Ketu in Mrigashira Nakshatra (Ketu in मृगशिरा)

Mrigashira, the 5th of the 27 nakshatras, covers 53°20′ – 66°40′ of the sidereal zodiac, across the boundary between Taurus and Gemini. Mrigashira is ruled by Mars, so Ketu in Mrigashira stands in Mars’s star.

Ketu’s row in the friendship lists counts Mars a friend; Mars’s row names no node, so the star lord of Mrigashira has no entry for Ketu, and this page does not supply one. The other two nakshatras Mars rules, Chitra and Dhanishta, put Ketu under the same star lord.

Ketu in Mrigashira, Pada by Pada

By rashi, Ketu in Mrigashira is debilitated on the commoner reckoning in padas 1 and 2 (Taurus) and in a neutral sign in padas 3 and 4 (Gemini), because Mrigashira crosses from Taurus into Gemini. By navamsa the four padas fall in Leo, Virgo, Libra and Scorpio. Ketu’s strongest navamsa in Mrigashira is pada 4 (Scorpio, exalted on the commoner reckoning), and its weakest is pada 1 (Leo, in an enemy's sign).

The classical table of deepest exaltation and debilitation degrees covers the seven grahas and gives Ketu none, so for Ketu in Mrigashira 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 Mrigashira, 2026–2028

Ketu does not enter Mrigashira 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 Mrigashira is the next nakshatra, counted backwards, the way the nodes move. So Ketu in Mrigashira is, for these years, a birth-chart placement and not a transit anyone can wait for.

Mrigashira as the Setting for Ketu

In the nakshatra tables Mrigashira’s deity is listed as Soma and its symbol as deer's head; its gana is Deva, and the muhurta texts put it in the Mridu class (tender). Those belong to Mrigashira whichever graha is in it, and they are read on the Mrigashira page. What changes with Ketu is everything above: the dignities in Taurus and Gemini, the relation to Mars, and the dates. None of it is a prediction for anyone born with Ketu in Mrigashira; 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 Taurus and Ketu in Gemini; Ketu in all 27 nakshatras is on the Ketu nakshatra table. For the nakshatras themselves, see the 27 nakshatras guide and our Mrigashira article.

The Other Grahas in Mrigashira