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Pūrvaphalgunī

The 27 nakṣatras

The native speaks sweetly, is generous and radiant, likes travel, and serves rulers.

Span	13°20′ to 26°40′ of ♌︎ Siṁha BJ 1.4
Pādas	1 ♌︎ Siṁha · 2 ♍︎ Kanyā · 3 ♎︎ Tulā · 4 ♏︎ Vṛścika (3°20′ each, in their navāṁśas) BJ 1.6
Lord	Venus, 20 years in the Vimśottarī BPHS 35.12-15
Deity	Bhaga Bṛhat Saṃhitā 98.4-5 · Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi 2.1
Nature	ugra, fierce Bṛhat Saṃhitā 98.6-11 · Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi 2.2-8
Face	adhomukha, facing down Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi 2.9
Gaṇa	Manuṣya Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi 6.29
Yoni	Mūṣaka, the rat, female Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi 6.25-26
Nāḍī	Madhya (pitta) Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi 6.34
Tree	palāśa, ḍhāk, flame of the forest Nārada Saṃhitā 6.64
Pañca pakṣi bird	Owl · Ulūka · in a waxing-pakṣa birth Pañcapakṣi Śāstram 8.22
Waning pakṣa bird	Cock · Kukkuṭa · in Uromarishi, who gives the waxing pakṣa as above Uromarishi 43 · Uromarishi 96
Symbol	the front legs of a bed as the almanacs give it
Name syllables	mo ṭa ṭi ṭu the avakahaḍā cakra, as the almanacs give it
In the Veda	Atharvaveda 19.7.3, as Pūrvā Phalgunī
Born under it	Varāhamihira’s verse, BJ 16.6

Each fact gives the verses it comes from. A book in the library opens at the verse.

Nature and temperament

Pūrvaphalgunī is the eleventh nakṣatra, running from 13°20′ to 26°40′ of Siṁha, with four pādas of 3°20′ each. (BJ 1.4 · BJ 1.6) The muhūrta texts class it as ugra or krūra, the fierce group with Bharaṇī, Maghā and the three Pūrvas. (Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi 2 · Nakṣatra prakaraṇa) Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi gives fierce stars for harsh works such as defeating enemies, dealings with fire, poison and weapons, and acts of restraint or imprisonment. (Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi 2 · Nakṣatra prakaraṇa) It also gives this star as adhomukha, downward-facing, a form chosen for digging, wells and foundations. (Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi 2 · Nakṣatra prakaraṇa) Its weekday in that scheme is Tuesday. (Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi 2 · Nakṣatra prakaraṇa)

The deity of Pūrvaphalgunī is Bhaga, and the Atharvaveda names it Pūrvā Phalgunī in the nakṣatra hymn. (Bṛhat Saṃhitā 98 · Atharvaveda 19.7.3) Bṛhat Saṃhitā also gives Bhaga as its deity. (Bṛhat Saṃhitā 98) The almanac symbol given for it is the front legs of a bed. (Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi 2 · Nakṣatra prakaraṇa) The facts suit a star tied to enjoyment, union, rest and household support, though in electional work it belongs to the fierce class. (Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi 2 · Nakṣatra prakaraṇa · Bṛhat Saṃhitā 98) In the Mahābhārata, Bhaga is among the gods present at Dakṣa’s sacrifice, and in the ruin of that rite his eyes are destroyed. (Mahābhārata, Sauptika Parva) The Bhāgavata Purāṇa tells the same episode, and there Vīrabhadra tears out Bhaga’s eyes. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa 4.5)

Its gaṇa is manuṣya, its yoni is the female rat, and its nāḍī is Madhya. (Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi 6 · Vivāha prakaraṇa) Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi uses these three in matching two charts for marriage, alongside other agreement factors. (Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi 6 · Vivāha prakaraṇa) Trivedi classifies this star as balanced in mode, brahmin in caste, rajasic in guṇa and watery in element. (Trivedi, The Book of Nakshatras)

Its star lord for Vimśottarī is Venus, and a birth with the Moon here begins life in Venus’s daśā, with a portion already elapsed according to the Moon’s exact place in the star. (BPHS 35.14-15) A Venus rulership gives the star a Venusian colouring in nakṣatra reading. (BPHS 35.14-15) The four pādas fall in Siṁha, Kanyā, Tulā and Vṛścika navāṁśas. (BJ 1.6) The first pāda is vargottama because the rāśi and navāṁśa are both Siṁha. (BJ 1.6) These pāda changes alter the navāṁśa background without changing the star’s Venus rulership or its place in Siṁha. (BJ 1.6 · BPHS 35.14-15)

What the texts say of a birth in it

Varāhamihira says that one born under Bhaga’s star is sweet-spoken, generous, lustrous, roaming about, and a servant of kings. (BJ 16.6) This is the basic classical verse for the Moon in Pūrvaphalgunī. (BJ 16.6) The public-domain English rendering by Vijnanananda gives the same line as affable, charitable, illustrious or beautiful, prone to travel, and engaged in service to kings. (Bṛhajjātakam, Vijnanananda 16 · p. 246) The Self Instructor gives a close abridgment as good speech, liberal, handsome, traveller and submissive. (Self Instructor 9 · p. 171) These English books are restatements of the same verse. (Bṛhajjātakam, Vijnanananda 16 · p. 246 · Self Instructor 9 · p. 171)

The agreement across these sources is strong on speech, generosity, personal brightness, movement from place to place, and some relation to rulers or service. (BJ 16.6 · Bṛhajjātakam, Vijnanananda 16 · p. 246 · Self Instructor 9 · p. 171) Vijnanananda adds “walker” in explaining atanah, which sharpens the travel sense without changing the verse’s main point. (Bṛhajjātakam, Vijnanananda 16 · p. 246) In this verse, the royal tie comes through service to kings. (BJ 16.6 · Bṛhajjātakam, Vijnanananda 16 · p. 246) A separate verse of Sārāvalī gives a different condition: if the Sun is in Pūrvaphalgunī and placed in the ascendant, it makes one a king over a small land. (SAR 35.148) This condition belongs to the Sun in the lagna and concerns a different placement from the Moon in the birth star. (SAR 35.148)

The texts in this library do not give a separate Pulippāṇi verse here. (BJ 16.6 · SAR 35.148) They also do not give a fuller classical trait list for all four pādas of Pūrvaphalgunī. (BJ 1.6 · BJ 16.6) The learner should keep apart three things the sources treat separately: birth in the star by the Moon, the Sun placed in it under Sārāvalī’s condition, and the daśā sequence opened by the Moon’s nakṣatra. (BPHS 35.14-15 · BJ 16.6 · SAR 35.148) Vijnanananda also notes that a full Moon in Pūrvaphalgunī or Uttaraphalgunī gives the month Phālguna in the prashna method he translates. (Bṛhajjātakam, Vijnanananda 26 · p. 367)

How it combines

For the lagna or a house cusp in Pūrvaphalgunī, the library’s explicit cusp method is Giri’s modern one. (Giri, Predict Using Nakshatra Pada (2022)) Giri reads a cusp in this star as carrying its nature into the house results, and he links house activation in Venus daśā to any cusp falling in one of Venus’s three stars. (Giri, Predict Using Nakshatra Pada (2022)) That is a modern extension from nakṣatra-based timing. (Giri, Predict Using Nakshatra Pada (2022)) A classical statement about the lagna in this star appears in Sārāvalī only for the Sun in the ascendant. (SAR 35.148) The pāda matters here because the navāṁśa beneath the lagna degree changes from Siṁha to Kanyā, Tulā or Vṛścika across the star. (BJ 1.6)

For timing, the clearest classical rule is that a Moon in Pūrvaphalgunī opens Venus daśā in Vimśottarī, and Venus runs for 20 years. (BPHS 35.14-15) The balance at birth depends on how much of the star has already been traversed by the Moon. (BPHS 35.14-15) Any result promised by the birth star is therefore expected to become active in periods tied to Venus, and modern nakṣatra reading follows the whole chain from the occupying graha to its star lord. (BPHS 35.14-15 · Vishwanathan, Secrets of Nakshatras (2016)) If Venus is prominent by house or dignity, that daśā has more weight for matters shown by grahas or cusps in Pūrvaphalgunī. (Vishwanathan, Secrets of Nakshatras (2016) · Giri, Predict Using Nakshatra Pada (2022))

In transit reading, Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi gives the tārā count from the birth star, with the 3rd, 5th and 7th positions unfavourable, and the 1st mixed. (Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi 4 · Tārābala and candrabala) From Pūrvaphalgunī, the special stars listed in Phaladīpikā include Pūrvāṣāḍhā as Karma, Uttarabhādrapadā as Sāṅghātika, Aśvinī as Sāmudāyika, Ārdrā as Vaināśika, Puṣya as Jāti, Āśleṣā as Deśa and Maghā as Abhiṣeka. (Phaladīpikā 26 · Gochara (transits)) Phaladīpikā gives adverse results when a malefic stands in or crosses the birth, karma or vaināśika star, and good when a benefic does so. (Phaladīpikā 26 · Gochara (transits)) Slow grahas such as Saturn, Jupiter, Rāhu and Ketu matter here because they remain in one star for months. (Phaladīpikā 26 · Gochara (transits))

Related pages: Its lord Venus; its sign ♌︎ Siṁha; the stars either side, Maghā and Uttaraphalgunī; the other stars of Venus, Bharaṇī and Pūrvāṣāḍhā; Reading by nakṣatras.

The four pādas

Pāda 1 133°20′–136°40′

13°20′ to 16°40′ of ♌︎ Siṁha. The 5th navāṁśa of the sign is ♌︎ Siṁha, whose lord is Sun. (BJ 1.6) Vargottama: the navāṁśa is the sign it stands in. (BJ 1.14) Name syllable mo, as the almanacs give it.

In this pāda, Pūrvaphalgunī falls in Simha navāṁśa, a fiery, fixed, odd sign ruled by the Sun, who is an enemy of Venus by the friendship lists in Bṛhat Jātaka, Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra, and Sārāvalī. (BJ 1.6 · BJ 2.16-17 · BPHS 2.53-56 · Sārāvalī 4.28-29 · BPHS 3.12) As a reading method, Bṛhat Jātaka gives the navāṁśa lord as a second lord under the star lord and says a strong navāṁśa lord gives the fruit of the division. (BJ 19.9) The vargottama status adds weight and steadiness, since this pāda repeats Simha in both rāśi and navāṁśa, and the classical texts count vargottama among strengthened placements. (BJ 1.14 · BJ 19.9 · SAR 3.13) Sārāvalī gives this navāṁśa rising in the lagna as broad-chested and fierce, with a marked physical presence. (SAR 50.42) Varāhamihira says the Moon in a navāṁśa of the Sun gives one who is wrathful, honoured by the king, and connected with treasure or authority, which colours this quarter with rank, heat, and harder assertion. (BJ 19.7) Trivedi reads this pāda as giving executive force when strong grahas occupy it. (Trivedi, The Book of Nakshatras)

Pāda 2 136°40′–140°

16°40′ to 20° of ♌︎ Siṁha. The 6th navāṁśa of the sign is ♍︎ Kanyā, whose lord is Mercury. (BJ 1.6) It holds the puṣkara bhāga of Siṁha, 19°. (Jātaka Pārijāta 1.58) Name syllable ṭa, as the almanacs give it.

Here the star passes into Kanyā navāṁśa, an earthy, dual, even sign ruled by Mercury, a friend of Venus in the standard friendship lists. (BJ 1.6 · BJ 2.16-17 · BPHS 2.53-56 · Sārāvalī 4.28-29 · BPHS 3.13-14) That gives Pūrvaphalgunī a more practical and adjustable turn, with the star’s pleasures and agreements handled through skill, speech, and calculation. (BJ 19.9) This pāda also contains the puṣkara bhāga of Siṁha at 19°, which Jātaka Pārijāta names auspicious for the Moon in birth or muhūrta. (Jātaka Pārijāta 1.58) Sārāvalī’s lagna reading for this navāṁśa gives auspicious speech, cleverness with women, and skill in speaking. (SAR 50.43) Varāhamihira says the Moon in a navāṁśa of Mercury gives a stage-player, spy, poet, minister, or one skilled in song and crafts, so this quarter supports wit, performance, and worldly technique. (BJ 19.6)

Pāda 3 140°–143°20′

20° to 23°20′ of ♌︎ Siṁha. The 7th navāṁśa of the sign is ♎︎ Tulā, whose lord is Venus. (BJ 1.6) A puṣkara navāṁśa. (Jātaka Pārijāta 7.25) Name syllable ṭi, as the almanacs give it.

This quarter goes to Tulā navāṁśa, an airy, movable, odd sign ruled by Venus, the same graha as the star lord. (BJ 1.6 · BJ 2.16-17 · BPHS 2.53-56 · Sārāvalī 4.28-29 · BPHS 3.15-16) That agreement of star lord and navāṁśa lord strengthens the Venusian side of Pūrvaphalgunī and gives a smoother outlet for attraction, sociability, art, and pleasure. (BJ 19.9) Jātaka Pārijāta names this a puṣkara navāṁśa, an auspicious division, and adds that a graha placed there counts toward rāja yoga in its seventh chapter. (Jātaka Pārijāta 7.25) Sārāvalī gives the lagna here as stout-bodied, dark, fierce, and harsh in deceitful speech, with trouble through women. (SAR 50.44) Varāhamihira says the Moon in a navāṁśa of Venus gives a good poet, a maker of fine poetry, and one devoted to pleasure, so this pāda deepens the artistic and sensuous side of the star. (BJ 19.5) Trivedi gives Venus special strength here and reads most grahas, apart from the Sun, as doing well in this pāda. (Trivedi, The Book of Nakshatras)

Pāda 4 143°20′–146°40′

23°20′ to 26°40′ of ♌︎ Siṁha. The 8th navāṁśa of the sign is ♏︎ Vṛścika, whose lord is Mars. (BJ 1.6) Name syllable ṭu, as the almanacs give it.

The last pāda falls in Vṛścika navāṁśa, a watery, fixed, even sign ruled by Mars, who is neutral to Venus in the friendship lists. (BJ 1.6 · BJ 2.16-17 · BPHS 2.53-56 · Sārāvalī 4.28-29 · BPHS 3.16-17) This gives Pūrvaphalgunī more depth and pressure, with fixed feeling, guarded attachment, and a sharper will entering the star’s search for union and enjoyment. (BJ 19.9) Sārāvalī’s lagna reading here gives eloquence, handsome form, deep eyes, and deceit joined with wrongful acts and poverty. (SAR 50.45) Varāhamihira says the Moon in a navāṁśa of Mars gives a watchman, one fond of slaughter, skilled in wrestling, wealthy, royal, and quarrelsome, so this quarter turns the star toward force, contention, and intense appetite. (BJ 19.5)

Its Vimśottarī lord is Venus. With the Moon in Pūrvaphalgunī at birth, life begins in the Venus daśā of 20 years, with part of that period already elapsed.

BJ 16.6BPHS · The nakṣatras

Famous charts

Sun in Purva Phalguni Moon in Purva Phalguni Mars in Purva Phalguni Mercury in Purva Phalguni Jupiter in Purva Phalguni Venus in Purva Phalguni Saturn in Purva Phalguni Rahu in Purva Phalguni Ketu in Purva Phalguni

Every verse on this

The native speaks sweetly, is generous and radiant, likes travel, and serves rulers.

Bṛhat Jātaka

BJ 16.6बहुभृत्यधनो भोगी सुरपतृभक्तो महोद्यमः पित्र्ये।placement

Under the ancestral asterism (Maghā) one has many servants and much wealth, enjoys pleasures, is devoted to gods and forefathers and greatly enterprising; under Bhaga's star (Pūrvaphalgunī) he is swee…

Bṛhat Saṃhitā

BS 15.9प्राक्फल्गुनीषु नट-defines

In the Pūrvaphalgunīs are actors, young women, handsome people, Gandharva arts, and wares; cotton, salt, honey, oils, and boys also.

BS 98.4अश्वियमदहनकमलज-defines

The Aśvins, Yama, Agni, Brahmā the lotus-born, the Moon, Śiva the trident-bearer, Aditi, Bṛhaspati, the serpents, the Pitṛs, Bhaga (Yoni), Aryaman, the Sun, Tvaṣṭṛ, Vāyu, Indra-and-Agni and Mitra;

BS 98.8उग्राणि पूर्वभरणी-defines

The fierce (ugra) stars, the three Pūrvās, Bharaṇī and Maghā (the Pitṛs'), are to be used for destroying, ruining and deceit, and for success in binding, poison, burning, striking with weapons and the…

BS 105.1पादौ मूलं जङ्घेdefines

The feet are Mūla; the shanks are Rohiṇī and likewise the Aśvinīs; the two thighs are the two Āṣāḍhās; then the private part is the pair of Phalgunīs.