Nakshatra

One of the 27 lunar mansions of Vedic astrology — equal 13°20′ divisions of the sidereal zodiac. The nakshatra the Moon occupies at birth is the seed of the Vimshottari dasha timeline.

Alongside the twelve signs, Vedic astrology divides the sidereal zodiac into 27 nakshatras, or lunar mansions, each spanning 13°20′ (360° ÷ 27). They roughly track the Moon's daily motion — the Moon crosses about one nakshatra per day. Each carries its own symbolism and a ruling planet, and each is further split into four padas of 3°20′. The nakshatra of the Moon at birth is the most consequential. Its ruling planet becomes the starting lord of the Vimshottari dasha, and how far the Moon has moved through that nakshatra sets how much of the first planetary period remains at birth. Everything in the dasha timeline follows from that one placement. The division is exact arithmetic once the Moon's sidereal longitude is known: floor the longitude into a 13°20′ bucket to get the nakshatra, and the remainder gives the pada and the dasha balance. The traditional meanings of each nakshatra are interpretation; the placement itself is computed and checkable.

Not: A nakshatra is not the same as a zodiac sign, and it is not a visible constellation you can point to — it is an equal mathematical division of the ecliptic. The Moon's nakshatra is only as precise as the birth time, since the Moon moves quickly.

Which nakshatra the Moon occupies is computed exactly; near a boundary it can flip with a small change in birth time. The character ascribed to each nakshatra is traditional convention, not a measured property.