The twenty-seven birth stars
The zodiac divides into twenty-seven nakshatras of thirteen degrees and twenty minutes each. The one holding your Moon at birth is your janma nakshatra, and it is a finer instrument than the rashi: each nakshatra has its own ruling planet, its own symbol and its own temperament, and traditional naming, marriage matching and dasha calculation all begin here.
Padas
Every nakshatra divides again into four quarters called padas, each three degrees and twenty minutes wide. The pada places your Moon in a specific navamsa, which is why two people sharing a nakshatra can be read quite differently. It is also the level at which the traditional first syllable of a name is chosen.
Where it is used
Your nakshatra lord determines which planetary period your life began in and therefore the entire Vimshottari dasha sequence that follows. In marriage matching, gana, yoni and nadi — three of the eight koots, worth eighteen of the thirty-six points — are read from the nakshatra alone.
Common questions
What is a nakshatra pada?
Each nakshatra divides into four padas of three degrees twenty minutes. The pada refines the reading and determines the traditional first syllable used in naming a child.
Does the nakshatra change my dasha?
It sets it entirely. The lord of your birth nakshatra determines which planetary period you were born into and the whole Vimshottari sequence that follows from it.