Hasta

Hasta (hasta) is the thirteenth nakshatra; its name means "hand," "palm." It is lunar mansion No. 13, ruled by the Moon. Hasta is about skill of the hands, dexterity, and the ability to take what you want directly into your own hands.

Place in the system

Hasta occupies 160°00′–173°20′, in Virgo, and divides into four padas of 3°20′ each. In the Vimshottari system it is ruled by the Moon, and together with Rohini and Shravana it belongs to the trio of "Moon" nakshatras.

The earthy, practical sign of Virgo and the soft ruling Moon give this nakshatra a combination of skilled hands and a sensitive mind: Hasta knows how to make things with its own hands and to sense precisely what needs to be done.

Practical meaning

The palm is Hasta's symbol: everything done with skilled hands. The Brihat Samhita (XV.11) assigns to this mansion thieves, chariot riders, elephant drivers, artisans, Vedic scholars, merchants, and people of prowess; also elephants, goods, and cereals. This is a recurring theme of the mansion, not a portrait of any one person: classical lists describe tendencies, not fate.

This is a nakshatra of skill and dexterity: it is strong in anything that requires precise hands and attention to detail — from craft and healing to feats of sleight of hand. Its strength lies in the ability to hold what it wants "in its grasp," but that same grip can also turn into pettiness and cunning. Hasta shows its best side in honest craft, where dexterity serves the work rather than a trick.

In daily practice

When the Moon moves through Hasta, the day is good for handwork and painstaking labor, craft, healing, learning skills, and anything where precision and dexterity matter. It is a favorable time to take up something made with your own hands and bring it to a neat result.

How favorable such a day is for you personally is refined by Tara Bala from your birth nakshatra. A day under Hasta suits skilled, applied work and focus. Major strategic decisions unrelated to a concrete hands-on task are better left for another day, more suited to reflection. The main thing on a day of Hasta is to work with your own hands and bring what you started to a neat, finished shape.