Shatabhisha Pada 1 (Sagittarius Navamsa)

Shatabhisha Pada 1 at a Glance

Pada

1st of 4 — navamsa 93 of the zodiac's 108

Sidereal span

Aquarius 6°40′ – 10°00′ — 306°40′ – 310°00′ sidereal

Rashi (Moon sign)

Aquarius, the whole of Shatabhisha being inside it

Navamsa (D-9)

Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter

Navamsa from the rashi

11th from Aquarius — an upachaya house, and the plainest of the gaining ones

Rahu in Sagittarius

in a neutral’s sign — neither helped nor hindered

Name syllable

Go

Rahu dasha balance

13 years 6 months to 18 years of the 18-year period

What Pada 1 Settles About a Shatabhisha Birth

All four padas of Shatabhisha fall inside Aquarius, so the pada leaves the rashi alone — a Shatabhisha native is an Aquarius native whichever quarter the Moon occupied. What pada 1 settles instead is the navamsa: Sagittarius, the 11th sign from Aquarius, where the other three quarters of Shatabhisha give Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. The D-9 is where the classical texts look for the strength behind a promise the rashi chart only states, which is why a Shatabhisha pada 1 birth and a pada 2 birth are both Aquarius natives with Saturn as rashi lord and still do not read the same.

The pada is fixed by the Moon’s exact longitude, so it needs the birth time and place rather than the date: a Shatabhisha Moon anywhere in Aquarius 6°40′ – 10°00′ is pada 1, and the Moon crosses 3°20′ in roughly five to seven hours depending on how fast it is moving. A free kundli will say pada 1 rather than just Shatabhisha, and with it the Sagittarius navamsa and how much of the Rahu mahadasha was left.

Sagittarius Navamsa: What the D-9 Adds

The first pada of Shatabhisha is the Sagittarius navamsa, lorded by Jupiter — the 11th sign from Aquarius, an upachaya house, and the plainest of the gaining ones. Aquarius and Sagittarius are different signs, so the D-9 shifts the reading rather than confirming it. They have neither element nor mobility in common: Aquarius is air and fixed, Sagittarius is fire and dual. Pada 3 of Shatabhisha is the vargottama one, not this.

Two grahas carry this pada: Rahu, which lords Shatabhisha, and Jupiter, which lords the Sagittarius navamsa. Between Aquarius 6°40′ – 10°00′ and the Sagittarius D-9 that arc points to, Rahu counts Jupiter neutral, so neither helps nor obstructs the other across pada 1. Reading Shatabhisha pada 1 in a particular chart means reading both Rahu and Jupiter.

Where Rahu Stands in This Pada

Rahu lords Shatabhisha, and in the Sagittarius navamsa Rahu is in a neutral’s sign — neither helped nor hindered. That is a statement about pada 1 specifically: the lord of a nakshatra sits in a different navamsa sign in each of its four quarters, and Shatabhisha splits two ways rather than running down a scale: Rahu in a friend’s sign at padas 2 and 3, and Rahu in a neutral’s sign at padas 1 and 4. On that test pada 1 shares the lowest grade of the four.

Shatabhisha pada 1 is one of 27 padas that leave the lord neither helped nor hindered. The Moon matters separately, since a pada is a Moon position: in Sagittarius the Moon is in a neutral’s sign, which is about the mind a Shatabhisha pada 1 birth starts with rather than about what Rahu can deliver.

Vimshottari: The Rahu Balance a Pada 1 Birth Starts With

A Moon in Shatabhisha means life begins inside a Rahu mahadasha, 18 years long. The pada fixes how much of it is left: pada 1 of Shatabhisha runs from 13 years 6 months to 18 years remaining — the fullest of the four, because the Moon has only just entered Shatabhisha — where knowing only that the Moon was somewhere in Shatabhisha leaves the whole 18 years open. Inside Aquarius 6°40′ – 10°00′ it takes the exact longitude to place a birth within that range, and the pada is as far as a nakshatra reading gets.

Rahu rules three of the 27 nakshatras, so Shatabhisha shares that 18-year opening with Ardra and Swati — and pada 1 of Shatabhisha shares the range above with pada 1 of those two, because the balance turns on the quarter rather than on which Rahu nakshatra it is. Pada 2 of Shatabhisha carries a different one. The dasha calculator takes the Rahu balance a Shatabhisha pada 1 birth starts with and lays out what follows it: Jupiter for 16 years, then Saturn.

The Syllable Go

A child born with the Moon in Shatabhisha pada 1 is traditionally named from Go. The other three quarters of Shatabhisha give Sa for pada 2, Si for pada 3 and Su for pada 4, which is why a naming list keyed to the nakshatra alone gets it wrong three times out of four — the syllable follows the pada, and the pada follows the longitude.

The Other Three Padas of Shatabhisha

Shatabhisha is Aquarius 6°40′ – 20°00′, ruled by Rahu, Rakshasa gana, horse yoni, Adi nadi, and pada 1 shares every one of those with the other three. What belongs to pada 1 alone is the arc, the navamsa and the syllable — Aquarius 6°40′ – 10°00′, Sagittarius, Go:

The rashi column is constant on Shatabhisha; the navamsa column is what the pada buys you. A · marks the vargottama pada of Shatabhisha — pada 3, not pada 1.

Frequently Asked Questions