Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 5.22.14
Sthāna· The universe in orderMars Usually Brings Unfavorable Conditions
“Situated 1,600,000 miles above Mercury, or 8,800,000 miles above earth, is the planet Mars. If this planet does not travel in a crooked way, it crosses through each sign of the zodiac in three fortnights and in this way travels through all twelve, one after another. It almost always creates unfavorable conditions in respect to rainfall and other influences.”
What the purport teaches
- Mars is described as situated 1,600,000 miles above Mercury, or 8,800,000 miles above earth.
- If Mars does not travel in a crooked way, it crosses each sign of the zodiac in three fortnights. It passes through all twelve signs one after another.
- Mars almost always creates unfavorable conditions in respect to rainfall and other influences.
Try this today
Reread the verse and identify the condition attached to Mars’s passage through each zodiac sign.
Ask yourself
What do you notice about the qualification “almost always” in this description of Mars?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.