Related Articles: Effects of Combust Planets

Combustion of a planet among navagraha is a

phenomenon which is said to be caused when such
planet comes within certain degrees of closeness to
Sun. When it happens, the planet which has come
closer to Sun more than a safer distance to be
maintained, it may lose its shine and luster, which in
astrological terms means that it may become
comparatively weaker due to being too close to Sun, as
the Sun may burn some of its strength out. This planet
which loses some of its strength by virtue of being too
close to Sun is called a combust planet and while
depicting this planet in a horoscope, the alphabet c is
written along with it, which is an indication for the
person who studies such horoscope, that this planet
was combust at the time of birth of the native who
possesses such horoscope.
For example, Mercury gets combust when it enters a
distance which is 14 degrees or less from Sun. It means
that if Mercury is placed in the sign of Leo along with
Sun where Mercury has traveled 10 degrees in the sign
of Leo and Sun has traveled 20 degrees in the sign of
Leo, the net distance between Mercury and Sun is 10
degrees which is less than the safe distance of 14
degrees in case of Mercury and hence it becomes
combust. The natives who are born during this phase of
time will have combust Mercury in their horoscopes,
which may be depicted by adding c with Mercury.
Similarly, other planets among navagraha also become
combust when they enter a certain minimum distance
from Sun. Among all nine planets considered in Vedic
astrology, Sun is one of them and among the remaining
eight, 6 planets except Rahu and Ketu, namely Moon,
Jupiter, Venus, Mars, Mercury and Saturn become
combust when they enter a certain distance from Sun.
This minimum distance is different for different planets
and a couple of these planets have different degrees of
safe distances from Sun before they get combust,
depending on the fact whether they are in forward
motion or in retrograde motion. For example, in
forward motion, Mercury becomes combust when it
enters a distance of 14 degrees from Sun whereas in
retrograde motion, it becomes combust when it enters
a distance of 12 degrees from Sun. Rahu and Ketu never
become combust by virtue of their closeness to Sun as
they are shadow planets and they dont have physical
attributes like combustion. Before moving on with this
discussion, lets take a look at the distance from Sun
after which, each one of these six planets becomes
combust.
Moon becomes combust when it comes within 12
degrees on either side of the Sun.
Mercury becomes combust when it comes within 14
degrees on either side of the Sun provided Mercury is in
forward Motion. When Mercury is in retrograde
motion, the degree of closeness for combustion of
Mercury becomes 12 degrees.
Venus becomes combust when it comes within 10
degrees on either side of the Sun provided Venus is in
forward motion. When Venus is in retrograde motion,
the degree of closeness for combustion of Venus
becomes 8 degrees.
Mars becomes combust when it comes within 17
degrees on either side of the Sun.
Jupiter becomes combust when it comes within 11
degrees on either side of the Sun.
Saturn becomes combust when it comes within 15
degrees on either side of the Sun.

Though there is no doubt that a planet which becomes

combust may certainly lose some of its strength, how
much strength it may lose is dependent on many factors
in a horoscope, and it is not decided on the basis of
combustion only. The first one among these factors is
the distance that a combust planet has travelled closer
to the Sun. The closer a planet gets to the Sun after
entering a certain minimum distance, the more
combust it gets. For example, if Sun is placed in the sign
of Leo at 20 degrees and Mercury is placed in the same
sign at 10 degrees, though Mercury is combust as it has
entered the minimum required distance for its
combustion to take place, it still may not lose much
power as it is not very close to Sun. However if Sun is
placed in the sign of Leo at 20 degrees and Mercury is
placed in the same sign at 18 degrees, the combustion
of Mercury will be much stronger than the first case, as
it has come much closer to Sun, compared to the first
case, as the distance between Sun and Mercury is 10
degrees in the first case and the distance between Sun
and Mercury is 2 degrees in the second case.
Similarly, if Sun is placed in the sign of Leo at 20 degrees
and Mercury is also placed in the sign of Leo at 20
degrees, the combustion of Mercury may become the
strongest among all these cases as Mercury has got as
close to Sun, as it can. Taking a look at the second
factor, the sign of placement of a combust planet and
Sun is a very important factor to be discussed, while
discussing the intensity of combustion of a planet in a
horoscope. For example, if a combination of Sun and
Saturn is placed in the sign of Gemini and Saturn
becomes combust by coming within 15 degrees of the
Sun, it may be a regular type of combustion as both Sun
and Saturn are comfortable, or so to say strong in the
sign of Gemini. However, if the same combination of
Sun and Saturn is placed in the sign of Aries and Saturn
becomes combust, this combustion is likely to be much
stronger than the one that happens in the sign of
Gemini.
This is due to the fact that Sun gets exalted in the sign
of Aries and hence it gains maximum strength in this
sign, which means it has more power to burn any planet
that comes closer to it. On the other hand, Saturn
becomes debilitated in the sign of Aries, which means it
is already weak and it may not be able to fight such
combustion in a very good way and hence, more
weakness may be rendered to Saturn in this case.
However if the same combination of debilitated Sun
and exalted Saturn is placed in the sign of Libra and
Saturn becomes combust, the results may be altogether
different. Sun is debilitated in the sign of Libra and
hence it may not be able to burn out much strength of
Saturn which on the other hand is very strong by virtue
of being exalted in the sign of Libra and hence it is more
capable of fighting such combustion, rendered to it by
very weak Sun or so to say, debilitated Sun.
You see how the change in the sign of placement alone
changes the intensity of combustion of a planet to a
great extent, even though it may be distanced from Sun
by the same number of degrees in different signs.
Though there are no exact measures through which
such things may be factored in, but for the sake of
convenience of readers, let me give you an approximate
idea. The intensity of combustion received by Saturn at
10 degrees from Sun in the sign of Aries may be much
stronger than the intensity of combustion received by
Saturn at 5 degrees from Sun in the sign of Libra. This is
because, Sun doesnt have much strength in the sign of
Libra and hence it cant burn Saturn very much. At the
same time, Saturn is the strongest in Libra and hence it
can fight the burning effect initiated by Sun in a much
stronger way.
This situation is opposite in the sign of Aries where
exalted Sun is the strongest and debilitated Saturn is
the weakest. Therefore such exalted Sun may burn such
debilitated Saturn more form a distance of 10 degrees
in the sign of Aries, compared to the burning effect
caused by debilitated Sun to exalted Saturn in the sign
of Libra at a distance of 5 degrees. Hence the sign of
placement of Sun as well as that of the planet to be
burnt is an important factor and it should be considered
properly before predicting the amount of weakness
received by a particular planet by virtue of combustion.
And though it may not be possible to discuss all the
other important factors involved in deciding the
amount of weakness rendered to a planet due to
combustion, let me still discuss one of the most
important factors as well as the factor which is often
ignored by many astrologers, while assessing the
intensity of combustion of a planet in a horoscope. This
factor deals with the working nature of Sun in a
horoscope and it also deals with the working nature of
the planet which becomes combust due to its closeness
to Sun. If in a horoscope, Sun is working positively, it is
likely to do far less damage to a planet in combination
with it by means of combustion, than the damage done
by such Sun when it is working negatively in a
horoscope.
It is important to understand that when a benefic
planet becomes combust by benefic Sun in a horoscope,
there are two processes going on at the same time. The
first process is the process of combustion and the
second process if the process through which two
benefic planets interact with each other in the same
house as well as in the same sign. Hence they provide
strength to each other and they also complement each
other in many other ways. Therefore, the combustion of
this planet is not as damaging in this case as it may be in
some other cases, as this planet is also receiving
positive energy from Sun along with going through the
process of combustion.
However if a benefic planet becomes combust by
malefic Sun in a horoscope, the damage may increase as
in this case also, two processes are in effect at the same
time. The first process is the process of combustion and
the second process is the one through which malefic
Sun afflicts the positive planet involved in this
combination and it sends negative energy to such
planet through the process of affliction, apart from
burning out some of its strength through the process of
combustion. The benefic planet at the receiving end will
need to lose a part of its positive energy in order to
counteract such negative energy sent by Sun and in the
process; this benefic planet may lose more strength in
the form of positive energy. Hence malefic Sun can burn
a benefic planet and it can also afflict it due to its
malefic nature, which results in much more weakness
due to combustion as well as due to affliction.
Similarly there are many other factors which play
important role in the process of combustion, like the
case when the combust planet is negative and the Sun is
positive or the case when both the combust planet and
the Sun are negative. Similarly, the placement of Sun
and combust planet in particular nakshatras among the
same signs may change these results and the placement
of other planets in the house of combination of Sun and
combust planet as well as in some other important
houses of a horoscope can also affect the process of
combustion in a positive or in a negative way.
Hence all these important factors should be duly
studied when assessing the amount of damage done to
a planet by virtue of combustion as these results may
look the same in different horoscopes, but they may be
entirely different. For example, a combination of Sun
and Mercury in the sign of Gemini in one horoscope
may result in combustion of Mercury, and Budhaditya
Yoga may be formed at the same time due to Sun and
Mercury both being positive in the horoscope. However
in a different horoscope, the same combination of Sun
and Mercury may results in the formation of Pitra Dosh,
as malefic Mercury may afflict the Sun in this case. In
yet another possible combination of Sun and Mercury
placed in the sign of Gemini, malefic Sun may cause
serious damages to Mercury by virtue of combustion as
well as by virtue of affliction caused by it to Mercury.