Nakshatra 10 of 27

Magha (मघा)

Leo 0°00′ – 13°20′

Lord Ketu · Pitrs · Rakshasa gana · Rat yoni · Antya nadi

Gandmool nakshatra — shanti puja traditionally advised

Magha at a Glance

Number: 10 of 27
Sidereal span: Leo 0°00′ – 13°20′
Rashi: Leo
Ruling planet (lord): Ketu — 7-year Vimshottari dasha
Presiding deity: Pitrs
Symbol: Throne
Gana: Rakshasa
Yoni: Rat (male)
Nadi: Antya (Kapha)
Muhurta class: Ugra / Krura (fierce)
Keywords: Royal, ancestral, dignified

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 Magha Natives

The throne, presided over by the Pitrs — the ancestors — and ruled by Ketu. Magha natives carry lineage. There is a natural dignity that does not have to be performed, a strong sense of what is owed to those who came before, and an expectation of respect that is usually met. Magha produces leaders who inherit rather than climb, and it is unusually strong for anything ceremonial.

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 Magha 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	Ma
Pada 2	Taurus	Mee
Pada 3	Gemini	Moo
Pada 4	Cancer	May

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

Government and administration, law and judiciary, heritage and archaeology, priesthood and ritual, family business, and traditional arts.

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

A Gandmool nakshatra at the start of Leo, and a fierce one. Pride is the specific risk — Magha finds it very hard to apologise or to accept a junior position, and the Pitr connection makes ancestral obligations and family property disputes a recurring theme.

Magha in Kundli Milan

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

Nadi Koota — 8 guna

Magha is Antya (Kapha). A match with another Antya 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

Magha carries the rat (male) yoni. Its classical opposite is the cat, held by Punarvasu and Ashlesha —those pairings score 0. The same animal in the same gender scores the full 4.

Gana Koota — 6 guna

Magha 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 Magha Is Used For

Magha is classed as Ugra / Krura (fierce) — one of 5 nakshatras in that class, alongside Bharani, Purva Phalguni, Purva Ashadha and Purva Bhadrapada. Fierce nakshatras are selected for work that requires force: demolition, weapons and the armed forces, confronting an enemy, imposing a punishment, and — in the classical lists — anything involving fire or poison. They are firmly avoided for marriage, for starting a business and for beginning medical treatment.

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 Pitrs, the presiding deity of Magha, 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 Magha. 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 Magha 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 Leo (Ruby (Manik)).

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 Magha nakshatra?

Magha is ruled by Ketu and presided over by Pitrs. Because Ketu is the lord, anyone born with the Moon in Magha 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 Ashwini and Mula, so those three nakshatras share the same dasha sequence.

What degrees does Magha nakshatra cover?

Magha occupies Leo 0°00′ – 13°20′ and sits entirely within Leo. 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 Magha nakshatra?

The traditional first syllables are Ma for pada 1, Mee for pada 2, Moo for pada 3, May 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 Magha fall in the navamsa signs Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer.

Which nakshatras are incompatible with Magha for marriage?

On Yoni Koota, Magha carries the rat yoni, whose classical opposite is the cat — held by Punarvasu and Ashlesha. 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 Antya 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 Magha nakshatra good or bad?

Magha 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 Magha natives?

Government and administration, law and judiciary, heritage and archaeology, priesthood and ritual, family business, and traditional arts. This follows from Ketu's natural significations combined with Pitrs'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 Magha 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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