Ketu (South Node)

Origin & Mythology

Ketu is the inseparable other half of Rahu - the headless torso left behind when Lord Vishnu's Sudarshana Chakra severed the Asura Svarbhanu during the Samudra Manthan, just as he was caught stealing a share of the Amrita meant only for the Devas. Where the severed head rose as Rahu, the remaining torso became Ketu, retaining the same hard-won immortality, and the two were subsequently granted planetary status among the Navagrahas, initiated into the Jaimini Gotra lineage in recognition of their new celestial standing.

Lacking a head - the very seat of appetite, speech, and worldly identity - Ketu came to be regarded as a being fundamentally different in temperament from his brother: while classical texts describe his nature as fierce, comparable even to Mangal's intensity, that same intensity is understood to burn away material attachment rather than fuel it, making Ketu the graha most associated with detachment, hidden knowledge, and the pull toward moksha.

Family

• Father: Viprachitti

• Mother: Simhika, daughter of Hiranyakashipu

• Wife: Chitralekha

• Brother: Rahu, eldest among their more than one hundred siblings, born of the very same body

Iconography

Ketu is depicted with a serpent-like face and a demon-like waist in place of legs, his complexion smoky and his clothing black. He is usually shown with two arms - one raised in the varada mudra of blessing, the other holding a mace - and rides a vulture; some devotional depictions instead show a gem or star radiating mysterious light where his head would otherwise be.

In Vedic astrology, Ketu, like Rahu, holds no classical rulership over a zodiac sign but is a chaya graha (shadow planet) governing spirituality, renunciation, hidden insight, and sudden turning points; his Mahadasha spans seven years, and he is closely linked to matters of research, mysticism, and the subconscious mind.