The twenty-seven nakshatras

Twenty-seven mansions along the Moon's path

The zodiac's 360 degrees hold two grids at once. The rashis cut it into twelve signs of 30 degrees each; the nakshatras cut the same circle into twenty-seven mansions of 13°20′, counted from the first degree of Mesha. Ashwini opens the count there, and the twenty-seven close with Revati, at the far edge of Meena. The Moon moves through roughly one mansion a day, so a nakshatra reading is a finer instrument than a rashi reading: where the rashi asks which sign the Moon stood in, the nakshatra asks which thirteenth of that sign.

Each mansion carries a presiding deity, a symbol and a ruling graha, one of the nine, repeated three times over across the twenty-seven in a fixed sequence. Together these give a mansion its character. Pushya is held among the most auspicious for starting new work. Ashwini opens the count with speed and repair. Mula sits at a root, where old things are cleared to make room for what follows.

Padas and navamshas

Every nakshatra divides again into four padas of 3°20′. Each pada lines up with one navamsha, a ninth of a sign, so a birth chart's ninth-division reading and its nakshatra reading are built from the same grid at two different scales. The pada narrows a birth star to a single hand's width of sky, and it gives the syllable a family has traditionally chosen a child's name from.

The janma nakshatra and its dasha

The mansion the Moon held at birth is the janma nakshatra, the star printed on a kundali beside the rashi. It names the graha that opens the Vimshottari dasha sequence, the classical timeline the rest of a reading is built on. Krittika, ruled by Ravi, opens a Ravi dasha; Chitra, ruled by Kuja, opens a Kuja dasha; and so on through all nine lords. How much of that first period remains at birth depends on exactly how far the Moon had already crossed the mansion, which is why a birth minute rather than a birth day is what a dasha calculation needs.

Gana, yoni and nadi

Three further readings sit under each nakshatra: gana, a broad note on temperament grouped as Deva, Manushya or Rakshasa; yoni, one of fourteen animal natures paired for physical fit; and nadi, a constitutional grouping of Adya, Madhya or Antya. These three, together with the Moon sign's lord and its friendships, are what kundali matching is built from. A low score in any single one opens a question for the whole chart; none of them ends the judgement by itself.

The seven muhurta classes

The tradition also sorts the twenty-seven into seven classes for choosing a time: Dhruva (fixed), for work meant to last; Mridu (soft), for gentle beginnings; Kshipra (light), for quick errands or travel; Chara (movable), for journeys; Tikshna (sharp), Ugra (fierce) and Mishra (mixed) for the finer distinctions. A muhurtham leans on this grouping alongside tithi, vara, yoga and karana.

Finding yours

The janma nakshatra comes from the Moon's exact degree at birth, which needs a date, a time and a place rather than the date alone, since the Moon can cross into the next mansion within a single day. Each nakshatra's page below gives its span, lord, deity, symbol and nature. The pada table and the naming syllables sit beside it. The Moon sign it falls within is covered on the rashi pages.

Read from your chart

Which of the twenty-seven is yours — and which dasha it starts you in — comes out of your birth minute. Darshanam, the free five-week reading, is built from your birth minute, and brings your kundali with it.