Revati

Definition

Revati is the twenty-seventh and final nakshatra — the last of the twenty-seven lunar mansions Vedic astrology marks along the sky — spanning 16°40′ to 30°00′ of Pisces, marked by a group of faint stars near the tail of the fish. Its name means "wealthy" or "the rich one," and is also read as "to transcend." It is ruled by Mercury and presided over by Pushan, a solar deity who nurtures and protects travelers; Trivedi also names Vishnu. Its symbols are a fish and a drum (mridanga).

In Tradition

Across these modern Jyotish treatments, Revati is read as the culminating, completing nakshatra: as the last asterism of the lunar zodiac it carries themes of endings, transcendence, and the close of one cycle while seeding the next (Sutton, Harness, Trivedi). The sources also note that Venus is exalted within Revati (Sutton, Harness), a dignity Sutton connects with its auspicious, procreative quality.

In Practice

A jyotishi reads the placement of the Moon or the ascendant in Revati. Sutton holds that a Moon or ascendant here marks a soul in an intense incarnation tied to ending one cycle and sowing seeds for a new one, and that the asterism is powerful for realizing ultimate truths about life, death, and transformation; he treats the fish symbol as auspicious, representing procreation and creativity. Harness notes that Revati is a favorable asterism for the Moon when beginning a search or a long journey — fitting its deity Pushan as helper of travelers — and assigns it the kshiradyapani shakti, the power of nourishment symbolized by milk. Trivedi associates its two symbols with the soul's journey and life-path (the fish) and with communication and the bringing of news (the drum).

Historical Origin

The bundle's accounts are all modern treatments of the nakshatra: Trivedi's The Book of Nakshatras, Sutton's The Essentials of Vedic Astrology, and Harness's The Nakshatras. No classical text is named and no verbatim classical quotation is supplied; the material is therefore attested here through contemporary paraphrase rather than through a dated primary source.

Further Reading

• Trivedi, The Book of Nakshatras
• Sutton, The Essentials of Vedic Astrology
• Harness, The Nakshatras