Nakshatra 1 of 27

Ashwini (अश्विनी)

Aries 0°00′ – 13°20′

Lord Ketu · Ashwini Kumaras · Deva gana · Horse yoni · Adi nadi

Gandmool nakshatra — shanti puja traditionally advised

Ashwini at a Glance

Number: 1 of 27
Sidereal span: Aries 0°00′ – 13°20′
Rashi: Aries
Ruling planet (lord): Ketu — 7-year Vimshottari dasha
Presiding deity: Ashwini Kumaras
Symbol: Horse's head
Gana: Deva
Yoni: Horse (male)
Nadi: Adi (Vata)
Muhurta class: Kshipra / Laghu (swift and light)
Keywords: Swift, healing, pioneering

Degrees are sidereal, using the Lahiri ayanamsa as the Indian ephemeris does. A Western chart uses tropical longitudes and will place the same Moon roughly 24° earlier in the zodiac.

Character of Ashwini Natives

The first nakshatra, and it behaves like it — Ashwini natives start things. Ruled by Ketu and presided over by the twin Ashwini Kumaras, the celestial physicians, it carries a genuine gift for healing and for arriving exactly when someone needs help. The speed is the whole signature: quick to grasp, quick to act, quick to lose interest once the interesting part is over.

The Four Padas and Their Naming Letters

Each nakshatra divides into four padas of 3°20′, and each pada falls in a different navamsa sign — which is why two people born in Ashwini on the same day can read quite differently. The pada also fixes the traditional first syllable for a child’s name.

Pada	Navamsa sign	Name syllable
Pada 1	Aries	Chu
Pada 2	Taurus	Che
Pada 3	Gemini	Cho
Pada 4	Cancer	La

27 nakshatras × 4 padas = 108 = 12 signs × 9 navamsas, so the padas run through the navamsa signs in one unbroken cycle. Syllables vary a little between regional traditions; a family pandit’s list takes precedence over any table. Each pada above links to its own page: the exact 3°20′ arc, the rashi it falls in, where Ketu stands in that navamsa, and how much Ketu mahadasha a birth there starts with.

Find names for this nakshatra Find your pada

Career and Work

Medicine and surgery, emergency response, veterinary work, transport and logistics, sport, and anything that rewards being first rather than being thorough.

The nakshatra sets the flavour; the 10th house and its lord decide the actual profession. Where Ketu sits and how strong it is matters more than the list above — see Ketu in Vedic astrology.

What to Watch For

One of the six Gandmool nakshatras, sitting at the very start of Aries. The restlessness is the cost of the speed — projects get to eighty per cent and stall, and the same impatience shows up in relationships. Finishing is the discipline to learn.

Ashwini in Kundli Milan

Nakshatra matching scores 36 guna across eight kootas. Three of them are read straight off the birth nakshatra, and these are Ashwini’s values:

Nadi Koota — 8 guna

Ashwini is Adi (Vata). A match with another Adi nadi nakshatra scores 0 of 8, which is the single largest deduction available — 8 of the other 26 nakshatras share this nadi. Same-nadi is traditionally excused when both partners share the same birth nakshatra but sit in different padas, or when the Moon signs are the same and the nakshatras differ.

Yoni Koota — 4 guna

Ashwini carries the horse (male) yoni. Its classical opposite is the buffalo, held by Hasta and Swati —those pairings score 0. The same animal in the same gender scores the full 4.

Gana Koota — 6 guna

Ashwini is Deva gana — the temperament class, nine nakshatras to each of the three. Deva with Deva scores the full 6, and Deva with Manushya scores 5. Deva with Rakshasa is the pairing the classics warn about — it scores 1 when the woman is Deva and 0 when the man is, because a gentle temperament matched to a forceful one is held to suffer more than the reverse.

18 of 36 is the conventional pass mark. Guna Milan is a filter, not a verdict — Mangal dosha, the 7th house and both Venus positions still have to be read, and a high score does not override a badly afflicted 7th.

Run a full 36-guna match Compatibility by sign

Muhurta: What Ashwini Is Used For

Ashwini is classed as Kshipra / Laghu (swift and light) — one of 3 nakshatras in that class, alongside Pushya and Hasta. Swift and light nakshatras are chosen for anything that should be over quickly: buying and selling, taking medicine, short journeys, sport, learning a skill, and opening a shop. They are poor choices for anything meant to last — a foundation laid under a Kshipra nakshatra is classically held not to hold.

A real muhurta needs the tithi, vara, yoga and karana too, not the nakshatra alone — the day’s panchang carries all five, and choghadiya narrows it to the hour.

Remedies and Practice

Worship Ashwini Kumaras, the presiding deity of Ashwini, particularly on the day the Moon transits this nakshatra — which happens roughly once every 27 days and is listed in the daily panchang.
Strengthen Ketu, the nakshatra lord, through its beej mantra and weekday observance. This matters most while the Ketu mahadasha or antardasha is running.
Feed or donate on the Ketu weekday. Charity attributed to the lord is the remedy the classics prefer over gemstones, because it carries no risk of strengthening the wrong graha.
Gandmool shanti puja on the 27th day after birth, performed when the Moon returns to Ashwini. If it was missed, it can be done on any later return of the Moon to this nakshatra.
Recite the nakshatra’s 108 names or the Nakshatra Suktam during the Moon’s transit through Ashwini if you want a practice tied to the nakshatra rather than the planet.

If a stone is being considered: the lord here is Ketu, whose stone is Cat's Eye (Lehsunia). Selection by janma nakshatra is the more precise of the two routes, so this differs from the rashi recommendation for Aries (Red Coral (Moonga)).

More precise is still not automatic. Remedies are prescribed for a specific affliction, not for a nakshatra as such: nothing above needs doing unless Ketu is genuinely weak or badly placed in your chart, and no stone should be worn on nakshatra grounds alone. See dosha remedies.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the ruling planet of Ashwini nakshatra?

Ashwini is ruled by Ketu and presided over by Ashwini Kumaras. Because Ketu is the lord, anyone born with the Moon in Ashwini begins life in a Ketu mahadasha, which runs 7 years in the Vimshottari system — the balance remaining at birth depends on how far into the nakshatra the Moon had travelled. Ketu also rules Magha and Mula, so those three nakshatras share the same dasha sequence.

What degrees does Ashwini nakshatra cover?

Ashwini occupies Aries 0°00′ – 13°20′ and sits entirely within Aries. These are sidereal (Nirayana) degrees using the Lahiri ayanamsa. A tropical or Western chart will place your Moon roughly 24 degrees further on, which is why Western sources give a different nakshatra.

What are the name letters for a baby born in Ashwini nakshatra?

The traditional first syllables are Chu for pada 1, Che for pada 2, Cho for pada 3, La for pada 4. Which one applies depends on the pada the Moon occupied at birth, not on the nakshatra alone — each pada is 3°20′ wide. The four padas of Ashwini fall in the navamsa signs Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer.

Which nakshatras are incompatible with Ashwini for marriage?

On Yoni Koota, Ashwini carries the horse yoni, whose classical opposite is the buffalo — held by Hasta and Swati. Those pairings score 0 of 4. On Nadi Koota, worth 8 of the 36 guna and the heaviest single test, a match with any other Adi nadi nakshatra scores zero. Neither is a veto on its own: 18 of 36 is the usual pass mark, and several kootas have recognised exceptions.

Is Ashwini nakshatra good or bad?

Ashwini is one of the six Gandmool nakshatras — the three ruled by Ketu (Ashwini, Magha, Mula) and the three ruled by Mercury (Ashlesha, Jyeshtha, Revati) — because it sits at a junction between a sign ruled by different elements. Tradition prescribes Gandmool shanti puja on the 27th day after birth, when the Moon returns to the same nakshatra. It is not a bad nakshatra; it marks a life with more early turbulence and, classically, more depth as a result.

What kind of work suits Ashwini natives?

Medicine and surgery, emergency response, veterinary work, transport and logistics, sport, and anything that rewards being first rather than being thorough. This follows from Ketu's natural significations combined with Ashwini Kumaras's domain. The chart decides whether it happens: the 10th house, its lord, and the dasha running through your twenties and thirties matter more than the birth nakshatra for career questions.

Is Ashwini Your Birth Nakshatra?

Your nakshatra is set by the Moon’s exact longitude at birth, so it needs the time and place, not just the date. A free kundli gives you the nakshatra, the pada, and the Vimshottari balance you started life with.

Generate a free kundli Talk to an astrologer

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