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By tradition the nakshatra pada whose syllable a name begins with is the name’s nakshatra, and the rashi of that pada is the name rashi (the Avakahada chakra). “Ram” begins with Ra, the syllable of the third pada of Chitra, so its name rashi is Tula. The birth rashi is something else: the rashi of the Moon at birth, which follows from the date, time and place of birth. The two are the same only when the name was given by the syllable of the birth nakshatra pada.
How the first syllable is read
- The name’s first syllable (the letter and its vowel) is looked up in the Avakahada table; the nakshatra pada it belongs to is the name’s nakshatra, and the rashi of that pada is the name rashi. Example: the ग (Ga) of “Gajanan” belongs to the first pada of Dhanishtha.
- A name beginning with joined letters takes the first of them: प (Pa) for Priya, श (Sha) for Shreya, क (Ka) for Kshitij (क्ष = क् + ष), त (Ta) for Trilok, ज (Ja) for Gyan/Jnana (ज्ञ = ज् + ञ). The book’s example, “Shripati”, takes श without the vowel; when keeping the vowel gives another pada, that reading is shown too.
- अ-आ, इ-ई, उ-ऊ, ए-ऐ and ओ-औ count as one; so do ब and व, and श and स. ऋ is read as र. ॐ is read as ओ (O).
- When the table has no syllable with that vowel (धी, जू, खा), the padas of the same letter are shown. Ju, Je, Jo and Kha are Abhijit’s syllables in the Avakahada books; the table of 27 nakshatras does not have them.
Name letters by rashi
The nine syllables of each rashi, with their nakshatra and pada.
| Rashi | Name letters (nakshatra, pada) |
|---|---|
| Aries (Mesha) | |
| Taurus (Vrishabha) |
|
| Gemini (Mithuna) |
|
| Cancer (Karka) | |
| Leo (Simha) |
|
| Virgo (Kanya) |
|
| Libra (Tula) | |
| Scorpio (Vrishchika) | |
| Sagittarius (Dhanu) |
|
| Capricorn (Makara) |
|
| Aquarius (Kumbha) |
|
| Pisces (Meena) |
|
No names begin with ङ, ञ or ण (see the questions below). Some old books print “ऊ” for the third pada of Krittika; many South Indian lists give Shravana as Ju, Je, Jo, Kha. All 27 nakshatras
Rashi by name: questions and answers
How does the name rashi differ from the birth rashi?
The name rashi comes from the first syllable of the name: the rashi of the nakshatra pada that syllable belongs to in the Avakahada chakra. The birth (Moon) rashi is the rashi of the Moon at birth; it needs the date, time and place of birth, which SanatanBodh’s birth panchang works out. When a name was given by the syllable of the birth nakshatra pada, the two rashis are the same.
Which letter counts when a name begins with joined letters (Priya, Shreya, Kshitij, Gyan)?
The first of the joined letters. Pt. Sitarama Sharma’s “Ati Brihat Avakahada Chakram” (p. 25) gives this rule from the Brahmayamala, and its example takes श (Sha) for “Shripati”, placing it in the second pada of Shatabhisha (Sa). So Priya takes प (Pa), Shreya श (Sha), Kshitij क (Ka: क्ष is क् + ष) and Gyan/Jnana ज (Ja: ज्ञ is ज् + ञ). Some keep the syllable’s vowel with the first letter (Pri → Pi); when that gives another pada, this page shows that reading too. For Priya, Shreya and Kshitij the rashi is the same either way.
Are श and स, ब and व, and short and long vowels different?
No. By the same book (p. 26) the Avakahada chakra counts अ-आ, इ-ई, उ-ऊ, ए-ऐ and ओ-औ as one, and ब-व and श-स too. So “Shaktinath” and “Santlal” both belong to the second pada of Shatabhisha. ऋ (Ri) is not in the table; र (Ra) is taken instead (p. 25).
Why do I see two rashis for a name typed in English letters?
Roman letters do not tell some Hindi letters apart: T can be त or ट, D द or ड, Th थ or ठ, Dh ध or ढ, Sh श or ष, Ch च or छ. These belong to different padas, so the page shows the result of each reading. Type the name in Devanagari for a single answer.
What about the padas of ङ, ञ and ण?
No names begin with the syllables of the third pada of Ardra (ङ), the third of Hasta (ण) or the fourth of Uttara Bhadrapada (ञ). The gloss of the “Brihad Avakahada Chakram” says to give names in ग (Ga), ड (Ḍa) and ज (Ja) for them. Pt. Sitarama Sharma (p. 24) calls this a misreading, since ग, ड and ज are the syllables of other padas. So the result for a name beginning with ग, ज or ड says this too.
Sources
- Nakshatra from the name, the first of joined letters (citing the Brahmayamala), र for ऋ: Pt. Sitarama Sharma, Ati Brihat Avakahada Chakram / Jyotihshastra Sopanam (2nd edition, 1932), p. 25; vowels, ब-व and श-स counted as one: p. 26; ङ, ञ, ण: p. 24 (archive.org)
- Name syllables: Brihad Avakahada Chakram, Nakshatra Prakarana, Shatapada Chakra verses 9–15 and gloss (archive.org); Pt. Sitarama Sharma, as above, pp. 22–23; Drik Panchang, nakshatra pada swar siddhanta
- Nine nakshatra padas to a rashi: Pt. Sitarama Sharma, as above, p. 26
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