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Mṛgaśira मृगशिरा
“the deer’s head”
23°20′ Vṛṣabha — 6°40′ Mithuna
Vimśottarī lord: Maṅgala · 7 years of daśā Presiding devatā: Soma
At a glance
| Field | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Span | 23°20′ Vṛṣabha — 6°40′ Mithuna | arithmetic — 13°20′ from the start of Meṣa |
| Rāśi | Vṛṣabha · Mithuna Rāśi lord: Śukra · Budha | arithmetic — read off the span above |
| Vimśottarī lord | Maṅgala मंगल 7 years of daśā | the standard Vimśottarī sequence |
| Presiding devatā | Soma सोम Soma, the Moon | Bṛhat Saṁhitā 97.4 |
| Gaṇa | Deva | Kālaprakāśikā ch. XIII, through the milan tables |
| Yoni | Sarpa serpent | Kālaprakāśikā ch. XIII, through the milan tables |
| Nāḍī | Madhya मध्य | from the milan tables — traditional, not traced to a classical verse |
| Varṇa | Sevā-jana the serving class | Bṛhat Saṁhitā 15.30 |
| Karma-guṇa | Mṛdu soft Fit for: love-rites, clothing and ornaments, auspicious ceremonies, and singing — beneficial for friendship’s sake. | Bṛhat Saṁhitā 97.10 |
| Kūrma-cakra direction | Centre | Bṛhat Saṁhitā 14.2 |
| Symbol | a deer’s head | traditional — not traced to a verse |
| Stars | λ and φ Orionis | traditional — not traced to a verse |
The character of the native
What the text says of a person born when the Moon stands in this asterism. This is the verse itself, not a paraphrase of it.
Fickle, clever, timid, skilful, enthusiastic, wealthy and pleasure-loving.
The persons and things it rules
Which people, animals, places, trades and goods fall under this asterism — the list a mundane or praśna reading works from.
Fragrant cloth, lotuses, flowers, fruits, gems, forest-dwellers and birds; deer, soma-drinkers, gandharvas, lovers, and letter-bearers.
The four pādas
Each nakṣatra divides into four quarters of 3°20′. The quarter the Moon occupies fixes the navāṁśa sign — the divisional chart a reading leans on second only to the rāśi — and, by tradition, the syllable a child is named from. These are arithmetic: the 4 × 27 quarters run one navāṁśa each, in order, right around the zodiac.
| Pāda | Degrees | Navāṁśa | Navāṁśa lord | Nāmākṣara |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23°20′ Vṛṣabha — 26°40′ Vṛṣabha | Siṃha | Sūrya | Ve |
| 2 | 26°40′ Vṛṣabha — 30° Vṛṣabha | Kanyā | Budha | Vo |
| 3 | 0° Mithuna — 3°20′ Mithuna | Tulā | Śukra | Kā |
| 4 | 3°20′ Mithuna — 6°40′ Mithuna | Vṛścika | Maṅgala | Kī |
arithmetic — pāda k of nakṣatra i takes navāṁśa (4i + k)
Devatā, the character of the native, the persons and things of each asterism, the varṇa grouping, the karma-guṇa classes and the kūrma-cakra direction are all read from Bṛhat Saṁhitā — chapters 14, 15, 97 and 100 — as carried verse by verse in this site’s own library, and every one of them links to its verse. Vimśottarī lords are the standard sequence; gaṇa, yoni and nāḍī come from the milan tables with their own citations. Spans, rāśis, pādas and navāṁśas are arithmetic, not doctrine. The symbol, the star identification and the nāmākṣara syllables are traditional pañcāṅga material that Horā has not traced to a classical verse — they say so on their own rows. Nothing here is invented to fill a gap.