Your nakshatra, pada and name letter

What a nakshatra is

The 360 degrees of the zodiac are divided into 27 nakshatras, or lunar mansions, of 13°20′ each, starting with Ashwini at the beginning of Aries. Each nakshatra is split into four padas (quarters) of 3°20′. Your janma, or birth, nakshatra is the one the Moon occupied at the moment you were born.

Each nakshatra has a ruling planet. The lords follow a fixed order of nine (Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury) that repeats three times round the zodiac. The lord of your birth nakshatra decides the first period of your Vimshottari dasha.

What the calculator shows

Along with the nakshatra and pada, you get the qualities tradition attaches to them: gana (deva, manushya or rakshasa), nadi (adi, madhya or antya), yoni (an animal symbol of instinctive nature), varna and vashya. These are the same values used in kundli matching, so knowing them makes a Guna Milan table easier to read.

Name letter (namakshar)

Every pada has a traditional syllable. Ashwini's four padas, for example, are Chu, Che, Cho and La. Many families choose a child's name that begins with the syllable of the birth pada. It is a custom, and the calculator simply shows the syllable for your pada.

Why the birth time matters

The Moon is the fastest-moving body in the chart and crosses a nakshatra in about a day. If you were born on a day when the Moon changed nakshatra, or near the edge of a pada, your time of birth decides which one is yours. If you don't know the time, the report lists every nakshatra the Moon passed through that day. Your free Janam Kundli has the full details.