Nakshatra 18 of 27

Jyeshtha (ज्येष्ठा)

Scorpio 16°40′ – 30°00′

Lord Mercury · Indra · Rakshasa gana · Deer yoni · Adi nadi

Gandmool nakshatra — shanti puja traditionally advised

Jyeshtha at a Glance

Number: 18 of 27
Sidereal span: Scorpio 16°40′ – 30°00′
Rashi: Scorpio
Ruling planet (lord): Mercury — 17-year Vimshottari dasha
Presiding deity: Indra
Symbol: Earring
Gana: Rakshasa
Yoni: Deer (male)
Nadi: Adi (Vata)
Muhurta class: Tikshna (sharp)
Keywords: Senior, protective, courageous

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 Jyeshtha Natives

The name means "the eldest", the symbol is an earring, the deity is Indra, the ruler is Mercury. Jyeshtha natives are senior — often literally the eldest, and if not, they carry the role anyway. There is real courage here and a protective instinct that extends to anyone weaker in the room. Jyeshtha holds authority naturally and is trusted with the difficult conversation.

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 Jyeshtha 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	Sagittarius	No
Pada 2	Capricorn	Ya
Pada 3	Aquarius	Yee
Pada 4	Pisces	Yu

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 Mercury stands in that navamsa, and how much Mercury mahadasha a birth there starts with.

Find names for this nakshatra Find your pada

Career and Work

Senior management, the military and police, engineering, medicine, music, and any position that involves protecting or representing others.

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

What to Watch For

A Gandmool nakshatra at the end of Scorpio, and a sharp one. Seniority carries the specific burden of never being allowed to struggle openly. Jyeshtha natives take on responsibility early, resent it privately, and have a hard time accepting help — and the classical texts mention isolation and quarrel with siblings.

Jyeshtha in Kundli Milan

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

Nadi Koota — 8 guna

Jyeshtha 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

Jyeshtha carries the deer (male) yoni. Its classical opposite is the dog, held by Ardra and Mula —those pairings score 0. The same animal in the same gender scores the full 4.

Gana Koota — 6 guna

Jyeshtha is Rakshasa gana — the temperament class, nine nakshatras to each of the three. Rakshasa with Rakshasa scores the full 6. Rakshasa with Manushya scores 3 when the woman is Rakshasa and 0 when the man is; Rakshasa with Deva scores 0 when the woman is Rakshasa and 1 when the man is. Two Rakshasa charts matched together is a stronger result than a Rakshasa matched to a Deva.

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 Jyeshtha Is Used For

Jyeshtha is classed as Tikshna (sharp) — one of 4 nakshatras in that class, alongside Ardra, Ashlesha and Mula. Sharp nakshatras are selected for cutting, in every sense: surgery, exorcism and mantra siddhi, taming animals, demolition, and deliberately breaking a habit or an attachment. They are the best class for a difficult operation and the worst for marriage or for beginning anything you want to grow slowly.

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 Indra, the presiding deity of Jyeshtha, particularly on the day the Moon transits this nakshatra — which happens roughly once every 27 days and is listed in the daily panchang.
Strengthen Mercury, the nakshatra lord, through its beej mantra and weekday observance. This matters most while the Mercury mahadasha or antardasha is running.
Feed or donate on the Mercury 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 Jyeshtha. 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 Jyeshtha if you want a practice tied to the nakshatra rather than the planet.

If a stone is being considered: the lord here is Mercury, whose stone is Emerald (Panna). Selection by janma nakshatra is the more precise of the two routes, so this differs from the rashi recommendation for Scorpio (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 Mercury 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 Jyeshtha nakshatra?

Jyeshtha is ruled by Mercury and presided over by Indra. Because Mercury is the lord, anyone born with the Moon in Jyeshtha begins life in a Mercury mahadasha, which runs 17 years in the Vimshottari system — the balance remaining at birth depends on how far into the nakshatra the Moon had travelled. Mercury also rules Ashlesha and Revati, so those three nakshatras share the same dasha sequence.

What degrees does Jyeshtha nakshatra cover?

Jyeshtha occupies Scorpio 16°40′ – 30°00′ and sits entirely within Scorpio. 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 Jyeshtha nakshatra?

The traditional first syllables are No for pada 1, Ya for pada 2, Yee for pada 3, Yu 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 Jyeshtha fall in the navamsa signs Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.

Which nakshatras are incompatible with Jyeshtha for marriage?

On Yoni Koota, Jyeshtha carries the deer yoni, whose classical opposite is the dog — held by Ardra and Mula. 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 Jyeshtha nakshatra good or bad?

Jyeshtha 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 Jyeshtha natives?

Senior management, the military and police, engineering, medicine, music, and any position that involves protecting or representing others. This follows from Mercury's natural significations combined with Indra'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 Jyeshtha 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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