Ketu in Shatabhisha Nakshatra (Ketu in शतभिषा)

Shatabhisha, the 24th of the 27 nakshatras, covers 306°40′ – 320°00′ of the sidereal zodiac, wholly inside Aquarius. Shatabhisha is ruled by Rahu, so Ketu in Shatabhisha stands in Rahu’s star.

Neither node’s row in the friendship lists names the other, so for Ketu in Shatabhisha there is no entry in either direction between Ketu and its star lord, and this page does not supply one. The other two nakshatras Rahu rules, Ardra and Swati, put Ketu under the same star lord.

Ketu in Shatabhisha, Pada by Pada

By rashi, Ketu is in a friend's sign in all four padas of Shatabhisha, because the whole nakshatra lies in Aquarius. By navamsa the four padas fall in Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Ketu’s strongest navamsas in Shatabhisha 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).

Shatabhisha pada 3 is vargottama — Aquarius in rashi and in navamsa — so Ketu there is in a friend's sign on both counts. Of the 108 padas only twelve are vargottama, one for each sign.

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

Ketu does not enter Shatabhisha 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 Shatabhisha is 9 nakshatras further, counted backwards, the way the nodes move. So Ketu in Shatabhisha is, for these years, a birth-chart placement and not a transit anyone can wait for.

Shatabhisha as the Setting for Ketu

In the nakshatra tables Shatabhisha’s deity is listed as Varuna and its symbol as empty circle; its gana is Rakshasa, and the muhurta texts put it in the Chara class (movable). Those belong to Shatabhisha whichever graha is in it, and they are read on the Shatabhisha page. What changes with Ketu is everything above: the dignities in Aquarius, the relation to Rahu, and the dates. None of it is a prediction for anyone born with Ketu in Shatabhisha; 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 Aquarius; 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 Shatabhisha