Nakshatra 6 of 27

Ardra nakshatra

Ardra is the 6th of the 27 nakshatras. It spans 6°40′ to 20°00′ of sidereal Gemini, is ruled by Rahu, and its deity is Rudra, the storm god. Its symbol is a teardrop, its power is effort, and its themes are the storm that clears the air, raw feeling and change that comes through intensity.

Twenty-Seven · Updated October 5, 2026 · Written with AI help. Positions come from our own chart engine, checked against Swiss Ephemeris.

Ardra’s symbol: a teardrop.

Ardra at a glance

Name: Ardra, “moist” or “green,” the freshness after rain
Position: 6°40′ Gemini – 20°00′ Gemini (sidereal, Lahiri)
Sign: Gemini
Ruling planet: Rahu (its Vimshottari period lasts 18 years)
Deity: Rudra: the storm god, the howler, whose rain clears the air and whose tears soften the earth
Symbol: a teardrop
Shakti: the power of effort (yatna)
Themes: the storm that clears, raw feeling, breaking open, transformation through intensity
Stars: Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis), Orion’s red shoulder; by sidereal longitude it sits at about 4°54′ Gemini

The stars of Ardra

Ardra’s star is traditionally Betelgeuse, the red giant on Orion’s shoulder, one of the easiest stars to find in the winter sky. The name ardra means “moist” or “green,” the wet freshness after a storm.

An honest note on the sky: measured by sidereal (Lahiri) longitude, Betelgeuse sits at about 4°54′ Gemini, which is inside the span of Mrigashira, the mansion before. The 27 equal slices of 13°20′ were laid over star groups that are not equal in size, and Betelgeuse, far south of the ecliptic, lands a little early. Astrologers still call it Ardra’s star.

The 27 lunar mansions. Ardra, the 6th, is marked in red. The outer ring shows the 12 signs by their Sanskrit names.

The deity and the story

Ardra’s deity is Rudra, the howler: the storm god of the Vedas, wild, feared and also a healer, the one whose rain makes things grow. Later he is known as a fierce form of Shiva.

The symbol is a teardrop. Rudra’s name is often linked to rud, “to cry.” The tears are the storm, and the storm is what makes the ground soft enough for something new.

What Ardra is about

Ardra’s shakti is yatna, the power of effort. Read as a clock, it marks stormy seasons that clear the air: crises that turn out to be turning points, hard work that breaks something open.

When the Moon sat here at birth, the old texts describe strong, sometimes raw feelings, a restless and searching mind, and a talent for rebuilding after things fall apart. Rahu, its ruler, adds hunger for the new and the unusual.

In Twenty-Seven’s view the storm is the season, not the person. A clock that reads “storm” is not causing the rain.

The four padas of Ardra

Each nakshatra splits into four quarters of 3°20′, called padas. Each pada falls in a navamsa sign (the ninth-part chart), which colors how the mansion’s theme comes out.

Ardra’s four padas and their navamsa signs. Red lines are sign boundaries.

Pada 1 (6°40′–10°00′ Gemini, Sagittarius navamsa): the storm looking for meaning. Questions, study, belief tested.
Pada 2 (10°00′–13°20′ Gemini, Capricorn navamsa): the storm put to work. Effort, ambition, building after the rain.
Pada 3 (13°20′–16°40′ Gemini, Aquarius navamsa): the storm in ideas. Inventive, unconventional, tied to groups and causes.
Pada 4 (16°40′–20°00′ Gemini, Pisces navamsa): the storm as feeling. Empathy, tears, letting go.

The Moon in Ardra

Someone born with the Moon in Ardra starts the Vimshottari periods in a Rahu period, 18 years in full. In Twenty-Seven those periods are “eras” and “chapters”: stretches of time with a texture, not verdicts.

The Moon passes through Ardra about once every 27.3 days and stays about a day. At noon UTC it is in Ardra on Oct 30, Dec 24 (2026), from our chart engine. To check your own birth Moon, use the nakshatra calculator.

Questions people ask

What does Ardra nakshatra mean?

Ardra means “moist” or “green,” the freshness after a storm. Its deity is Rudra, the storm god, and its symbol is a teardrop.

What sign is Ardra in?

Ardra is entirely in sidereal Gemini, 6°40′ to 20°00′. In the Western zodiac the same stretch of sky is roughly 1° to 14° Cancer today.

Is Betelgeuse in Ardra?

Tradition says yes. By sidereal (Lahiri) longitude, though, Betelgeuse is at about 4°54′ Gemini, inside the Mrigashira span. The mansions follow equal slices, and the star sits a little early.

What is the ruling planet of Ardra?

Rahu, the Moon’s north node. A person born with the Moon in Ardra begins life in a Rahu period.

Was your Moon in Ardra?

Twenty-Seven finds your Moon’s mansion from your birth date, time and place, then reads it to you from its old stories and talks it through. It is an AI astrologer, and it remembers what you tell it.

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Twenty-Seven is an AI astrologer, not a person. It makes no predictions: in its view the planets are clocks, not controllers.