Mars in Punarvasu Nakshatra (Mangal in पुनर्वसु)

Punarvasu, the 7th of the 27 nakshatras, covers 80°00′ – 93°20′ of the sidereal zodiac, across the boundary between Gemini and Cancer. Punarvasu is ruled by Jupiter, so Mars in Punarvasu stands in Jupiter’s star.

Mars and Jupiter count each other a friend, so in Punarvasu the graha and the lord of its star agree about each other. The other two nakshatras Jupiter rules, Vishakha and Purva Bhadrapada, put Mars under the same star lord.

Mars in Punarvasu, Pada by Pada

By rashi, Mars in Punarvasu is in an enemy's sign in padas 1, 2 and 3 (Gemini) and debilitated in pada 4 (Cancer), because Punarvasu crosses from Gemini into Cancer. By navamsa the four padas fall in Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer. Mars’s strongest navamsa in Punarvasu is pada 1 (Aries, in its own sign), and its weakest is pada 4 (Cancer, debilitated).

Punarvasu pada 3 is vargottama — Gemini in rashi and in navamsa — so Mars there is in an enemy's sign on both counts. Punarvasu pada 4 is vargottama — Cancer in rashi and in navamsa — so Mars there is debilitated on both counts. Of the 108 padas only twelve are vargottama, one for each sign.

Neither Mars’s deepest exaltation (Capricorn) nor its deepest debilitation (Cancer) degree falls inside Punarvasu, and Mars’s moolatrikona lies outside it as well, so in Punarvasu the rashi and navamsa verdicts above are the whole of Mars’s dignity.

When Mars Is in Punarvasu, 2026–2028

• 2 September 2026: Mars enters Punarvasu, and leaves on 24 September 2026 — 22 days.
• 11 August 2028: Mars enters Punarvasu, and leaves on 1 September 2028 — 21 days.

Those are the two spells Mars spends in Punarvasu between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029, 43 days in all. Over the same span Mars stands in every one of the 27 nakshatras. The dates are days only; for Mars in Punarvasu a minute would be more precise than the ayanamsa behind it.

Inside Punarvasu: 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; the Punarvasu spells, at 22 and 21 days, sit inside that range.

• 21 August 2028: Mars meets Ketu at 26° Gemini, in Punarvasu pada 3.

The retrograde table runs from 2024 to 2031, wider than the ingress table, and it places one of Mars's stations in Punarvasu. On 24 February 2025 Mars stations direct inside Punarvasu, in pada 1. At a station Mars’s motion is at its slowest, so these are the days it is most nearly still in Punarvasu.

Punarvasu as the Setting for Mars

In the nakshatra tables Punarvasu’s deity is listed as Aditi and its symbol as quiver; its gana is Deva, and the muhurta texts put it in the Chara class (movable). Those belong to Punarvasu whichever graha is in it, and they are read on the Punarvasu page. What changes with Mars is everything above: the dignities in Gemini and Cancer, the relation to Jupiter, and the dates. None of it is a prediction for anyone born with Mars in Punarvasu; 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 Gemini and 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 Punarvasu