Mars in Taurus: a neutral sign by nature, and why the chart decides the label

Mars in Taurus puts a hot, quick, combative graha in a fixed earth sign owned by Venus. None of the dignity rules in the corpus singles Taurus out for Mars: it is not where Mars is exalted, debilitated or at home. That leaves the relation between Mars and Venus to decide the label, and the classical tables call that relation neutral. So the sign itself starts the placement in the middle of the scale, and almost everything that moves it up or down comes from the rest of the chart.

The bare sign gives one label; the same sign in a real chart can give another, because the engine also asks where Venus is. And Saravali gives Taurus a stern line, then reverses much of it when certain planets aspect Mars.

This page covers only the combination. For Mars as a graha - its significations, aspects, strength and dashas - see Mars in Vedic astrology. For the sign itself - its element, its nakshatras and what a rising Taurus means - see Taurus, Vrishabha Rashi. This page is a map of rules, not a forecast about anyone.

Mars in Taurus: dignity, and how this app decides it

Start with what Taurus is not. BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 49-50 places Mars's exaltation (uchcha) in Capricorn and its debilitation (neecha) in Cancer; Sl. 51-54 gives its Moolatrikona as the first 12 degrees of Aries; and its own signs are Aries and Scorpio. Taurus is none of these, so Mars here is neither in its own sign nor in a special band. Those cases have their own pages: Mars in Capricorn, Mars in Cancer and Mars in Aries.

The lord of Taurus is Venus. The Mars chapter of Bhrigu Sutras lists Mars's friends as the Sun, the Moon and Jupiter, its enemy as Mercury, and Venus and Saturn as neutral. This app's table of natural relations holds the same lists. With no chart to consult, then, the engine labels every degree of Taurus Neutral for Mars - the "equal's sign" of BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 59-60, which the text credits with one eighth of the good effects. The general idea of graded strength is set out under dignity.

How the engine decides

The function that labels every planet in your chart, dignityOf, runs its tests in a fixed order: exaltation first, then Moolatrikona, then debilitation, then own sign, and only then the relation between the planet and the sign's lord. Taurus is not Mars's exaltation, Moolatrikona, debilitation or own sign, so every degree of it falls through to the last test: the relation between Mars and Venus, the lord of Taurus. Mars regards Venus as neither friend nor enemy, so without a chart the answer is Neutral from 0 to 30 degrees, with no boundary inside the sign. The degree of Mars within Taurus never changes the label.

Why the label can differ from chart to chart

The table above is the natural relation alone, which is what the engine uses when it has no chart. In a real chart it uses the fivefold relation of BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 57-58: the natural relation (naisargika maitri) combined with a temporary one (tatkalika maitri). BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 56 makes two grahas temporary friends when one sits in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th or 12th sign from the other, and temporary enemies otherwise. So the question for Mars in Taurus is simply where Venus sits, counted from Taurus.

For Taurus that has a sharp consequence: a neutral natural relation plus a temporary friend gives Friend, and a neutral natural relation plus a temporary enemy gives Enemy. In an actual birth chart, then, Mars in Taurus is never shown as Neutral; it is shown as a Friendly sign when Venus sits in Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Capricorn, Aquarius or Pisces (the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th or 12th from Taurus), and as an Enemy sign when Venus sits in Taurus itself, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius or Aries. Both outcomes are the text's rule applied faithfully, not a judgement about the person.

The nakshatras Mars moves through in Taurus

Taurus holds the last three padas of Krittika, all four of Rohini and the first two of Mrigashira. Because the dignity of Mars does not change inside the sign, the nakshatra here changes the finer reading (and the Vimshottari starting point if it were the Moon), not the dignity label. The nakshatra pages go further: Krittika, Rohini and Mrigashira.

What the classical texts say about Mars in Taurus

Saravali Ch. 25 Sl. 3-4

Saravali's line for Mars in Taurus is among the hardest in the chapter. In paraphrase: a large appetite, little wealth and few sons, jealousy and distrust of others, violent play and very harsh speech, quarrels with relatives and discredit to the family - set beside a fondness for music and the duty of supporting many people. The line also opens with a charge about breaking the vows of chaste women; that is the text's statement and is reported only as such.

The contrast on either side is stark. Sl. 1-2 gives Mars in Aries splendour, truthfulness and leadership; Sl. 5-6 gives Mars in Gemini learning, skill in the fine arts and a liking for travel abroad. Taurus sits between two generous lines with a severe one. Dignity alone does not explain the ordering - Gemini, a Mercury sign, rates lower than Taurus on the friendship scale yet gets the kinder line - and the text gives no reason. SeeMars in Gemini for that line in full.

Saravali Ch. 25 Sl. 31-36: the aspect lines

Saravali then reads Mars in either Venus sign, Taurus or Libra, under the aspect of each of the other six planets. Here the verdict often turns the other way from the sign line:

• Aspected by the Sun: a taste for forests and hills, a fierce appearance and courage, with many enemies and a dislike of women in the text's words.
• Aspected by the Moon: disrespect towards the mother, a wicked disposition, favour with many women, and fear of war.
• Aspected by Mercury: quarrelsome and talkative, a soft body, few sons and little wealth, yet learned in the Shastras.
• Aspected by Jupiter: skill in music and instruments, good fortune, affection from relatives, and purity.
• Aspected by Venus: a king's minister and favourite, an army chief, titles, and happiness - the highest of the six.
• Aspected by Saturn: happy, famous and wealthy, with friends and supporters, learned, and head of a group of villages or men.

The best line belongs to Venus, the sign's own lord. Saturn, neutral to Mars by the tables, also reads well, while the Moon, a natural friend, reads poorly: the aspect lines do not simply follow the friendship table, and the text gives no reason.

BPHS and Bhrigu Sutras

BPHS writes no character line for Mars in Taurus. It supplies the machinery instead - natural, temporary and compound relations (Ch. 3 Sl. 55-58) and the ratio of effects (Sl. 59-60) - which grades the equal's sign at one eighth, a friend's at a quarter and an enemy's at nil.

Bhrigu Sutras offers one worked case. In its commentary on Mars in the 10th house, it notes that Mars in Taurus for a Leo Lagna sits in the 10th as lord of the 9th (and the 4th), and reads that as a powerful Rajayoga. The commentator's reason is lordship and house, not the sign's dignity: Mars as a Leo Lagna's 4th and 9th lord, placed in a Kendra.

Where the texts agree, and where they part

• Agreed: Taurus is not an exaltation, debilitation, Moolatrikona or own sign for Mars (BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 49-54; Bhrigu Sutras, Mars chapter).
• Agreed: Venus is neutral to Mars by nature (Bhrigu Sutras, Mars chapter; this engine's natural-relation table).
• Different emphasis: Saravali's sign line is severe, while its Venus, Jupiter and Saturn aspect lines are favourable. Bhrigu Sutras' commentary reads Mars in Taurus kindly for a Leo Lagna because of what Mars rules.
• Silent: BPHS has no sign-by-sign character line for Mars, so Saravali is the only text quoted for character here.

How Taurus changes the houses Mars rules and sits in

The sign does not choose the house; the Lagna does. Mars rules Aries and Scorpio, so from any Lagna it rules two houses, and in Taurus it sits in a third. Whole-sign houses make that mechanical:

Three rows are worth reading closely. For a Leo Lagna, Taurus is the 10th, and Mars rules the 4th and 9th from a Kendra - the Bhrigu Sutras case above. For a Cancer Lagna, Mars rules the 5th and the 10th, and this app's yoga-karaka table (from BPHS Ch. 34) names Mars the yoga karaka for Cancer; in Taurus it sits in the 11th. For a Taurus Lagna, Mars sits in the 1st as lord of the 7th and 12th. The planned house pages, such as Mars in the 11th house and Mars in the 1st house, go further with each.

Worked example: 20 April 1985, 13:24 IST, New Delhi

An illustrative birth, not a real person, computed in this app's engine. Cancer rises at 26.31 degrees. Mars is at 2.14 degrees of Taurus, in Krittika pada 2, in the 11th house, neither retrograde nor combust. The engine labels it a Friendly sign - not Neutral - and the next paragraphs show why.

Dignity. Venus, the lord of Taurus, is at 12.79 degrees of Pisces, retrograde and exalted. Counted from Taurus, Pisces is the 11th sign, one of BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 56's temporary-friend positions. Neutral by nature plus friend by position gives Friend under Sl. 57-58, so the label is Friendly sign. Had Venus been in, say, Libra (the 6th from Taurus), the same Mars at the same degree would read Enemy sign.

Lordship. For a Cancer Lagna, Aries is the 10th and Scorpio the 5th, so Mars rules the 5th and the 10th - the yoga-karaka role this app records for Cancer - and sits in the 11th, a house of gains.

Aspects. Using the aspect rule this engine applies, two grahas reach the 11th house here. Jupiter, in the 7th (Capricorn, debilitated), casts its 5th-house aspect onto the 11th; Saturn, in the 5th (Scorpio, retrograde), casts its 7th-house aspect there. So two of Saravali's six lines from Sl. 31-36 apply: Jupiter's (music, good fortune, dear to relatives) and Saturn's (happiness, fame, wealth, friends, a leading role). The Sun, Moon and Rahu sit together in the 10th, which reaches the 4th, not the 11th, so their lines do not apply.

How often Mars is in Taurus

Across 3,000 sampled birth moments 1985-2060, Mars was in Taurus in 253 of them, 8.4 per cent. That is a property of the sky in the sample, not a count of people. The figure varies with the sample because Mars does not move through the zodiac at an even pace: in years when it turns retrograde it can stay in one sign for months, and in others it crosses a sign in a few weeks. The Mars reference page covers its motion.

Checking Mars in Taurus in your own chart

1. 1.Cast your chart with the Birth Chart calculator. Confirm Mars is in Taurus and read the dignity label in its row.
2. 2.Note where Venus sits, counted from Taurus. The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th or 12th sign makes the label Friendly sign; any other makes it Enemy sign.
3. 3.Note the house Taurus occupies and the houses Aries and Scorpio occupy: where Mars sits and what it rules.
4. 4.List any planet in Scorpio (the 7th from Taurus), Jupiter in Virgo or Capricorn, and Saturn in Pisces or Leo. Only those bring a Saravali Ch. 25 Sl. 31-36 aspect line into play.
5. 5.Look at strength with the Shad Bala calculator, and timing with the Vimshottari Dasha calculator and the Mars Mahadasha page.

Is Mars weak in Taurus?

Not by the dignity rules. Taurus is not Mars's debilitation sign (that is Cancer). By nature it is an equal's sign, which BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 59-60 credits with one eighth of the good effects; in a real chart this app shows it as Friendly or Enemy depending on where Venus sits.

Why does my chart say Friendly sign when tables say Venus is neutral to Mars?

Because the engine uses the fivefold relation of BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 57-58. If Venus sits in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th or 12th sign from Taurus, it is a temporary friend, and neutral plus friend gives Friend.

Can Mars in Taurus ever show as Neutral in a birth chart?

Not in this engine. A neutral natural relation combines with a temporary friend into Friend, or with a temporary enemy into Enemy. Neutral appears only when no chart is given, as in the engine-facts table.

What does Saravali say about Mars in Taurus?

Ch. 25 Sl. 3-4 gives a severe line - little wealth, harsh speech, quarrels with relatives - softened by a liking for music. Sl. 31-36 then reads the Venus, Jupiter and Saturn aspects favourably.

Does Mars in Taurus form Ruchaka Yoga?

No. BPHS ties Ruchaka Yoga to Mars in its own or exaltation sign in a Kendra, and Taurus is neither.

How common is Mars in Taurus?

In this app's sample, Mars was in Taurus in 253 of 3,000 sampled birth moments 1985-2060, 8.4 per cent.