Planets (grahas)
Mercury (Budha) in Vedic astrology
Updated
Mercury: how the API computes it
Mercury never gets more than about 28 degrees from the Sun, so it is often combust. Combust means a planet is so close to the Sun that it loses strength. The API calls Mercury combust within 14 degrees of the Sun, or within 12 degrees while it is retrograde (CH-07).
Retrograde means it seems to move backward in the sky. Mercury is exalted, or at its strongest, only in the first 15 degrees of Virgo. From 15 to 20 degrees, Virgo is its mulatrikona, a strong place just below exaltation.
The rest of Virgo is its own sign (CH-02, CH-04). Jupiter and Venus are always benefics, or helpful planets, but Mercury is not always one. The API decides it for each chart by the planets it sits with (CH-14).
Mercury with the Sun forms budhaditya yoga (YG-09). In shadbala, the six-part strength score, Mercury needs 7 rupas to count as strong. That is the highest minimum of the seven planets.
POST /v1/planets returns its sign, degree, house, nakshatra, dignity, and whether it is retrograde or combust. For John Doe, Mercury is at 25 degrees of Leo, in house 12 and the nakshatra Purva Phalguni, with the dignity friend.
Get it from the API
POST /v1/planets
# John Doe, born Aug 15, 1990, 10:30 AM, New York
curl -X POST "https://apiforastrology.com/api/astrology/v1/planets" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $ASTROLOGY_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"year":1990,"month":8,"day":15,"hour":10,"minute":30,"second":0,"latitude":40.7128,"longitude":-74.006,"timezone":"America/New_York"}'{
"meta": {
"ayanamsa": "lahiri",
"ayanamsa_value": 23.7260727,
"julian_day": 2448119.10483,
"ephemeris": "JPL DE440s",
"node": "true",
"timezone": {
"source": "zone",
"offset_hours": -4,
"zone": "America/New_York",
"abbreviation": "EDT",
"dst": true,
"dst_hours": 1,
"ambiguous_resolved_by_fold": null,
"note": "read from the IANA tz database at this instant, so daylight saving and historical offset changes are included"
}
},
"ascendant": {
"name": "Ascendant",
"longitude": 169.934155,
"sign": "Virgo",
"sign_number": 6,
"degree_in_sign": 19.934155,
"degree_dms": "19 : 56 : 03",
"house": 1,
"nakshatra": "Hast",
"nakshatra_lord": "Moon",
"pada": 3,
"speed": 0,
"retrograde": false,
"combust": false,
"dignity": "n/a",
"vargottama": false,
"pushkara": {
"navamsa": false,
"navamsa_number": 6,
"bhaga": false,
"bhaga_degree": 9,
"bhaga_by_element": false,
"bhaga_degree_by_element": 14,
"sources_agree": true,
"orb_degrees": 1
}
},
"positions": [
{
"name": "Sun",
"longitude": 118.7753409,
"sign": "Cancer",
"sign_number": 4,
"degree_in_sign": 28.7753409,
"degree_dms": "28 : 46 : 31",
"house": 11,
"nakshatra": "Ashlesha",
"nakshatra_lord": "Mercury",
"pada": 4,
"speed": 0.9610665,
"retrograde": false,
"combust": false,
"dignity": "friend",
"vargottama": false,
"pushkara": {
"navamsa": false,
"navamsa_number": 9,
"bhaga": false,
"bhaga_degree": 8,
"bhaga_by_element": false,
"bhaga_degree_by_element": 7,
"sources_agree": true,
"orb_degrees": 1
}
},
{
"name": "Moon",
"longitude": 54.5750352,
"sign": "Taurus",
"sign_number": 2,
"degree_in_sign": 24.5750352,
"degree_dms": "24 : 34 : 30",
"house": 9,
"nakshatra": "Mrigashira",
"nakshatra_lord": "Mars",
"pada": 1,
"speed": 14.258194,
"retrograde": false,
"combust": false,
"dignity": "mulatrikona",
"vargottama": false,
"pushkara": {
"navamsa": false,
"navamsa_number": 8,
"bhaga": false,
"bhaga_degree": 14,
"bhaga_by_element": false,
"bhaga_degree_by_element": 14,
"sources_agree": true,
"orb_degrees": 1
}
},
{
"name": "Mars",
"longitude": 27.7149328,
"sign": "Aries",
"sign_number": 1,
"degree_in_sign": 27.7149328,
"degree_dms": "27 : 42 : 54",
"house": 8,
"nakshatra": "Krittika",
"nakshatra_lord": "Sun",
"pada": 1,
"speed": 0.5753266,
"retrograde": false,
"combust": false,
"dignity": "own sign",
"vargottama": false,
"pushkara": {
"navamsa": true,
"navamsa_number": 9,
"bhaga": false,
"bhaga_degree": 21,
"bhaga_by_element": false,
"bhaga_degree_by_element": 21,
"sources_agree": true,
"orb_degrees": 1
}
}
],
"planetary_war": []
}Where the API returns it
| POST | /v1/planets | Planet positions and the ascendant |
| POST | /v1/upagrahas | Upagrahas: Gulika, Mandi, the kaala velas and the Dhoomadi points |
| POST | /v1/dasha/ashtottari | Ashtottari dasha periods (a 108-year cycle) |
| POST | /v1/dasha/narayana | Narayana dasha: the Jaimini sign periods |
| POST | /v1/remedies/rudraksha | Rudraksha recommendation: which bead, and why |
| POST | /v1/forecast/{theme} | Love, career or wealth forecast |
What the API reference says
Each line is quoted from the reference page of the endpoint named above it.
- POST /v1/planets · Planet positions and the ascendant
planetary_warlists any pair of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn within 1 degree of each other (graha yuddha). - POST /v1/upagrahas · Upagrahas: Gulika, Mandi, the kaala velas and the Dhoomadi pointsThe Sun's part gives Kaala, the Moon's Paridhi, Mars's Mrityu, Mercury's Ardhaprahara, Jupiter's Yamakantaka, Venus's Kodanda and Saturn's Gulika.
- POST /v1/dasha/narayana · Narayana dasha: the Jaimini sign periodsStrength is tested rule by rule: more planets in the sign, then more of Jupiter, Mercury and the sign's own ruler joining or aspecting it, then more exalted planets, then the ruler sitting in a sign of the other kind (odd or even), then the ruler further through its sign.
Feature page: Kundli and birth charts. Who uses it: Astrology apps. The classical rules the API follows are in the rulebook.
How we check the numbers
Every value here starts from planet positions worked out from NASA JPL planet data (DE440). We test them against NASA JPL Horizons, NASA's planet position service. On 25,571 positions from 1850 to 2149, the Sun and planets agree within 0.001 arc seconds. The Moon agrees within 0.011. On 2,000 random birth charts, the rising sign agrees with Swiss Ephemeris within 0.004 arc seconds. An arc second is 1/3,600 of a degree. A practicing astrologer reviews the rules behind these answers. See how we test.
Related terms
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Your first answer
John Doe, New York
- RisingVirgoHast
- SunCancerAshlesha
- MoonTaurusMrigashira
- MarsAriesKrittika
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