Nakṣatra vibhāga · the lunar mansions
सप्तविंशति नक्षत्र
The twenty-seven nakṣatras — the older layer, and the one that runs the clock
The nakṣatras are older than the rāśis in Indian practice and do more work. Each spans 13°20′ and divides into four pādas of 3°20′, which is why nine pādas fit a sign exactly and the navāṃśa falls out of them without remainder. The Moon's nakṣatra at birth sets the entire Viṃśottarī daśā sequence, so this is not a decorative layer — it is the timing mechanism. Cards are coloured by daśā lord, which makes the nine-graha cycle visible three times over as you read down.
Daśā lord
All
Ketu
Śukra
Sūrya
Candra
Maṅgala
Rāhu
Guru
Śani
Budha
Gaṇa
All
Deva
Manuṣya
Rākṣasa
At a glance
The twenty-seven, in order
Reading the pāda strip. The upper band shows which rāśi or rāśis the nakṣatra falls in, with the sign boundary drawn where it actually cuts — nine of the twenty-seven straddle two signs, and the strip shows exactly where. The four cells below are the pādas, each labelled with its navāṃśa sign and that sign's lord. Because a nakṣatra is 13°20′ and a pāda 3°20′, the navāṃśa sequence runs continuously from Meṣa at the first pāda of Aśvinī and cycles cleanly through all twelve signs, nine pādas to a rāśi.
On the attributes. Devatā, symbol, gaṇa, yoni and nature follow the standard classical tables; the śakti — with its "above" and "below" — comes from the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa scheme, which is the oldest and most evocative layer of nakṣatra meaning available. Nāḍī maps one-to-one onto doṣa (Ādi–vāta, Madhya–pitta, Antya–kapha) and repeats in a fixed pattern down the sequence. Gaṇa, yoni and nāḍī are the three nakṣatra-level factors in aṣṭakūṭa compatibility; the other five kūṭas are computed from the Moon's rāśi, not from the nakṣatra.
Two omissions, deliberate. Vanaspati (the tree of each nakṣatra) and the nakṣatra-puruṣa body-part scheme both vary substantially between sources, and I would rather leave them out than hand you a table you might rely on. The trait columns, as in the other volumes, are interpretive renderings rather than scripture — the śakti line above them is the classical statement, and where the two seem to disagree, trust the śakti.
