Degrees and padas: where Uttara Ashadha sits in the zodiac
Uttara Ashadha is the 21st of the 27 nakshatras and spans 26°40′ Sagittarius – 10°00′ Capricorn (266°40′–280°00′ of the sidereal zodiac, counted from 0° Aries). Each nakshatra is 13°20′ wide, in four padas of 3°20′. pada 1 fall in Sagittarius and padas 2–4 in Capricorn, so two Uttara Ashadha births can have different Moon signs (Rashi). Before it comes Purva Ashadha; after it, Shravana.
| Pada | Degrees in the sign | Sign (Rashi) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26°40′–30°00′ | Sagittarius |
| 2 | 0°00′–3°20′ | Capricorn |
| 3 | 3°20′–6°40′ | Capricorn |
| 4 | 6°40′–10°00′ | Capricorn |
Pada 1 gives a Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius Moon with a Sagittarius Navamsa (vargottama); padas 2 to 4 give a Saturn-ruled Capricorn Moon with Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces Navamsas, the second also vargottama. The Sagittarius band is 3°20′ wide, so a birth time to the hour usually settles it.
What Uttara Ashadha traditionally signifies
The Vishvadevas are the gods taken all together, and Uttara Ashadha's classical significations are about the whole rather than the part: integrity, lasting achievement, leadership accepted rather than seized, the endurance to finish what was declared. The tusk is strength held in reserve; the bed's planks are the support that outlasts the sleeper. The Sun as lord adds authority and a public role. The star is manushya gana with the mongoose as its yoni animal, the one animal in the list without a pair, and is classed as fixed (dhruva), favored in muhurta for foundations and anything meant to endure.
Moon in Uttara Ashadha: how the birth star is traditionally read
An Uttara Ashadha Moon is traditionally read as principled, patient and quietly ambitious: someone who wins by persistence, keeps their word, prefers earned authority to given, and is slow to start but hard to stop.
The texts read the harder side as rigidity, loneliness at the top and over-work. The Sagittarius pada is read as more idealistic, the Capricorn padas as more practical; the Sun's condition, the pada's sign lord and the Moon's house decide the rest.
Your first Mahadasha: Uttara Ashadha starts life in Sun'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 Uttara Ashadha the lord is Sun, whose period lasts 6 years, so life begins inside Sun Mahadasha with anything from days to almost 6 years of it left; Moon's 10 years follow. The Sun Mahadasha guide covers how that period is traditionally read.
Six years is a short opening: an Uttara Ashadha child is already in the Moon's ten-year period by the first years of school, and Mars's seven follow in the teens. The Sun's authority, which the star is about, is therefore read for most of life through its house and its transits, since its Mahadasha does not come round again until the far end of the 120-year cycle.
How to know whether Uttara Ashadha 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, which for Uttara Ashadha depends on the pada.
When to have the AI Jyotishi read your chart for your nakshatra
The questions that matter are about placement: is your Moon in the Sagittarius pada or the Capricorn ones, where is the Sun and how strong, which house holds the Moon, and what the current period asks of a star that likes to finish what it starts.
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
Uttara Ashadha nakshatra questions
What are Uttara Ashadha nakshatra characteristics?
Classically: honest, persevering, responsible, reserved, ambitious over the long run, uncomfortable with shortcuts. These are readings of the Moon's star; the pada's sign and the Sun change what shows.
Is Uttara Ashadha the same as Abhijit?
Not quite. Abhijit is the 28th star of an older scheme, placed between Uttara Ashadha and Shravana; in the 27-star scheme its span folds into Uttara Ashadha's fourth pada and the start of Shravana. Muhurta still uses the Abhijit window of the day; natal readings use the 27 stars.
Is Uttara Ashadha good for marriage?
Muhurta texts favor the star for weddings because it is fixed, which is about choosing a date. For two people, Guna Milan scores both birth stars on eight counts (Uttara Ashadha is manushya gana, mongoose yoni) and both charts are then read. Kundli matching does this with both charts.
What does the Sun do as lord of Uttara Ashadha?
As nakshatra lord the Sun is read through its own house, sign and dignity: a strong Sun as the star's integrity becoming visible authority, a weak one as principle without position. The Sun also opens the Mahadasha sequence for anyone born here.
Which Rashi is Uttara Ashadha nakshatra in?
Sagittarius for pada 1 (26°40′–30°00′) and Capricorn for padas 2–4 (0°00′–10°00′). The Moon's exact degree decides, so the birth time matters more for Uttara Ashadha than for a star that stays inside one sign.