Span: 23°20' Taurus – 6°40' Gemini (sidereal)
Ruling lord: Mars
Presiding deity: Soma
Symbol: deer's head
Shakti (classical power): fulfilment/seeking
Mrigashira is the 5th of the 27 nakshatras, occupying 23°20' Taurus to 6°40' Gemini in the sidereal zodiac. If the Moon stood in this stretch of sky at your birth, this is your Janma Nakshatra, your birth star.
The traditional reading is: curious, searching, quick-minded, easily bored.
The behavioural marker most often named: keeps hunting for the next interesting thing and rarely feels what it found is enough.
The classical anchor for this is the shakti, the power assigned to each nakshatra in the Taittiriya Brahmana. For Mrigashira it is fulfilment/seeking, and the deity Soma and symbol deer's head carry the same idea in image form.
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 | 23°20' Taurus – 26°40' Taurus | Leo |
| Pada 2 | 26°40' Taurus – 0°00' Gemini | Virgo |
| Pada 3 | 0°00' Gemini – 3°20' Gemini | Libra |
| Pada 4 | 3°20' Gemini – 6°40' Gemini | Scorpio |
Because a pada lasts roughly six hours, you need your birth time to know which of the four is yours.
Mrigashira is ruled by Mars.
Because Mrigashira is ruled by Mars, anyone born with the Moon here begins life in the Mars period of the Vimshottari dasha cycle, which runs 7 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.
Mrigashira is nakshatra number 5 of 27, spanning 23°20' Taurus to 6°40' Gemini in the sidereal zodiac. Its ruling lord is Mars, its presiding deity is Soma, and its symbol is deer's head.
Each nakshatra is quartered into padas of 3 degrees 20 minutes. For Mrigashira the four padas fall in the navamsa signs Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, in that order.
Mars rules Mrigashira. In the Vimshottari dasha system the Mars period lasts 7 years.
Not sure whether Mrigashira is yours? It takes your date, place and ideally time of birth.
Find my nakshatraThe 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 of fulfilment/seeking; deity Soma, symbol deer's head, lord Mars