The Mars antardasha within the Mercury mahadasha is also written Mercury–Mars.
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
Mars
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
6
Starts after the mahadasha begins
8 years, 6 months, 0 days
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 Mars antardasha is the sixth in this sequence and begins 8 years, 6 months after the mahadasha starts.
What tradition holds
Tradition links the Mercury mahadasha with learning, communication and practical skill, and reads the Mars antardasha as adding a note of courage, effort and initiative. Action meets intellect: effort guided by a plan. 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.
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
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