Mangal Ke Upay: Tuesday Remedies for Mars, and How They Differ From Manglik Dosh

Mangal — Mars — is the commander among the grahas. It signifies courage, strength, blood, younger siblings, land and property, and the capacity to act. A strong Mars makes soldiers, surgeons, engineers, athletes and people who finish what they start. The Puranas call Mars Bhauma, the son of the Earth, and Ujjain holds a particular place in that story: tradition names it the birthplace of Mars.

Remedies for Mars are often given without asking which problem is being solved.

• An afflicted or over-strong Mars is associated with anger that arrives before thought, quarrels, disputes over land, accidents, cuts and surgeries, and complaints of blood pressure.
• A weak Mars is associated with the opposite: low energy, hesitation, fear of confrontation and difficulty defending one’s own interests.

The mantra and the worship below suit both. The gemstone does not — red coral strengthens Mars, so it helps the second case and can aggravate the first. That is why a Mars remedy should follow a chart reading, not a general list.

Manglik Dosh is a specific condition: Mars in the first, fourth, seventh, eighth or twelfth house, weighed for marriage. It has its own cancellation rules and its own remedies — Bhaat Puja at Mangalnath, and Kumbh or Ark Vivah. A person can have a troubled Mars without being Manglik, and can be Manglik with a strong and well-behaved Mars. If your question is about marriage, start with how to check whether you are Manglik and what cancels it rather than with this page.

The Mangal beej mantra is: Om Kraam Kreem Kraum Sah Bhaumaya Namah.

1. Chant it 108 times on Tuesday morning after bathing, facing south, the direction of Mars.
2. Use a red seat or cloth if you have one; red is the colour of Mars.
3. The simpler Om Ang Angarakaya Namah is equally accepted.

For debt in particular the tradition gives a separate hymn, the Rinmochan Mangal Stotra, recited on Tuesdays — Mars is the graha read for debt, as what your kundali says about debt explains.

Tuesday is Mangal’s own day, and its most widely kept remedy is the worship of Hanuman: reciting the Hanuman Chalisa, offering sindoor and jasmine oil, and lighting a lamp. In southern tradition the deity of Mars is Kartikeya (Subrahmanya), and his worship serves the same purpose. Many people keep a Tuesday fast — one meal, without salt, after sunset — for twenty-one Tuesdays.

The gifts associated with Mars are all red or copper-coloured:

• red lentils (masoor dal)
• jaggery and wheat
• red cloth
• copper vessels

Give them on a Tuesday to someone who can use them. Because Mars rules blood, many astrologers today suggest donating blood as a Mars remedy. It is a modern custom rather than a textual one — and an unusually good one, since it helps someone regardless of anyone’s chart.

The old texts describe Mars as fire, and fire needs fuel and a hearth. The practical remedy for a restless Mars is physical exertion — exercise, sport, manual work — along with the discipline of pausing before replying when angry. Lal Kitab adds its own customs, such as giving sweet rotis to dogs or keeping a square piece of silver; they are harmless popular practice, not scripture. Recurring anger, and blood pressure in particular, are also medical matters and should be treated as such.

A full jaap is traditionally prescribed when the Mahadasha or Antardasha of Mars is running with Mars afflicted, when Mars is joined with Rahu (Angarak Yoga) or with Saturn, or when an astrologer has recommended a count. The mantra is recited in its prescribed number by pandits, with havan, in your name and gotra — our Mangal Shanti Jaap in Ujjain. It is a different rite from the Bhaat Puja performed for Manglik Dosh, and neither is a guarantee of any outcome.