Mrigashira Nakshatra (मृगशिरा)

Mrigashira is ruled by Soma, the Moon as the divine nectar. Its symbol, a deer’s head, recalls Prajapati chasing his daughter in the form of a deer across the sky, and more generally the deer that is always alert and always searching. It is the nakshatra of the quest.

Your janma (birth) nakshatra is the one the Moon occupied when you were born. It is read as the clearest picture of the mind and temperament. When the Moon is in Mrigashira:

Curious and gentle, forever searching, you seek knowledge, experience and beauty. Your mind is quick and inquisitive, and restlessness is the price of that curiosity.

Mrigashira gives a curious, gentle and restless mind. These people are always looking: for knowledge, for the right place, for the right person. They are sociable, perceptive and good with words, but they can find it hard to settle once they have found what they were looking for.

The nakshatra is one layer of a chart. The sign the Moon is in, the planets aspecting it and the rest of the chart all change how these traits show.

Research, writing and journalism, travel, teaching, textiles and design, and anything that involves searching or exploring.

Sweet-natured and attentive, but they need variety and mental stimulation. Boredom, not conflict, is the usual danger.

Each nakshatra is divided into four padas (quarters) of 3°20′. Each pada falls in a navamsa sign, which colours the nakshatra with that sign's temperament. This is why two people born in the same nakshatra can read quite differently.

In the naming tradition (namakarana) followed across India and Nepal, a child's name begins with the syllable of the pada the Moon occupied at birth. For Mrigashira the four syllables are:

You need the pada, not just the nakshatra, so the birth time matters. A few panchangs differ by a syllable, so families often follow the one their priest uses. Find the nakshatra and pada for a birth.

The average guna milan score between Mrigashira and each other nakshatra, taken over every Moon position in both and counted either way round. A real match depends on the exact padas and on who is the bride, so use these as a guide and check the exact pair.

The Vimshottari dasha, the most widely used timing system in Vedic astrology, starts from the Moon's nakshatra. If you were born with the Moon in Mrigashira, your first mahadasha is Mars's, which lasts 7 years in full. Only the part the Moon had not yet travelled through Mrigashira remains at birth: a Moon early in the nakshatra leaves most of the period to run, and a Moon near its end leaves little.

Calculate your own dasha periods with exact dates, down to the prana dasha.

Deva gana, the "divine" temperament: gentle, idealistic and generous by nature.

Its yoni, the animal that stands for a nakshatra's instinctive nature, is the serpent. Both gana and yoni are among the eight factors (kootas) compared in traditional kundli matching. Mrigashira shares the serpent yoni with Rohini, the best yoni match. Its sworn enemy is the mongoose, the yoni of Uttara Ashadha, which scores no yoni points in matching.

In muhurta, the choosing of auspicious times, Mrigashira is classed as soft (mridu): favoured for the arts, friendship, romance, music and adornment.