Budh in the 3rd House
Mercury in the 3rd house, by Phaladeepika and Lal Kitab
What Budh gives in the 3rd house by Lal Kitab and by Phaladeepika, its upay, the houses it looks at from there, and what it means for each lagna.
Mercury in the 3rd house gives sharp intellect, success in writing and business, and good siblings.
Lal Kitab reads Budh in the 3rd house by the house, not by your lagna; Parashara’s view for your own lagna is further down, and Phaladeepika and Brihat Jataka may differ. How Lal Kitab and Parashara differ · Lal Kitab: pakka ghar, rin and upay
Lal Kitab upay
Keep a green cloth with you.
This is Lal Kitab’s one upay for Budh in the 3rd house, to keep its good results strong; it is a suggestion, and your whole kundli may call for another. All upay for Budh
What Phaladeepika says
Mantreswara, Adhyaya 8, sloka 11Phaladeepika 8.11 holds that Budh (Mercury) in the 3rd house (the house of siblings and courage) gives courage, a middling span of life and good brothers. The text adds weariness from toil and low spirits.
How much of this holds turns on the rest of the chart: the rashi Budh sits in, the 3rd house’s lord and the grahas with it or looking at it. The old texts speak of a man; their readings apply to anyone.
What Brihat Jataka says
Varahamihira, sloka 20.6BJ 20.6: Budh in the 3rd gives a crafty, scheming streak.
When Budh in the 3rd house shows, and where it looks
Its results show most in Budh’s own mahadasha (17 years) and in its antardashas inside the others. The 3rd house’s matters also come forward in the periods of the house’s lord, which depends on your lagna.
Its drishti (a graha’s glance: the houses it looks at feel its influence) from the 3rd, by the rules our kundli reading weighs houses with:
- on your 9th house (luck): is counted neither way in our reading
The 3rd house, Sahaja bhava, rules younger siblings, courage, effort and short trips; it is an upachaya (the 3rd, 6th, 10th and 11th houses, which grow better with time and effort); its karaka (the graha that naturally signifies a house’s matters, whatever the lagna) is Mangal. The 3rd house, and every graha in it
Budh in the 3rd house, for each lagna
the rashi it sits in, and the houses it rules| Lagna | Budh sits in | Its state there | Lord of your | For this lagna |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mesh (Aries) | Mithun (Gemini) | Own rashi | 3rd and 6th | Malefic |
| Vrishabh (Taurus) | Kark (Cancer) | Enemy | 2nd and 5th | Mildly malefic— lord of the 2nd and 5th, which the verse calls 'somewhat inauspicious' (34.23) and does not name among the killers |
| Mithun (Gemini) | Singh (Leo) | Friendly | 1st and 4th | Lagna lord— the lagna lord, which the verse leaves unjudged: 34.25 names only Shukra auspicious for Mithun |
| Kark (Cancer) | Kanya (Virgo) | Exalted | 3rd and 12th | Malefic |
| Singh (Leo) | Tula (Libra) | Friendly | 2nd and 11th | Malefic— lord of the 2nd, but the killers the verse names for this lagna are Shani and Chandra (34.29–30) |
| Kanya (Virgo) | Vrishchik (Scorpio) | Neutral | 1st and 10th | Benefic · Yoga— gives yoga together with Shukra (34.32) |
| Tula (Libra) | Dhanu (Sagittarius) | Neutral | 9th and 12th | Benefic · Yoga— gives yoga together with Chandra (34.34) |
| Vrishchik (Scorpio) | Makar (Capricorn) | Neutral | 8th and 11th | Malefic |
| Dhanu (Sagittarius) | Kumbh (Aquarius) | Neutral | 7th and 10th | Benefic · Yoga— gives yoga together with Surya (34.38)— lord of the 7th, but the killers the verse names for this lagna are Shani and Shukra (34.37–38) |
| Makar (Capricorn) | Meen (Pisces) | Debilitated | 6th and 9th | Benefic |
| Kumbh (Aquarius) | Mesh (Aries) | Neutral | 5th and 8th | Neutral— gives mixed results (34.42) |
| Meen (Pisces) | Vrishabh (Taurus) | Friendly | 4th and 7th | Malefic · Maraka |
Budh’s state in each rashi, and the houses it rules for each lagna, as our free kundli reads them (BPHS chapter 34); each house links to what Parashara says of its lord sitting in the 3rd. “Its state there” is how that rashi treats Budh: exalted, own, friendly, neutral (sam), enemy or debilitated. “For this lagna” is Parashara’s verdict on the houses it rules. The two answer different questions.
The labels, from Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, chapter 34:
- Yogakaraka: the strongest graha a lagna can have: the one Parashara names as bringing yoga, or the one lord of both a kendra (1st, 4th, 7th, 10th) and a trikona (1st, 5th, 9th) (34.13)
- Benefic, Malefic, Neutral: works for the lagna; brings its harder matters; neither
- Lagna lord: the lagna’s own graha, where the verse calls it neither good nor hard
- Maraka: a killer Parashara names for the lagna, watched for health and longevity; printed alone, or after another label. It is not always the lord of the 2nd or 7th: where it differs, the line under it gives the verse
- · Yoga: one of two grahas he says give yoga together for this lagna
One lagna, read through
Take Makar lagna. Budh sits in Meen there (debilitated) and rules your 6th and 9th houses, which makes it a benefic for Makar lagna (BPHS 34). The two pull apart: the label says what it does for this lagna, the rashi how much strength it has to do it, so it gives less of that good than its label promises, unless a neecha bhanga (a cancelled debility) lifts it. The Lal Kitab reading above is the same for every lagna; this row is the part that changes with yours.
By Brihat Jataka 20.11, Budh in the 3rd house gives its good in full for Kark lagna, half for Mesh lagna, a quarter for Mithun, Singh and Meen lagna, little for Vrishabh lagna and none for Makar lagna, by the rashi it sits in. The verse gives no share for a neutral rashi, which is where it sits for Kanya, Tula, Vrishchik, Dhanu and Kumbh lagna. BJ 20.10–11
Budh in the 3rd house: where it works best, and where hardest
read off the table aboveBudh passing through the 3rd from your Moon
the gochar of Budh, not the birth chartNot the birth placement above: here Budh is moving through the 3rd counted from your Moon rashi. Phaladeepika does not count the 3rd among Budh’s good transit houses (all twelve, on the Budh page). Our Monthly Prediction reads it as challenging: scattered effort, misunderstandings with siblings, tiring short trips.
Common questions
3 questionsIs Budh in the 3rd house good?
Lal Kitab counts it a good placement, one of the 10 houses where Budh does well (with the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th and 11th). By its rashi, it is strongest for Mesh and Kark lagna; it is debilitated for Makar lagna.
What is the Lal Kitab upay for Budh in the 3rd house?
Lal Kitab’s upay for it: Keep a green cloth with you.
Which houses does Budh look at from the 3rd?
The 9th (luck).
A graha reads the same for everybody. Your chart does not.
Where each graha sits in your kundli, which bhavas it rules for your lagna and which dasha is running decide what it does for you. Make your free kundli to see all nine.
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