How to use
- 1
Enter your birth date and, if known, your birth time.
- 2
Choose the time zone of your birthplace.
- 3
Read your Chandra Rashi, Janma Nakshatra, pada and their lords.
- 4
Compare with your Western (tropical) signs in the table below.
Rashi: your Moon sign in Jyotish
Indian astrology (Jyotish) gives the Moon’s sign, the Chandra Rashi, more weight than the Sun sign. The twelve rashis are Mesha, Vrishabha, Mithuna, Karka, Simha, Kanya, Tula, Vrishchika, Dhanu, Makara, Kumbha and Meena, corresponding to Aries through Pisces. Each is shown with its traditional ruling planet.
Nakshatra and pada
The zodiac is also divided into 27 lunar mansions, the nakshatras, each 13°20′ wide, beginning with Ashwini at 0° sidereal Aries and ending with Revati at 30° Pisces. Each nakshatra has four padas of 3°20′. The nakshatra the Moon occupied at birth is your Janma Nakshatra; its lord (in the Vimshottari order Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury) is the starting point of the dasha system.
Why Vedic signs differ from Western ones
Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac, tied to the equinoxes. Jyotish uses the sidereal zodiac, tied to the stars. Because of the precession of the equinoxes the two have drifted apart by about 24° today (the ayanamsa), so most people’s sidereal signs are one sign earlier than their tropical ones. This tool uses the Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa, the official standard in India.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my Vedic Moon sign different from my Western Moon sign?
The sidereal zodiac is currently about 24° behind the tropical one. If your tropical Moon is in the first 24° of a sign, your Vedic Moon will usually be in the previous sign.
Can I find my nakshatra without a birth time?
Partly. The Moon moves about 13° a day, roughly one nakshatra, so without a time the tool lists the nakshatras the Moon passed through that day and when it changed.
Which ayanamsa is used?
Lahiri (Chitrapaksha), about 23°51′ at the year 2000 and growing by about 50 arc-seconds a year. The exact value for your birth date is shown in the table.
What is the nakshatra lord used for?
In Jyotish the lord of your birth nakshatra decides which planetary period (Mahadasha) you were born into in the Vimshottari dasha system. It is a traditional framework, presented here for cultural interest.