Mercury in Shatabhisha Nakshatra (Budh in शतभिषा)

Shatabhisha, the 24th of the 27 nakshatras, covers 306°40′ – 320°00′ of the sidereal zodiac, wholly inside Aquarius. Shatabhisha is ruled by Rahu, so Mercury in Shatabhisha stands in Rahu’s star.

Rahu’s row in the friendship lists counts Mercury a friend; Mercury’s own row names no node, so Mercury’s view of the lord of Shatabhisha has no entry, and this page does not supply one. The other two nakshatras Rahu rules, Ardra and Swati, put Mercury under the same star lord.

Mercury in Shatabhisha, Pada by Pada

By rashi, Mercury is in a neutral sign in all four padas of Shatabhisha, because the whole nakshatra lies in Aquarius. By navamsa the four padas fall in Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Mercury’s strongest navamsas in Shatabhisha are padas 1 (Sagittarius, in a neutral sign), 2 (Capricorn, in a neutral sign) and 3 (Aquarius, in a neutral sign), and its weakest is pada 4 (Pisces, debilitated).

Shatabhisha pada 3 is vargottama — Aquarius in rashi and in navamsa — so Mercury there is in a neutral sign on both counts. Of the 108 padas only twelve are vargottama, one for each sign.

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

When Mercury Is in Shatabhisha, 2026–2028

• 7 February 2026: Mercury enters Shatabhisha, and leaves on 15 February 2026 — 8 days.
• 10 March 2026: Mercury enters Shatabhisha while retrograde, backing in from the next nakshatra, and leaves on 1 April 2026 — 22 days.
• 2 February 2027: Mercury enters Shatabhisha, and leaves on 17 February 2027 moving backwards — 15 days.
• 19 March 2027: Mercury enters Shatabhisha, and leaves on 30 March 2027 — 11 days.
• 14 March 2028: Mercury enters Shatabhisha, and leaves on 22 March 2028 — 8 days.

Those are the five spells Mercury spends in Shatabhisha between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029, 64 days in all. Over the same span Mercury stands in every one of the 27 nakshatras. The dates are days only; for Mercury in Shatabhisha a minute would be more precise than the ayanamsa behind it.

Inside Shatabhisha: 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 Shatabhisha spells, at 8, 22, 15, 11 and 8 days, sit inside that range.

• 13 February 2026: Mercury meets Rahu at 15° Aquarius, in Shatabhisha pada 3.
• 15 March 2026: Mercury meets Mars at 15° Aquarius, in Shatabhisha pada 3.

The retrograde table runs from 2024 to 2031, wider than the ingress table, and it places two of Mercury's stations in Shatabhisha. On 21 March 2026 Mercury stations direct inside Shatabhisha, in pada 3. On 9 February 2027 Mercury stations retrograde inside Shatabhisha, in pada 2. At a station Mercury’s motion is at its slowest, so these are the days it is most nearly still in Shatabhisha.

Shatabhisha as the Setting for Mercury

In the nakshatra tables Shatabhisha’s deity is listed as Varuna and its symbol as empty circle; its gana is Rakshasa, and the muhurta texts put it in the Chara class (movable). Those belong to Shatabhisha whichever graha is in it, and they are read on the Shatabhisha page. What changes with Mercury is everything above: the dignities in Aquarius, the relation to Rahu, and the dates. None of it is a prediction for anyone born with Mercury in Shatabhisha; 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 Aquarius; Mercury in all 27 nakshatras is on the Mercury nakshatra table. For the nakshatras themselves, see the 27 nakshatras guide and astrology for beginners.

The Other Grahas in Shatabhisha