Mula Nakshatra: Ketu, Nirriti, and the Start of Dhanu

Counting from Ashwini, Mula is number nineteen. Its Vimshottari lord is Ketu, the same lord as Ashwini and Magha, because the nine lords repeat every nine nakshatras. Ketu's mahadasha is seven years, so a Moon in Mula at the start of the nakshatra can carry a large share of those seven years as the opening balance. A Moon at the end of Mula has little Ketu period left and soon enters Venus, the next lord in the sequence. The four padas of Mula map to the four navamsa signs inside that span, each pada 3 degrees and 20 minutes. Pada is why two Mula births are not interchangeable in D9.

Gandanta junctions sit at Ashlesha to Magha, Jyeshtha to Mula, and Revati to Ashwini. Mula's opening pada is the fire side of the Jyeshtha junction. Traditional muhurta and jataka notes treat gandanta births as knot points that need a careful lagna, not as a curse. Nirriti, the deity, is the power of dissolution in the nakshatra's symbolism: pulling things up by the root, which is the usual gloss of the name Mula. The graha of the nakshatra remains Ketu, detachment and a sharp focus, not Saturn. People who hear Mula dosha in a matching room are usually hearing a marriage-custom about certain padas. The natal fact is still Ketu's nakshatra on the Moon, plus whatever house the Moon occupies.

Mula rashi in loose speech means the Moon is in this nakshatra, hence in early Dhanu. The lagna can be elsewhere, and marriage is still the 7th from that lagna. Jupiter, ruler of Dhanu, disposits a Mula Moon, so Jupiter's sign and house describe the container of this mind. Ketu's house in the chart is a separate point, often far from the Moon. Do not collapse the Moon's nakshatra lord and the Moon's sign lord into one sentence. Jyothish SI places the Moon with Lahiri ayanamsa and Swiss Ephemeris. The birth time decides the pada. A date alone can land on either side of the Jyeshtha-Mula boundary.