Nakshatra 20 of 27
Purva Ashadhaపూర్వాషాఢ
The invincible — conviction that will not be argued down.
- Ruling planet
- Venus
- Deity
- Apas, the waters
- Symbol
- An elephant's tusk, a winnowing fan
- Gana
- Manushya (human)
- Nature
- Ugra — fierce
- Sidereal span
- Dhanus 13° 20′ – 26° 40′
About Purva Ashadha
Ashadha means 'the unsubdued', and Purva Ashadha is the first half of it. Its deity is Apas, the waters, and its symbol the winnowing fan that separates grain from chaff. The nakshatra carries a quality of buoyant, almost unreasonable confidence — the belief that one will prevail, which quite often produces the prevailing. It governs oratory, debate, and the purifying power of water. Classed ugra, its strength is real but not delicate.
What it traditionally favours
Debate and public speaking, water-related matters, cleansing rites, and declaring an intention publicly.
The four padas
Every nakshatra is divided into four quarters called padas, each three degrees twenty minutes wide. The pada refines the reading: two people born under the same nakshatra but in different padas are held to differ meaningfully, because each pada falls in a different navamsa and so carries a different sub-influence.
The pada also decides the first syllable of a child's name. Where the moon stood at birth gives the nakshatra; which quarter of it gives the syllable. The four syllables below are in pada order — a child born in the first pada takes the first, and so on. This is the naming convention used at namakaranam across most of southern India.
- 1Bhu13° 20′ →
- 2Dha16° 40′ →
- 3Pha20° 00′ →
- 4Dha23° 20′ →