Mars in Ashlesha Nakshatra (Mangal in आश्लेषा)

Ashlesha, the 9th of the 27 nakshatras, covers 106°40′ – 120°00′ of the sidereal zodiac, wholly inside Cancer. Ashlesha is ruled by Mercury, so Mars in Ashlesha stands in Mercury’s star.

Mars counts Mercury an enemy, while Mercury counts Mars neutral. The table is not symmetric, so Mars in Ashlesha has to be described from both sides, as it is here. The other two nakshatras Mercury rules, Jyeshtha and Revati, put Mars under the same star lord.

Mars in Ashlesha, Pada by Pada

By rashi, Mars is debilitated in all four padas of Ashlesha, because the whole nakshatra lies in Cancer. By navamsa the four padas fall in Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Mars’s strongest navamsa in Ashlesha is pada 2 (Capricorn, exalted), and its weakest is pada 3 (Aquarius, in a neutral sign).

Ashlesha pada 4 (Cancer 26°40′ – 30°00′) is gandanta: one of the six padas on the junction of a water sign and the fire sign after it, and Mars placed in that quarter of Ashlesha sits on the junction itself.

Mars’s deepest debilitation, 28° Cancer in the classical table, falls inside Ashlesha, in pada 4 (Cancer 26°40′ – 30°00′, the Pisces navamsa).

When Mars Is in Ashlesha, 2026–2028

• 17 October 2026: Mars enters Ashlesha, and leaves on 12 November 2026 — 26 days.
• 10 March 2027: Mars enters Ashlesha while retrograde, backing in from the next nakshatra, and leaves on 26 April 2027 — 47 days.
• 22 September 2028: Mars enters Ashlesha, and leaves on 14 October 2028 — 22 days.

Those are the three spells Mars spends in Ashlesha between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029, 95 days in all. Over the same span Mars stands in every one of the 27 nakshatras. The dates are days only; for Mars in Ashlesha a minute would be more precise than the ayanamsa behind it.

Inside Ashlesha: what the tables locate there for Mars

Of the 49 complete spells Mars has in the table, in any nakshatra, the shortest is 16 days and the longest 47, and that longest spell is the one in Ashlesha.

The retrograde table runs from 2024 to 2031, wider than the ingress table, and it places one of Mars's stations in Ashlesha. On 1 April 2027 Mars stations direct inside Ashlesha, in pada 4. At a station Mars’s motion is at its slowest, so these are the days it is most nearly still in Ashlesha.

Ashlesha as the Setting for Mars

In the nakshatra tables Ashlesha’s deity is listed as Sarpas (Nagas) and its symbol as coiled snake; its gana is Rakshasa, and the muhurta texts put it in the Tikshna class (sharp). Those belong to Ashlesha whichever graha is in it, and they are read on the Ashlesha page. What changes with Mars is everything above: the dignities in Cancer, the relation to Mercury, and the dates. None of it is a prediction for anyone born with Mars in Ashlesha; the house it occupies and the dasha running decide what the placement does in a chart.

Related Placements

The sign-level reading is on Mars in Cancer; Mars in all 27 nakshatras is on the Mars nakshatra table. For the nakshatras themselves, see the 27 nakshatras guide and astrology for beginners.

The Other Grahas in Ashlesha