Saturn in Purva Ashadha Nakshatra (Shani in पूर्वाषाढ़ा)

Purva Ashadha, the 20th of the 27 nakshatras, covers 253°20′ – 266°40′ of the sidereal zodiac, wholly inside Sagittarius. Purva Ashadha is ruled by Venus, so Saturn in Purva Ashadha stands in Venus’s star.

Saturn and Venus count each other a friend, so in Purva Ashadha the graha and the lord of its star agree about each other. The other two nakshatras Venus rules, Bharani and Purva Phalguni, put Saturn under the same star lord.

Saturn in Purva Ashadha, Pada by Pada

By rashi, Saturn is in a neutral sign in all four padas of Purva Ashadha, because the whole nakshatra lies in Sagittarius. By navamsa the four padas fall in Leo, Virgo, Libra and Scorpio. Saturn’s strongest navamsa in Purva Ashadha is pada 3 (Libra, exalted), and its weakest are padas 1 (Leo, in an enemy's sign) and 4 (Scorpio, in an enemy's sign).

Neither Saturn’s deepest exaltation (Libra) nor its deepest debilitation (Aries) degree falls inside Purva Ashadha, and Saturn’s moolatrikona lies outside it as well, so in Purva Ashadha the rashi and navamsa verdicts above are the whole of Saturn’s dignity.

When Saturn Is in Purva Ashadha, 2026–2028

Saturn does not enter Purva Ashadha at any point between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029. It stands in Purva Bhadrapada when the table opens and in Ashwini when it closes, having visited 5 of the 27 nakshatras, and from Ashwini Purva Ashadha is 19 nakshatras further on. So Saturn in Purva Ashadha is, for these years, a birth-chart placement and not a transit anyone can wait for.

Purva Ashadha as the Setting for Saturn

In the nakshatra tables Purva Ashadha’s deity is listed as Apas and its symbol as fan; its gana is Manushya, and the muhurta texts put it in the Ugra class (fierce). Those belong to Purva Ashadha whichever graha is in it, and they are read on the Purva Ashadha page. What changes with Saturn is everything above: the dignities in Sagittarius, the relation to Venus, and the dates. None of it is a prediction for anyone born with Saturn in Purva Ashadha; the house it occupies and the dasha running decide what the placement does in a chart.

Related Placements

The sign-level reading is on Saturn in Sagittarius; Saturn in all 27 nakshatras is on the Saturn nakshatra table. For the nakshatras themselves, see the 27 nakshatras guide and our Purva Ashadha article.

The Other Grahas in Purva Ashadha