The nakshatras: the twenty-seven mansions of the Moon and their padas

You know the twelve rashis. Jyotish lays a finer ruler over the same sidereal zodiac: twenty-seven nakshatras, the mansions of the Moon. The arithmetic fits in one line, 360° divided by 27, and it gives 13°20′ per mansion, that is thirteen degrees and twenty minutes of arc: thirteen and a third degrees.

Why twenty-seven? The Moon circles the zodiac in about twenty-seven days: it crosses one mansion a day. The Puranas tell it this way: the nakshatras are the twenty-seven wives of Chandra, and he spends one night with each of them.

On the figure, they form the outer ring, around the twelve signs. Where the sign gives a climate, the nakshatra gives a precise shade: it is the first thing a Vedic astrologer looks at for the Moon.

The division starts from 0° sidereal Aries and ignores the borders of the signs. The first mansion, Ashwini, runs from 0° to 13°20′ Aries; Bharani, from 13°20′ to 26°40′; Krittika begins at 26°40′ and ends at 10° Taurus. The twenty-seventh, Revati, closes the circle from 16°40′ to 30° Pisces.

A sign of 30° therefore holds two and a quarter nakshatras. Aries: Ashwini, Bharani and the first quarter of Krittika.

To find where a degree falls, read the boundaries: the mansion whose span contains it is the right one. The Moon at 20° Aries? Between 13°20′ and 26°40′: it is in Bharani. Tonight’s trial will give you the boundaries of the sign; all that is left for you is to place the degree.

Every graha in your chart falls in a nakshatra. But when a Vedic astrologer asks “what is your nakshatra?”, the question is about the one of the Moon: the janma nakshatra, the birth mansion. It tells the intimate temperament, the way of feeling and reacting, more finely than the Moon sign does.

In the example sky, the Moon is at 27° Scorpio in the sidereal zodiac. Scorpio holds the last quarter of Vishakha, from 0° to 3°20′, then Anuradha, from 3°20′ to 16°40′, then Jyeshtha, from 16°40′ to 30°. At 27°, the Moon is in Jyeshtha, “the eldest”, the eighteenth mansion.

A Moon in Scorpio can therefore live in three different mansions, and each one tells a different story. That is the reading power this night gives you.

Each nakshatra is split into four equal quarters, the padas: 13°20′ divided by four, that is 3°20′ each, three and a third degrees.

To find the pada, measure the distance already travelled within the nakshatra. The padas end at 3°20′, 6°40′, 10° and 13°20′. At 2° travelled, pada 1; at 5°, pada 2; at 8°, pada 3; at 11°, pada 4. The Moon of the example sky has travelled a little over 10° of Jyeshtha: it is in pada 4.

A pada measures exactly one navamsha, the ninth part of a sign: 27 mansions of 4 padas, 12 signs of 9 navamshas, 108 either way. The pada thus gives the sign of the body in the D9, the chart you will open on night 6.

Each nakshatra is ruled by one of the nine grahas, always in the same order: Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury. Learn this sequence by heart: it is the Vimshottari order, the order of the dashas, which awaits you next night.

The first nine mansions unroll it: Ashwini (Ketu), Bharani (Venus), Krittika (Sun), Rohini (Moon), Mrigashira (Mars), Ardra (Rahu), Punarvasu (Jupiter), Pushya (Saturn), Ashlesha (Mercury).

Then the series starts again twice: at Magha, the tenth, at 0° Leo, and at Mula, the nineteenth, at 0° Sagittarius. To find a ruler, take the rank of the mansion and subtract 9 or 18: Hasta, the thirteenth, gives 13 − 9 = 4, the fourth ruler, the Moon.

Each nakshatra is also presided over by a Vedic deity, who gives it its character. Do not mistake it for the ruler: Pushya is ruled by Saturn and presided over by Brihaspati, the teacher of the gods.

The first series: Ashwini (the Ashwini Kumaras, twin physicians of the gods), Bharani (Yama, the keeper of dharma), Krittika (Agni, the fire), Rohini (Brahma, the creator), Mrigashira (Soma, the nectar), Ardra (Rudra, the storm), Punarvasu (Aditi, the boundless mother), Pushya (Brihaspati), Ashlesha (the Nagas, the divine serpents).

The name already says a lot: a Moon in Krittika carries the fire of Agni, which lights and purifies; a Moon in Punarvasu, the generosity of Aditi, who welcomes and begins again.

Ranks 10 to 18: Magha (the Pitris, the ancestors), Purva Phalguni (Bhaga), Uttara Phalguni (Aryaman), Hasta (Savitar), Chitra (Vishvakarma, architect of the gods), Swati (Vayu, the wind), Vishakha (Indra-Agni), Anuradha (Mitra), Jyeshtha (Indra, king of the gods).

Ranks 19 to 27: Mula (Nirriti), Purva Ashadha (Apas, the waters), Uttara Ashadha (the Vishvedevas), Shravana (Vishnu), Dhanishtha (the Vasus), Shatabhisha (Varuna), Purva Bhadrapada (Aja Ekapada), Uttara Bhadrapada (Ahirbudhnya), Revati (Pushan, keeper of the roads).

Do not mix up three close names: Agni presides over Krittika, Indra over Jyeshtha, the pair Indra-Agni over Vishakha. Reread these lists in series of nine: in each, the first mansion belongs to Ketu, the ninth to Mercury.

Here is why the Moon’s nakshatra matters so much: its ruler opens the first major period of the life, the first mahadasha. Moon in Ashwini: life begins in the period of Ketu. Moon in Rohini: in the period of the Moon. Moon in Pushya: in the period of Saturn.

In the example sky, the Moon is in Jyeshtha, the eighteenth mansion: 18 − 9 = 9, the ninth ruler, Mercury. This life therefore opens in the mahadasha of Mercury; the following periods take up the order you know: Ketu, then Venus.

You can now read a nakshatra in full: its boundaries, its pada, its ruler, its deity. Jyeshtha, pada 4, Mercury, Indra: four words, and already a portrait. Next night, this ruler sets time in motion: the dashas.