How many nakshatras are there?

Twenty-seven, of 13°20′ each, covering the 360° of the sidereal zodiac from 0° Aries. Some Indian calendars add a twenty-eighth, Abhijit, slipped between Uttara Ashadha and Shravana to choose auspicious moments; the dasha calculation counts twenty-seven nakshatras.

How do I find my birth nakshatra?

Calculate your chart with your exact time, then choose the Vedic option at the wheel: the nakshatra and pada of each planet appear in the D1 positions. Your birth nakshatra, the Janma nakshatra, is the Moon’s; the site gives it with the D1, next to the Ascendant’s.

What is the difference between a nakshatra and a Moon sign?

The Moon sign tells you which of the twelve 30° signs the Moon is in; the nakshatra places it in one of 27 finer segments of 13°20′. In Vedic astrology both are read in the sidereal zodiac, so your Vedic Moon sign often differs from your Western one.

A pada is a quarter of a nakshatra: 3°20′. Each of the 108 padas of the zodiac corresponds to a sign of the Navamsha, the D9. The pada therefore refines the nakshatra and links a planet directly to its sign in the D9, the most important chart after the D1.

Are there good and bad nakshatras?

No: each has its gifts and its challenges. The most intense, such as Ardra, Ashlesha or Mula, give depth and a real power of transformation; the gentlest sometimes call for an extra push. A nakshatra is always read with the planet in it, its ruler and the rest of the chart.

Why is the exact birth time needed?

The Moon changes nakshatra about once a day, and the Ascendant crosses a nakshatra in a little under an hour, a pada in about thirteen minutes. Without a time, neither the Ascendant nor the houses are reliable: that is why the site keeps the Vedic chart switched off until the birth time is entered.

Vedic astrology

The 27 nakshatras: the lunar mansions of Vedic astrology

A nakshatra is one of the 27 lunar mansions of the Vedic zodiac: a 13°20′ segment, counted from 0° sidereal Aries, that the Moon crosses in about a day. Each has a ruling planet, a deity and four padas. The nakshatra of your Moon, the Janma nakshatra, sets your dashas; the one of your Ascendant colours the way you step into the world.

What is a nakshatra?

The Sanskrit word nakshatra means a star, an asterism. In Vedic astrology, it is one of the 27 lunar mansions that divide the sidereal zodiac: 360° divided by 27 gives segments of 13°20′, counted from 0° Aries. The Vedic texts already name them: they are one of the oldest layers of Jyotish, introduced in our overview.

They are lunar because the Moon crosses one a day, or nearly: it goes round the zodiac in 27 and a third days. Where the sign tells you in which register a planet expresses itself, the nakshatra gives the fine shade, the image and the inner spring.

Several are marked by a bright star: Krittika by the Pleiades, Rohini by Aldebaran, Magha by Regulus, Jyeshtha by Antares. Chitra is marked by Spica, the reference point of the Lahiri ayanamsa the site uses: Spica is placed at 0° Libra.

What are the 27 nakshatras?

The rulers always follow the same order, repeated three times around the zodiac: Ketu, Venus, the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury. It is the order of the Vimshottari dashas. Here are all 27, with their sidereal degrees, their ruler, their deity and the core of their meaning.

Ashwini (0°–13°20′ Aries): ruler Ketu, deity the Ashwini Kumaras, the healing twins. The drive of beginnings, speed, the gift of healing.
Bharani (13°20′–26°40′ Aries): ruler Venus, deity Yama, keeper of the law. Carrying, ripening, keeping one’s commitments.
Krittika (26°40′ Aries – 10° Taurus): ruler the Sun, deity Agni, fire. The blade that cuts through what is false, discernment.
Rohini (10°–23°20′ Taurus): ruler the Moon, deity Brahma, the creator. Growth, beauty, the gift of attraction.
Mrigashira (23°20′ Taurus – 6°40′ Gemini): ruler Mars, deity Soma, the lunar nectar. The quest, curiosity, gentleness.
Ardra (6°40′–20° Gemini): ruler Rahu, deity Rudra, the storm. The storm that clears the air, intense effort, renewal.
Punarvasu (20° Gemini – 3°20′ Cancer): ruler Jupiter, deity Aditi, the boundless mother. The return of the light, generosity.
Pushya (3°20′–16°40′ Cancer): ruler Saturn, deity Brihaspati, teacher of the gods. Nourishing, protecting, teaching.
Ashlesha (16°40′–30° Cancer): ruler Mercury, deity the Nagas, the serpents. Depth, intuition, the art of reading people.
Magha (0°–13°20′ Leo): ruler Ketu, deity the Pitris, the ancestors. The throne: lineage, honour, inherited authority.
Purva Phalguni (13°20′–26°40′ Leo): ruler Venus, deity Bhaga, shared happiness. Pleasure, love, joyful creation.
Uttara Phalguni (26°40′ Leo – 10° Virgo): ruler the Sun, deity Aryaman, god of alliances. Commitment, loyal friendship.
Hasta (10°–23°20′ Virgo): ruler the Moon, deity Savitar, the awakening sun. The hand: skill, craft, humour.
Chitra (23°20′ Virgo – 6°40′ Libra): ruler Mars, deity Vishvakarma, architect of the gods. The jewel: the beauty of form.
Swati (6°40′–20° Libra): ruler Rahu, deity Vayu, the wind. The shoot that bends without breaking: independence, movement.
Vishakha (20° Libra – 3°20′ Scorpio): ruler Jupiter, deity Indra-Agni. Ambition, perseverance, victory at the end of the effort.
Anuradha (3°20′–16°40′ Scorpio): ruler Saturn, deity Mitra, god of friendship. Loyalty, devotion, cooperation.
Jyeshtha (16°40′–30° Scorpio): ruler Mercury, deity Indra, king of the gods. The eldest: responsibility, protection.
Mula (0°–13°20′ Sagittarius): ruler Ketu, deity Nirriti, dissolution. The root: getting to the bottom of things, undoing to rebuild.
Purva Ashadha (13°20′–26°40′ Sagittarius): ruler Venus, deity Apas, the waters. The invincible: conviction, purification.
Uttara Ashadha (26°40′ Sagittarius – 10° Capricorn): ruler the Sun, deity the Vishvedevas, the universal gods. Lasting victory.
Shravana (10°–23°20′ Capricorn): ruler the Moon, deity Vishnu, the preserver. The ear: listening, learning, passing on.
Dhanishtha (23°20′ Capricorn – 6°40′ Aquarius): ruler Mars, deity the Vasus, gods of abundance. Rhythm, music, prosperity.
Shatabhisha (6°40′–20° Aquarius): ruler Rahu, deity Varuna, god of the waters and of cosmic order. The hundred healers: healing, research.
Purva Bhadrapada (20° Aquarius – 3°20′ Pisces): ruler Jupiter, deity Aja Ekapada, the one-footed goat. The fire of ideals.
Uttara Bhadrapada (3°20′–16°40′ Pisces): ruler Saturn, deity Ahirbudhnya, the serpent of the deep. Calm, wisdom.
Revati (16°40′–30° Pisces): ruler Mercury, deity Pushan, protector of travellers. The guide on the road, compassion.

Padas: the four quarters of a nakshatra

Each nakshatra is divided into four padas (“feet”, “quarters”) of 3°20′. The 27 nakshatras therefore hold 108 of them: the 12 signs times the 9 parts of the Navamsha, the D9. Each pada corresponds to a sign of the D9: the first pada of Ashwini gives Aries, the second Taurus, and the zodiac runs through nine times.

In every nakshatra, the first pada falls in a fire sign of the D9, the second in earth, the third in air, the fourth in water. Tradition reads in them the four aims of life: dharma (right duty), artha (means), kama (desire), moksha (liberation).

An example: a Moon at 15° sidereal Taurus is in Rohini, which begins at 10° Taurus. It has travelled 5° into it, so it sits in the second pada, which corresponds to Taurus in the D9. Same sign in the D1 and the D9: the Moon is vargottama, which strengthens it.

Janma nakshatra: the nakshatra of your Moon

The Janma nakshatra, the birth star, is the one the Moon occupied. It is the most important one in your Vedic chart: there the Moon describes the mind, the emotions, the way you take in life.

Above all, it sets your dashas: the first period of your life belongs to the ruler of your Janma nakshatra, already under way in proportion to the distance the Moon had covered in it. A Moon in Rohini opens life in the Moon’s period; a Moon in Pushya, in Saturn’s.

In India, each pada also carries a syllable that gives the first letter of a name, and one method for matching two people compares the nakshatras of their Moons.

The nakshatra of the Ascendant

The nakshatra of the Ascendant, or Lagna nakshatra, colours the way you step into the world: the visible temperament and the first reflex. Its ruler becomes a planet to watch, alongside the chart ruler: its house shows where your energy goes of its own accord.

It needs the exact time: the Ascendant crosses a nakshatra in a little under an hour on average, and a pada in about thirteen minutes. That is why the site switches the Vedic chart off without a birth time.

How do I find my nakshatra?

Your nakshatra is read in the sidereal zodiac, shifted by about 24° from the Western one (see tropical or sidereal). A Moon at 10° Gemini in your Western chart sits near 16° Taurus in sidereal terms, in Rohini: your Western Moon sign is not enough to guess it.

Calculate your birth chart with your exact time of birth.
At the wheel, choose Vedic (sidereal): the D1 (Rasi, the chart of signs) opens.
In the positions, each planet shows its nakshatra and its pada, Rahu and Ketu included.
The nakshatra of the Moon and that of the Ascendant are given with the D1, next to your dashas.
Choose the D9 in the list of charts to see the sign each pada gives.

How to read a planet in its nakshatra

A planet is read first by its sign and house; the nakshatra refines it. Its ruler tints the planet, its deity gives the image. Venus in Krittika loves with the Sun’s frankness and Agni’s edge; Mars in Ardra acts in bursts, with the force of Rudra. The lever for this Mars: pick your battles and let the storm open the way to something new.

Finally, look at where the ruler of the nakshatra sits in your chart: its house shows where the planet draws its strength from.

Start with three nakshatras: the Moon’s, the Ascendant’s and that of the planet ruling your current dasha. They are the ones that speak loudest.

Calculate your chart with your exact time, open the Vedic chart, and read the nakshatra and pada of each of your planets.

Calculate my chart and open the Vedic view