Nakshatra — the 27 Lunar Mansions
A nakshatra is one of twenty-seven divisions of the zodiac, each spanning 13 degrees and 20 minutes, through which the Moon passes in roughly a day. The nakshatra the Moon occupied at birth — the janma nakshatra — carries a great deal of traditional character reading, decides which planetary period your life begins in, and supplies four of the eight kootas used in matchmaking.
The twenty-seven, and their four padas
The sequence runs Ashwini, Bharani, Krittika, Rohini, Mrigashira, Ardra, Punarvasu, Pushya, Ashlesha, Magha, Purva Phalguni, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Chitra, Swati, Vishakha, Anuradha, Jyeshtha, Mula, Purva Ashadha, Uttara Ashadha, Shravana, Dhanishta, Shatabhisha, Purva Bhadrapada, Uttara Bhadrapada and Revati.
Each nakshatra divides into four padas of 3 degrees 20 minutes. The pada is what connects the nakshatra to the navamsa chart, and it is why two people born under the same nakshatra can be read differently. In many families the pada also supplies the syllable a child's name traditionally begins with.
Why the nakshatra starts your dasha
Each nakshatra is assigned a ruling planet, and the sequence of rulers repeats in a fixed order nine times across the twenty-seven. The Vimshottari dasha — the 120-year cycle of planetary periods that most Vedic readings use to time events — begins from the lord of the Moon's nakshatra at birth.
The exact degree of the Moon within that nakshatra decides how much of the first period had already elapsed before you were born, which is why the dasha sequence is specific to a birth rather than shared by everyone born that week.
What the nakshatra contributes to matchmaking
Within the Ashtakoota system, four of the eight kootas are read from the two birth nakshatras rather than from the signs: Tara, Yoni, Gana and Nadi. Nadi alone carries eight of the thirty-six points, the largest single weighting in the system.
This is the reason two people with compatible rashis can still score poorly, and the reason a matchmaker asks for the nakshatra rather than the sign.
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Generate your free KundliCommon questions
Is nakshatra the same as a constellation?
They are named after star groups and were historically identified with them, but as used in calculation a nakshatra is a fixed 13 degree 20 minute division of the zodiac, not a constellation of varying size.
Can my nakshatra change with a slightly different birth time?
Yes, if the Moon was near a boundary. The Moon crosses one nakshatra in roughly a day, so an hour's error rarely matters — but a birth close to a boundary can fall either side, and the pada, being a quarter of that, is more sensitive still.
Is any nakshatra unlucky?
Some are traditionally considered difficult for particular purposes, and a few — Mula, Ashlesha and Jyeshtha among them — carry customary observances for a birth within them. The tradition also holds remedial rites for these, and classical opinion on their severity is not uniform. A nakshatra is not a verdict on a life.
Read next
- Rashi (Moon Sign) in Vedic Astrology — What rashi means, why Vedic astrology reads the Moon sign rather than the Sun sign, and how it drives matchmaking. Find yours free.
- Vimshottari Dasha Explained — How the 120-year Vimshottari cycle works, why it starts from your nakshatra, and what mahadasha and antardasha mean. See yours free.
- Nadi Dosha in Kundli Matching — What Nadi dosha is, why it carries 8 of the 36 gunas, and the classical conditions under which it is held to be cancelled.