The First Step of the Zodiac — and the Swiftest Movement of Karma
Ashwini opens the zodiac with a spark of movement that feels almost primal. It is the first impulse after stillness, the first rush of energy after silence, the first breath of life after creation awakens. In hindu astronomy, Ashwini spans the early degrees of Aries, where fire rises sharply, and beginnings unfold without hesitation.
Ashwini’s deity, the Ashwini Kumaras, are the twin celestial physicians — healers who arrive swiftly where help is needed. Their presence gives this nakshatra its unmistakable quality of speed: ideas arise quickly, actions are taken instantly, consequences follow without delay.
Yet for all its vitality, Ashwini also carries a subtle warning.
- The same speed that brings healing can also bring harm.
- The same impulse that saves a life can also cause a mistake.
- The same fire that ignites courage can also ignite anger.
The shakti of Ashwini — Shidhra Vyapani Shakti, “the power to reach things quickly” — is neutral in itself. It becomes medicine or poison depending on the consciousness behind the movement.
This nakshatra is ruled by Ketu, the planet of past-life residue, instinct, intuition, suddenness, and karmic memory. Under its influence, human action often rises from a deep place — not always rational, but always meaningful. Ashwini’s speed, driven by Ketu, amplifies karma: both the good and the difficult come back swiftly.
Many ancient texts describe Ashwini natives as energetic, courageous, magnetic, and gifted with the ability to begin new paths. But when impulsiveness overpowers awareness, actions taken in haste can leave long impressions on the karmic field.
Perhaps this is why, when Maa Parvati asked Mahadev about the karmas of beings born under Ashwini, Bholenath did not give abstract teachings. He gave stories. Real, human stories — not of saints or sages, but of ordinary people caught in moments of desire, anger, greed, conflict, confusion, and remorse.
Bholenath’s stories are not meant to judge the characters. They are mirrors for the reader.
Each pada of Ashwini carries a different shade of this swift karmic movement. Some actions are impulsive, some deliberate, some born of anger, some of desire, some out of confusion — but all return in ways that reveal the truth of the soul’s inner state.
The four stories of Ashwini describe four kinds of human mistakes:
- mistakes born of impulse,
- mistakes born of greed,
- mistakes born of anger, and
- mistakes born of emotional distortion.
And in each story, Bholenath offers an antidote that is symbolic, balanced, and deeply human — not a punishment, but a gentle redirection of energy toward healing.
Ashwini Nakshatra — Pada 1
A Story of Impulse, Greed, and the Quick Return of Karma
In the first quarter of Ashwini, energy rises sharply. The Aries fire is pure and unfiltered; Ketu’s instinct pushes action before thought. This pada belongs to the Aries–Aries current of momentum — the impulse to act, to reach, to grab, to react. It is the beginning of beginnings, and therefore also the beginning of mistakes.
Bholenath begins with a story that is not complicated. It is not philosophical. It is painfully human — because it speaks of how quickly we can fall when impulse combines with desire.
The Story, as Bholenath Spoke It
There lived a Brahmin, learned, calm, disciplined in his conduct. His wife was of Kshatriya lineage, sharp-eyed and strong. They had a son named Narahari. Although born into knowledge, Narahari drifted toward actions that weakened him. Illness clung to him like a shadow..
He had a Brahmin friend, Lagnasharma, who possessed wealth and a son of his own. Lagnasharma welcomed Narahari into his home with affection and respect. But the sight of so much gold stirred a quiet greed in Narahari — a desire he never questioned, an impulse he never softened.
One day, that impulse turned dark. Narahari killed his friend and the boy, took the gold, and began spending it freely with his wife. The gold that was earned through trust was now consumed through betrayal.
Yet even within his wrongdoing, Narahari maintained a contradictory devotion. At the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna, he donated a sixth of the stolen wealth to Lord Vishnu. Bholenath mentions this detail not to justify Narahari’s actions, but to show the complexity of human nature — that a person may commit harm and yet still turn to God.
Time passed. First his wife died, then Narahari himself. Yama’s messengers took him to a realm where suffering lasts long enough for the soul to truly see itself. After seventy yugas of torment, his journey continued through the bodies of a jackal, a worm, and finally back into a human life.
In this human birth he was wealthy again, but the wealth came with illness, and sorrow, and a deeper loneliness — no children, no continuation of lineage. His wife in that life was also ill, also barren, sharing the echo of his old karmic vibration.
Bholenath tells Parvati that the root of this fate lay in the moment Narahari killed a friend and stole his future. When you end someone else’s future, your own becomes obstructed.
This is the karmic symmetry of Ashwini’s first pada.
Human Meaning of the Story
At its heart, this is not a tale of murder. It is a tale of impulse. Narahari’s downfall occurred not because he was evil, but because he allowed a momentary desire to dominate his judgment. Impulse can crack open doors that take lifetimes to close. Ashwini’s first pada acts swiftly: one action, one spark, and karma returns with equal speed.
Another detail stands out: Narahari was not entirely devoid of devotion. He donated stolen wealth in the name of Vishnu. Bholenath includes this to remind us that human nature is layered. People are rarely fully good or fully bad. But karma does not evaluate intention in isolation — it responds to the actual impact of one’s choices.
Lagnasharma’s and his son’s death ended not only a life but a lineage. Thus in Narahari’s next birth, his own lineage refused to continue.
This is not punishment. It is a reflection. Karma is often simply a mirror that shows us the pattern we created.
Modern Interpretation
In today’s world, very few people commit the kind of act Narahari committed. But the karmic principle he embodies plays out daily in subtle ways.
This story reflects:
- Acting before thinking: Making decisions in haste: ending friendships in anger; breaking trust impulsively; reacting without pause; allowing greed to override ethics.
- Taking what belongs to another: Not necessarily gold — but: taking credit; taking opportunities; taking advantage of someone’s trust; benefiting from another’s vulnerability.
- Ending someone’s emotional or professional future: Destroying: a colleague’s reputation; a partner’s sense of safety; a friend’s self-worth; someone’s dignity in a moment of impulse. In modern karmic terms, this is the same energy as ending a lineage — because you cut the continuity of someone’s life path.
- Wealth without peace: Like Narahari’s later birth, many people accumulate wealth but remain: restless; sick; childless; unfulfilled; carrying a quiet karmic weight. The story tells us that wealth acquired through breaking trust creates an inner imbalance that no material comfort can solve.
- The contradiction within us: Narahari’s donation to Vishnu mirrors a modern truth: People often do harm and good at the same time. We hurt someone but donate to charity. We break a promise but pray sincerely at night. The contradiction is not hypocrisy — it is unresolved human nature. Ashwini Pada 1 asks us not to judge it, but to understand it.
The Essence of Bholenath’s Remedy
Bholenath’s remedy for Narahari is long:
- Five lakh Gayatri Mantras
- Five lakh Mahamrityunjaya Mantras
- Golden idols of the Brahmin and his son
- Cow donations
- Feeding Brahmins
- Gold offerings
But the spirit of this remedy is simple: To restore what was taken, one must give back.
- To purify impulsiveness, one must practice discipline.
- To heal karmic wounds, one must increase light in the heart.
- Mantra cleanses the mind. Generosity cleanses the karma.
- Service restores the balance.
- Acknowledging harm opens the path to healing.
Modern Equivalent of the Remedy
In modern terms, the remedy is not ritualistic. It simply means:
- Repair the trust you have broken: Where possible, restore relationships. Where not possible, at least restore your inner integrity.
- Give life where you once harmed life: Sponsor education, support children, help someone rebuild their future.
- Cultivate discipline to counter impulse: Meditation, breathwork, honest conversation. The ability to pause before acting.
- Redirect desire into creation instead of destruction: Build something; Help someone; Give more than you take.
- Bring devotion into action: Not a ritual — but a conscious awareness that every action carries weight.
Closing Reflection for Pada 1
Bholenath begins Ashwini with Narahari so that the reader understands a simple truth:
The karma that returns swiftly is not the karma of evil — it is the karma of unconsciousness.
Most mistakes happen not because we intend harm, but because we act without being fully awake. Ashwini’s first pada invites awareness into the very first spark of action — because beginnings shape destinies.
Quiet Reflections 