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Budha (Mercury): I pay respects to Budha, offspring of Chandra and Tārā, born of intelligence and unrivalled in form. Dark like phalapriya and adorned in akṣamālā, he is quiet of nature and charming.

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BUDHA (Mercury)

Śrī Laṅkān Budha Vishnu Mandala Yantra deemed effective for the propitiation of Mercury warding off childhood illness, skin disease, speech and learning difficulties. This yantra appeases Lord Budha, granting wisdom, health, youthfulness and longevity, granting one success in scriptural study, education, business and public speaking.

Mercury’s colour is like that of Durva or panic grass. He has a distinct articulation, is spare and thin. He is both sovereign and sage of those that are endowed with the quality of Rajas (passion). He delights in damage and fun, having a wealth of energy; he is of mixed constitution having equal amounts of bile, wind and phlegm.

Jātaka Pārijāta by Vaidyanātha Dīkṣita

Mercury1 is yuvaraja, ‘of royal blood’. He rides a chariot fashioned from fire and air, pulled by eight horses, deep yellow in colour. Vaiśya2 by caste and neuter in sex, his complexion is likened to the colour of panic grass. His dosha is an equal apportionment of dosha,3 his taste shad-rasa (six tastes). Mercury’s element is earth. Mercury dresses in fine black silks and gains strength in air signs. Exalted in the sign of Virgo (specifically 15°), he is in his fall at the same degree of Pisces. Mercury is representative of Buddhi (intellect). His guna is Rajasic.4 The effects of Mercury mature in the 32nd year of life. Mercury also rules Ritu (seasons) for a period of two solar months. Having a youthful appearance and mannerism, he is fond of word play and witticism. If well-positioned, he indicates a strong intellect and analytical disposition. Healthy of skin with quick dexterous movements, Mercury prospers in the 1st, 4th and 10th houses. His metal is pārada (quicksilver).

Mercury represents the learned student, apprenticing himself to any would-be instructor.5 As an artful negotiator, investigator and magician, Mercury is equally skilled in the theft of knowledge (espionage, etc.). Specifically he relates to speech patterns and timing. Mercury is said to rule Atharva Veda.

A powerful Mercury will lift the chart toward quick thinking, sharp talking (in sales or trading), global communication and profiteering. Mercury may enter all places – holding the key to every room in the palace!

Mercury’s strength is reflexed by the body’s ability to irrigate and connect bodily systems, from the electrical activity of its neurons and synapses to the plasma content of blood, constantly readjusting the suspension of materials carried in the many fluidic mediums. Other significations of Mercury include: reflexes (agility/speed) of the nervous system and the body’s ability to recover from injury. Mercury is symbolically the planet of healing; its relatively small planetary body was thought to emit a powerful green healing ray.

In the ancient world his metallic namesake and element Hg6 was considered of paramount importance in the quest for life-extension. Even today, Mercury is the foundation of many Rasa medicines used in Rasa Shāstra (Vedic Alchemy).

Favourable Budha: If well disposed, Budha maintains a youthful appearance and keen intellect as well as an inquisitive and questioning mind. Those benefiting from Mercury are aided by Brahmins and trustworthy advisors, legal representatives and righteous persons. Wealth may be accumulated via the trading of horses, real estate or precious metals. One may acquire fame through the written or spoken word, through feats of magic (illusion), humour or mass media. Featured in a prominent position, Mercury incurs the favours of Lord Vishnu.

Unfavourable Budha: One may endure the wrath of Lord Vishnu or the heir-apparent/regent. One may be co-opted into crime (theft) and other nefarious acts or be themselves the subject of hoaxes, in receipt of counterfeit goods, legal deception, character defamation (through the written word), suffer from slurred speech or stuttering, coordination impediments, tremors or slow or poor performance throughout educational life, diseases of the skin, respiratory ailments and vertigo.

Bala (strength): Budha is considered well-disposed if the following are applicable: falling on his own day (Wednesday), in his own signs or exalted in Virgo. Budha favours the middle portion of Rashis; he prospers when distanced from the Sun’s rays, in either period of ayana, acquiring vigour during the day or night.

Undertakings on Wednesday: Sacrificial offerings on Wednesdays are considered fruitful/auspicious for those wishing to receive benefit from Budha. Acts or undertakings include: study of shāstra, fine art and poetry, scientific study including mantra, astrology, alchemy and the manufacture of medicines, compounds, mixtures, attainment and cultivation of fertile land, green produce and grasses, mining of gemstones (taksya/emerald), apprehension of languages, observance of vows, meritorious deeds, delivering of messages and holding of secrets or untruths (lies).

Alternative names for Budha
Sâumya	Mild, tender, polite in manners and speech
Bodhana	Teacher and instructor of great wisdom
Induputra	Child, hence child of the Moon
Jña	Wise and learned
Bud	To perceive, gain enlightenment
Syāmānga	Black-bodied

5.1 ASTRONOMICAL

Mercury is the smallest and swiftest of the grahas; just larger than our Moon, its sidereal year is approximately 88 days. Its axial rotation is 58+ days, almost two-thirds the length of its mercurial year. With a mean distance of only 28,000,000 miles from the Sun, this planet remained an enigma for a great many years, dazzling astronomers with its swift motion, brilliance and Moon-like phases.7 Mercury seldom presents itself long enough to view this world in any detail. Rising two hours before sunrise or glimpsed briefly before sunset, Mercury is never observable against a fully darkened sky.

Bathed in a solar brilliance six times that of the Earth, its surface temperature boasts a sizzling 400°C+, its twilight face an equally staggering –180°C. During its passage across the orb of the Sun, astronomers noted that its disc remained opaque, allowing the early deduction that its mass was a rocky composition8 with little or no atmosphere. It was later confirmed to have a disproportionally large and extremely dense metallic core, with a somewhat reduced surface crust.9

Mercury’s presence appears to have been documented as early as 3000 bc. It was also an important deity for both Greek and Roman temples. Ancient observations of Mercury believed him twinned,10 as one pin-point of light receded from the Sun at dawn, while another later approached the Sun in the evening. As one was never seen until the other had vanished, it was eventually concluded to be the same world. Notoriously swift in its flight about the girth of the Sun, the best opportunity to gain a glimpse of this fleeting world is between the months of March/April and August/September.

5.2 PRIMARY KĀRAKAS OF MERCURY

Primary Kārakas

Youthfulness, intellect, education, mathematics, astrology, astronomy, alchemy, liquid mercury (Hg), speeches, lectures, script writing, grammar, scholarly, wearing of new clothes, medicines (taking and making), healers, doctors, princes, regents, the colour green, sculpture, pilgrimage, commerce, magic, magicians, childhood, devotion, wordplay, anagrams, vitality, shrewdness, self-control, worship of Lord Vishnu, benefic nature, one skilled in mantra, tantric powers, reporters, authors, printers, publishers, accountants, insurance brokers, messengers, comedians, critics, emeralds, yantras, trade, horses, treasury, infantry, dvija (twice-born11), construction of palaces and temples, ornaments, soft speech, eunuchs, bad dreams, northerly direction, bell metal, bitter fruits, fears, dancing, humour and pranks, strong in the morning time, autumn, all seasons, compound substances, agile animals, birds, younger siblings, Atharva Veda, dust, religious rites, exploration of villages, delights from the northerly direction, the Nakshatras Aslesha, Jyestha and Revati, well-versed in shāstras, puraṇās, gemmology, sideways glances, 17-year dasha, rajasic temperament, verbal diarrhoea, performance of sacred rituals, mischievous children, playgrounds, short-distance travel, translation of texts, mental arithmetic, vantage points, success in undertakings, magical charms, alloys, betel leaves, attention to detail, currency, commerce, imports and exports, counterfeit money, hidden secrets, racecourses, gambling, book dealers, science, software writers, computer viruses, mimicry, confusion, speak impediments, courage, comprehension, enemy of Mars, green gram, adherence to superstition

Physical and Medical Kārakas

Skin and skin lustre, blood plasma, the navel, brain, nervous system, the neck, hearing, larynx, thyroid problems, the tongue, bronchial tube, the hands, nerve centres, gastric juices, oleation and lubrication, vertigo, sexual organs, dyspepsia, memory loss, impotency, lingering bouts of depression

NOTES

1.See Mason (2014).

2.Assignment of Vaiśya caste may have been earned by this planet’s obsession with mercantile activity and perpetual travel – acting more like a tradesperson than royalty.

3.Vāta, Pitta and Kapha in equal measure.

4.Rajas = one of three gunas (states of matter). Rajas is considered to be outwardly seeking, reactive, turbulent and restless.

5.Close conjunctions by Budha allow it to mimic its neighbours’ attributes.

6.Hg = hydrargyrum.

7.Mercury is considered Moon’s progeny; superficially their façades (surfaces) resemble one another while Mercury boasts three times Moon’s gravity and twice its surface area.

8.Mercury presides over the earth element.

9.It is believed that the planet actually shrank sometime during its traumatic past. Perhaps this is why Mercury is considered youthful in form (small) yet intelligent in years?

10.This observation may have contributed to its dual nature and rulership of Gemini (twins).

11.Dvija = male member of the first three varṇas (paths) in Hindu society, that is, Brahmin, Kṣatriya or Vaiśya.