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In short
Mangal is the Sanskrit name for Mars, the third of the nine grahas in BPHS. This app has it rule Aries and Scorpio, treats it as a natural malefic, gives it full aspects on the 4th, 7th and 8th houses from itself, and flags Mangal Dosha when it falls in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th or 12th house from the Lagna.
What the term means
Mangal is the Sanskrit name for Mars as a graha. On this site "Mangal" and "Mars" are the same body; the engine computes its sidereal longitude, sign, degree, nakshatra and house, and whether it is retrograde over the surrounding day. The name also survives in a popular term, Mangal Dosha, which the app computes and explains separately.
Where the term comes from
BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 10 lists Mangal third among the nine grahas, and Sl. 11 counts it a natural malefic. Sl. 12-13 make it "one's strength", Sl. 14-15 the "Army chief" of the planetary cabinet; Sl. 19 counts it male, Sl. 20 gives it rule of the fire element and Sl. 22 calls it tamasic. Sl. 49-50 place its exaltation in Makar, deepest at 28 degrees, and Sl. 51-54 make the first 12 degrees of Mesh its Mooltrikon. Saravali Ch. 4 Sl. 10-11 lists Kruradrik, Bhomisuta, Ara, Rakta and Vakra as other names, and the Bhrigu Sutras head its section "the Brother and Courage" (Part I, p. 7).
How this app uses it
- Lordship: Mars rules Aries and Scorpio. In the Chara Dasha, Scorpio has two lords, Mars and Ketu, and the engine picks the stronger by the BPHS Ch. 46 tests.
- Dignity: exalted in Capricorn and debilitated in Cancer, deep point 28 degrees; Moolatrikona in Aries from 0 to 12 degrees, own sign in the rest of Aries and in all of Scorpio.
- Aspects: besides the 7th that every graha casts, aspectedHouses() gives Mars the 4th and 8th from its house, as Saravali Ch. 4 Sl. 32-33 does (see special aspects).
- Nature and friendship: Mars is in the MALEFICS list; its natural friends are the Sun, Moon and Jupiter and its one enemy is Mercury.
- Combustion and timing: Mars is flagged combust within 17 degrees of the Sun, and its Vimshottari period is 7 years.
- Mangal Dosha: flagged when Mars is in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th or 12th house from the Lagna. The code records that this is the popular six-house convention, not BPHS: Ch. 80 Sl. 47 names only four of those houses and only when no benefic aspects or joins Mars.
Pages that use this term
- Mars in Vedic astrology - the full page on the graha.
- Mangal Dosha: what it is and is not - the essay on the flag and its limits.
- Mars Mahadasha - the seven-year Vimshottari period.
- Mars in Aries - Mars in its own sign and Moolatrikona.
- Mangal Dosha calculator - runs the six-house test on your chart.
Related terms
Papa graha, Graha drishti, Mesha, Vrishchika and Ketu.