Nakshatra by Date of Birth: The Complete Guide to 27 Nakshatras

The Moon travels through the 360° zodiac in 27.3 days. Vedic astrologers divided that path into 27 equal segments of 13°20' each. Each segment is a nakshatra — literally 'that which does not decay' in Sanskrit. Each nakshatra has a ruling deity, a planetary lord, a symbol, and a fixed set of psychological traits.

Your birth nakshatra (janma nakshatra) is whichever segment your Moon occupied when you were born. It's not the same as your Rashi (moon sign), which is a coarser 30° division. Two people born on the same day can have the same Rashi but different nakshatras — and their personalities can differ dramatically.

You need three pieces of data: date of birth, exact time (to the minute), and place of birth. The Moon moves ~12° per day, so a nakshatra changes roughly every 24 hours — but if you were born close to a boundary, only precise birth time distinguishes them.

Any Vedic ephemeris calculator will give you your nakshatra. The kundli PDF at DivineMantras108 shows your nakshatra, the pada (quarter) within it, the ruling deity, and a personalised reading. It's the same data an astrologer would look up manually — no guesswork.

Here's the complete list in order (from 0° Aries):

1. Ashwini (Ketu, healing) · 2. Bharani (Venus, transformation) · 3. Krittika (Sun, sharp discernment) · 4. Rohini (Moon, beauty & fertility) · 5. Mrigashira (Mars, curiosity) · 6. Ardra (Rahu, storm & renewal) · 7. Punarvasu (Jupiter, return of light) · 8. Pushya (Saturn, nourishment) · 9. Ashlesha (Mercury, coiled wisdom)

10. Magha (Ketu, ancestral power) · 11. Purva Phalguni (Venus, enjoyment) · 12. Uttara Phalguni (Sun, generosity) · 13. Hasta (Moon, craftsmanship) · 14. Chitra (Mars, brilliance) · 15. Swati (Rahu, independence) · 16. Vishakha (Jupiter, focused ambition) · 17. Anuradha (Saturn, devotion) · 18. Jyeshtha (Mercury, seniority)

19. Mula (Ketu, root uprooting) · 20. Purva Ashadha (Venus, invincible optimism) · 21. Uttara Ashadha (Sun, lasting victory) · 22. Shravana (Moon, deep listening) · 23. Dhanishta (Mars, rhythm & wealth) · 24. Shatabhisha (Rahu, healer of hundreds) · 25. Purva Bhadrapada (Jupiter, spiritual fire) · 26. Uttara Bhadrapada (Saturn, depth) · 27. Revati (Mercury, prosperity & completion)

Each nakshatra is further divided into 4 padas of 3°20' each. Your pada refines the reading — it maps your Moon into a specific navamsa sign, which becomes central to marriage and spiritual analysis in the D9 chart.

Two people born in Rohini nakshatra but different padas can have quite different life patterns. The pada is why the full nakshatra + pada combination gives Vedic astrology its precision.

Three practical layers:

1. Personality core. Nakshatra traits describe your instinctive nature — how you respond under stress, what soothes you, what you gravitate toward. A Rohini native craves beauty; a Mula native is drawn to root causes; a Shatabhisha native is a natural healer.

2. Vimshottari starting Mahadasha. Your nakshatra's planetary lord determines your first Mahadasha at birth. Someone born in a Jupiter-ruled nakshatra (Punarvasu, Vishakha, Purva Bhadrapada) starts life in a Jupiter Mahadasha.

3. Marriage compatibility. Traditional Vedic matchmaking (Guna Milan) uses birth nakshatras of both partners to assess compatibility across 8 dimensions. It's not deterministic, but it's an ancient framework for surfacing likely friction points.