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Ketu antardasha in Mercury mahadasha

The Ketu antardasha within the Mercury mahadasha is also written Mercury–Ketu.

Source: BPHS (Santhanam) 46.12–14, Vimshottari order from Krittika: Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Ketu, Venus

In your chart

Mahadasha
Mercury
Antardasha
Ketu
Mahadasha length
17 years
BPHS 46.15
Working
17×7/120 = 119/120 = 0.991667 years
BPHS 51.1
Duration
11 months, 27 days
Position in the mahadasha
2

How long it lasts

The Mercury mahadasha lasts 17 years. Antardasha = 17×7/120 = 119/120 = 0.991667 years, i.e. about 11 months, 27 days.

Here 1 year = 365.25 days.

The order of the antardashas

The Mercury mahadasha opens with Mercury's own antardasha (BPHS ch. 51: the first antardasha belongs to the dasha lord), then the planets follow in Vimshottari order: Mercury → Ketu → Venus → Sun → Moon → Mars → Rahu → Jupiter → Saturn. The Ketu antardasha is the second in this sequence and begins 2 years, 4 months, 27 days after the mahadasha starts.

What tradition holds

Tradition links the Mercury mahadasha with learning, communication and practical skill, and reads the Ketu antardasha as adding a note of turning inward, simplicity and the spiritual. Intellect meets depth, linked with an interest in subtle subjects and research. The real picture comes from the signs and houses of both planets in the chart.

In your chart

See when this period falls in your chart, and where both planets sit, in the free kundli.

Read next

Budh: the planet of intellect and speechKetu: the south node of the Moon's pathWhat is the Vimshottari dasha and how is it worked out?

Sources

  • BPHS (Santhanam) 46.12–14 · Vimshottari order from Krittika: Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Ketu, Venus
  • BPHS (Santhanam) 46.15 · Dasha years 6, 10, 7, 18, 16, 19, 17, 7, 20 (OCR shows "6,lO, 7, 18, 16, 19,l'1,7 and20")
  • BPHS (Santhanam) 46.12–14, translator's note · 120 years in total
  • BPHS (Santhanam) 51.1 · Antardasha = MD years × AD years ÷ total dasha years (120)
  • BPHS (Santhanam) 51.1, notes · Worked example: Venus–Venus = 20×20/120 = 3 years 4 months
  • BPHS (Santhanam) 51.1, notes · Shortcut: MD×AD, drop the last digit as months, the last digit ×3 as days (360-day reckoning); Saturn–Mercury 17×19 = 323
  • BPHS (Santhanam) 51.2 · The first antardasha belongs to the dasha lord; the rest follow the dasha order
  • Praśna Mārga (Raman tr.) stanza 65, notes · An example of the 360-day year in a dasha context (the praśna daśā, not the natal one)

Checked against the classical texts · Last reviewed: 2026-10-14