Mula nakshatra

Mula is the 19th of the 27 nakshatras, occupying 0°00' Sagittarius to 13°20' Sagittarius 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 Mula?

The traditional reading is: digs to the root, blunt, intense, tears down to find truth.

The behavioural marker most often named: keeps digging until it hits the real cause, even if it wrecks the surface.

The classical anchor for this is the shakti, the power assigned to each nakshatra in the Taittiriya Brahmana. For Mula it is ruin / uproot, and the deity Nirriti (dissolution) and symbol tied bunch of roots carry the same idea in image form.

What are the four padas of Mula?

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	0°00' Sagittarius – 3°20' Sagittarius	Aries
Pada 2	3°20' Sagittarius – 6°40' Sagittarius	Taurus
Pada 3	6°40' Sagittarius – 10°00' Sagittarius	Gemini
Pada 4	10°00' Sagittarius – 13°20' Sagittarius	Cancer

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

Which planet rules Mula, and why does it matter?

Mula is ruled by Ketu.

Because Mula is ruled by Ketu, anyone born with the Moon here begins life in the Ketu 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.

Common questions

What is the Mula nakshatra?

Mula is nakshatra number 19 of 27, spanning 0°00' Sagittarius to 13°20' Sagittarius in the sidereal zodiac. Its ruling lord is Ketu, its presiding deity is Nirriti (dissolution), and its symbol is tied bunch of roots.

What are the padas of Mula?

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

Which planet rules Mula?

Ketu rules Mula. In the Vimshottari dasha system the Ketu period lasts 7 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 ruin / uproot; deity Nirriti (dissolution), symbol tied bunch of roots, lord Ketu