Sun in Shatabhisha Nakshatra (Surya 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 the Sun in Shatabhisha stands in Rahu’s star.

Rahu’s row in the friendship lists counts the Sun an enemy; the Sun’s own row names no node, so the Sun’s view of the lord of Shatabhisha has no entry, and this page does not supply one. The other two nakshatras Rahu rules, Ardra and Swati, put the Sun under the same star lord.

The Sun in Shatabhisha, Pada by Pada

By rashi, the Sun is in an enemy'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. The Sun’s strongest navamsas in Shatabhisha 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).

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

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

When the Sun Is in Shatabhisha, 2026–2028

• 19 February 2026: the Sun enters Shatabhisha, and leaves on 5 March 2026 — 14 days.
• 20 February 2027: the Sun enters Shatabhisha, and leaves on 5 March 2027 — 13 days.
• 20 February 2028: the Sun enters Shatabhisha, and leaves on 4 March 2028 — 13 days.

Those are the three spells the Sun spends in Shatabhisha between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029, 40 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 Shatabhisha a minute would be more precise than the ayanamsa behind it.

Inside Shatabhisha: 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 Shatabhisha is level with the longest.

• 27 February 2026: the Sun meets Rahu at 14° Aquarius, in Shatabhisha pada 3.

The lunation table puts the new moon of 25 February 2028 in Shatabhisha: the Moon joins the Sun there, inside one of the spells listed above.

Shatabhisha as the Setting for the Sun

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 the Sun is everything above: the dignities in Aquarius, the relation to Rahu, and the dates. None of it is a prediction for anyone born with the Sun 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 Sun in Aquarius; 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 Shatabhisha