Mars-Mercury Planetary War in Capricorn

This article relates to the planetary war (grahayuddha) event taking place on January 18th, 2026. This is expected to have effect for several months to come.

What is Grahayuddha?

Grahayuddha literally means 'planetary war'. It refers to a situation where two or more planets come within approximately 1 degree of each other in the sky. In reality, this is only an appearance. The planets are actually very far away from each other but appear to be next to each other from Earth's point of view. However, in astrology, this is a significant event. The rays of the two planets interact with each other and cause different effects for people on Earth.

According to the ancient texts, only five planets participate in Grahayuddha: Mercury (Budha), Venus (Shukra), Mars (Kuja/Mangal), Jupiter (Guru), and Saturn (Shani). The luminaries—Sun and Moon—and the shadow planets Rahu and Ketu do not engage in planetary wars in the traditional sense.

When two planets engage in grahayuddha, one emerges as the victor and the other is defeated. This is determined based on various factors in astrology. The effect of one grahayuddha can continue for several months after the actual event, hence these have importance in several domains within astrology such as natural astrology, horoscopy, and horary astrology.

Upcoming Event

A planetary war involving Mars (Kuja/Mangal) and Mercury (Budha) is set to occur on January 18th, 2026. Both these planets are fast moving hence this event is expected to conclude within a few hours.

As per traditional calculations, in this war, the victor will be Mars.

This event is taking place in the constellation of Capricorn (Makara rashi), where Mars is exalted (uccha) and Mercury is in a friend's house. Both are combust hence they are comparatively weakened. This exalted position places Mars in an already favourable position amplifying the effects of the war.

Key Effects

Some of the key effects of this event are presented below. These apply to individuals specifically as well as to society as a whole.

Some problematic effects:

• Increased aggression
• Reduced clarity of thought and logical thinking
• Difficulties for people pursuing visual arts: painting, sculpting and similar arts
• Learning is impacted negatively

Some positive effects:

• Increased courage
• Better relationships with siblings

Mitigation Strategies

Multiple strategies can be used for mitigation. Ideally, use each of them in ways that are suitable in your specific context.

Approaching problems

• Lack of clarity of thought and logical thinking can prove to be detrimental. However, you should apply this increased courage and determination towards forming resilient systems.
• Approach each problem in a structured manner so that you can apply what you know in an effective way.
• Either create new systems, or understand and use existing ones, as applicable in your work.

For artists and creators

• Try to incorporate more people or human elements in your paintings
• Engage in more networking - this can open new avenues
• Anchor yourself in good systems - keep records of your ideas and sketches
• Keep targets to finish your paintings within a certain date
• Teach painting to children

Key Remedies

1. Donate moong dal (green gram) to the needy or at temples
2. Wear emerald after consultation with an astrologer
3. Support children by providing learning materials and books
4. Support libraries or donate books that you don't need, to them

Strengthening Saturn

A strong Saturn will help in giving good direction to efforts. Follow the advice given below for this purpose:

1. Donate black or purple clothes, black sesame (til) or sesame oil (til oil)
2. Wear sapphire after consultation with an astrologer
3. Treat servants and juniors well
4. Participate in chartiable activities on Saturdays
5. Give pooja, abhisheka and the like in Shiva temple or Shani temple under the guidance of your guru

Review these articles to understand this better: Sade Sati Career Problems and Saturn Retrograde (Shani Vakri) 2024.