Where Rohini sits in the zodiac
On the sidereal circle Rohini begins at 40.00 degrees and ends at 53.33. In signs, that is 10°00′ Taurus to 23°20′ Taurus. The whole nakshatra lies in Taurus.
The ayanamsa in use is Lahiri, near 24 degrees 13 minutes in 2026, which is the gap between Western and Vedic signs. The 27 parts are equal at 13 degrees 20 minutes each. The 27 divisions are slices of the ecliptic, not the outlines of constellations. Rohini is marked by Aldebaran, the bright orange-red star that forms the eye of the bull in Taurus. Its colour is one reason the name is read as 'the red one'. On the circle it follows Krittika and comes before Mrigashira. The signs it touches are Taurus.
The name Rohini
Rohini means 'the red one' or 'the one who rises', from a root meaning to grow or ascend. In one telling of the old stories Rohini is also the name of the Moon's favourite wife among the twenty-seven daughters of Daksha, one daughter for each nakshatra.
Deity and symbol
Its deity is Brahma, also called Prajapati, the creator in the Vedic and Puranic accounts. He is the one who sets the world in motion and arranges its parts, which fits the idea of growth in the name.
The symbol is a cart or chariot, a vehicle that carries things and moves forward. Some lists add a banyan tree or temple as a second image.
Ruling planet and the Vimshottari dasha
In the Vimshottari scheme Rohini is ruled by Moon. The nine lords go round in a fixed order, and Moon is given 10 years out of 120.
The balance of Moon's dasha at birth depends on where in Rohini the Moon was. Early in the nakshatra most of the 10 years are left. Halfway, 5 are left. Near the end the next dasha begins almost at once. After Moon the order runs Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Ketu, Venus and Sun. The other nakshatras ruled by Moon are Hasta and Shravana. The dasha calculator shows the balance for your own chart.
The four padas of Rohini
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 starts at 10°00′ Taurus. It falls in the navamsha sign Aries, and its naming syllable is O.
The second pada (13°20′ Taurus to 16°40′ Taurus) belongs to Taurus in the navamsha chart. Its syllable is Va.
Pada 3 starts at 16°40′ Taurus. It falls in the navamsha sign Gemini, and its naming syllable is Vi.
The fourth pada (20°00′ Taurus to 23°20′ Taurus) belongs to Cancer in the navamsha chart. Its syllable is Vu.
The first pada of Mrigashira then starts at Leo. Syllables follow the commonly printed lists, and regional lists differ slightly.
Rohini in the sky and in the year
The Sun is in Rohini from 25 May 2026 until 8 June 2026 in 2026, by Indian time. Muhurta texts file this star under Dhruva (fixed). The Moon crosses a nakshatra in about a day, between roughly 21 and 27 hours depending on how fast it is moving.
Rohini beside its neighbours
All four padas of Rohini sit in Taurus, so the sign never changes while the Moon crosses it. Years 33 to 43 of the 120-year cycle belong to Moon, the fourth lord in the order. Of the three nakshatras that Moon rules, Rohini comes first around the circle.
Beside it, Krittika belongs to Sun and Mrigashira to Mars, so each step round the circle moves to the next lord. Krittika is Mishra (mixed) while Rohini is Dhruva (fixed), and Mrigashira is Mridu (soft). For deity, the one before is Agni, the fire god, and the one after is Soma, the Moon god.
How to find out if your Moon is in Rohini
Your birth nakshatra is the one the Moon was in when you were born. It is Rohini if the Moon's sidereal longitude was between 40.00 and 53.33 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.