vimshottari mahadasha
Mercury Mahadasha (Budh): The Nine Antardashas
17 years · follows Saturn · precedes Ketu
The Mercury mahadasha runs 17 years in the 120-year Vimshottari cycle. It comes after the Saturn mahadasha and gives way to the Ketu mahadasha. A birth with the Moon in Ashlesha, Jyeshtha or Revati begins life inside it, part-way through, because those are the three nakshatras Mercury rules.
Its nine antardashas start with Mercury’s own and follow the cycle from there, so the last of them is Saturn’s. Inside these 17 years the Venus sub-period is the longest, at 2 years 10 months, and the Sun sub-period the shortest, at 10 months 6 days.
| # | Antardasha | Classical | Solar days | Opens after | Closes at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercury–Mercury | 2y 4m 27d | 880 | — | 2y 4m 27d |
| 2 | Mercury–Ketu | 11m 27d | 362 | 2y 4m 27d | 3y 4m 24d |
| 3 | Mercury–Venus | 2y 10m | 1035 | 3y 4m 24d | 6y 2m 24d |
| 4 | Mercury–Sun | 10m 6d | 310 | 6y 2m 24d | 7y 1m |
| 5 | Mercury–Moon | 1y 5m | 517 | 7y 1m | 8y 6m |
| 6 | Mercury–Mars | 11m 27d | 362 | 8y 6m | 9y 5m 27d |
| 7 | Mercury–Rahu | 2y 6m 18d | 931 | 9y 5m 27d | 12y 15d |
| 8 | Mercury–Jupiter | 2y 3m 6d | 828 | 12y 15d | 14y 3m 21d |
| 9 | Mercury–Saturn | 2y 8m 9d | 983 | 14y 3m 21d | 17y |
The “opens after” and “closes at” columns are measured from the start of a full Mercury mahadasha on the classical year. A Mercury mahadasha that was already running at birth is entered part-way, so for that birth the early rows may be in the past; the dasha calculator places the rows on the calendar from the Moon’s longitude.
Reading the Mercury Mahadasha
This page is arithmetic. For how the Mercury mahadasha is interpreted, see our Mercury mahadasha article; for Mercury’s dignities, friendships and remedies, the Mercury (Budh) page; and for the system as a whole, Vimshottari dasha explained. This page in Hindi: बुध महादशा.
The Mercury Mahadasha by Ascendant
Which houses Mercury and each of its sub-period lords rule depends on the ascendant. The Mercury mahadasha read through each lagna’s lordships: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.