Ketu in Jyeshtha Nakshatra (Ketu in ज्येष्ठा)

Jyeshtha, the 18th of the 27 nakshatras, covers 226°40′ – 240°00′ of the sidereal zodiac, wholly inside Scorpio. Jyeshtha is ruled by Mercury, so Ketu in Jyeshtha stands in Mercury’s star.

Ketu’s row in the friendship lists counts Mercury neutral; Mercury’s row names no node, so the star lord of Jyeshtha has no entry for Ketu, and this page does not supply one. The other two nakshatras Mercury rules, Ashlesha and Revati, put Ketu under the same star lord.

Ketu in Jyeshtha, Pada by Pada

By rashi, Ketu is exalted on the commoner reckoning in all four padas of Jyeshtha, because the whole nakshatra lies in Scorpio. By navamsa the four padas fall in Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Ketu’s strongest navamsas in Jyeshtha are padas 2 (Capricorn, in a friend's sign) and 3 (Aquarius, in a friend's sign), and its weakest are padas 1 (Sagittarius, in a neutral sign) and 4 (Pisces, in a neutral sign).

Jyeshtha pada 4 (Scorpio 26°40′ – 30°00′) is gandanta: one of the six padas on the junction of a water sign and the fire sign after it, and Ketu placed in that quarter of Jyeshtha sits on the junction itself.

The classical table of deepest exaltation and debilitation degrees covers the seven grahas and gives Ketu none, so for Ketu in Jyeshtha no degree of special dignity can be located; the sign-level verdicts above carry the hedge the planet pages use for Ketu.

When Ketu Is in Jyeshtha, 2026–2028

Ketu does not enter Jyeshtha at any point between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029. It stands in Purva Phalguni when the table opens and in Ardra when it closes, having visited 6 of the 27 nakshatras, and from Ardra Jyeshtha is 15 nakshatras further, counted backwards, the way the nodes move. So Ketu in Jyeshtha is, for these years, a birth-chart placement and not a transit anyone can wait for.

Jyeshtha as the Setting for Ketu

In the nakshatra tables Jyeshtha’s deity is listed as Indra and its symbol as earring; its gana is Rakshasa, and the muhurta texts put it in the Tikshna class (sharp). Those belong to Jyeshtha whichever graha is in it, and they are read on the Jyeshtha page. What changes with Ketu is everything above: the dignities in Scorpio, the relation to Mercury, and the dates. None of it is a prediction for anyone born with Ketu in Jyeshtha; the house it occupies and the dasha running decide what the placement does in a chart.

Related Placements

The sign-level reading is on Ketu in Scorpio; Ketu in all 27 nakshatras is on the Ketu nakshatra table. For the nakshatras themselves, see the 27 nakshatras guide and astrology for beginners.

The Other Grahas in Jyeshtha