Simha (Leo) — the lion, ruled by the Sun
Simha is the Sun's only home: fixed fire, the lion, holding the belly and heart region of the cosmic body — the seat of digestion and courage alike. Where Mesha's fire sprints, Simha's burns in place, like a hearth or a throne room. Planets here acquire dignity and the wish to be seen doing things well; the Moon in Simha gives a mind that needs a kingdom, even a small one — a team, a craft, a household — to feel in order. This is the zodiac's field of sovereignty: authority held personally, warmth dispensed generously, loyalty expected in return.
Simha is the fifth rasi — a 30° arc of the sidereal zodiac, the sign Western astrology calls Leo. Its lord is Sun; its element is fire and its modality fixed (sustaining). The classical symbol is the lion, and in the kalapurusha — the zodiac mapped onto the cosmic body — it rules the belly and heart region.
Presence and constancy. Simha placements give credit loudly, defend their people instinctively, and stay warm under pressure that turns others cold. There is a natural theater to this sign that, at its best, gives everyone around a better story to be in.
The throne's tax is pride: criticism heard as treason, attention needed like oxygen, course corrections resisted once announced. Fixed fire can keep burning a position long after the fuel ran out. The royal discipline is updating in public, graciously.
Leadership with a face on it: management, performance, politics, brand-building, teaching that holds a room, any role where responsibility is visible. Simha does its worst work anonymously and its best where its name is on the outcome.
Wholehearted, romantic, and generous — love as patronage, in the best sense. The lesson is that a partner is a peer, not a court: adoration flows both ways, and the lion is allowed to be the one comforted sometimes.
Each rasi contains two and a quarter nakshatras (lunar mansions). Simha holds Magha, Purva Phalguni, Uttara Phalguni (pada 1) — if your Moon is in Simha, one of these is your janma nakshatra, the finer-grained layer beneath the sign.
Where could your warmth do its work without your name attached?