Budha Astha / Budha Modhyami / Mercury Combustion 2014, Bangalore

Budha (the planet Mercury, regent of intellect, communication, and commerce) orbits closest and fastest of the visible planets, so it combusts more often than any other, up to several times a year, each period brief. Because Mercury is sometimes retrograde and sometimes direct at combustion, the visibility threshold itself differs slightly between the two, which this page's calculation accounts for automatically.

Traditional muhurta practice treats Budha Astha with more caution for intellectual and commercial undertakings (contracts, correspondence, and the start of study) than for the broader class of auspicious rites Guru and Shukra Astha govern.