Where Ashlesha sits in the zodiac
Ashlesha covers sidereal longitude 106.67 to 120.00 degrees, from 16°40′ Cancer to 30°00′ Cancer. The whole nakshatra lies in Cancer.
Here the zodiac is sidereal, shifted from the Western one by the Lahiri ayanamsa (about 24 degrees 13 minutes in early 2026). Every one of the 27 nakshatras is 13 degrees 20 minutes wide, an exact third-based fraction of the circle. The 27 divisions are slices of the ecliptic, not the outlines of constellations. The stars are a small group in the head of Hydra, the long water snake that stretches across the southern sky below Cancer and Leo. On the circle it follows Pushya and comes before Magha. The signs it touches are Cancer.
The name Ashlesha
Ashlesha comes from a word for embrace or clinging, and the name is often read as 'the one that entwines'. It is the ninth nakshatra and the last one inside Cancer.
Deity and symbol
Its deity is the Nagas, the serpent beings of Indian myth. They are guardians of springs, rivers and hidden treasure in the old stories, and the serpent king Shesha is the couch of Vishnu.
The symbol is a coiled serpent. The coil is drawn as a closed loop, which matches the sense of embracing in the name.
Ruling planet and the Vimshottari dasha
In the Vimshottari scheme Ashlesha is ruled by Mercury. The nine lords go round in a fixed order, and Mercury is given 17 years out of 120.
The balance of Mercury's dasha at birth depends on where in Ashlesha the Moon was. Early in the nakshatra most of the 17 years are left. Halfway, 8.5 are left. Near the end the next dasha begins almost at once. After Mercury the order runs Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter and Saturn. The other nakshatras ruled by Mercury are Jyeshtha and Revati. The dasha calculator shows the balance for your own chart.
The four padas of Ashlesha
Each nakshatra splits into four padas of 3 degrees 20 minutes. A pada matches one sign of the navamsha (D9) chart, and the four take four signs in a row.
Pada 1: 16°40′ Cancer to 20°00′ Cancer, navamsha Sagittarius, syllable Di.
Pada 2 starts at 20°00′ Cancer. It falls in the navamsha sign Capricorn, and its naming syllable is Du.
In pada 3, from 23°20′ Cancer to 26°40′ Cancer, the navamsha sign is Aquarius. Names for this pada begin with De.
The fourth pada (26°40′ Cancer to 30°00′ Cancer) belongs to Pisces in the navamsha chart. Its syllable is Do.
The first pada of Magha then starts at Aries. Syllables follow the commonly printed lists, and regional lists differ slightly.
Ashlesha in the sky and in the year
Texts on choosing times for activities sort the stars into categories, and Ashlesha is placed in the Tikshna (sharp) group. The Sun passes through it once a year: in 2026 from 3 August 2026 to 17 August 2026, by Indian time. The Moon crosses a nakshatra in about a day, between roughly 21 and 27 hours depending on how fast it is moving.
Ashlesha beside its neighbours
Every pada of Ashlesha lies inside Cancer. The Moon stays in one sign for the whole of this nakshatra. Years 103 to 120 of the 120-year cycle belong to Mercury, the ninth lord in the order. Of the three nakshatras that Mercury rules, Ashlesha comes first around the circle.
Next door the rulers change, from Saturn at Pushya to Ketu at Magha. Pushya is Kshipra (swift) while Ashlesha is Tikshna (sharp). Magha is Ugra (intense). The symbols differ too: a cow's udder or a lotus for Pushya and a royal throne for Magha, against a coiled serpent here.
How to find out if your Moon is in Ashlesha
Take the Moon's sidereal position at birth: if it lies between 16°40′ Cancer and 30°00′ Cancer, your nakshatra is Ashlesha. The Moon moves about half a degree an hour, so a birth within an hour or two of a boundary can land on either side if the time is slightly off. The nakshatra finder works it out from your date, time and place of birth.
Calculated with the Lahiri ayanamsa and whole sign houses; every setting is on the method page. Last checked 2026-10-04.