Om veeradhwajaaya vidmahe
vighna hastaaya dheemahi
tanno bhooma prachodayaat
Mars is a planet of strength. The sloka for Mars describes this planetary deity has having the (weapon) (instrument) Shakti in his hand. So we may take strength, power, energy and force as signatures of the planet Mars.
Strength is force applied. Strength can be applied with heat of the moment passion, (Mars is Pita, heat) with intemperate action, it may be applied in a rash, hurtful, indomitable and resolute manner. Not all at once!
Strength can be applied to will, to the mind, to the body. When applied to these areas it is sometimes called power. Strength as force has its uses to protect, to defend, to achieve, to build, to create, to collaborate. So we have all these aspects of Shakti, the hidden energy, the hidden flame in the heart of things. This is the instrument of the Planet Mars.
Depending on the position and shadbalas or argbalas of Mars in a birth horoscope, we may say that the basic function of Mars is the command and expression energy within, and its dispositions. Energy can be channelled, disciplined and applied. For example, warriors, soldiers, search and rescue volunteers all have a method in their application to the discipline of the body and acquisition of skills for service to others. Such method of directing energy is systematic acquisition and rehearsal of skills and behaviours to the point of full self discipline. This is applying the energy of Mars in a positive manner.
Disciplined channelling of energy is also applied to skills and vocational disciplines. This is applied to trades, occupations and vocational interests. Tradesmen undertake four or seven year apprenticeships; surgeons, dentists and laboratory chemists undertake similar lengthy periods of training. Sports-persons also undertake years of practice and discipline to reach their peak fitness for high level, national and international competition.
So we understand that Mars, with the instrument of Shakti, has power, energy and will. Application of will to physical energy and efforts gives rise to power, concentration and success in the formation of discipline to create human order in human society. Mars, with its command of energy for repetition, practice, drill, gives penetration of mind and intellect to efficient decisions, which create order where disorder and chaos exist.
What has Mars to do with the five human values?
Human Values
Our values are our principles, our guides to action. Values are our codes of internal conduct, the principles upon which we run our lives and make our decisions. Our values are first given to us by our parents, and these are developed, expanded, tested in experience. Other people impress values upon us, such as those values given to us by our peers, our teachers, the wider community. Our moral values are often sourced from our faith systems. It is from these that we select the principles which guide our lives and our behaviours.
Our values often include universal principles such as truthfulness, peace, love, right conduct and non-violence. These principles are often essential for our personal and social survival. As we see with Mars, internal motivators to action are critically important. Mars has the instrument of Shakti in his hand, and the question arises, when energy (shakti) is applied to the practice of human values, we can have very powerful outcomes which create order in person, in the home, in the family, in the society, in the nation, and then in the world.
This gives enormous impetus to the Mars capacity to lead, to direct, to command, to undertake leadership roles in every compartment of human activity and to create that reality where the inhabitants of this planet Earth, (whom Mars is son of) to live with true humanness.
