Mercury (Budh) in the 27 Nakshatras

A sign is 30°; a nakshatra is 13°20′, and each nakshatra is cut into four padas of 3°20′. Reading Mercury by nakshatra therefore says three things a sign cannot: which graha rules the star Mercury stands in, how Mercury fares in each quarter of it once the navamsa is counted, and whether the exact degree of its deepest exaltation or debilitation falls there. Every page below computes those three for one nakshatra, and dates the days Mercury spends in it between 2026 and 2028.

The navamsa column is the ninth-part division: the 108 padas run through the twelve signs nine times, so each pada falls in one navamsa sign. A pada whose navamsa is the same as its rashi is vargottama; twelve of the 108 are. The six padas on a water sign’s last 3°20′ or a fire sign’s first are gandanta. Both are classical strength tests of a position and neither is a verdict on a person.

Mercury rules three of the nakshatras, Ashlesha, Jyeshtha and Revati, and in 2026–2028 it stands in 27 of the 27 at some point; each of those pages carries the dates.

For Mercury sign by sign, see the Mercury page; for the nakshatras themselves, all 27 nakshatras and the 27 nakshatras guide. The other grahas: Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu.