Nadi

Definition

In the nakshatra classifications, the nadi ("pulse") is the Ayurvedic constitution, or dosha, assigned to a nakshatra. The 27 stars are grouped into three Nadis of nine each, matching the three doshas — Kapha, Pitta and Vata. The same three-channel framework appears as the tri-nadi chakra, the body's three channels — Sarasvati flanked by Ganga and Yamuna — which carry prana and rayi through the circulation passages and map nine nakshatra groups onto nine astral nodes.

In Tradition

Across the sources surveyed here, the nadi is read not only as a constitutional label but as a factor in matching marriage horoscopes: Krishnamurti and deFouw and Svoboda both use the bride's and bridegroom's nadis to judge marital compatibility, though they describe the specific effects differently.

In Practice

Krishnamurti applies the nadi as a marriage agreement (Nadi Porutham), one of the matches beyond the ten Dasa Poruthams and especially observed in North India: if the bride and bridegroom belong to different Nadis they agree very favourably; if both belong to Madhyama Nadi it is evil to the husband; and if both belong to the same Parswa Nadi it is undesirable to the bride. deFouw and Svoboda also use the nadi for comparing marriage horoscopes and for medical astrology: a planet occupying a nakshatra takes on the influence of that nakshatra's nadi, so malefics unmodified by benefics disturb the indicated dosha, while unafflicted benefics strengthen it. They illustrate with Jupiter (Kapha) versus Saturn (Vata) in the second house in Cancer in Ashlesha, producing respectively mucus problems or dryness of the mouth, throat and eyes.

Historical Origin

In the sources gathered here the nadi is attested through modern Jyotish works: Rath's Brhat Naksatra, which presents it within the tri-nadi chakra; deFouw and Svoboda's Light on Life, which treats it in their chapter on the nakshatras; and the Nadi Porutham of K.S. Krishnamurti's Marriage, Married Life and Children, who notes the agreement is especially observed in North India. No classical Sanskrit text is named for it in these sources.

Further Reading

• Rath, Brhat Naksatra
• (Late) Prof. K.S. Krishnamurti, Marriage, Married Life and Children (Krishnamurti Padhdhati — Reader No. IV)
• deFouw & Svoboda, Light on Life