Jyotish Maha Charts

Nakshatra Uttara Bhadra

Uttarabhadrapada, the apex of Saturnine energy, is represented in the celestial firmament by two bright stars, one of which lies in the constellation of Pegasus, while the other is seen as being part of the constellation Andromeda. The ancient vedic seers saw these stars as being representative of the back legs of a funeral cot (or sleeping bed). Also the ancients saw these two stars forming a rectangular bed (which is now known as the «Square of Pegasus»), along with the two stars of Purvabhadrapada.

These two stars, which lie in Pegasus and Andromeda respectively, are known in modern astronomy as Gamma-Pegasi (Algenib) and Alpha-Andromedae (Alpheratz). They can be seen lying directly above the constellation of Pisces. Gamma-Pegasi has a visual magnitude of 2.84, and lies closer to the zodiacal ecliptic. Alpha-Andromedae is the brighter of the two with a visual magnitude of 2.06 and lies farther away from the zodiacal ecliptic. Both of them can be easily located in the night sky through spotting Andromeda, one of the brightest constellations in the night sky.

«Uttarabhadrapada» translates into — «the latter (one who possesses) lucky feet». Its alternative name is «Uttaraproshthapada», which translates into «the latter (one who posseses) the feet of a stool». These names and meanings are a direct result of this asterism forming a pair with the previous asterism Purvabhadrapada and don't convey much regarding the nature or functioning of this asterism.

Its main symbol is the 'back part of a funeral cot'. A funeral cot denotes our exit from the world, and the sign Pisces, or the 12ffi house in the chart, signifies this exit. Since this asterism forms the heart of the sign of Pisces, it is appropriate that it is ascribed the back legs of the funeral cot, while its counterpart, Purvabhadrapada,is ascribed the front legs. In a way it represents our initial state after death, while Purvabhadrapada can be seen as relating to the actual process of dying. The back part of a normal sleeping bed can also be seen as the symbol of this asterism. Since the 12th house relates to sleep, which can be seen as a temporary form of death, a sleeping bed would also relate to this asterism. Uttarabhadrapada signifies the deep sleep state, in which the dream activity is at the minimum, and we go to the depths of our unconscious. It can however be also representative of all dreams and dreamlike states.

In our view, its alternative symbol is a serpent with two and a half coils (see the image), symbolizing the kundalini, the primeval life force lying at the base of the spine in humans. This asterism symbolizes enlightenment through the awakening of all the seven vital centres through the movement of the kundalini. This process of kundalini awakening is actually started in Anuradha, which can be seen as an associate asterism, in the sense that Saturn rules both of these asterisms. As we discussed in the section dealing with Anuradha, Anuradha is the initiator of this process, while Uttarabhadrapada is the culmination point of this process.

Source: «The Book of Nakshatras» by Prash Trivedi

Source: «The Book of Nakshatras» by Prash Trivedi