Rohini Nakshatra (रोहिणी)

Rohini is the favourite wife of the Moon, who spent so much time with her that her twenty-six sisters complained to their father Daksha. His curse made the Moon waste away, and the waxing and waning of the Moon is the compromise that followed. Its deity is Prajapati, the creator, and the Moon is exalted in its sign, Taurus.

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 Rohini:

Attractive, creative and sensuous, you have a gift for making things grow: beauty, comfort and wealth. People are drawn to you. Possessiveness is the shadow; generosity is the cure.

Rohini is the most fertile and attractive of the nakshatras. Its people are charming, artistic and fond of comfort and beauty, and they draw others to them easily. They build steadily and enjoy what they have, though they can become possessive of people and things.

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.

The arts, fashion and beauty, agriculture and food, hospitality, property, and any work that grows something over time.

Romantic, affectionate and devoted. They give a great deal and expect the same; jealousy is the thing to watch.

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 Rohini 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 Rohini 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 Rohini, your first mahadasha is the Moon's, which lasts 10 years in full. Only the part the Moon had not yet travelled through Rohini 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.

Manushya gana, the "human" temperament: balanced and practical, with worldly ambition.

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. Rohini shares the serpent yoni with Mrigashira, 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, Rohini is classed as fixed (dhruva): favoured for lasting foundations, such as building, planting and long commitments.