> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.jyotiguide.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Nakṣatras and Padas: The 27 Sidereal Lunar Mansions

> Explore the 27 sidereal lunar mansions, their 3°20′ padas, daśā lords, and why the Moon's nakṣatra starts the Vimśottarī period system.

The **nakṣatras** are the 27 lunar mansions — equal star-segments that divide the zodiac into arcs of **13°20′** each. They represent arguably the most distinctively Vedic layer of the chart: the Moon's nakṣatra at the moment of birth sets the starting point of the Vimśottarī daśā period system, and many fine interpretive judgements — on character, timing, and temperament — are made at the nakṣatra level rather than the broader sign level. Because the nakṣatras are anchored to actual stars, they only carry their full meaning within a **sidereal** frame. Using a tropical zodiac would place them against the wrong stars entirely.

## Padas: the quarters of a nakṣatra

Each nakṣatra is divided into four **padas** (quarters) of **3°20′** each — exactly one-ninth of a sign. This is not a coincidence: the four padas of a nakṣatra map directly onto four successive signs in the **Navāṁśa (D9)** divisional chart. A body's pada therefore tells you both its position within the nakṣatra and its D9 sign in a single piece of data. The app reports both together, for example `Jyeshtha · 3`, meaning the body occupies the 3rd pada of Jyeṣṭhā.

## The 27 nakṣatras and their daśā lords

The daśā lord is the planet that **rules** the nakṣatra in the Vimśottarī scheme. The nine lords cycle in a fixed sequence — Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars, Rāhu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury — repeating three times across the 27 nakṣatras.

| #  | Nakṣatra          | Daśā Lord | Sidereal Span                         |
| -- | ----------------- | --------- | ------------------------------------- |
| 1  | Aśvinī            | Ketu      | 0°00′ – 13°20′ Aries                  |
| 2  | Bharaṇī           | Venus     | 13°20′ – 26°40′ Aries                 |
| 3  | Kṛttikā           | Sun       | 26°40′ Aries – 10°00′ Taurus          |
| 4  | Rohiṇī            | Moon      | 10°00′ – 23°20′ Taurus                |
| 5  | Mṛgaśīrṣa         | Mars      | 23°20′ Taurus – 6°40′ Gemini          |
| 6  | Ārdrā             | Rāhu      | 6°40′ – 20°00′ Gemini                 |
| 7  | Punarvasu         | Jupiter   | 20°00′ Gemini – 3°20′ Cancer          |
| 8  | Puṣya             | Saturn    | 3°20′ – 16°40′ Cancer                 |
| 9  | Āśleṣā            | Mercury   | 16°40′ – 30°00′ Cancer                |
| 10 | Maghā             | Ketu      | 0°00′ – 13°20′ Leo                    |
| 11 | Pūrva Phalgunī    | Venus     | 13°20′ – 26°40′ Leo                   |
| 12 | Uttara Phalgunī   | Sun       | 26°40′ Leo – 10°00′ Virgo             |
| 13 | Hasta             | Moon      | 10°00′ – 23°20′ Virgo                 |
| 14 | Chitrā            | Mars      | 23°20′ Virgo – 6°40′ Libra            |
| 15 | Svātī             | Rāhu      | 6°40′ – 20°00′ Libra                  |
| 16 | Viśākhā           | Jupiter   | 20°00′ Libra – 3°20′ Scorpio          |
| 17 | Anurādhā          | Saturn    | 3°20′ – 16°40′ Scorpio                |
| 18 | Jyeṣṭhā           | Mercury   | 16°40′ – 30°00′ Scorpio               |
| 19 | Mūla              | Ketu      | 0°00′ – 13°20′ Sagittarius            |
| 20 | Pūrva Āṣāḍhā      | Venus     | 13°20′ – 26°40′ Sagittarius           |
| 21 | Uttara Āṣāḍhā     | Sun       | 26°40′ Sagittarius – 10°00′ Capricorn |
| 22 | Śravaṇa           | Moon      | 10°00′ – 23°20′ Capricorn             |
| 23 | Dhaniṣṭhā         | Mars      | 23°20′ Capricorn – 6°40′ Aquarius     |
| 24 | Śatabhiṣā         | Rāhu      | 6°40′ – 20°00′ Aquarius               |
| 25 | Pūrva Bhādrapadā  | Jupiter   | 20°00′ Aquarius – 3°20′ Pisces        |
| 26 | Uttara Bhādrapadā | Saturn    | 3°20′ – 16°40′ Pisces                 |
| 27 | Revatī            | Mercury   | 16°40′ – 30°00′ Pisces                |

## Why the Moon's nakṣatra starts the daśā

The **Vimśottarī daśā** — the period system Jyoti Guide uses by default — begins from the nakṣatra the **Moon** occupies at birth. The lord of that nakṣatra becomes the first ruling planet of your life sequence. The fraction of the nakṣatra the Moon has already traversed at the birth moment tells the engine how much of that first period had already elapsed — the "balance of daśā" — so the timeline can be anchored precisely to your birth date.

<Info>
  **Sample chart example.** The Moon sits at 25°43′ Scorpio, which falls in **Jyeṣṭhā** (nakṣatra #18, ruled by Mercury). Life therefore begins in a Mercury *mahādaśā*. Because the Moon is already deep into Jyeṣṭhā at birth — having traversed about two-thirds of it — only approximately 5 years and 4 months of that 17-year Mercury period remained. The full worked timeline appears in [Vimśottarī Daśā](/guides/vimshottari-dasha).
</Info>

<Tip>
  **Continue reading:** see how a single birth produces sixteen charts through the divisional-chart system — [Divisional Charts](/concepts/divisional-charts).
</Tip>