Where Purva Ashadha sits in the zodiac
Start the count at 13°20′ Sagittarius (253.33 degrees) and Purva Ashadha runs to 26°40′ Sagittarius (266.67 degrees). The whole nakshatra lies in Sagittarius.
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 traditional stars lie in the bow of Sagittarius, the archer, close to the bright band of the Milky Way. On the circle it follows Mula and comes before Uttara Ashadha. The signs it touches are Sagittarius.
The name Purva Ashadha
Ashadha means 'not to be overcome', and Purva means 'former'. The name is 'the former Ashadha', the first of a pair. It is the twentieth nakshatra and lies wholly inside Sagittarius.
Deity and symbol
Its deity is Apas, the waters. In the Rigveda the waters are praised as mothers and as purifiers, and in one telling a hymn names them as the first element.
The symbol is a winnowing fan, a flat basket used to separate grain from chaff by tossing it in the air.
Ruling planet and the Vimshottari dasha
The ruling planet of Purva Ashadha is Venus, which carries 20 years of the 120-year Vimshottari cycle.
A birth with the Moon in Purva Ashadha begins partway through Venus's dasha. The part left is in proportion to the distance still to run: close to 20 years at the start, 10 at the middle, close to nothing at the end. After Venus the order runs Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury and Ketu. The other nakshatras ruled by Venus are Bharani and Purva Phalguni. The dasha calculator shows the balance for your own chart.
The four padas of Purva Ashadha
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: 13°20′ Sagittarius to 16°40′ Sagittarius, navamsha Leo, syllable Bhu.
Pada 2 starts at 16°40′ Sagittarius. It falls in the navamsha sign Virgo, and its naming syllable is Dha.
The third pada (20°00′ Sagittarius to 23°20′ Sagittarius) belongs to Libra in the navamsha chart. Its syllable is Pha.
Pada 4 starts at 23°20′ Sagittarius. It falls in the navamsha sign Scorpio, and its naming syllable is Dha.
The first pada of Uttara Ashadha then starts at Sagittarius. Syllables follow the commonly printed lists, and regional lists differ slightly.
Purva Ashadha in the sky and in the year
Texts on choosing times for activities sort the stars into categories, and Purva Ashadha is placed in the Ugra (intense) group. The Sun passes through it once a year: in 2026 from 29 December 2026 to 11 January 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.
Purva Ashadha beside its neighbours
In plain words, Purva Ashadha fits inside one sign: Sagittarius holds all four of its padas. Counted from Ketu at year 0, the 120-year cycle reaches Venus at year 7, and the Venus period ends at year 27. Purva Ashadha is the third of the three nakshatras Venus rules, each 120 degrees apart.
The neighbours differ in ruler: Ketu for Mula, Sun for Uttara Ashadha, and Venus for Purva Ashadha. As for category, Mula is Tikshna (sharp) while Purva Ashadha is Ugra (intense), and Uttara Ashadha is Dhruva (fixed). The deities also change. Mula has Nirriti, the goddess of dissolution, and Uttara Ashadha has the Vishvadevas, the universal gods.
How to find out if your Moon is in Purva Ashadha
To check, find where the Moon stood at your birth. Anywhere from 13°20′ Sagittarius to 26°40′ Sagittarius is Purva Ashadha. 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.