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Glossary

Star lord defined: the Vimshottari graha that rules each nakshatra, where BPHS gives the order, and how this app uses it for every point and for the dasha sequence.

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In short

A star lord, or nakshatra lord, is the graha that rules a nakshatra in the Vimshottari scheme: nine lords repeated three times around the 27 nakshatras. BPHS Ch. 46 gives the order. This app attaches a star lord to every point in the chart, and the Moon's star lord decides which mahadasha a life begins in.

What the term means

"Star" is the usual English word for a nakshatra, and its lord is the graha assigned to it in the Vimshottari dasha scheme. The nine lords run in a fixed order, Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, starting at Ashwini, and the cycle repeats three times to cover all 27 nakshatras. So Ashwini, Magha and Mula share Ketu as star lord. A star lord is distinct from the sign lord: a planet in Rohini sits in Taurus, ruled by Venus, while Rohini's star lord is the Moon.

Where the term comes from

BPHS Ch. 46 Sl. 12-14 gives the order from Kritika: Surya, Candr, Mangal, Rahu, Guru, Sani, Budh, Ketu and Sukr. To find the first dasha at birth, it says, count the nakshatras from Kritika to the birth nakshatra and divide by nine; the remainder names the lord. Sl. 15 gives each lord's years. Starting the cycle at Ashwini with Ketu, as the engine's table does, assigns every nakshatra the same lord. The phrase "star lord" itself is modern; the text speaks of the lords of the dashas.

How this app uses it

  • Every point in a computed chart carries a nakshatra and its star lord, read from the same nine-lord table.
  • The Moon's star lord starts the Vimshottari timeline: the first mahadasha belongs to it, shortened by the part of the nakshatra the Moon has already crossed.
  • The same lord owns the first slice when a nakshatra is cut into nine for the sub-lord.
  • The nakshatra calculator returns the Moon's star lord beside its nakshatra and pada.

A small illustration

For 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi, the Moon is in Mula, whose star lord is Ketu, so that life's Vimshottari sequence opens with a Ketu mahadasha. For 15 August 1947, 00:00 IST, New Delhi, the Ascendant is in Krittika (the Sun), the Moon in Pushya (Saturn) and the Sun in Ashlesha (Mercury).

Pages that use this term

Related terms

Janma Nakshatra, Mahadasha, Dasha balance, Pada and KP system.

Now on yourself

Nakshatra (Birth Star)

Which of the 27 nakshatras held your Moon, with its pada and ruling lord.

A birth time is optional. Without one this is read at local noon on your birth date - and the Moon moves about 13 degrees in a day, so add the time if you know it.

No place is asked for on this page, so the time is read as Indian Standard Time (IST). Born outside India? Run it on its own page, where you can add the place.

This date is sent only to compute the answer. Nothing is stored, no account is created, and no email is asked for.

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