Hasta nakshatra

Hasta is the 13th of the 27 nakshatras, occupying 10°00' Virgo to 23°20' Virgo in the sidereal zodiac. If the Moon stood in this stretch of sky at your birth, this is your Janma Nakshatra, your birth star.

What is the character of Hasta?

The traditional reading is: skilled with the hands, clever, practical, resourceful.

The behavioural marker most often named: can make or fix almost anything, and gets what it wants through cleverness and craft.

The classical anchor for this is the shakti, the power assigned to each nakshatra in the Taittiriya Brahmana. For Hasta it is gain and place in the hand, and the deity Savitar (sun) and symbol open hand carry the same idea in image form.

What are the four padas of Hasta?

Every nakshatra is quartered. Each quarter, a pada, is 3 degrees 20 minutes wide and maps onto a navamsa sign, which shades the reading:

Pada	Span (sidereal)	Navamsa sign
Pada 1	10°00' Virgo – 13°20' Virgo	Aries
Pada 2	13°20' Virgo – 16°40' Virgo	Taurus
Pada 3	16°40' Virgo – 20°00' Virgo	Gemini
Pada 4	20°00' Virgo – 23°20' Virgo	Cancer

Because a pada lasts roughly six hours, you need your birth time to know which of the four is yours.

Which planet rules Hasta, and why does it matter?

Hasta is ruled by Moon.

Because Hasta is ruled by Moon, anyone born with the Moon here begins life in the Moon period of the Vimshottari dasha cycle, which runs 10 years. That starting point shifts the timing of every period that follows, which is why two people of the same age can be in completely different chapters.

Common questions

What is the Hasta nakshatra?

Hasta is nakshatra number 13 of 27, spanning 10°00' Virgo to 23°20' Virgo in the sidereal zodiac. Its ruling lord is Moon, its presiding deity is Savitar (sun), and its symbol is open hand.

What are the padas of Hasta?

Each nakshatra is quartered into padas of 3 degrees 20 minutes. For Hasta the four padas fall in the navamsa signs Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, in that order.

Which planet rules Hasta?

Moon rules Hasta. In the Vimshottari dasha system the Moon period lasts 10 years.

Where these details come from

The span and the pada boundaries are arithmetic and exact. The lord, deity and symbol follow the classical sources and vary little between them. The character reading renders the shakti, deity and symbol in plain words; the classical texts themselves are terse here, and anything longer is later compilation.

Recorded source for this entry: BPHS; shakti to gain and place in the hand; deity Savitar (sun), symbol open hand, lord Moon