Hasta nakshatra: lord, deity and symbol
Hasta is the thirteenth nakshatra, ruled by the Moon, and its traditional name means 'hand'.
What it is
Its symbol is a hand, and its deity is Savitar, the sun as the giver of light. Its lord the Moon has a dasha of 10 years. Hasta starts at 160 degrees, in Kanya.
How it is worked out or read
Each nakshatra spans 13 degrees 20 minutes of the sidereal zodiac and has four padas of 3 degrees 20 minutes each. Hasta covers 160 to 173 degrees 20 minutes, all in Kanya.
Where it appears on this site
Hasta is shown in the panchang for the Moon's nakshatra.
Hasta and skill
Hasta, the hand, is the nakshatra most closely associated with skill, craft and dexterity. Its deity Savitar, the sun as the giver of light and impulse, links it to the activity that makes things happen. The classical texts describe Hasta as a nakshatra of the artisan, the physician and the teacher who works with the hands, and its traditional reading emphasises practical competence over abstract theory.
Its lord is the Moon, which gives the nakshatra an emotional and responsive tone. A Moon in Hasta is read as bringing the mind's attention to practical tasks, and the reader looks at the Moon's sign, which is Kanya for the whole nakshatra, and at the house Kanya occupies. Because Kanya is ruled by Mercury, the reading of Hasta's skill naturally draws on Mercury's qualities of analysis and care.
Timing and craft
Hasta is often listed in traditional calendars among the nakshatras favourable for beginning crafts, learning a trade and starting work that uses the hands. A planner who uses this association can check the nakshatra's end time and combine it with the weekday and the tithi. The nakshatra is one factor among others, and a reader should not treat the lists as guarantees of skill or success.
A practical view
The strongest way to read Hasta is practical. The nakshatra describes an orientation toward doing, and the chart shows how that orientation is supported or constrained by the Moon's position and by Mercury's. A reader who uses Hasta as a reminder to attend to craft, rather than as a prediction, will find the nakshatra's traditional themes most useful.
Hasta and the craftsman's patience
Hasta's association with skilled hands is also an association with patience, since craft is built slowly through repeated practice. A reader may describe the nakshatra's theme as a steady, practical patience that turns effort into finished work.
Hasta in the muhurat lists
Hasta appears in many traditional lists of nakshatras considered favourable for practical beginnings: starting a craft, opening a workshop, beginning a course of study that involves skill with the hands, or taking up a trade. The lists differ between almanacs, and a planner should check the one used locally. The muhurat finder on this site lets a reader pick Hasta as a filter and see which days in a range have it at sunrise.
As with every nakshatra, the planner should also check the tithi, the weekday and Rahu Kaal, since the nakshatra is only one of the factors the traditional rules consider.