Why Constellations (Nakshatras) are Important in Astrology?

Constellations or Nakshatras are further divisions of the zodiac signs. The characteristics of a sign cannot be taken as the same throughout its spread of 30 degrees because the constellations add their colours.

The 360o zodiac is divided into twelve parts of 30o each and these are called zodiac-signs or just signs. Each sign is governed by a planet out of the seven planets as listed in the table below:

Zodiac Sign	Governing Planet
Aries	Mars
Taurus	Venus
Gemini	Mercury
Cancer	Moon
Leo	Sun
Virgo	Mercury
Libra	Venus
Scorpio	Mars
Sagittarius	Jupiter
Capricorn	Saturn
Aquarius	Saturn
Pisces	Jupiter

You will observe from this table that except Sun and Moon each planet governs two zodiac signs.
The non-physical planets viz. Rahu (North node of Moon) and Ketu (South node of Moon) have no place in this table in other words they do not govern any sign.

Constellations (Nakshatras) …There is another division of the same zodiac into 27 equal parts. The starting point of both these divisions is the same as 0o Aries. These 27 parts are called constellations. Each constellation is of 13 degrees 20 minutes, which means that there are two and a quarter constellations in one sign.
The Constellations are also known as Asterisms, Lunar Mansions or Stars. The name in Hindi is Nakshatra which is made of two words viz. ‘Naksha’ which means ‘The Map’ and ‘Tara’ which means ‘Stars’ so when combined it means, ‘The Map of Stars’.

A group of three constellations is governed by one of the nine planets. Here even the non-physical planets or nodes of the Moon viz. Rahu and Ketu are also assigned lordship of certain constellations.

The table below lists all the 27 constellations, the sign in which it falls, sign lord and constellation lord.

Constellation (Nakshatra)	Sign in which it Falls	Planet Governing the Sign	Planet Governing the Constellation
Ashvini	Aries	Mars	Ketu
Bharani	Aries	Mars	Venus
Kritika	Aries, Taurus	Mars, Venus	Sun
Rohini	Taurus	Venus	Moon
Mrigshira	Taurus, Gemini	Venus, Mercury	Mars
Ardra	Gemini	Mercury	Rahu
Punarvasu	Gemini, Cancer	Mercury, Moon	Jupiter
Pushya	Cancer	Moon	Saturn
Ashlesha	Cancer	Moon	Mercury
Magha	Leo	Sun	Ketu
Poorva-Phalguni	Leo	Sun	Venus
Utra-phalguni	Leo, Virgo	Sun, Mercury	Sun
Hasta	Virgo	Mercury	Moon
Chitra	Virgo, Libra	Mercury, Venus	Mars
Swati	Libra	Venus	Rahu
Vishakha	Libra, Scorpio	Venus, Mars	Jupiter
Anuradha	Scorpio	Mars	Saturn
Jyeshtha	Scorpio	Mars	Mercury
Mula	Sagittarius	Jupiter	Ketu
Poorva-ashada	Sagittarius	Jupiter	Venus
Utra-ashada	Sagittarius, Capricorn	Jupiter, Saturn	Sun
Shravan	Capricorn	Saturn	Moon
Dhanishtha	Capricorn, Aquarius	Saturn, Saturn	Mars
Shatbhisha	Aquarius	Saturn	Rahu
Poorva-Bhadrapad	Aquarius, Pisces	Saturn, Jupiter	Jupiter
Utra-Bhadrapad	Pisces	Jupiter	Saturn
Revati	Pisces	Jupiter	Mercury

Astrological Importance of constellations …Thus, we see that it is not only the lord of a sign that exerts its influence throughout that sign. In addition to the lord of a sign, another planet called constellation lord depending upon the particular part of the sign falling in a constellation also exerts its own influence.
So in addition to the sign the constellation is also important and practice reveals that constellation being a finer part of the sign affects more powerfully.
Just in order to illustrate this point suppose in a chart the natal Moon falls in the sign Libra then predicting Moon’s behaviour just as per the sign would give wrong results. The sign Libra contains three constellations viz. Chitra, Swati and Vishakha and these being ruled by Mars, Rahu and Jupiter respectively exhibit different characteristics. Now depending upon in which of these the Moon is posited its behaviour will differ vastly.

Which Constellations should be considered? …
In general as you consider the sign wise position of a planet in a birth chart also give attention to the constellation in which that planet falls. That planet during its planetary periods called Dashas will more prominently give results pertaining to the planet governing the constellation in which that planet falls.
In addition to this the following need attention during analysis:

(1) The constellation in which the ascendant falls
(2) The constellation in which natal Moon falls
(3) The constellation in which the cusp (middle point) of a house (under consideration) falls.

Thus giving due consideration to the constellations in a chart will enhance the results of your analysis.

Article by Jyotirvid Pawan Kumar

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