What Can Your Nakshatra Reveal About Your Personality and Life Path?
In the foundational texts of Indian astrology, or Jyotish, the zodiac is not only divided into twelve signs but also into a more ancient and intricate system of
Nakshatras
, often referred to as lunar mansions.
While Western astrology primarily focuses on the sun's position in a zodiac sign, Jyotish places immense importance on the position of the Moon, and the Nakshatras provide a highly detailed map of this lunar influence.
This system is crucial for understanding a person's subconscious mind, their temperament, and their core spiritual inclinations.
The zodiac is divided into 27
Nakshatra
s, each representing a specific constellation or star pattern. Each Nakshatra spans an arc of 13∘20′ and possesses a unique set of qualities. These qualities are defined by the Nakshatra's ruling deity, its governing planet, its symbolic animal, and its overall nature. The most significant of these is a person's birth Nakshatra, or
Janma Nakshatra
, which is the constellation the Moon was in at the moment of birth.
This placement is considered a primary indicator of an individual's innate personality and life path.
Each Nakshatra also has a ruling planet, and this is the basis for the
Vimshottari Dasha
system, which is the main predictive tool in Jyotish. This planetary period system charts the course of a person's life, showing which planetary energies will be most active at different times. By understanding a person's Nakshatra, an astrologer can determine their starting planetary period and, from there, chart the sequence of all future periods.
For example, a person born with their Moon in the Ashwini Nakshatra is said to have a pioneering spirit and a desire for new beginnings, ruled by the planet Ketu. In contrast, someone with their Moon in Pushya Nakshatra may be seen as nurturing and spiritual, ruled by the planet Saturn. The Nakshatra system offers a layer of profound insight that goes beyond the broader strokes of the zodiac signs, providing a more detailed and personal portrait of an individual's journey.
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According to The Lancet, there are 5,726 human rabies deaths annually in India. This study, conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), highlights that while rabies deaths have decreased in the past two decades, India still accounts for a significant portion of global rabies fatalities. The research also emphasises the need for a 'one-health approach' to accelerate progress towards the global target of eliminating dog-mediated rabies by 2030, according to The Lancet, which also states that there has been a '75 percent decrease in rabies deaths over the past two decades'. Most dog lovers know the skewed maths behind the anti-rabies shots. Depending on the severity of the bite, a patient gets four to five shots. What are the chances of every anti-rabies shot being registered as a separate dog bite case? What if the patient visits five different facilities for the anti-rabies shots? 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In the introduction, Winegard writes: 'The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has contributed nearly $4 billion to mosquito research since its creation in 2000, releases an annual report that identifies the animals most lethal to humans. The contest is not even close. The heavyweight champion, and our apex predator in perpetuity, is the mosquito. Since 2000, the annual average number of human deaths caused by the mosquito has hovered around 2 million. We come in a distant second at 475,000, followed by snakes (50,000), dogs and sand flies (25,000 each)…' According to WHO, India registers nearly 50,000 snake bite deaths annually. With one sweeping judgement, the Supreme Court justices have taken the long standing human-dog equation back in time. 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Such incidents, and the many fake videos and stories (such as the one the apex court based its decision on) constantly being circulated on social media have widened the gulf between dog lovers and dog haters. It would have been apt if the justices had pulled up the municipal corporation for not carrying out Animal Birth Control (ABC) programmes or vaccination drives with zest or for withholding payments to NGOs, which were hired to carry it out. Or pulled up pet shops that sell birds, cats, rabbits, dogs and what not and keep them unhygienically caged for long periods. They could have pulled up illegal breeders who sell pedigreed animals, even those unsuited for Indian climes such as huskies or large breeds that need exercise and cannot be confined in small apartments. They could have pulled up those who abandon pedigreed animals when they fall sick or when their reproductive organs fail; or those who abuse animals sexually and physically. They could have pulled up dog haters for abusing dog lovers, often physically, and preventing them from feeding dogs. Alas! A dog in the fog (Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times) An interesting study conducted in West Bengal on 110 randomly selected free-ranging dogs (51 males and 59 females) was published in the Applied Animal Behaviour Science Journal (Volume 278, September 2024). The researchers observed that free-ranging dogs needed four interactions over four days to learn, and that they use the learned information to their benefit on subsequent days: 'Individual human recognition is important for species that live in close proximity to humans. Numerous studies on domesticated species and urban-adapted birds have highlighted this ability. One such species which is heavily reliant on humans is the free-ranging dog. Very little knowledge exists on the amount of time taken by free-ranging dogs to learn and remember individual humans.' This is the first study aiming to understand the time taken for individual human recognition in free-ranging dogs, and can serve as the scaffold for future studies to understand the dog-human relationship in open environments, like urban ecosystems, the researchers concluded. 'While some humans are a source of food, shelter and even care for them, others can be threats, as people's reactions towards free-ranging dogs range from extremely positive to extremely negative. It is thus interesting to understand the extent to which free-ranging dogs are capable of recognising individual humans, as this might be impacting their survival in the human-dominated landscape.' Sadly, we now seem set to trade this super easy four-interactions-over-four-days step to dog-less streets, pigeon-less skies and rocket-sized holes in our hearts. Lamat R Hasan is an independent journalist. She lives in New Delhi.
