Mercury in Uttara Ashadha Nakshatra (Budh in उत्तराषाढ़ा)

Uttara Ashadha, the 21st of the 27 nakshatras, covers 266°40′ – 280°00′ of the sidereal zodiac, across the boundary between Sagittarius and Capricorn. Uttara Ashadha is ruled by the Sun, so Mercury in Uttara Ashadha stands in the Sun’s star.

Mercury counts the Sun a friend, while the Sun counts Mercury neutral. The table is not symmetric, so Mercury in Uttara Ashadha has to be described from both sides, as it is here. The other two nakshatras the Sun rules, Krittika and Uttara Phalguni, put Mercury under the same star lord.

Mercury in Uttara Ashadha, Pada by Pada

By rashi, Mercury in Uttara Ashadha is in a neutral sign in pada 1 (Sagittarius) and in a neutral sign in padas 2, 3 and 4 (Capricorn), because Uttara Ashadha crosses from Sagittarius into Capricorn. By navamsa the four padas fall in Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Mercury’s strongest navamsas in Uttara Ashadha 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).

Uttara Ashadha pada 1 is vargottama — Sagittarius in rashi and in navamsa — so Mercury there is in a neutral sign on both counts. Uttara Ashadha pada 2 is vargottama — Capricorn 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 Uttara Ashadha, and Mercury’s moolatrikona lies outside it as well, so in Uttara Ashadha the rashi and navamsa verdicts above are the whole of Mercury’s dignity.

When Mercury Is in Uttara Ashadha, 2026–2028

• 15 January 2026: Mercury enters Uttara Ashadha, and leaves on 23 January 2026 — 8 days.
• 8 January 2027: Mercury enters Uttara Ashadha, and leaves on 16 January 2027 — 8 days.
• 31 December 2027: Mercury enters Uttara Ashadha, and leaves on 9 January 2028 — 9 days.
• 12 February 2028: Mercury enters Uttara Ashadha while retrograde, backing in from the next nakshatra, and leaves on 16 February 2028 — 4 days.
• 24 December 2028: Mercury enters Uttara Ashadha, and is still there when the table closes on 1 January 2029.

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

Inside Uttara Ashadha: 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, and that shortest spell is the one in Uttara Ashadha.

• 18 January 2026: Mercury meets Mars at 1° Capricorn, in Uttara Ashadha pada 2.
• 21 January 2026: Mercury meets the Sun at 7° Capricorn, in Uttara Ashadha pada 4.
• 8 January 2028: Mercury meets Rahu at 8° Capricorn, in Uttara Ashadha pada 4.
• 9 January 2028: Mercury meets Mars at 9° Capricorn, within a quarter of a degree of Uttara Ashadha’s edge, so another ayanamsa may put the meeting in the neighbouring nakshatra.

The retrograde table runs from 2024 to 2031, wider than the ingress table, and it places two of Mercury's stations in Uttara Ashadha. On 14 February 2028 Mercury stations direct inside Uttara Ashadha, in pada 4. On 7 January 2029 Mercury stations retrograde inside Uttara Ashadha, in pada 4. At a station Mercury’s motion is at its slowest, so these are the days it is most nearly still in Uttara Ashadha.

Uttara Ashadha as the Setting for Mercury

In the nakshatra tables Uttara Ashadha’s deity is listed as Vishvedevas and its symbol as elephant tusk; its gana is Manushya, and the muhurta texts put it in the Dhruva class (fixed). Those belong to Uttara Ashadha whichever graha is in it, and they are read on the Uttara Ashadha page. What changes with Mercury is everything above: the dignities in Sagittarius and Capricorn, the relation to the Sun, and the dates. None of it is a prediction for anyone born with Mercury in Uttara Ashadha; 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 Sagittarius and Mercury in Capricorn; 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 Uttara Ashadha