Degrees and padas: where Hasta sits in the zodiac
Hasta is the 13rd of the 27 nakshatras and spans 10°00′–23°20′ Virgo (160°00′–173°20′ of the sidereal zodiac, counted from 0° Aries). Each nakshatra is 13°20′ wide, in four padas of 3°20′. All four padas lie in Virgo, so a Hasta Moon is always a Virgo Moon (Rashi). Before it comes Uttara Phalguni; after it, Chitra.
| Pada | Degrees in the sign | Sign (Rashi) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10°00′–13°20′ | Virgo |
| 2 | 13°20′–16°40′ | Virgo |
| 3 | 16°40′–20°00′ | Virgo |
| 4 | 20°00′–23°20′ | Virgo |
Hasta sits entirely inside Virgo, so the Moon sign is fixed; the padas carry Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer Navamsas, with the fourth pada read as the gentlest because the Moon rules both the star and that Navamsa.
What Hasta traditionally signifies
Savitar is the Sun who sets things in motion, and the star's classical significations join his animating power to the hand's craft: handiwork, healing touch, writing, trade, counting, sleight of hand and, on the darker side, theft. The hand also means grasp, in both senses: the ability to hold and the ability to understand. The Moon as lord adds responsiveness and a need for variety. Hasta is deva gana with the buffalo as its yoni animal and is classed as light or swift (laghu), which is why muhurta texts choose it for trade, travel, medicine and work with the hands.
Moon in Hasta: how the birth star is traditionally read
A Hasta Moon is traditionally read as clever, industrious, witty and a little anxious: a person who learns by doing, keeps busy, reads others quickly, and can be persuasive with a light touch.
The texts read the harder side as restlessness, scheming and worry over small things when the Moon is afflicted. Mercury's condition as lord of Virgo, the Moon's house and the planets with it decide the balance.
Your first Mahadasha: Hasta starts life in Moon's period
In Vimshottari dasha the birth nakshatra decides the first major period (Mahadasha): its lord opens the sequence, and the Moon's exact degree within the star sets how much of that period was already spent at birth. For Hasta the lord is Moon, whose period lasts 10 years, so life begins inside Moon Mahadasha with anything from days to almost 10 years of it left; Mars's 7 years follow. The Moon Mahadasha guide covers how that period is traditionally read.
The Moon's ten years at the start are read as a childhood shaped by mother, moods and home; Mars's seven years then arrive in the first decade or early teens, and a Hasta-born person's early timeline is often read as that shift from the Moon's softness to Mars's push.
How to know whether Hasta is your nakshatra
Your nakshatra is the one the Moon occupied when you were born, measured on the sidereal zodiac (Lahiri ayanamsa by default). The Moon moves about 13° a day, close to one nakshatra every 24 hours, so an unknown birth time can leave two candidates, and the pada needs the time to within a couple of hours. The nakshatra calculator returns the star, lord and pada from your birth details; the Moon sign calculator shows the Rashi.
When to have the AI Jyotishi read your chart for your nakshatra
Ask when you want Hasta read in your own chart: the Moon's house, Mercury's strength, the planets with the Moon, and what the current Mahadasha is handing you.
The AI Jyotishi reads your chart after it is calculated, takes the Moon's nakshatra together with the houses and the running dasha, and lists which parts of the chart it looked at. Software, not a human astrologer. Interpretation, not a prediction or professional advice.
FAQ
Hasta nakshatra questions
What is Hasta nakshatra known for?
Skill with the hands and a quick mind: craft, healing, trade, writing and humor are its classical associations, with Savitar's power to set things going behind them. How much of that shows in a chart depends on the Moon's house and Mercury's condition.
What are Hasta nakshatra characteristics?
Traditionally: dexterous, practical, witty, helpful, quick to learn, prone to worry and to keeping too many things in hand. These are readings of the birth star; the Ascendant and the planets with the Moon change them.
Who is Hasta nakshatra compatible with?
No single list. Guna Milan scores both partners' birth stars on eight factors, Hasta contributing deva gana and buffalo yoni, and then reads both charts, including each 7th house and Venus. Run kundli matching with the two charts.
Is Hasta a good nakshatra?
Texts favor it in muhurta for trade and craft, which is about timing. For a person, the star's skill is read through the Moon's house and Mercury; a strong pair is read as talent that earns, a weak pair as cleverness without follow-through.
Which Rashi is Hasta nakshatra in?
Virgo, entirely: 10°00′–23°20′ of the sign, so every Hasta Moon is a sidereal Virgo Moon.