Antardasha 9 of 9 in Ketu mahadasha · 11 mo 27 d
Ketu-Mercury antardasha केतु-बुध अंतर्दशा
Ketu-Mercury lasts about eleven months and twenty-seven days and closes the mahadasha. Mars, and therefore Ketu, counts Mercury as an enemy, while Mercury is neutral toward Mars, so the pairing is read as friction between intuition and intellect. Tradition expects scattered communication, misunderstandings in contracts, and restlessness in study, but also renewed interest in commerce, writing, and travel. Nervous strain is a listed theme. It hands over to Venus with plans half formed.
- Length
- 11 mo 27 d
- Position
- 9 of 9 in Ketu
- Natural relation
- Ketu is enemy to Mercury
The mahadasha behind it
Ketu mahadasha is a seven year period that tradition associates with detachment, sudden turns, and a loosening of attachments to things that no longer serve. It usually opens quietly after the busy Mercury period and asks for inward focus rather than expansion. Classical texts read it as a time of spiritual gain and material uncertainty, with results depending heavily on the house and sign Ketu occupies. Read the full Ketu mahadasha.
What Mercury adds as sub-lord
Mercury mahadasha is a seventeen year period that tradition associates with intellect, communication, commerce, learning, and adaptability. After the heavy Saturn period it feels lighter, quicker, and more social. Classical texts read a strong Mercury as bringing success in trade, writing, and study, and a wide network of useful contacts, while a weak or afflicted Mercury brings nervous strain, scattered effort, and losses through miscommunication. As an antardasha lord it colours the mahadasha's agenda rather than replacing it: the houses Mercury owns and occupies in the birth chart become the stage for Ketu's themes for 11 mo 27 d. See Mercury as a mahadasha.
How the length is computed
Ketu runs 7 years and Mercury runs 17 years in the 120-year cycle, so Ketu-Mercury lasts 7 × 17 ÷ 120 = 0.992 years, about 11 mo 27 d. The exact calendar boundaries depend on the Moon's degree at birth; the free kundli lists them.