A guide to the two planetary conditions the kundali calculator flags most often, retrograde (vakri) and combust (asta): which planets can be which, how often each happens, why only Mercury and Venus can be both at once, what each condition means, how to read them step by step, common misreadings, the KP view, remedies, and the eleven detailed articles for each planet.
Venus spends about one day in seven within the Sun’s combustion orb, mostly in long spells of eleven weeks behind it. Why that is the panchang’s Shukra asta, what combustion does to love, art, beauty and money when the Sun and Venus are enemies, each of Venus’s significations in turn, dignity and Malavya yoga, the lordships for each ascendant, the twenty-year period, and two charts from practice.
The Moon is combust for about two days every month, so roughly one person in fifteen is born with it, always on Amavasya or Shukla Pratipada. Why a combust Moon is a tithi, what changes when the Sun and Moon sit in different signs, the queen beside the king, the Moon’s strength across its cycle, what it means when the chart’s reference point is combust, mood and rest, new moons that are eclipses, the ascendants where the luminaries join, timing, and two charts from practice.
Saturn is combust for about five weeks each year, so roughly one person in eleven is born with it. What asta Shani means when the Sun’s natural enemy stands at its side, why a combust malefic is read differently from a combust benefic, the father-son thread, work and late recognition, Libra and Aries where the two trade places, the ascendant-by-ascendant reading, the houses, Sade Sati, dasha timing, and two charts from practice.
Jupiter is combust for about a month each year, so roughly one person in fourteen is born with it. Why that month is the one the panchang marks as Guru asta, what the Sun’s closeness does to Jupiter as minister, teacher and karaka of wealth and children, its dignity and Hamsa yoga, the ascendants where the pair forms a yoga, the house-by-house reading, dasha timing, remedies, and two charts from practice.
Mars is combust in about one birth chart in seven, and it stays beside the Sun for four months at a time. What asta Mangal means for drive, temper and pride, why it is one of the accepted Mangal dosha cancellations, the Sun and Mars together sign by sign, the ascendants where the pair forms a yoga, careers under command, what medical astrology does and does not say, the houses, dasha timing, and two charts from practice.
Mercury is combust in about two birth charts in five, more often than any other planet. The two kinds of combust Mercury, what the Sun’s closeness does to speech, study and work, the orb and the sign boundary, how Budhaditya yoga and combustion are read together, what the pairing gives each ascendant, the houses, when its results arrive, remedies, and two charts from practice.
Venus is retrograde in about one birth chart in fourteen, the rarest of the five retrogrades. How vakri Shukra changes love, taste and the sense of value, why partners and projects come back, what changes when it is combust as well, its dignity and Malavya yoga, whether it delays marriage, art and money, its twenty-year period sub-period by sub-period, the houses where it shows, the transit, and two charts from practice.
About one person in ten is born with Mars retrograde. How vakri Mangal turns energy inward, what it does to anger and courage, whether it changes Mangal dosha, what it means for property and rivals, what it rules for each ascendant, the houses where it shows, its seven-year period and the transit every two years, with two charts from practice.
About one person in five is born with Mercury retrograde, and unlike Saturn or Jupiter a retrograde Mercury is usually close to the Sun, often close enough to be combust as well. What that combination means for the mind, speech and writing, the six conditions a retrograde Mercury can be in, study and exams, contracts and trade, the houses where it shows most, its seventeen-year dasha ascendant by ascendant, why the three-times-a-year transit matters less than people fear, a note for parents, and two charts from practice.