VedaChartsNakshatra · #17 of 27
Anuradha
After Radha; the friend
A nakshatra of devoted friendship and the slow build.
Traditional attributes
Ruling planet
♄ Saturn
Deity
Mitra
Symbol
A lotus; a row of offerings
Gana
Deva
Yoni
Deer (female)
Dosha
Pitta
Motivation
Dharma
Body part
Heart, breasts
Direction
South
Where it sits in the zodiac
Sign
Scorpio
3°20' to 16°40'
Pada syllables
The four padas (quarters) of Anuradha. In tradition, a child's first-letter name often comes from the syllable of the pada in which their Moon was placed.
Pada 1
Na
Pada 2
Ni
Pada 3
Nu
Pada 4
Ne
If your Moon is here
You are devoted, disciplined, and a builder of lasting friendships. Your emotional life is organized around the people you choose to walk with for the long haul. You invest slowly and deeply, and the relationships you build tend to outlast everyone else's.
Temperament
Anuradha is the friend who shows up. Mitra is the deity of friendship and devotion, and Anuradha people carry a quiet capacity for the long haul that Vishakha's sprint can't match. They build friendships, projects, and partnerships through patient, repeated care, and the things they build tend to last.
They are at their best in the medium term: the third year of a project, the tenth year of a marriage, the long arc of a creative practice. The shadow is when the loyalty becomes attachment to people or work that has stopped repaying the devotion.
Strengths
Devotion, patience, social intelligence. Skilled at building organizations and friendships over decades. Excellent at the moral middle distance, neither too close nor too far.
Shadow
Holds onto relationships past their sell-by date. Self-sacrifice as a quiet identity. Can stay in difficult situations longer than is wise.
Relationships
Devoted, often deeply loyal to a small circle. Marriage stable when grounded in friendship; turbulent when grounded in passion alone.
Career & vocation
Diplomacy, organizational leadership, religion, long-form research, music, medicine, anything that rewards a decade-plus arc.