Sun in Ashlesha Nakshatra (Surya in आश्लेषा)

Ashlesha, the 9th of the 27 nakshatras, covers 106°40′ – 120°00′ of the sidereal zodiac, wholly inside Cancer. Ashlesha is ruled by Mercury, so the Sun in Ashlesha stands in Mercury’s star.

The Sun counts Mercury neutral, while Mercury counts the Sun a friend. The table is not symmetric, so the Sun in Ashlesha has to be described from both sides, as it is here. The other two nakshatras Mercury rules, Jyeshtha and Revati, put the Sun under the same star lord.

The Sun in Ashlesha, Pada by Pada

By rashi, the Sun is in a friend's sign in all four padas of Ashlesha, because the whole nakshatra lies in Cancer. By navamsa the four padas fall in Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. The Sun’s strongest navamsas in Ashlesha are padas 1 (Sagittarius, in a friend's sign) and 4 (Pisces, in a friend's sign), and its weakest are padas 2 (Capricorn, in an enemy's sign) and 3 (Aquarius, in an enemy's sign).

Ashlesha pada 4 (Cancer 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 the Sun placed in that quarter of Ashlesha sits on the junction itself.

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

When the Sun Is in Ashlesha, 2026–2028

• 3 August 2026: the Sun enters Ashlesha, and leaves on 17 August 2026 — 14 days.
• 3 August 2027: the Sun enters Ashlesha, and leaves on 17 August 2027 — 14 days.
• 2 August 2028: the Sun enters Ashlesha, and leaves on 16 August 2028 — 14 days.

Those are the three spells the Sun spends in Ashlesha between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029, 42 days in all. Over the same span the Sun stands in every one of the 27 nakshatras. The dates are days only; for the Sun in Ashlesha a minute would be more precise than the ayanamsa behind it.

Inside Ashlesha: what the tables locate there for the Sun

Of the 80 complete spells the Sun has in the table, in any nakshatra, the shortest is 13 days and the longest 14, and a spell in Ashlesha is level with the longest.

• 4 August 2027: the Sun meets Ketu at 17° Cancer, in Ashlesha pada 1.
• 11 August 2027: the Sun meets Mercury at 24° Cancer, in Ashlesha pada 3.
• 12 August 2027: the Sun meets Venus at 24° Cancer, in Ashlesha pada 3.

The lunation table puts the new moon of 12 August 2026 in Ashlesha: the Moon joins the Sun there, inside one of the spells listed above.

Ashlesha as the Setting for the Sun

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

Related Placements

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

The Other Grahas in Ashlesha