Mercury in Hasta Nakshatra (Budh in हस्त)

Hasta, the 13th of the 27 nakshatras, covers 160°00′ – 173°20′ of the sidereal zodiac, wholly inside Virgo. Hasta is ruled by the Moon, so Mercury in Hasta stands in the Moon’s star.

Mercury counts the Moon an enemy, while the Moon counts Mercury a friend. The table is not symmetric, so Mercury in Hasta has to be described from both sides, as it is here. The other two nakshatras the Moon rules, Rohini and Shravana, put Mercury under the same star lord.

Mercury in Hasta, Pada by Pada

By rashi, Mercury is exalted in all four padas of Hasta, because the whole nakshatra lies in Virgo. By navamsa the four padas fall in Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer. Mercury’s strongest navamsa in Hasta is pada 3 (Gemini, in its own sign), and its weakest is pada 4 (Cancer, in an enemy's sign).

Mercury’s deepest exaltation, 15° Virgo in the classical table, falls inside Hasta, in pada 2 (Virgo 13°20′ – 16°40′, the Taurus navamsa). Mercury’s moolatrikona, Virgo 16°–20°, covers padas 2 and 3 of Hasta.

When Mercury Is in Hasta, 2026–2028

• 13 September 2026: Mercury enters Hasta, and leaves on 21 September 2026 — 8 days.
• 6 September 2027: Mercury enters Hasta, and leaves on 16 September 2027 — 10 days.
• 31 August 2028: Mercury enters Hasta, and leaves on 15 September 2028 — 15 days.
• 24 September 2028: Mercury enters Hasta while retrograde, backing in from the next nakshatra, and leaves on 8 October 2028 moving backwards — 14 days.
• 14 October 2028: Mercury enters Hasta, and leaves on 26 October 2028 — 12 days.

Those are the five spells Mercury spends in Hasta between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029, 59 days in all. Over the same span Mercury stands in every one of the 27 nakshatras. The dates are days only; for Mercury in Hasta a minute would be more precise than the ayanamsa behind it.

Inside Hasta: what the tables locate there for Mercury

Of the 100 complete spells Mercury has in the table, in any nakshatra, the shortest is 4 days and the longest 58; the Hasta spells, at 8, 10, 15, 14 and 12 days, sit inside that range.

• 2 October 2028: Mercury meets the Sun at 15° Virgo, in Hasta pada 2.
• 3 October 2028: Mercury meets Jupiter at 14° Virgo, in Hasta pada 2.
• 22 October 2028: Mercury meets Jupiter at 18° Virgo, in Hasta pada 3.

Hasta as the Setting for Mercury

In the nakshatra tables Hasta’s deity is listed as Savitar and its symbol as hand; its gana is Deva, and the muhurta texts put it in the Kshipra class (swift and light). Those belong to Hasta whichever graha is in it, and they are read on the Hasta page. What changes with Mercury is everything above: the dignities in Virgo, the relation to the Moon, and the dates. None of it is a prediction for anyone born with Mercury in Hasta; the house it occupies and the dasha running decide what the placement does in a chart.

Related Placements

The sign-level reading is on Mercury in Virgo; Mercury in all 27 nakshatras is on the Mercury nakshatra table. For the nakshatras themselves, see the 27 nakshatras guide and our Hasta article.

The Other Grahas in Hasta