Mrigashira nakshatra
Mrigashira (मृगशीर्ष) is the fifth of the twenty-seven nakshatras, ruled by Mars.
The facts
- Number
- 5 / 27
- Ruling graha
- Mars
- Deity
- Soma
- Symbol
- a deer's head
- Gana
- Deva (divine)
What Mrigashira means
A deer's head, ruled by Mars, with Soma for its deity. This is the searching nakshatra: curious, restless, always slightly in pursuit of something just out of sight. Good at research and at finding things; less good at being satisfied.
What a nakshatra is
Before the twelve-sign zodiac, India divided the sky into twenty-seven lunar mansions of 13 degrees 20 minutes each - roughly one day of the Moon's travel. The nakshatras are older than the rashis and carry more specific meaning.
The nakshatra the Moon occupied at your birth is your janma nakshatra. It is the most important single fact in a Vedic chart after the lagna: it gives the traditional first letter for naming a child, and it decides where your entire Vimshottari dasha sequence begins.
The four padas
Every nakshatra divides into four padas of 3 degrees 20 minutes. Which pada the Moon falls in refines the reading and decides the naming syllable - two people with the same nakshatra and different padas are read differently.