downside is harsh words, sorrow and a tormented mind. In India the other method is the one used, the one based on the nakshatras, which divides one hundred twenty years into nine parts. That is the vimshottari.

To read about the graha itself, open the Budha guide.