Mars Combust Dates

Mars is combust for about five months every two years, for as long as the Sun is within seventeen degrees of it, and Parashara and Surya Siddhanta give that seventeen-degree orb as the widest of any graha. Near the conjunction Mars moves almost as fast as the Sun, so the two separate slowly and the period runs long. Jyotish calls the state asta and counts it as a loss of strength.

The Sun and Mars are friends in Parashara's table, and both are fiery. For these months Mars's significations lose their edge: courage, effort, brothers, land, machines, disputes and the blood. Anger comes up without the strength to act on it, which makes it harder to carry. Effort goes in, and the result comes late.

The texts hold that a combust graha cannot give its full results. For Mars this works in two directions. Someone whose Mars brought accidents and quarrels has five quieter months, and someone who ran on Mars's drive and courage feels tired and blocked. The birth chart shows which applies.

Count the house of the conjunction from the Moon and from the lagna to see where the loss lands. Property matters, litigation and disputes with brothers or colleagues all need patience. Where there is a choice, schedule surgery for a time when Mars is visible. The body's heat, the blood and the muscles need rest, and a cooling diet helps.

The period makes the difference between courage and plain heat easy to see. Training, planning and patiently repairing what haste broke are the best uses of the five months.

The remedies are Hanuman worship, the mantra Om Angarakaya Namah and Parashara's dana for Mars, which is red lentils, copper and red cloth given on Tuesday. Offer water to the Sun, keep the diet cool, and let every quarrel wait.