Vishakha (विशाखा)

Vishakha at a Glance

Number

16 of 27

Sidereal span

Libra 20°00′ – Scorpio 3°20′

Rashi

Libra, Scorpio

Ruling planet (lord)

Jupiter — 16-year Vimshottari dasha

Presiding deity

Indra-Agni

Symbol

Triumphal arch

Gana

Rakshasa

Yoni

Tiger (male)

Nadi

Antya (Kapha)

Muhurta class

Mishra (mixed)

Keywords

Goal-oriented, ambitious, focused

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 Vishakha Natives

A triumphal arch, presided over by Indra and Agni jointly, ruled by Jupiter. Vishakha is the nakshatra of ambition that arrives — the arch is what you walk through after winning. These natives set a goal and hold it for years, and their focus narrows productively rather than obsessively. It is one of the strongest nakshatras for sustained competitive achievement.

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 Vishakha on the same day can read quite differently. The pada also fixes the traditional first syllable for a child’s name.

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

Career and Work

Politics, competitive sport, sales and business development, research with a defined target, military leadership, and entrepreneurship.

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

What to Watch For

Vishakha straddles Libra and Scorpio, and mixed nakshatras give mixed results in muhurta. The characteristic risk is the goal displacing everything else — relationships and health are deferred until after the objective, and the objective keeps moving. Jealousy of rivals is specifically warned about.

Vishakha in Kundli Milan

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

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.

Muhurta: What Vishakha Is Used For

Vishakha is classed as Mishra (mixed) — one of 2 nakshatras in that class, alongside Krittika. Mixed nakshatras give mixed results and are selected only when nothing better is available in the required window. They are used for routine, low-stakes work — day-to-day business, minor purchases, and the ordinary fire rituals — and specifically avoided for marriage, foundations and surgery.

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-Agni, the presiding deity of Vishakha, particularly on the day the Moon transits this nakshatra — which happens roughly once every 27 days and is listed in the daily panchang.
• Strengthen Jupiter, the nakshatra lord, through its beej mantra and weekday observance. This matters most while the Jupiter mahadasha or antardasha is running.
• Feed or donate on the Jupiter weekday. Charity attributed to the lord is the remedy the classics prefer over gemstones, because it carries no risk of strengthening the wrong graha.
• Recite the nakshatra’s 108 names or the Nakshatra Suktam during the Moon’s transit through Vishakha if you want a practice tied to the nakshatra rather than the planet.

If a stone is being considered: the lord here is Jupiter, whose stone is Yellow Sapphire (Pukhraj). Selection by janma nakshatra is the more precise of the two routes, so this differs from the rashi recommendation for Libra (Diamond or White Sapphire) and Scorpio (Red Coral (Moonga)) — this nakshatra straddles the boundary, so which one applies depends on the pada.

More precise is still not automatic. Remedies are prescribed for a specific affliction, not for a nakshatra as such: nothing above needs doing unless Jupiter 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