#9 of 27 · Sarpa

Ashlesha
16°40′ Cancer – 0°00′ Leo

The 9th nakshatra, ruled by Mercury (Budh), 4 padas in Cancer. Four padas of 3°20′, each with its navamsa sign and naam akshar.

Mercury-ruled17y mahadashaRakshasa
01

Where Ashlesha is

#9 of 27

Ashlesha runs from 16°40′ Cancer – 0°00′ Leo: 13°20′ of the ecliptic, measured sidereally from 0° Aries with the Lahiri ayanamsa. It is 4 padas in Cancer. It follows Pushya and is followed by Magha.

On the two rings that divide the sky
Ashlesha nakshatra marked on the wheel of 27 nakshatras and 12 rashis, from 16°40′ Cancer to 0°00′ LeoAshlesha nakshatra marked on the wheel of 27 nakshatras and 12 rashis, from 16°40′ Cancer to 0°00′ Leo
The arc
Arc16°40′ Cancer – 0°00′ Leo
Rashi4 padas in Cancer
Mahadasha length17 years
DeitySarpa
Symbola coiled serpent
02

Characteristics of one born in Ashlesha

as Brihat Jataka gives them

Brihat Jataka, Varahamihira’s sixth-century text on the birth chart, gives each nakshatra a verse on the person born with the Moon in it. This is its verse for Ashlesha, in paraphrase. It reads the Moon’s nakshatra alone and, like every text of its age, speaks of a male native: your lagna, the Moon’s rashi and the rest of the kundli decide how much of it shows.

Brihat Jataka is severe on Ashlesha: it says a person born with the Moon here pays little heed to other people’s work, eats without care for what or where, is ungrateful and clever at deceiving others, and leans towards wrongdoing. The note to the chapter in the 1885 translation adds that these results come in full only when the Moon is strong at birth.

Brihat Jataka 16.5
03

The four padas

3°20′ each, with naam akshar

Each nakshatra divides into four padas of 3°20′. Each pada maps to a navamsa sign (the D9 chart is built from exactly this) and carries a naam akshar, the syllable a child born in it is named by. The Moon crosses a pada in about six hours, so it is the first thing an imprecise birth time puts in doubt.

PadaFromToRashiNavamsaNaam akshar
Pada 116°40′ Cancer20°00′ CancerCancerSagittariusDi (डी)
Pada 220°00′ Cancer23°20′ CancerCancerCapricornDu (डू)
Pada 323°20′ Cancer26°40′ CancerCancerAquariusDe (डे)
Pada 426°40′ Cancer0°00′ LeoCancerPiscesDo (डो)
04

How it is classified

traditional, and what each is used for

These are classifications from the tradition rather than anything computed from the arc. They are given because kundli matching uses them, and each line says which part.

ClassificationThis nakshatraWhat it is used for
GanaRakshasaTemperament class: Deva, Manushya or Rakshasa. Worth 6 of the 36 gun in kundli matching.
YoniCat (male)An animal, used for the 4-gun Yoni koota in matching. The rules are about the animals, not the people.
NadiAntyaAadi, Madhya or Antya. 8 gun, the largest single koota; two charts sharing one is Nadi dosha.

Below, the matching engine scores Ashlesha with each of the 27 on these and on Tara.

05

Ashlesha in marriage matching

the four kootas that need only the nakshatras, 21 of 36 gun

Kundli matching counts 36 gun over eight kootas. Four of them go by the two birth nakshatras alone: Tara (3), Yoni (4), Gana (6) and Nadi (8), 21 of the 36. Below is how Ashlesha scores with each of the 27 on those four, by the rules the kundli matching tool uses. The other 15 gun (Varna, Vashya, Graha Maitri and Bhakoot) go by the two Moon rashis, so a pair that does well here can still lose gun there, and the other way round.

Highest on these four
NakshatraTaraYoniGanaNadiTotal
Jyeshtha336820
Shatabhisha1.536818.5
Mula316818
Chitra1.526817.5
Dhanishta1.526817.5
Lowest on these four
NakshatraTaraYoniGanaNadiTotal
Rohini1.51103.5
Shravana1.52003.5
Swati1.53004.5
Uttara Ashadha1.52104.5
Revati33006

Nadi dosha. Ashlesha is Antya nadi, and so are Krittika, Rohini, Magha, Swati, Vishakha, Uttara Ashadha, Shravana and Revati. With any of them the Nadi koota gives 0 of 8: that is Nadi dosha, the heaviest single loss in matching. Two people both born in Ashlesha share its nadi too; the dosha is treated as cancelled when their padas differ.

Gana. Ashlesha is Rakshasa gana. The lowest it scores on Gana is 0 of 6, with Ashwini, Mrigashira, Punarvasu, Pushya, Hasta, Swati, Anuradha, Shravana and Revati, the Deva–Rakshasa pairing usually called Gana dosha.

Yoni. With Magha and Purva Phalguni the Yoni koota gives 0 of 4: their animal and Ashlesha’s, the cat, are sworn enemies in the yoni table.

Ashlesha with all 27
NakshatraTaraYoniGanaNadiTotal
Ashwini330814
Bharani1.531813.5
Krittika1.536010.5
Rohini1.51103.5
Mrigashira1.510810.5
Ardra1.511811.5
Punarvasu1.540813.5
Pushya330814
Ashlesha346013
Magha30609
Purva Phalguni1.501810.5
Uttara Phalguni1.531813.5
Hasta1.530812.5
Chitra1.526817.5
Swati1.53004.5
Vishakha1.52609.5
Anuradha330814
Jyeshtha336820
Mula316818
Purva Ashadha1.521812.5
Uttara Ashadha1.52104.5
Shravana1.52003.5
Dhanishta1.526817.5
Shatabhisha1.536818.5
Purva Bhadrapada1.521812.5
Uttara Bhadrapada331815
Revati33006
Four kootas of eight, not a verdict on a match: the full gun milan, Bhakoot and Mangal dosha need both kundlis.
06

What a day in Ashlesha is good for

its class, and the muhurat rules

This is about days, not people. The Moon passes through Ashlesha once in about 27 days and stays a little over a day, and a muhurat (an auspicious time) is chosen partly by that nakshatra.

Its class

Muhurta Chintamani puts Ashlesha among the Tikshna (sharp, also called daruna) nakshatras, with Ardra, Jyeshtha and Mula.

Brihat Samhita gives the sharp nakshatras hard work: punishment, abhichara (rites aimed at an enemy), binding and breaking apart.

Brihat Samhita 98.7
In the muhurat rules

When the Moon is in Ashlesha, the muhurat rules allow the day for buying land or a house and vidyarambha (starting study). They keep it out for a wedding, griha pravesh (moving into a new house), buying a vehicle, opening a shop or business, joining a job, setting out on a journey, namkaran (naming a baby), mundan (the first haircut), janeu (the sacred thread), a planned operation and building work on the house.

Ashlesha on a Tuesday makes Sarvartha Siddhi yoga, a day the muhurat pages count good for any work. Ashlesha is one of the six Gand Mool nakshatras (Ashwini, Ashlesha, Magha, Jyeshtha, Mula and Revati), which sit where a water rashi ends and a fire rashi begins. A child born with the Moon here is traditionally given a Mool Shanti puja, usually on the 27th day after birth, when the Moon is back in the same nakshatra.

The nakshatra is one condition of several: the tithi, the weekday and the season have to agree as well, which is why each muhurat page lists its dates.
07

The dasha you are born into

Mercury, and how much of it is left

Vimshottari dasha starts from the nakshatra the Moon was in. Ashlesha is ruled by Mercury (Budh), so anyone born with the Moon here begins life inside a 17-year Mercury mahadasha, but almost nobody gets the whole of it: the part remaining is the part of the nakshatra the Moon had not yet crossed.

Moon inFromMercury mahadasha remainingOf the arc still ahead
Pada 116°40′ Cancer17.0 – 12.8 years75–100%
Pada 220°00′ Cancer12.8 – 8.5 years50–75%
Pada 323°20′ Cancer8.5 – 4.2 years25–50%
Pada 426°40′ Cancer4.2 – 0.0 years0–25%

The exact figure needs the Moon's degree, not just the pada: find yours, and the dasha pages carry the 120-year sequence that follows it.

All 27

in order round the ecliptic
The four pips mark Ashlesha’s padas. The ecliptic divides into 27 nakshatras and into 12 rashis, and 27 does not go into 12, which is why nine of them straddle a boundary; this one is 4 padas in Cancer.

Common questions

7 questions
What are the characteristics of a person born in Ashlesha?

Ashlesha’s deity is Sarpa and its symbol a coiled serpent. Brihat Jataka gives the person born in it a verse of its own (16.5), quoted above; it reads the Moon’s nakshatra alone; the rest of the kundli decides how much of it shows.

Which nakshatras match best with Ashlesha for marriage?

On the four kootas that go by the nakshatras alone (Tara, Yoni, Gana and Nadi, 21 of the 36 gun), the highest are Jyeshtha (20 of 21), Shatabhisha (18.5 of 21) and Mula (18 of 21). With Krittika, Rohini, Magha, Swati, Vishakha, Uttara Ashadha, Shravana and Revati it has Nadi dosha. The other 15 gun go by the two Moon rashis, so the full match needs both kundlis.

Is Ashlesha nakshatra good for marriage and other muhurat?

A day with the Moon in Ashlesha is allowed for buying land or a house and vidyarambha (starting study), by the muhurat rules here; the tithi, weekday and season must agree too.

What degrees is Ashlesha?

16°40′ Cancer to 0°00′ Leo: 13°20′ of the sidereal ecliptic, Lahiri ayanamsa.

Which planet rules Ashlesha?

Mercury (Budh). Anyone born with the Moon here begins life in a 17-year Mercury mahadasha, with the part already elapsed depending on how far through the nakshatra the Moon was.

What are the naam akshar of Ashlesha?

One per pada: pada 1 Di (डी), pada 2 Du (डू), pada 3 De (डे), pada 4 Do (डो). A child is named from the syllable of the pada the Moon was in.

What is the gana, yoni and nadi of Ashlesha?

Gana Rakshasa, yoni Cat (male), nadi Antya. Kundli matching uses them: 6 gun for gana, 4 for yoni and 8 for nadi, out of 36.

Your nakshatra is where the Moon was, to the minute.

It needs a birth time, because the Moon crosses a nakshatra in about a day. The free kundli gives you the nakshatra, the pada and the dasha that follows from it.

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