Nakshatra functional class

sanskrit: nakṣatra svabhāva

Definition

A nakshatra's functional or operating class is the category — drawn from a fixed set of natures — that signals how the nakshatra behaves and which activities it favours. The Brihat Samhita gives a sevenfold scheme: Dhruva (fixed), Teekshna, Ugra (fierce), Kshipra, Mridu (soft), Misra (mixed) and Chara (movable), with the four Dhruva asterisms being the three Uttaras and Rohini. Some modern authors add further inauspicious classes such as Dagdha (burnt), Vainashika and Samhara.

In Tradition

The Brihat Samhita and Sharda both group the nakshatras by their operative nature into the same sevenfold set, so each class suits particular kinds of undertaking — and the matching act, done while the Moon sits in a nakshatra of that class, is held to prosper. Beyond this shared scheme the sources diverge on exactly which nakshatras and acts attach to each class, and that detail is attributed to each author.

In Practice

The classes are used mainly in electional astrology, to match an act to a suitable lunar day. The Brihat Samhita recommends the Dhruva or fixed nakshatras for permanent, foundational work such as coronations, expiatory ceremonies, planting trees, laying town-foundations, sowing seeds and beginning meritorious deeds (Varahamihira). Sharda holds that doing the activity proper to a class on its nakshatra's day yields a fruitful, positive outcome. The Ugra or fierce class is treated as severe: deFouw and Svoboda count Bharani, whose deity is Yama, and Purva Ashadha, linked to declarations of war, among the ugra nakshatras. Raj Kumar adds inauspicious markers reckoned from the chart: the Dagdha or burnt nakshatra is a weekday-and-nakshatra pairing that worsens a disease begun in its period; the Vainashika is the 22nd nakshatra from the birth nakshatra; and the Samhara is the nakshatra holding the natal Sun.

Historical Origin

The sevenfold classification is attested in the Brihat Samhita of Varahamihira (Ch.XCVIII Sl.6), read here in the copyrighted English translation of Sastri and Bhat. Modern authors elaborate it: Sharda sets out the operating nature of each nakshatra, deFouw and Svoboda discuss the ugra nakshatras, and Raj Kumar describes the Dagdha, Vainashika and Samhara nakshatras.

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Further Reading