Rahu (North Node)

Origin & Mythology

Rahu began his story not as a graha at all, but as an Asura named Svarbhanu, son of the demon Viprachitti and Simhika, daughter of Hiranyakashipu - making him the eldest of over a hundred siblings. During the Samudra Manthan, the churning of the cosmic ocean of milk, the Devas and Asuras jointly produced Amrita, the nectar of immortality, and Lord Vishnu, taking the enchanting form of Mohini, began distributing it to the Devas alone. Svarbhanu disguised himself among the gods and managed to drink a portion before Surya and Chandra recognised the deception and alerted Vishnu.

In fury, Vishnu hurled his Sudarshana Chakra and severed Svarbhanu's head just as the nectar reached his throat - but because the Amrita had already passed his neck, both the head and the torso remained immortal. The head became Rahu, and the torso became Ketu. Out of enduring resentment toward Surya and Chandra for exposing him, Rahu is said to periodically swallow the two luminaries, an act tradition holds responsible for solar and lunar eclipses, with the luminaries reappearing as they pass through his headless neck.

Family

• Father: Viprachitti

• Mother: Simhika, daughter of Hiranyakashipu

• Spouse: Karali

• Siblings: Over a hundred, with Rahu counted as the eldest

• Counterpart: Ketu, born from the same body at the moment of Vishnu's Sudarshana Chakra

Iconography

Rahu is depicted as a great serpent without a lower body, dressed in black, often shown seated on a lion in his four-armed form, riding a chariot drawn by eight black dogs or horses through the sky. His banner, appropriately, is black, and he is associated with the northwest direction in the traditional Navagraha mandala.

In Vedic astrology, Rahu holds no classical rulership of a zodiac sign but is a powerful shadow graha (chaya graha) associated with obsession, foreign influence, and sudden worldly gain; his influence intensifies during Rahu Kala each day, and his Mahadasha spans eighteen years.