The Twenty-Seven
Nakṣatras
Nakṣatra · நட்சத்திரம் · नक्षत्र — the lunar mansions: their degrees, lords, deities and natures, and how they sit inside the twelve rāśis.
What is a nakṣatra?
A nakṣatra is a lunar mansion — one of 27 equal stations of the zodiac, each marked by a star or star-group. The Moon passes through roughly one a day; the sidereal month is about 27.3 days, which is why the circle is divided into 27.
Older than the rāśis
The Vedas know the nakṣatras long before the twelve signs: the Taittirīya Saṁhitā and Brāhmaṇa list them with their deities, and the Atharvaveda (19.7) hymns 28, counting Abhijit. The rāśis came later; Jyotiṣa now reads both together.
The Moon's own map
The janma-nakṣatra — the mansion holding the Moon at birth — sets the starting Vimśottarī daśā (BPHS), names the child in many families, and is the basis of compatibility (porutham) and the daily pañcāṅga.
Sidereal, star-fixed
Nakṣatras are fixed to the stars, so they are always reckoned in the sidereal (nirayana) zodiac with an ayanāṁśa — here Lahiri / Chitrapakṣa, which keeps Chitrā's star, Spica, at 180°.
27 mansions, 108 padas, 12 signs
one nakṣatra · 360° ÷ 27
one pada (quarter)
padas in the zodiac
nakṣatras per sign · 9 padas
A pada is a navāṁśa
Each pada of 3°20′ is exactly one navāṁśa (D9) division. Counting padas from Aśvinī-1, the navāṁśa signs run Aries, Taurus, Gemini… and repeat every 12 padas — so Aśvinī-1, Maghā-1 and Mūla-1 all fall in Aries navāṁśa. The tooltips on the grid show each pada's navāṁśa.
Why the nakṣatras and signs mesh
12 signs × 9 padas = 108 = 27 nakṣatras × 4 padas. Every sign therefore holds exactly nine padas, and the pattern of whole and split nakṣatras repeats three times around the wheel — once for each of the three fire signs that open a cycle: Aries, Leo and Sagittarius.
Nine lords, three rounds
Each nakṣatra has a lord. Starting from Aśvinī, the nine grahas take the nakṣatras in a fixed order — Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars, Rāhu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury — and the cycle runs three times. The same order, with its years, is the Vimśottarī daśā of 120 years.
| Lord | Round I | Round II | Round III | Daśā |
|---|
Colours follow the study-circle worksheet. Venus and Moon nakṣatras are both white there — read the lord glyph to tell them apart.
Which nakṣatras live in each sign
Each square is one pada, coloured by its nakṣatra lord. Hover, focus or tap a pada for its degree range. ⇆ marks a nakṣatra split across two signs.
Nine nakṣatras straddle two signs
| Nakṣatra | Lord | Padas in first sign | Padas in next sign |
|---|
The pattern
Every split nakṣatra belongs to the Sun, Mars or Jupiter — the third, fifth and seventh lords in each round. The Sun's nakṣatras split 1 + 3, Mars's 2 + 2, and Jupiter's 3 + 1.
Gaṇḍānta — where both edges meet
At three points a sign boundary and a nakṣatra boundary coincide: Āśleṣā → Maghā (Cancer → Leo), Jyeṣṭhā → Mūla (Scorpio → Sagittarius) and Revatī → Aśvinī (Pisces → Aries). These water-to-fire junctions are the classical gaṇḍānta, treated with care in birth and muhūrta.
Gaṇa, nature and yoni
Gaṇa — temperament
| Deva | Aśvinī, Mṛgaśīrṣa, Punarvasu, Puṣya, Hasta, Svātī, Anurādhā, Śravaṇa, Revatī |
| Manuṣya | Bharaṇī, Rohiṇī, Ārdrā, both Phalgunīs, both Āṣāḍhās, both Bhādrapadās |
| Rākṣasa | Kṛttikā, Āśleṣā, Maghā, Citrā, Viśākhā, Jyeṣṭhā, Mūla, Dhaniṣṭhā, Śatabhiṣā |
Nine of each. Used in gaṇa-kūṭa (gaṇa porutham) for matching.
Nature — the seven kinds
| Dhruva · fixed | Rohiṇī, U.Phalgunī, U.Āṣāḍhā, U.Bhādrapadā — foundations, lasting works |
| Chara · movable | Punarvasu, Svātī, Śravaṇa, Dhaniṣṭhā, Śatabhiṣā — travel, vehicles |
| Ugra · fierce | Bharaṇī, Maghā, P.Phalgunī, P.Āṣāḍhā, P.Bhādrapadā |
| Miśra · mixed | Kṛttikā, Viśākhā |
| Kṣipra · swift | Aśvinī, Puṣya, Hasta — trade, medicine, quick tasks |
| Mṛdu · soft | Mṛgaśīrṣa, Citrā, Anurādhā, Revatī — arts, friendship |
| Tīkṣṇa · sharp | Ārdrā, Āśleṣā, Jyeṣṭhā, Mūla |
Yoni — the animal
Each nakṣatra has an animal nature, paired male and female: horse (Aśvinī, Śatabhiṣā), elephant (Bharaṇī, Revatī), sheep (Kṛttikā, Puṣya), serpent (Rohiṇī, Mṛgaśīrṣa), dog (Ārdrā, Mūla), cat (Punarvasu, Āśleṣā), rat (Maghā, P.Phalgunī), cow (U.Phalgunī, U.Bhādrapadā), buffalo (Hasta, Svātī), tiger (Citrā, Viśākhā), deer (Anurādhā, Jyeṣṭhā), monkey (P.Āṣāḍhā, Śravaṇa), lion (Dhaniṣṭhā, P.Bhādrapadā) and mongoose (U.Āṣāḍhā alone).
Used in yoni-kūṭa (yoni porutham).