Venus in Dhanishta Nakshatra (Shukra in धनिष्ठा)

Dhanishta, the 23rd of the 27 nakshatras, covers 293°20′ – 306°40′ of the sidereal zodiac, across the boundary between Capricorn and Aquarius. Dhanishta is ruled by Mars, so Venus in Dhanishta stands in Mars’s star.

Venus and Mars count each other neutral, so in Dhanishta the graha and the lord of its star agree about each other. The other two nakshatras Mars rules, Mrigashira and Chitra, put Venus under the same star lord.

Venus in Dhanishta, Pada by Pada

By rashi, Venus in Dhanishta is in a friend's sign in padas 1 and 2 (Capricorn) and in a friend's sign in padas 3 and 4 (Aquarius), because Dhanishta crosses from Capricorn into Aquarius. By navamsa the four padas fall in Leo, Virgo, Libra and Scorpio. Venus’s strongest navamsa in Dhanishta is pada 3 (Libra, in its own sign), and its weakest is pada 2 (Virgo, debilitated).

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

When Venus Is in Dhanishta, 2026–2028

• 31 January 2026: Venus enters Dhanishta, and leaves on 11 February 2026 — 11 days.
• 16 March 2027: Venus enters Dhanishta, and leaves on 27 March 2027 — 11 days.
• 3 January 2028: Venus enters Dhanishta, and leaves on 14 January 2028 — 11 days.

Those are the three spells Venus spends in Dhanishta between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029, 33 days in all. Over the same span Venus stands in every one of the 27 nakshatras. The dates are days only; for Venus in Dhanishta a minute would be more precise than the ayanamsa behind it.

Inside Dhanishta: what the tables locate there for Venus

Of the 84 complete spells Venus has in the table, in any nakshatra, the shortest is 10 days and the longest 43; the Dhanishta spells, at 11, 11 and 11 days, sit inside that range.

• 17 March 2027: Venus meets Rahu at 24° Capricorn, in Dhanishta pada 1.

Dhanishta as the Setting for Venus

In the nakshatra tables Dhanishta’s deity is listed as Eight Vasus and its symbol as drum; its gana is Rakshasa, and the muhurta texts put it in the Chara class (movable). Those belong to Dhanishta whichever graha is in it, and they are read on the Dhanishta page. What changes with Venus is everything above: the dignities in Capricorn and Aquarius, the relation to Mars, and the dates. None of it is a prediction for anyone born with Venus in Dhanishta; the house it occupies and the dasha running decide what the placement does in a chart.

Related Placements

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

The Other Grahas in Dhanishta