Nakshatra

nuhk-SHA-truh

sanskrit: नक्षत्र (Nakṣatra)

Definition

A nakshatra is one of the 27 lunar mansions, or asterisms, that divide the sidereal zodiac — the star-based zodiac of Vedic astrology. Each spans exactly 13°20', measured from 0° Aries and running in order from Aswini to Revati. A 28th, Abhijit, is sometimes added for special purposes. Every nakshatra splits into four padas, or quarters, of 3°20' — 108 padas in all — so roughly 2¼ nakshatras fall within each 30° sign. Each one carries a ruling planet and a presiding deity.

In Tradition

Across the modern Jyotish literature, the nakshatra a planet sits in is read as actively coloring how that planet expresses itself, not just marking where it is: several authors hold that a planet's results are shaped by its asterism and by that asterism's lord. Behari goes furthest, suggesting that often it is the nakshatra's influence, rather than the planet's own nature, that actually reaches you.

In Practice

In practice the nakshatra is read most closely through the Moon. Finding the natal Moon's nakshatra — the janma nakshatra, or birth star — is one of the first steps of a reading, and it anchors the Vimshottari dasha system: the lord of the Moon's nakshatra sets the running planetary period at birth, and the unspun portion of that star gives its balance. Each nakshatra also carries classificatory attributes — a symbol, a deity, a guna (one of the three fundamental qualities), an activity-type, and a shakti (its core power) — used to read character, and Behari pairs an evolutionary and involutionary reading for each. In muhurta, choosing favorable times, the Moon's nakshatra carries the most weight among the limbs of the Panchanga (the five-part Vedic almanac), the asterisms being grouped by activity — fixed, movable, fierce — to suit the act. The Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra notes that affliction to the birth star can be remedied by propitiating its presiding deity. Some authors instead build the reading around the rising (ascending) nakshatra.

Historical Origin

The nakshatras are attested across the classical Sanskrit literature. The Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra (Ch.3) lists all 27 from Aswini to Revati with their deities, and Varahamihira's Brihat Jataka (Ch.I) gives them with their identifying stars and the 108 padas. They are also treated by Raman and within the Krishnamurti (KP) system. Modern authors — Frawley, Behari, Sutton, Harness, Trivedi, Ponde, Rao, Charak, and Narasimha Rao — have elaborated the cluster extensively.

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Further Reading