Reading Time: 3 minutes

The 6^th house of the ascendant (Lagna) chart is a malefic house or a ‘Dusthana’ where malefic planets such as Saturn, Mars, Rahu, and Ketu perform better.

However, Mercury in the 6^th house will provide results depending on the zodiac sign it is placed in.

Because Mercury is a young planet, He alone may not have the defense or the aggression to deal with the malefic effects of the 6^th house. As a result, having Mercury alone in the 6^th house is not considered a good sign for the native.

The only exception to this would be if Mercury is exalted in Virgo in the 6^th house which happens only in the case of Aries ascendants. This is the only placement of Mercury alone being in the 6^th house that will help the individual crush their enemies and also maintain an overall good health.

Of course, the best would be if Mercury is conjunct with a planet like Mars which will perform exceptionally well in the 6^th house (except for when it is debilitated in Cancer). Some of the things to consider here are:

Mercury in exaltation (Virgo) – unless aspected by any malefics, Mercury’s exaltation in the 6^th house will protect the individual from enemies as well as serious health issues.

Mercury Rahu conjunction – Mercury Rahu conjunction works best in the zodiac sign of Gemini because Rahu is considered exalted in Gemini and in the 6^th house, He can destroy the enemies of the native while Mercury would also help the individual be meticulous about their health (since the 6^th house also governs health). In Virgo, Mercury would be considered more powerful than Rahu due to its exaltation and therefore, the conjunction would still be beneficial for the person. However, the only downside of Mercury Rahu conjunction would be that Mercury turns malefic since it behaves as per the nature of the planet conjunct with it, and Rahu here is a malefic planet.

Mercury Ketu conjunction – this conjunction is only beneficial in the case of Sagittarius as Ketu performs best in Sagittarius. In any other situation, the results will not be as beneficial. In the 6th house, if Ketu is placed in a sign like Gemini or Taurus or Virgo, 

Some other elements the 6^th house is responsible for include health, diseases, debts, servants or subordinates, mental worries and issues, obstacles in life, etc.

As previously mentioned, unless placed in His own sign or in exaltation, Mercury will not be powerful enough to protect the native in those areas. This rule is, of course, exempted, if Mercury is with a benefic planet like Sun or Jupiter.

It must be noted that Sun, though not considered a malefic since it is a Sattvik Grah, will still perform excellently in the 6^th house unless it comes under some malefic influence such as a conjunction of Rahu or Ketu or Saturn.

A Sun Mars conjunction in the 6^th house would be splendid unless either planet debilitates or they are both placed in an enemy sign.

Anyways, Mercury with Mars in the 6^th house will give excellent results as Mars will instill discipline in the person regarding their health while Mercury will provide the necessary brain power or intellect for the person needed to subvert their enemies.

Similar results will be obtained in conjunctions such as Mercury Jupiter conjunction or Mercury Sun conjunction.

If a Mercury Ketu conjunction in the 6^th house occurs in a zodiac sign where Ketu is less likely to perform well, it will affect the strength of Mercury as well. The zodiac signs where Ketu will struggle to protect the native in the 6^th house are Libra (for Sagittarius ascendants) and Leo (for Pisces ascendants) as Ketu’s ability to provide the benefic effects of the said house are greatly reduced in those cases. In every other conjunction in every other zodiac sign, Ketu will protect the native from diseases overall and also help them against enemies.

It could be argued that in the 6^th house, Ketu performs favourably better than Rahu in a greater number of zodiac signs. In case of Rahu, the benefic effects would be most prominently seen only if Mercury Rahu conjunction or Rahu Mercury conjunction occurs in Gemini, Virgo, or Taurus in the 6^th house.

In any other case, Mercury will perform will if aspected by a benefic or conjunct with one.