Graha

Mars (Mangal)

मंगल

Mars, Mangala, Kuja or Bhauma, is the red planet, and two of its names say whose son it is: Bhauma and Kuja both mean born of the earth, Bhumi. In the stories it is a warrior and the commander of the gods' army, often identified with Kartikeya. In a chart it stands for courage, energy, siblings, land and the drive to act, and for conflict where that drive has no outlet. Tuesday is its day. Mars takes about two years to go round the zodiac, and every two years or so it turns retrograde for a couple of months, often doubling back into the sign it has just left. It is the planet of Mangal Dosha, which the site judges by its own rule on the birth report and in kundali matching. This page gives what the site's tables hold for Mars: the signs it rules, its dignities by degree, its friends and enemies, its special aspects, its dasha and its readings in the signs and houses.

At a glance

Nature
Natural malefic
Rules
Aries and Scorpio
Day
Tuesday
Vimshottari dasha
7 years
Directional strength
10th house
Combust within
17°

What Mars signifies

The site's table of significations, the natural karakatva the birth report reads, gives Mars: energy, courage, siblings, land, drive, conflict, discipline.

Mars is one of the natural malefics in the site's table, with the Sun, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu. Natural nature is only half the story: what a graha is for a particular chart depends on the houses it rules from that chart's Lagna, which each sign's page sets out.

Signs and dignities

Mars rules Aries and Scorpio. Its dignities, as the site's table gives them, by degree where Parashara divides a sign (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, the chapter on the planets, tr. R. Santhanam):

Friends and enemies

The natural friendships the site reckons with (Parashara's, in the table every dignity and strength is worked from):

A planet in the sign of a friend is comfortable there, in an enemy's ill at ease; the sign pages list who is where.

Aspects, combustion and direction

Mars aspects the 4th, 7th and 8th signs from the one it occupies. Every graha aspects the seventh; the others are its special aspects. Aspects are by sign, not by an orb of degrees. Mars is combust, lost in the Sun's light, when within 17° of the Sun (Surya Siddhanta). It gains directional strength, dig bala, in the 10th house.

In transit, counted from the Moon sign, the classical gochara table the site uses counts Mars favourable in the 3rd, 6th and 11th houses.

Its dasha and its nakshatras

Mars rules Mrigashira, Chitra and Dhanishtha, one in each third of the zodiac. Its period in the Vimshottari dasha lasts 7 years, of the cycle's 120; a person born with the Moon in one of its nakshatras begins life in it.

Mars in the twelve signs

Varahamihira's readings of a birth with Mars in each sign, as the birth report quotes them (Brihat Jataka, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer). He adds that a sign's effects come in full only when the planet, the sign and its lord are strong.

In Aries. With Mars in Aries, Varahamihira describes a commander: respected by those in authority, given to travel, able in leading people and in trade, prosperous and fond of life's pleasures, with a body that bears the marks of injury. (Brihat Jataka 18.5, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

In Taurus. With Mars in Taurus, Varahamihira describes someone swayed more by a partner than by friends' advice, fond of dress and adornment and of games of skill and illusion, and more timid than Mars usually makes one. (Brihat Jataka 18.5, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

In Gemini. With Mars in Gemini, Varahamihira describes a bright and fearless person with children but few friends, helpful to others and skilled in music and in combat, yet careful with money and apt to ask for favours. (Brihat Jataka 18.6, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

In Cancer. With Mars in Cancer, Varahamihira describes an intelligent person who prospers by travel overseas, with some weakness or injury of the limbs. (Brihat Jataka 18.6, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

In Leo. With Mars in Leo, Varahamihira describes a fearless person who bears hardship patiently and loves the wild, with modest means and few children. (Brihat Jataka 18.7, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

In Virgo. With Mars in Virgo, Varahamihira describes a bright and fearless person with children but few friends, helpful to others and skilled in music and in combat, yet careful with money and apt to ask for favours. (Brihat Jataka 18.6, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

In Libra. With Mars in Libra, Varahamihira describes someone swayed more by a partner than by friends' advice, fond of dress and adornment and of games of skill and illusion, and more timid than Mars usually makes one. (Brihat Jataka 18.5, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

In Scorpio. With Mars in Scorpio, Varahamihira describes a commander: respected by those in authority, given to travel, able in leading people and in trade, prosperous and fond of life's pleasures, with a body that bears the marks of injury. (Brihat Jataka 18.5, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

In Sagittarius. With Mars in Sagittarius, Varahamihira describes a fearless and widely known person who rises to high office, advising those in power, but who makes many enemies and has few children. (Brihat Jataka 18.7, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

In Capricorn. With Mars in Capricorn, Varahamihira describes great wealth, many children and a standing equal to a ruler's. (Brihat Jataka 18.7, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

In Aquarius. With Mars in Aquarius, Varahamihira gives a hard reading: an independent but unsettled life of much wandering, sorrow and scarce means, and a warning against deceit. (Brihat Jataka 18.7, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

In Pisces. With Mars in Pisces, Varahamihira describes a fearless and widely known person who rises to high office, advising those in power, but who makes many enemies and has few children. (Brihat Jataka 18.7, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))

Mars in the twelve houses

The readings the birth report gives for Mars in each house, counted from the Lagna:

In the 1st house. Mars in the 1st house gives a bold, energetic and assertive nature with physical strength; you are driven and competitive but must temper impulsiveness.

In the 2nd house. Mars in the 2nd house brings forceful speech and aggressive earning; you can build wealth through effort, though harsh words may strain family ties.

In the 3rd house. Mars in the 3rd house is excellent for courage, initiative and enterprise; you are fearless, mechanically skilled and dominant among siblings.

In the 4th house. Mars in the 4th house brings energy and unrest to home life; you work hard for property and comfort, but domestic tension or anger can arise.

In the 5th house. Mars in the 5th house gives a sharp, competitive intellect and bold romance; passions run high in love, speculation and creative pursuits.

In the 6th house. Mars in the 6th house is powerfully placed to defeat enemies, debts and disease; you are a tireless, courageous competitor who thrives on challenge.

In the 7th house. Mars in the 7th house brings passion and friction to marriage and partnership; you seek a dynamic partner but must manage conflict and dominance.

In the 8th house. Mars in the 8th house can affect longevity and bring sudden events; channelled well it gives surgical, investigative and research-oriented power.

In the 9th house. Mars in the 9th house makes you a principled fighter for your beliefs; fortune comes through bold action, and you may clash over ideology or with the father.

In the 10th house. Mars in the 10th house drives a vigorous, ambitious career in command, engineering, defence or enterprise; you rise through energy and decisive action.

In the 11th house. Mars in the 11th house brings strong gains through effort and bold ventures; your friends are dynamic, and ambitions are pursued aggressively.

In the 12th house. Mars in the 12th house can drain energy into hidden conflicts or expenses; directed inward it fuels spiritual discipline, foreign work or covert effort.

Observances

The tradition's observances for Mars, as the site's reference lists them. Tuesday is its day and Lord Hanuman / Lord Kartikeya its deity. Its mantra is "Om Mangalaya Namah", and its beej mantra "Om Kraam Kreem Kraum Sah Bhaumaya Namaha", recited 108 times. The customary gifts: donate red lentils (masoor) or red cloth on Tuesdays; worship Lord Hanuman. Its stotra is the Hanuman Chalisa.

Its stone is the Red Coral (Moonga). The site advises a stone only from a chart: its remedies page strengthens a planet whose Shadbala falls short of what it needs only where that planet is a friend of the chart, and never from a transit or a sign alone.

Use the tools

  • See where Mars stands in your chart and how strong it is by Shadbala: free birth chart.
  • Its present sign and the day's panchang: panchang; its transit through your Moon sign: horoscope.
  • All nine: the grahas.