Uttara Phalguni nakshatra: agreements

Uttara Phalguni, "the latter reddish one", is Denebola, the Lion's tail, and spans the end of Simha and most of the start of Kanya. Today its deity is Aryaman, god of patronage and agreements, as in the Kathaka Samhita; the Taittiriya Samhita gives Bhaga.

Meaning

Uttara Phalguni, the second of the pair, is the star Denebola, beta Leonis, at the end of the Lion's tail.

Its god today is Aryaman, the god of patronage, friendship and agreements, and modern readings follow him: reliability, the given word, help offered and accepted, bonds held by mutual obligation. Our chart's text calls it generous and dependable, and says that a relationship stays mutual when help is accepted as readily as it is given.

Surya, the Sun, is its lord in the Vimshottari order, with six years. Its first pada lies in Simha and its other three in Kanya, so a graha here may stand in either rashi.

Deity and emblem

Aryaman is Uttara Phalguni's god in the Kathaka Samhita and in today's books. The Taittiriya Samhita gives the second Phalgunis to Bhaga, and the first to Aryaman, the reverse of today's order.

The emblem is the back legs of a bed, the second half of the bed the medieval lists give to both Phalgunis.

In the chart

Uttara Phalguni runs from 26°40′ Simha to 10°00′ Kanya of the sidereal zodiac, the twelfth of 27 equal parts of 13°20′. It lies across two rashis: its first pada in Simha and the rest in Kanya. Its four padas of 3°20′ fall in the navamsas of Dhanu, Makara, Kumbha and Meena, so a graha in its first pada stands in Dhanu in the D9.

Its Vimshottari lord is Surya, whose period is six years. When the Moon stands here at birth, the reckoning opens in Surya's period and counts only the part still to run, in proportion to the part of Uttara Phalguni the Moon has yet to cross. In 2026 the same stretch of sky is about 20°53′ Virgo to 4°13′ Libra in the tropical zodiac, by the Lahiri measure; another ayanamsa moves the edges, and a Moon or lagna within a few minutes of arc of an edge can fall in the neighbouring nakshatra in another tool.

Correspondences

Each item with how it stands: “sourced” is in the work cited, “our construction” is EsoTerrier’s own, and “disputed” means the sources disagree.

Deity, as used today: Aryaman, god of patronage and agreements sourced
Deity in the Taittiriya Samhita (iv.4.10): Bhaga (the second Phalguni) disputed
Symbol, the modern tradition's: back legs of a bed sourced
Figure in the medieval lists (Burgess, 1860): a bed (both Phalgunis) sourced
Themes in modern readings, our summary: reliability, patronage and mutual obligation, help given and received our construction

How the schools read it

The Vedic lists (Taittiriya Samhita iv.4.10, Keith 1914): Bhaga (the second Phalguni), where today's lists have Aryaman; the Taittiriya list begins with Krittika.
The Kathaka Samhita (after Weber, 1860): Aryaman, the deity the later lists and today's books keep.
The medieval lists (Burgess and Whitney, 1860): The figure of the asterism: a bed (both Phalgunis), after the Ratnamala and the Muhurta Chintamani.
Modern Jyotisha: Reliability, patronage and mutual obligation, help given and received; its symbol: back legs of a bed.
The 28-nakshatra scheme: Abhijit, in the stars of Lyra, stands between Uttara Ashadha and Shravana in the older lists; the equal division into 27 leaves it out.
Western sidereal (Fagan-Bradley): The same 27 divisions, about 0°53′ further on than Lahiri's; Western siderealists rarely use them.
EsoTerrier: Our chart's text for a Moon here: "Ruled by Surya, Uttara Phalguni is associated with reliability, patronage and bonds built on mutual agreement. Its energy is generous and dependable, and accepting help as readily as offering it keeps relationships truly mutual." Our words.

Claims about it

Uttara Phalguni's deity and symbol are one fixed set handed down from the Vedas.
disputed

What the record shows: The Vedic lists differ among themselves. For Uttara Phalguni the Taittiriya Samhita (iv.4.10) gives Bhaga (the second Phalguni); the Kathaka Samhita already gives Aryaman, the deity used today. The symbol, back legs of a bed, is the modern tradition's; here it matches the figure of the medieval lists, a bed (both Phalgunis).
The nakshatra is a constellation, 13°20′ wide.
false

What the record shows: The nakshatras began as star groups of unequal size, 28 in the Atharvaveda with Abhijit. The equal division into 27 parts of 13°20′ is a later convention; the name points at stars, the division is arithmetic.

Elsewhere on EsoTerrier

Your Jyotisha Chart reading, $3.99. Includes this system's raw data. Written for you by AI. Read a sample. Charts and the written text are free in every account.

Uttara Phalguni, the patron and the given word

Facts