Rahu in Punarvasu Nakshatra (Rahu in पुनर्वसु)

Punarvasu, the 7th of the 27 nakshatras, covers 80°00′ – 93°20′ of the sidereal zodiac, across the boundary between Gemini and Cancer. Punarvasu is ruled by Jupiter, so Rahu in Punarvasu stands in Jupiter’s star.

Rahu’s row in the friendship lists counts Jupiter neutral; Jupiter’s row names no node, so the star lord of Punarvasu has no entry for Rahu, and this page does not supply one. The other two nakshatras Jupiter rules, Vishakha and Purva Bhadrapada, put Rahu under the same star lord.

Rahu in Punarvasu, Pada by Pada

By rashi, Rahu in Punarvasu is in a friend's sign in padas 1, 2 and 3 (Gemini) and in an enemy's sign in pada 4 (Cancer), because Punarvasu crosses from Gemini into Cancer. By navamsa the four padas fall in Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer. Rahu’s strongest navamsa in Punarvasu is pada 2 (Taurus, exalted on the commoner reckoning), and its weakest are padas 1 (Aries, in an enemy's sign) and 4 (Cancer, in an enemy's sign).

Punarvasu pada 3 is vargottama — Gemini in rashi and in navamsa — so Rahu there is in a friend's sign on both counts. Punarvasu pada 4 is vargottama — Cancer in rashi and in navamsa — so Rahu there is in an enemy'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 Rahu none, so for Rahu in Punarvasu no degree of special dignity can be located; the sign-level verdicts above carry the hedge the planet pages use for Rahu.

When Rahu Is in Punarvasu, 2026–2028

Rahu does not enter Punarvasu at any point between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029. It stands in Shatabhisha when the table opens and in Purva Ashadha when it closes, having visited 5 of the 27 nakshatras, and from Purva Ashadha Punarvasu is 13 nakshatras further, counted backwards, the way the nodes move. So Rahu in Punarvasu is, for these years, a birth-chart placement and not a transit anyone can wait for.

Punarvasu as the Setting for Rahu

In the nakshatra tables Punarvasu’s deity is listed as Aditi and its symbol as quiver; its gana is Deva, and the muhurta texts put it in the Chara class (movable). Those belong to Punarvasu whichever graha is in it, and they are read on the Punarvasu page. What changes with Rahu is everything above: the dignities in Gemini and Cancer, the relation to Jupiter, and the dates. None of it is a prediction for anyone born with Rahu in Punarvasu; the house it occupies and the dasha running decide what the placement does in a chart.

Related Placements

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

The Other Grahas in Punarvasu