Where Punarvasu sits in the zodiac
On the sidereal circle Punarvasu begins at 80.00 degrees and ends at 93.33. In signs, that is 20°00′ Gemini to 3°20′ Cancer. It is shared between Gemini and Cancer: the first 10°00′ lie in Gemini and the remaining 3°20′ in Cancer.
Positions are sidereal, using the Lahiri ayanamsa, about 24 degrees 13 minutes at the start of 2026. That offset is why a planet's sign in a Vedic chart is usually the sign before its Western one. Each nakshatra is exactly 13 degrees 20 minutes, since 360 divided by 27 is 13 and one third. The 27 divisions are slices of the ecliptic, not the outlines of constellations. The stars are Castor and Pollux, the two bright heads of the twins in Gemini. They are about four and a half degrees apart in the sky and look like a matched pair. On the circle it follows Ardra and comes before Pushya. The signs it touches are Gemini and Cancer.
The name Punarvasu
Punarvasu means 'the good returns again', from punar, again, and vasu, good or bright. The name points to coming back to the light after a break. It is the seventh nakshatra, split between Gemini and Cancer.
Deity and symbol
Its deity is Aditi, the mother of the gods in the Vedic hymns. Her name means 'boundless' or 'not bound', and she is the source of the group of gods called the Adityas.
The symbol is a quiver of arrows, an object that is emptied and filled again. That picture fits the name, which speaks of return.
Ruling planet and the Vimshottari dasha
The ruling planet of Punarvasu is Jupiter, which carries 16 years of the 120-year Vimshottari cycle.
The balance of Jupiter's dasha at birth depends on where in Punarvasu the Moon was. Early in the nakshatra most of the 16 years are left. Halfway, 8 are left. Near the end the next dasha begins almost at once. After Jupiter the order runs Saturn, Mercury, Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars and Rahu. The other nakshatras ruled by Jupiter are Vishakha and Purva Bhadrapada. The dasha calculator shows the balance for your own chart.
The four padas of Punarvasu
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.
In pada 1, from 20°00′ Gemini to 23°20′ Gemini, the navamsha sign is Aries. Names for this pada begin with Ke.
Pada 2: 23°20′ Gemini to 26°40′ Gemini, navamsha Taurus, syllable Ko.
The third pada (26°40′ Gemini to 30°00′ Gemini) belongs to Gemini in the navamsha chart. Its syllable is Ha.
In pada 4, from 0°00′ Cancer to 3°20′ Cancer, the navamsha sign is Cancer. Names for this pada begin with Hi.
The first pada of Pushya then starts at Leo. Syllables follow the commonly printed lists, and regional lists differ slightly.
Punarvasu in the sky and in the year
Chara (movable) is the category the muhurta texts give Punarvasu. In 2026 the Sun moves into it on 6 July 2026 and out on 20 July 2026, Indian time. The Moon crosses a nakshatra in about a day, between roughly 21 and 27 hours depending on how fast it is moving.
Punarvasu beside its neighbours
Because Punarvasu straddles two signs, its padas divide as padas 1 to 3 and pada 4 in Gemini and Cancer. The Moon changes sign while it crosses the nakshatra. In the full Vimshottari round, Jupiter is seventh of nine, occupying years 68 to 84. The three Jupiter nakshatras sit 120 degrees apart, and Punarvasu is the first of them.
Beside it, Ardra belongs to Rahu and Pushya to Saturn, so each step round the circle moves to the next lord. Ardra is Tikshna (sharp) while Punarvasu is Chara (movable), and Pushya is Kshipra (swift). The symbols differ too: a teardrop for Ardra and a cow's udder or a lotus for Pushya, against a quiver of arrows here.
How to find out if your Moon is in Punarvasu
Your birth nakshatra is the one the Moon was in when you were born. It is Punarvasu if the Moon's sidereal longitude was between 80.00 and 93.33 degrees. 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.