हस्त
Hasta Nakṣatra
Hasta is the hand. It is the only nakṣatra whose name is also the limb the classical texts assign it. It belongs to Savitṛ, the god the Ṛgveda calls golden-handed, and the Brāhmaṇas explain that epithet with a story about hands that were cut off and remade. Everything this star is known for, the skill and the taking alike, comes back to what a hand can do.
The Star at a Glance
Where It Sits
Hasta occupies the middle of Virgo and does not touch another sign at either end. Of the three nakshatras that make up that sign, it is the only one held whole, and that is why Varahamihira can use it to fix where the sign begins and ends.
तत्परिशेषं हस्तश् चित्राद्यर्धं च कन्याख्यः ॥
tatpariśeṣaṃ hastaś citrādyardhaṃ ca kanyākhyaḥ ||
Translation — The remainder of that, and Hasta, and the first half of Citrā, is what is called Kanyā (Virgo).
Explanation — Varāhamihira defines the sign by its stars rather than by degrees. Virgo is the last part of Uttara Phalgunī, all of Hasta, and half of Citrā. Hasta is the only one of the three that sits inside the sign whole, which is why it is often treated as the sign's centre of gravity.
— Bṛhat Saṃhitā 102.03cd (Kern; Tripāṭhī 101.03cd) — the remainder plus Hasta and the first half of Citrā is what is called Virgo
Being wholly inside a sign matters more than it sounds. A native's Moon in Hasta always has Mercury as its sign lord and the Moon as its star lord, with no possibility of the mixed reading that straddling stars produce. Mercury handles counting, speech and exchange; the Moon handles the mind that does the handling. The star's reputation for practical cleverness sits on that pair and nothing else.
There is one more thing inside this span, and it is easy to miss. Mercury's exaltation degree falls at Virgo 15°, which is inside Hasta, in the second pada. Most nakshatras can only claim a sign where a planet exalts. This one holds the exact degree.
Three separate systems name this star and all three reach for the same word. It is called Hasta, the hand. Varahamihira's cosmic body gives it the hands. And the Muhurta Chintamani, listing the shape each asterism draws in the sky, gives Hasta karah — a hand. The five stars of Corvus are what the eye is actually being asked to look at.
The oldest of them is older than all three. The Taittiriya Brahmana builds a Prajapati out of five stars that follow one another in the sky, and the first of them is this one.
यो वै नक्षत्रियं प्रजापतिं वेद उभयोर् एनं लोकयोर् विदुः । हस्त एवास्य हस्तः चित्रा शिरः निष्ट्या हृदयम् । ऊरू विशाखे प्रतिष्ठानूराधाः एष वै नक्षत्रियः प्रजापतिः ॥
yo vai nakṣatriyaṃ prajāpatiṃ veda ubhayor enaṃ lokayor viduḥ | hasta evāsya hastaḥ citrā śiraḥ niṣṭyā hṛdayam | ūrū viśākhe pratiṣṭhānūrādhāḥ eṣa vai nakṣatriyaḥ prajāpatiḥ ||
Translation — Whoever knows the Prajāpati made of the stars is known in both worlds. Hasta is his hand. Citrā is his head, Niṣṭyā (Svātī) his heart, the two Viśākhās his thighs, Anurādhā his footing. This is the Prajāpati made of stars.
Explanation — The Brāhmaṇa builds a body for Prajāpati out of five stars that follow one another in the sky. Hasta comes first, and the text needs no comparison for it: Hasta is his hasta, the hand is his hand. Citrā is the head, Svātī the heart, Viśākhā the thighs, Anurādhā the place he stands. This is centuries older than Varāhamihira's cosmic body, and it already gives this star the hand.
— Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa 1.5.2.2 — the nakṣatriya Prajāpati (TITUS edition no. 1.5.2.7)
Dr Aditya Togi, on Dr Arjun Pai's panel, adds two points about where the star sits. The Moon rules three stars: Rohini, Hasta and Shravana. They stand nine stars apart, 120° from each other, and their gods are Prajapati, Savitr and Vishnu. And the whole of Virgo belongs to gods counted among the twelve Adityas of the later lists: Aryaman for the last three padas of Uttara Phalguni, Savitr for Hasta, Tvashtr for the first half of Chitra. No other sign is held wholly by Adityas.
Togi also notes that astrologers differ on the yogatara, the star that marks Hasta. Some take δ Corvi, some γ. By Lahiri, γ Corvi stands at Virgo 16°52′ and δ at 19°35′, both close to Mercury's exaltation at 15°. Four of the five Corvus stars lie in Hasta's third pada. The fifth, β Corvi, is at Virgo 23°30′, just over the line in Chitra's span.
The Star in the Oldest List
The Atharvaveda's Nakshatra Sukta runs through all twenty-seven stars and asks something of each. What it asks of Hasta is worth reading closely.
पुण्यं पूर्वा फल्गुन्यौ चात्र हस्तश् चित्रा शिवा स्वाति सुखो मे अस्तु । राधे विशाखे सुहवानुराधा ज्येष्ठा सुनक्षत्रम् अरिष्ट मूलम् ॥
puṇyaṃ pūrvā phalgunyau cātra hastaś citrā śivā svāti sukho me astu | rādhe viśākhe suhavānurādhā jyeṣṭhā sunakṣatram ariṣṭa mūlam ||
Translation — Auspicious be the two Pūrva Phalgunīs and Hasta here; kindly Citrā; may Svātī be pleasant to me. Bountiful the two Viśākhās, easily invoked Anurādhā, Jyeṣṭhā a good star, and Mūla unharming.
Explanation — The Nakṣatra Sūkta goes through all twenty-seven stars and asks each one for something. Hasta is asked to be puṇya, which means bringing merit rather than bringing luck. This is the oldest place the star is named in a list of the twenty-seven.
— Atharvaveda 19.7.3 — the Nakṣatra Sūkta; Hasta asked to be puṇya, bringing merit