Pūrva Āṣāḍhā Nakṣatra

At a Glance

The Name

Ashadha is built from sah, to withstand or overpower, with a- in front, so it means the one that cannot be withstood. Purva means the first or the former. The star is the first of a pair, and Uttara Ashadha, the latter one, follows it. The Rigveda gives the same word, in its older form ashalha, mostly to Indra. Komilla Sutton translates it as what cannot be suppressed, and Joni Patry as the undefeated.

Varahamihira hardly ever uses the name. He calls the star by its god, so it is apya, the Waters' star, or toya and jaladeva, the star whose lord is water. Tamil and Malayalam call it Pooradam. The month of Ashadha also takes its name from these two stars, because the full moon of that month falls in or near them.

Where the Star Stands

Purva Ashadha sits in the middle of Sagittarius, from 13 degrees 20 minutes to 26 degrees 40 minutes. Jupiter owns the sign and Venus rules the star. Jupiter is the guru of the gods and Venus the guru of the asuras, so both teachers have a hand in this star. No planet has its exact point of exaltation or fall inside the star.

Its two stars are usually taken to be delta and epsilon Sagittarii, in the bow of the Archer. On the Lahiri reckoning both sit a little before the star's span begins, at Sagittarius 10 degrees 43 minutes and 11 degrees 13 minutes, which is inside Mula. Aditya on Dr Arjun Pai's panel gives the same figure for delta. Sigma Sagittarii, the bright star usually given to Uttara Ashadha, sits at Sagittarius 18 degrees 32 minutes, inside Purva Ashadha's span.

The Sun passes through the star from about 29 December to 11 January each year. Paramahansa Yogananda, Elvis Presley, David Bowie and Isaac Newton were all born with the Sun here.

Aditya on Dr Arjun Pai's panel adds a longer view. The equinox moves slowly backward through the stars, and by his count it stood in Purva Ashadha about 20,000 years ago. That is near the end of the last ice age, when melting glaciers raised the seas. He offers it as his own reading of why this star belongs to the Waters.

A Fierce Star of Water

Varahamihira puts Purva Ashadha among the ugra stars, the fierce ones, with the other two Purvas, Bharani and Magha. He also gives it to the Brahmins and gives its people truth and cleanliness. The teachers read both sides from the deity. Water washes things clean, and in a flood it destroys. Dr Pai reads the star as the warrior marching to the field, and Shanti on his channel as the one who fights for what is true.