Span: 3°20' Pisces – 16°40' Pisces (sidereal)
Ruling lord: Saturn
Presiding deity: Ahir Budhnya (serpent of the deep)
Symbol: back legs of a funeral cot
Shakti (classical power): rain / growth
Uttara Bhadrapada is the 26th of the 27 nakshatras, occupying 3°20' Pisces to 16°40' Pisces 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: calm, deep, patient, wise, holds its emotions in.
The behavioural marker most often named: stays steady and gives grounded advice while keeping its own depths well hidden.
The classical anchor for this is the shakti, the power assigned to each nakshatra in the Taittiriya Brahmana. For Uttara Bhadrapada it is rain / growth, and the deity Ahir Budhnya (serpent of the deep) and symbol back legs of a funeral cot 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 | 3°20' Pisces – 6°40' Pisces | Leo |
| Pada 2 | 6°40' Pisces – 10°00' Pisces | Virgo |
| Pada 3 | 10°00' Pisces – 13°20' Pisces | Libra |
| Pada 4 | 13°20' Pisces – 16°40' Pisces | Scorpio |
Because a pada lasts roughly six hours, you need your birth time to know which of the four is yours.
Uttara Bhadrapada is ruled by Saturn.
Because Uttara Bhadrapada is ruled by Saturn, anyone born with the Moon here begins life in the Saturn period of the Vimshottari dasha cycle, which runs 19 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.
Uttara Bhadrapada is nakshatra number 26 of 27, spanning 3°20' Pisces to 16°40' Pisces in the sidereal zodiac. Its ruling lord is Saturn, its presiding deity is Ahir Budhnya (serpent of the deep), and its symbol is back legs of a funeral cot.
Each nakshatra is quartered into padas of 3 degrees 20 minutes. For Uttara Bhadrapada the four padas fall in the navamsa signs Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, in that order.
Saturn rules Uttara Bhadrapada. In the Vimshottari dasha system the Saturn period lasts 19 years.
Not sure whether Uttara Bhadrapada 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 rain / growth; deity Ahir Budhnya (serpent of the deep), symbol back legs of a funeral cot, lord Saturn