Ganas

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "Ganas." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://www.divinityatlas.com/categories/ganas.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). Ganas. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://www.divinityatlas.com/categories/ganas

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-ganas,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {Ganas},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://www.divinityatlas.com/categories/ganas},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The twenty-seven nakshatras of Vedic astrology are each assigned to one of three ganas, or temperaments: deva (divine), manushya (human) and rakshasa (fierce). The classification is used mainly in compatibility matching, where the ganas of two birth nakshatras are compared. It is one of several grouping schemes applied to the nakshatras.

Facts

Overview

What Defines This Grouping

A threefold temperament classification applied to the twenty-seven naksatras - deva, manusya and raksasa - used chiefly in compatibility matching. It classifies the naksatras; it does not name things of its own. 1

Size of the Traditional Set

3 ganas 1

Learn More

The Three Temperaments of the Nakshatras

The twenty-seven nakshatras are each assigned to one of three ganas, or temperaments: deva (divine), manushya (human) and rakshasa (fierce or demonic). The classification sorts the lunar mansions by temperament and is used mainly in Vedic compatibility matching, where the ganas of two people's birth nakshatras are one of the factors weighed.

The scheme is one of several such groupings of the nakshatras (by animal, by element, by direction), that Jyotisha uses to draw out relationships between the mansions and between two charts.

A Factor in Matching

In the traditional guna-milan system of marriage compatibility, the gana match is one of the koota factors scored, with same or compatible ganas held to favour harmony and certain combinations, especially deva with rakshasa, held to strain it. The atlas describes the three ganas, their character, and their use, treating the matching system as a tradition rather than endorsing its claims.

The nakshatras that the ganas classify are treated in their own category, and the wider apparatus of Vedic astrology under the Vedic Astrology section.

Cross-Tradition Connections