Span: 13°20' Leo – 26°40' Leo (sidereal)
Ruling lord: Venus
Presiding deity: Bhaga
Symbol: front legs of a bed / hammock
Shakti (classical power): procreation/pleasure
Purva Phalguni is the 11th of the 27 nakshatras, occupying 13°20' Leo to 26°40' Leo 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: playful, warm, loves pleasure, rest and romance.
The behavioural marker most often named: puts enjoyment and downtime first, and charms a whole room without seeming to try.
The classical anchor for this is the shakti, the power assigned to each nakshatra in the Taittiriya Brahmana. For Purva Phalguni it is procreation/pleasure, and the deity Bhaga and symbol front legs of a bed / hammock 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 | 13°20' Leo – 16°40' Leo | Leo |
| Pada 2 | 16°40' Leo – 20°00' Leo | Virgo |
| Pada 3 | 20°00' Leo – 23°20' Leo | Libra |
| Pada 4 | 23°20' Leo – 26°40' Leo | Scorpio |
Because a pada lasts roughly six hours, you need your birth time to know which of the four is yours.
Purva Phalguni is ruled by Venus.
Because Purva Phalguni is ruled by Venus, anyone born with the Moon here begins life in the Venus period of the Vimshottari dasha cycle, which runs 20 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.
Purva Phalguni is nakshatra number 11 of 27, spanning 13°20' Leo to 26°40' Leo in the sidereal zodiac. Its ruling lord is Venus, its presiding deity is Bhaga, and its symbol is front legs of a bed / hammock.
Each nakshatra is quartered into padas of 3 degrees 20 minutes. For Purva Phalguni the four padas fall in the navamsa signs Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, in that order.
Venus rules Purva Phalguni. In the Vimshottari dasha system the Venus period lasts 20 years.
Not sure whether Purva Phalguni 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 procreation/pleasure; deity Bhaga, symbol front legs of a bed / hammock, lord Venus