Shatabhisha nakshatra: traits, padas, lord and compatibility

Shatabhisha is the twenty-fourth of the 27 nakshatras, spanning 6°40′ to 20° of Kumbha, ruled by Rahu in the Vimshottari scheme and presided over by Varuna. Its name is usually translated as "a hundred physicians", and it is the star of healing, research and the problems other people leave alone. It follows Dhanishta and leads into Purva Bhadrapada.

This page covers the deity and symbol, the star's nature, its four padas, the Moon and lagna here, the dasha at birth, work, relationships, matching and muhurta, and ends with a worked example. The panel above lists its correspondences.

Deity and symbol

Varuna is one of the oldest gods of the Rigveda. There he is the guardian of rita, the order that keeps the world true, and the keeper of oaths, who sees what people do in private and holds them to their word. In later tradition he becomes lord of the waters and the oceans. Both roles fit Shatabhisha: a concern with what is true beneath the surface, and a domain as wide and deep as the sea.

The name, a hundred physicians or a hundred remedies, links Varuna's waters with healing. Water cleans and restores, and the tradition makes this the star of medicine, cures and patient investigation. Some explain the name by the many faint stars that fill this part of the sky.

The symbol is an empty circle. A circle encloses and protects; it also marks a boundary that keeps others out. Its empty centre suggests a space kept clear for thought, and the many things not yet known. The image fits a star that likes to work inside its own space, alone with a hard question.

Nature: gana, yoni and nadi

• Gana: rakshasa. The rakshasa gana is read as independent, self-reliant and unconventional. In matching it describes a temperament that keeps its own counsel, not a fault of character.
• Yoni: horse. Shatabhisha shares the horse with Ashwini, the first nakshatra. The horse is energetic, quick and happiest with room to run.
• Nadi: aadi. The first of the three nadis, which matters mainly in matching.

The strengths show as behaviour. Shatabhisha natives think for themselves and are not easily swayed by fashion or pressure. They will stay with a difficult problem long after others have given up, and they often notice the detail that changes the answer. They value truth, are frank when asked, and are discreet with other people's secrets.

The shadow side is the same independence kept too tight. Privacy can become isolation; scepticism can become distrust; and a preference for working alone can leave them carrying problems that others would gladly have shared. In the words of the site's nakshatra table, the growth edge is connection.

The four padas

Pada 1 (6°40′ to 10° Kumbha), Dhanu navamsa. Jupiter's sign adds optimism and a philosophical bent. This pada is the most open and outgoing, and is drawn to big ideas and teaching.

Pada 2 (10° to 13°20′ Kumbha), Makara navamsa. Saturn's earth sign makes this pada practical, ambitious and organised. Its research is aimed at results that can be used.

Pada 3 (13°20′ to 16°40′ Kumbha), Kumbha navamsa. Vargottama: a Moon here is in Kumbha in both the birth chart and the navamsa, which is read as settled and strong in that sign's meaning. This is the most characteristic pada, original, detached and humane, with a strong interest in science, technology and reform.

Pada 4 (16°40′ to 20° Kumbha), Meena navamsa. Jupiter's water sign brings compassion and imagination. This pada is the most intuitive and the most drawn to healing and quiet service.

The whole of Shatabhisha lies within 0° to 20° of Kumbha, which is also Saturn's moolatrikona, the range where Saturn is read as most naturally itself.

The naming tradition gives the four padas the syllables Go, Sa, Si and Su. It is a custom that many families follow and many adapt; spellings vary by region, and nothing in the chart depends on whether a name follows it.

Moon in Shatabhisha (janma nakshatra)

With the Moon here the mind is analytical, private and independent. These people process feelings by thinking them through, often alone, and they prefer a little distance before they share what is on their mind. They are loyal once trust is built, but trust is built slowly.

The sign is always Kumbha, which the Moon counts as neutral by the dignity table. Kumbha brings detachment and a concern for society at large, so a Shatabhisha Moon may care deeply about people in general while finding one-to-one closeness harder. Rahu as nakshatra lord adds curiosity about the new, the foreign and the unconventional.

These natives often feel different from those around them in youth, and come into their own once they find their field: the subject or cause in which their independence becomes a strength rather than a distance.

When the lagna falls in Shatabhisha, the same qualities show in manner: reserved, observant and a little enigmatic, someone others find hard to read at first.

Dasha at birth

Shatabhisha belongs to Rahu, so a Moon here begins life in Rahu's mahadasha, which lasts eighteen years in full. How much remains at birth depends on how much of the nakshatra the Moon still has to cross. A Moon at the start of the star has nearly all eighteen years ahead; one near its end has only a little. Multiply the fraction still to run by eighteen to find the balance.

After Rahu comes Jupiter (16 years), then Saturn (19) and Mercury (17). For many Shatabhisha natives, then, Jupiter's period arrives in youth or early adulthood. The Rahu page explains how Rahu's period is read, and the Vimshottari lesson explains the full cycle.

Work and money

Shatabhisha suits work that rewards independent thought and patience with hard problems. As tendencies rather than prescriptions:

• Healing and medicine: medicine, nursing, pharmacy, diagnostics and the research behind them, in keeping with the star's name.
• Science and technology: research, engineering, computing, data and any field where the answer is found by investigation.
• Investigation: analysis, audit, detective work, journalism and anything that looks beneath the surface.
• Reform and causes: work for social change, public bodies and organisations with a mission.

Shatabhisha natives often do best with autonomy over their methods. With money they are careful and independent; they prefer to understand an investment fully before trusting it, and they may earn from unusual or specialised work that few others can do.

Relationships

In relationships Shatabhisha is honest, loyal and respectful of a partner's independence. It offers space and expects space in return. When it commits, it commits seriously, and it does not play games.

The friction comes from distance. A Shatabhisha native may go quiet when troubled and work things out alone, and a partner can read that silence as rejection. Saying "I need time to think, and I will come back to you" turns the same habit into something a partner can trust. Partners who are secure on their own suit this star best.

Compatibility and matching

The table below takes each of the 27 nakshatras as a partner's birth star and shows Tara, Yoni, Gana and Nadi against Shatabhisha:

Tara counts from one birth star to the other and back again. A count that leaves a remainder of 3, 5 or 7 when divided by nine is unfavourable. The koota gives 3 points when both directions are favourable, 1.5 when one is and 0 when neither is. For Shatabhisha, nine stars score the full 3 and the other eighteen score 1.5 by the rule this site uses.

Yoni compares the two animals, out of 4. Horse with horse, Shatabhisha or Ashwini, scores 4. The horse and the buffalo are a traditional enemy pair, so Hasta and Swati score 0. The serpent stars (Rohini, Mrigashira), deer stars (Anuradha, Jyeshtha) and monkey stars (Purva Ashadha, Shravana) score 3. The cow, tiger and lion stars score 1, and the remaining eleven stars score 2.

Gana compares temperaments, out of 6. With another rakshasa star the score is 6; with a deva star it is 1; with a manushya star it is 0. The tradition reads a low gana score as a difference in style rather than a fault.

Nadi checks whether both stars share a nadi, out of 8. Shatabhisha is aadi, like Ashwini, Ardra, Punarvasu, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Jyeshtha, Mula and Purva Bhadrapada. A partner born in any of these, or in Shatabhisha itself, gives Nadi dosha, a score of 0. Astrologers check exceptions before reading it as a bar, and schools differ on which exceptions apply.

These four are part of the eight-koota Ashtakoot method, and Ashtakoot is a screen, never a verdict on two people. The matching lesson explains all eight.

In muhurta

Shatabhisha is one of the five movable (chara) nakshatras, with Punarvasu, Swati, Shravana and Dhanishta. Movable stars are chosen for undertakings that involve movement: setting out on a journey, buying or first using a vehicle, moving goods, and work that is meant to keep going. A muhurta weighs the tithi, the weekday and other factors as well; the star is one part of the choice. The muhurta lesson explains the daily tables.

Shatabhisha also falls wholly within panchaka, the stretch that popular custom marks while the Moon crosses Kumbha and Meena, from the second half of Dhanishta to the end of Revati. Many families avoid a short list of household tasks during those days, such as gathering firewood or laying a roof, and many others do not observe it. It concerns the choice of a day for certain tasks and says nothing about the character or fortune of anyone born then. The panchang lesson explains how the daily nakshatra is found.

A worked example

Take a Moon at 15°00′ Kumbha. This is an illustrative position, not a real person.

1. Nakshatra. Kumbha begins at 300°, so the Moon is at 315°00′. Shatabhisha runs from 306°40′ to 320°, so the Moon is in Shatabhisha. As a check, 315° ÷ 13°20′ = 23.63, and the 24th nakshatra (index 23) is Shatabhisha.
2. Pada. The distance into the star is 315° − 306°40′ = 8°20′. Each pada is 3°20′, so pada 3 runs from 6°40′ to 10°00′ of the star. 8°20′ falls in pada 3, which in Kumbha is 13°20′ to 16°40′.
3. Navamsa and syllable. Pada 3 of Shatabhisha falls in Kumbha navamsa, so this Moon is vargottama, and its syllable by the common list is "Si".
4. Dasha at birth. The Moon has covered 8°20′ of 13°20′, that is 500′ of 800′, or 0.625 of the star. The fraction still to run is 0.375, and 0.375 × 18 = 6.75 years: 6 years and 9 months of Rahu mahadasha remain at birth, followed by Jupiter's sixteen years.

The reading: a Kumbha mind, independent and humane, strengthened by the vargottama placement, with Shatabhisha's patience for hard problems and Rahu's curiosity about the new. The growth edge is the star's own: connection.

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