Purva Ashadha nakshatra
Updated
Purva Ashadha is the 20th of the 27 nakshatras, the lunar mansions of Vedic astrology. Its name is traditionally read as “the early victor”; its symbol is an elephant's tusk; a winnowing fan, and its presiding deity is Apas, the water deities.
- Number
- 20 of 27
- Ruling planet
- Venus
- Deity
- Apas, the water deities
- Symbol
- An elephant's tusk; a winnowing fan
- Zodiac span
- 13°20′–26°40′ Sagittarius
- Gana
- Manushya
- Yoni
- Monkey
- Nadi
- Pitta
- Pada navamsas
- Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio
Character and symbolism
Purva Ashadha is the unstoppable early victory — water that finds its way through everything. Its classical themes are invincible optimism, persuasion and improvement.
As with everything in a chart, these are classical descriptions of a temperament, not a verdict on any person — a nakshatra is one layer of a reading, always weighed with the rest of the chart.
Where Purva Ashadha sits in the zodiac
Each nakshatra spans 13°20′ of the sidereal zodiac, divided into four padas (quarters) of 3°20′. Purva Ashadha occupies 13°20′–26°40′ Sagittarius, entirely within Sagittarius. Its four padas take the navamsa signs Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio — the sub-chart positions used in the D9 (Navamsa) divisional chart.
Ruling planet and your starting dasha
Purva Ashadha is ruled by Venus, which carries a 20-year period in the Vimshottari dasha cycle. If your Moon sits in Purva Ashadha, Venus’s mahadasha is the period your life begins in, and the themes classical texts associate with Venus colour how this nakshatra expresses itself.
Purva Ashadha in marriage matching
Three of this nakshatra’s classifications feed the 36-point Guna Milan used in Kundali matching. Purva Ashadha belongs to the manushya (human) temperament group — read as practical, social and balanced, which the Gana koota (6 points) compares between partners. Its yoni is the Monkey, one of fourteen animal archetypes whose pairings the Yoni koota (4 points) scores for instinctive compatibility. And its nadi is Pitta (bile) — the Nadi koota (8 points) awards full marks only when the two nadis differ.
None of these classifications is good or bad on its own — they only ever describe a pairing, and even then they are a starting point beside the full charts.
Frequently asked
Which planet rules Purva Ashadha nakshatra?
Purva Ashadha is ruled by Venus. In the Vimshottari dasha system, a person born with the Moon in Purva Ashadha begins life in a Venus mahadasha of up to 20 years — how much of it remains depends on how far the Moon had moved through the nakshatra at birth.
Which rashi (sign) does Purva Ashadha fall in?
Purva Ashadha lies entirely within Sagittarius, spanning 13°20′–26°40′ Sagittarius of the sidereal zodiac.
What are Purva Ashadha's gana, yoni and nadi?
Purva Ashadha is classified as Manushya gana, Monkey yoni and Pitta nadi. These three classifications are inputs to Guna Milan marriage matching — gana compares temperament groups, yoni instinctive compatibility and nadi constitution.
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