Where Vishakha sits in the zodiac
On the sidereal circle Vishakha begins at 200.00 degrees and ends at 213.33. In signs, that is 20°00′ Libra to 3°20′ Scorpio. It is shared between Libra and Scorpio: the first 10°00′ lie in Libra and the remaining 3°20′ in Scorpio.
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. The stars are a small group of four in Libra, near its scales, which look like the corners of a branching shape. On the circle it follows Swati and comes before Anuradha. The signs it touches are Libra and Scorpio.
The name Vishakha
Vishakha is often read as 'forked' or 'with branches', from a word for a branch. In tradition some lists also call it Radha. It is the sixteenth nakshatra and spans Libra and Scorpio.
Deity and symbol
Its deity is the pair Indra and Agni, the king of the gods and the god of fire. Hymns in the Rigveda address them together as a joint offering.
The symbol is a potter's wheel, a picture of something turned and shaped. Some lists give a decorated gateway as a second image.
Ruling planet and the Vimshottari dasha
In the Vimshottari scheme Vishakha is ruled by Jupiter. The nine lords go round in a fixed order, and Jupiter is given 16 years out of 120.
Born with the Moon in Vishakha, a person starts in Jupiter's period. How much of the 16 years is left follows the Moon's progress: nearly all of it at the start, 8 years at the centre, almost none at the finish. After Jupiter the order runs Saturn, Mercury, Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars and Rahu. The other nakshatras ruled by Jupiter are Punarvasu and Purva Bhadrapada. The dasha calculator shows the balance for your own chart.
The four padas of Vishakha
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′ Libra to 23°20′ Libra, the navamsha sign is Aries. Names for this pada begin with Ti.
Pada 2: 23°20′ Libra to 26°40′ Libra, navamsha Taurus, syllable Tu.
In pada 3, from 26°40′ Libra to 30°00′ Libra, the navamsha sign is Gemini. Names for this pada begin with Te.
Pada 4: 0°00′ Scorpio to 3°20′ Scorpio, navamsha Cancer, syllable To.
The first pada of Anuradha then starts at Leo. Syllables follow the commonly printed lists, and regional lists differ slightly.
Vishakha in the sky and in the year
Mishra (mixed) is the category the muhurta texts give Vishakha. In 2026 the Sun moves into it on 6 November 2026 and out on 20 November 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.
Vishakha beside its neighbours
In plain words, Vishakha is split between signs. By pada, that reads padas 1 to 3 and pada 4 in Libra and Scorpio. Years 68 to 84 of the 120-year cycle belong to Jupiter, the seventh lord in the order. Of the three nakshatras that Jupiter rules, Vishakha comes second around the circle.
Beside it, Swati belongs to Rahu and Anuradha to Saturn, so each step round the circle moves to the next lord. Swati is Chara (movable) while Vishakha is Mishra (mixed), and Anuradha is Mridu (soft). For deity, the one before is Vayu, the wind god, and the one after is Mitra, a god of friendship.
How to find out if your Moon is in Vishakha
Look at the Moon's sidereal longitude at birth. A reading from 200.00 up to 213.33 degrees means the Moon was in Vishakha. 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.