Mercury in Uttara Bhadrapada Nakshatra (Budh in उत्तर भाद्रपद)

Uttara Bhadrapada, the 26th of the 27 nakshatras, covers 333°20′ – 346°40′ of the sidereal zodiac, wholly inside Pisces. Uttara Bhadrapada is ruled by Saturn, so Mercury in Uttara Bhadrapada stands in Saturn’s star.

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

Mercury in Uttara Bhadrapada, Pada by Pada

By rashi, Mercury is debilitated in all four padas of Uttara Bhadrapada, because the whole nakshatra lies in Pisces. By navamsa the four padas fall in Leo, Virgo, Libra and Scorpio. Mercury’s strongest navamsa in Uttara Bhadrapada is pada 2 (Virgo, exalted), and its weakest is pada 4 (Scorpio, in a neutral sign).

Mercury’s deepest debilitation, 15° Pisces in the classical table, falls inside Uttara Bhadrapada, in pada 4 (Pisces 13°20′ – 16°40′, the Scorpio navamsa).

When Mercury Is in Uttara Bhadrapada, 2026–2028

• 13 April 2026: Mercury enters Uttara Bhadrapada, and leaves on 22 April 2026 — 9 days.
• 7 April 2027: Mercury enters Uttara Bhadrapada, and leaves on 15 April 2027 — 8 days.
• 30 March 2028: Mercury enters Uttara Bhadrapada, and leaves on 6 April 2028 — 7 days.

Those are the three spells Mercury spends in Uttara Bhadrapada between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029, 24 days in all. Over the same span Mercury stands in every one of the 27 nakshatras. The dates are days only; for Mercury in Uttara Bhadrapada a minute would be more precise than the ayanamsa behind it.

Inside Uttara Bhadrapada: 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 Uttara Bhadrapada spells, at 9, 8 and 7 days, sit inside that range.

• 20 April 2026: Mercury meets Saturn at 13° Pisces, in Uttara Bhadrapada pada 4.
• 21 April 2026: Mercury meets Mars at 14° Pisces, in Uttara Bhadrapada pada 4.

The retrograde table runs from 2024 to 2031, wider than the ingress table, and it places two of Mercury's stations in Uttara Bhadrapada. On 15 March 2025 Mercury stations retrograde inside Uttara Bhadrapada, in pada 4. On 18 April 2031 Mercury stations direct inside Uttara Bhadrapada, 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 Bhadrapada.

Uttara Bhadrapada as the Setting for Mercury

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