Mercury in Magha Nakshatra (Budh in मघा)

Magha, the 10th of the 27 nakshatras, covers 120°00′ – 133°20′ of the sidereal zodiac, wholly inside Leo. Magha is ruled by Ketu, so Mercury in Magha stands in Ketu’s star.

Ketu’s row in the friendship lists counts Mercury neutral; Mercury’s own row names no node, so Mercury’s view of the lord of Magha has no entry, and this page does not supply one. The other two nakshatras Ketu rules, Ashwini and Mula, put Mercury under the same star lord.

Mercury in Magha, Pada by Pada

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

Magha pada 1 (Leo 0°00′ – 3°20′) is gandanta: one of the six padas on the junction of a water sign and the fire sign after it, and Mercury placed in that quarter of Magha sits on the junction itself.

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

When Mercury Is in Magha, 2026–2028

• 22 August 2026: Mercury enters Magha, and leaves on 29 August 2026 — 7 days.
• 14 August 2027: Mercury enters Magha, and leaves on 21 August 2027 — 7 days.
• 5 August 2028: Mercury enters Magha, and leaves on 12 August 2028 — 7 days.

Those are the three spells Mercury spends in Magha between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029, 21 days in all. Over the same span Mercury stands in every one of the 27 nakshatras. The dates are days only; for Mercury in Magha a minute would be more precise than the ayanamsa behind it.

Inside Magha: 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 Magha spells, at 7, 7 and 7 days, sit inside that range.

• 25 August 2026: Mercury meets Ketu at 5° Leo, in Magha pada 2.
• 27 August 2026: Mercury meets the Sun at 10° Leo, in Magha pada 4.
• 20 August 2027: Mercury meets Jupiter at 10° Leo, in Magha pada 4.

The retrograde table runs from 2024 to 2031, wider than the ingress table, and it places three of Mercury's stations in Magha. On 5 August 2024 Mercury stations retrograde inside Magha, in pada 3. On 8 September 2030 Mercury stations direct inside Magha, in pada 3. On 29 July 2031 Mercury stations retrograde inside Magha, in pada 1. At a station Mercury’s motion is at its slowest, so these are the days it is most nearly still in Magha.

Magha as the Setting for Mercury

In the nakshatra tables Magha’s deity is listed as Pitrs and its symbol as throne; its gana is Rakshasa, and the muhurta texts put it in the Ugra class (fierce). Those belong to Magha whichever graha is in it, and they are read on the Magha page. What changes with Mercury is everything above: the dignities in Leo, the relation to Ketu, and the dates. None of it is a prediction for anyone born with Mercury in Magha; 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 Leo; Mercury in all 27 nakshatras is on the Mercury nakshatra table. For the nakshatras themselves, see the 27 nakshatras guide and our Magha article.

The Other Grahas in Magha