Ashwini Nakshatra: Meaning, Deity, Padas and Traits

Ashwini is the first of the 27 nakshatras, the lunar mansions of the Vedic zodiac. It begins at the very start of the sidereal zodiac, 0° of Aries, and covers the first 13° 20′ of that sign, so every Ashwini pada lies in Aries. The name comes from ashva, the Sanskrit word for a horse, and the star is pictured as a horse’s head. Because it opens the whole sequence, the tradition treats it as the place where the cycle of the sky starts again.

Ashwini at a glance

Gana, yoni and nadi are the three temperament groupings used in nakshatra matching, and they are explained in the matching section below. The varna shown is the one the site’s compatibility tool takes from the Moon’s sign, and it is a traditional classification of temperament, not of people.

The deity and the story

The deities of Ashwini are the Ashwini Kumaras, also called the Ashvins or Nasatya and Dasra. In the Rigveda they are among the most frequently invoked gods: twin horsemen who ride a golden chariot at dawn and arrive to help people in trouble. The hymns praise them as healers who restore the sick, rescue those lost at sea and give the old new strength. That is why Ashwini is the nakshatra most linked with medicine and first aid.

Later tradition adds a birth story. The Puranas say that Sanjna, the wife of the Sun god Surya, could not bear his brightness and left in the form of a mare. Surya followed as a stallion, and the twins were born from that meeting, which is the origin of their link with horses. The Mahabharata and the Puranas also tell how the twins restored the sage Chyavana to youth and, in return, were given a share in the soma offering that the other gods had kept from them. These are sacred narratives, and each telling varies in detail.

Temperament in the classical texts

The classical lists of nakshatra character describe a person born with the Moon in Ashwini as quick, energetic, pleasant to look at, eager to begin things and fond of ornament and neat appearance. The mind is said to be fast and practical, and the manner direct. The texts connect the nakshatra with service to the sick and with careers around healing, horses, speed and travel.

As with every nakshatra, the same energy has a shadow in the traditional account: impatience, a habit of starting more than is finished, and a wish to move before the facts are in. Those are tendencies a reader can notice and steer, not fixed outcomes. The Moon’s sign, the other planets and the whole chart change the picture considerably, and Ashwini is only one of its parts.

The four padas

Pada 1 (Chu) falls in the Aries navamsa, the first of all the navamsa divisions. It is called the most direct pada, where Ashwini’s initiative is plainest and where the Mars influence of Aries is felt most strongly.

Pada 2 (Che) falls in Taurus navamsa. Tradition reads it as steadier, with the quick start of Ashwini joined to a wish for comfort, good food and lasting results.

Pada 3 (Cho) falls in Gemini navamsa. The reading here stresses curiosity, speech and a talent for learning fast, along with a mind that jumps between several tasks.

Pada 4 (La) falls in Cancer navamsa, ruled by the Moon. It is described as the most sensitive and caring pada, where the healing side of Ashwini turns towards home and family.

The navamsa sign of each pada is worked out the standard way: the 108 padas of the zodiac run in order from Aries, so each pada falls in the next sign in turn. You can see the same placement for any chart in the navamsa calculator.

Each planet in Ashwini

When a planet sits in Ashwini, its nature is shaped by the lord Ketu and by the deity above. Each of these pages looks at one planet in this star.

• Sun in Ashwini Nakshatra: the Sun, the soul and authority, set in this star.
• Moon in Ashwini Nakshatra: the Moon, your mind and janma nakshatra, here.
• Mars in Ashwini Nakshatra: Mars, drive and courage, as this star colours it.
• Mercury in Ashwini Nakshatra: Mercury, speech and reasoning, in this lunar mansion.
• Jupiter in Ashwini Nakshatra: Jupiter, wisdom and guidance, placed in this star.
• Venus in Ashwini Nakshatra: Venus, affection and taste, as it sits here.
• Saturn in Ashwini Nakshatra: Saturn, discipline and patience, in this nakshatra.
• Rahu in Ashwini Nakshatra: Rahu, the north node of appetite and ambition, here.
• Ketu in Ashwini Nakshatra: Ketu, the south node of detachment, in this star.

For the whole picture, see the Moon in all 27 nakshatras.

Compatibility and matching

Ashwini has a Deva gana, the group tradition associates with a gentle, friendly temperament. In the site’s tables a Deva Moon scores 5 or 6 out of 6 on gana with a Deva or Manushya partner and does much less well with a Rakshasa partner. Its yoni is the horse. The traditional sworn enemy of the horse yoni is the buffalo, the yoni of Hasta and Swati, which the matching tool scores at zero on yoni. Ashwini’s nadi is Adi (Vata). Nadi scores zero when both people share the same nadi, so matching an Ashwini Moon with another Adi nadi star (Ardra, Punarvasu, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Jyeshtha, Mula, Shatabhisha and Purva Bhadrapada) is where tradition raises the nadi question, and many astrologers then look for the exceptions that the texts allow.

Try it with two real nakshatras in the nakshatra compatibility calculator, which shows every kuta and the total out of 36. A score is one lens on a relationship, not a verdict on it.

Names and the naming syllables

Ashwini’s four syllables are Chu, Che, Cho and La, one for each pada. The sound for a child is chosen by the pada the Moon was in at birth, not by the whole nakshatra, so two babies born hours apart can have different syllables. The syllables come from the avakahada chakra, a traditional table, and they are a custom for choosing a starting sound. Families who prefer another name are free to use it.

The page of Ashwini baby names lists names for all four sounds. If you only know the date and place of birth, the baby names by date of birth tool finds the pada for you.

Find your nakshatra

Your nakshatra is the star the Moon was in at the moment of birth. If the Moon was within the first 13° 20′ of Aries (sidereal) at that moment, your nakshatra is Ashwini, and its pada is found from how far the Moon had moved through that span. Because the Moon covers a nakshatra in a little under a day, the birth time matters. The nakshatra calculator gives the nakshatra and pada from a date, time and place.

To check any other moment, the nakshatra at date and time calculator shows where the Moon stood and when it changes star.

Browse on: next, Bharani. All 27 are on the nakshatras hub.

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