Nakshatra 3 of 27

Krittika Nakshatra

कृत्तिका

26°40′ Aries to 10°00′ Taurus of the sidereal zodiac

Krittika is the nakshatra of the Pleiades, the small bright cluster that people across the world have watched rise in the autumn sky. In India the six visible stars were the Krittikas, the nurses of Kartikeya, the god of war, who is called Karttikeya after them. The star's deity is Agni, the god of fire, who carries offerings to the gods, and its symbol is a razor or a flame: the tradition sees in Krittika the power to cut, to cook and to purify. In the oldest Vedic lists the nakshatras began with Krittika rather than Ashwini, a sign of how ancient the reckoning is. Krittika straddles two signs, its first quarter in Aries and the other three in Taurus, which the span below shows exactly. The page also gives its lord, its place in the matching tables and the navamsa of each quarter, all read from the tables the site's reports and kundali matching use.

At a glance

Span
26°40′ Aries to 10°00′ Taurus
Signs
Aries and Taurus
Lord
Sun (6 years in the Vimshottari dasha)
Deity
Agni
Symbol
Razor / flame
Nature
Mixed/Sharp
Gana
Rakshasa
Yoni
Sheep
Nadi
Antya

Where it lies

The zodiac of the nakshatras divides the circle into 27 equal parts of 13°20′, beginning with Ashwini at the first point of Aries, the same point from which the signs are counted. Krittika, the 3rd, runs from 26°40′ Aries to 10°00′ Taurus. It crosses from Aries into Taurus, so the sign of a Moon in Krittika depends on which of its quarters the Moon is in. Positions here are sidereal, reckoned with the Lahiri ayanamsa, as every chart on this site is.

The four padas

Each nakshatra has four quarters, or padas, of 3°20′. The quarters run through the twelve signs in order from Ashwini's first, so each falls in a navamsa (the ninth-part division, D9) of its own; this is how the navamsa chart in a birth report is drawn.

PadaFromToSignNavamsa
Pada 126°40′ Aries30°00′ AriesAriesSagittarius
Pada 20°00′ Taurus3°20′ TaurusTaurusCapricorn
Pada 33°20′ Taurus6°40′ TaurusTaurusAquarius
Pada 46°40′ Taurus10°00′ TaurusTaurusPisces

Pada 1 lies in Aries and falls in the Sagittarius navamsa. Pada 2 lies in Taurus and falls in the Capricorn navamsa. Pada 3 lies in Taurus and falls in the Aquarius navamsa. Pada 4 lies in Taurus and falls in the Pisces navamsa.

Its lord and the Vimshottari dasha

Krittika is ruled by the Sun, who also rules Uttara Phalguni and Uttara Ashadha. The Vimshottari dasha, the system of planetary periods the site's reports use, begins from the nakshatra the Moon was in at birth: a person born with the Moon in Krittika begins life in the period of the Sun, which lasts 6 years in all. How much of it is left at birth depends on how far through Krittika the Moon had gone: the further through, the less of the period remains. After it the periods follow in their fixed order, round a cycle of 120 years.

The birth report adds that the lord of the birth star brings a proud, authoritative and self-reliant mind centred on identity, leadership and recognition.

Krittika in kundali matching

Three of the eight kootas of Ashtakoota matching are read from the nakshatra. Gana: Krittika is of the Rakshasa gana, with Ashlesha, Magha, Chitra, Vishakha, Jyeshtha, Mula, Dhanishtha and Shatabhisha. Out of 6 points, two of the same gana score 6. With a Deva it scores 1 when the Rakshasa is the groom and 0 when the Rakshasa is the bride. With a Manushya it scores 0.

Yoni: its animal is the Sheep, which it shares with Pushya. Two of the same yoni score the full 4 points; the Sheep's sworn enemy is the Monkey, the yoni of Purva Ashadha and Shravana, and with it the score is 0.

Nadi: Krittika is of the Antya nadi, with Rohini, Ashlesha, Magha, Swati, Vishakha, Uttara Ashadha, Shravana and Revati. Nadi carries the most points of any koota, 8, and two people of the same nadi score none: that is Nadi Dosha. The site's matching cancels it where the two have the same nakshatra in different signs, the same sign in different nakshatras, or the same nakshatra in different quarters, and says which applies.

The birth star in the report

When the Moon was in Krittika at birth, this is the birth star, and the site's birth report describes it in these terms. Its nature is given as mixed/sharp, and the traits it names are sharp, purifying, critical, ambitious and protective.

A cutting, purifying intelligence that burns away impurity; honest, sometimes blunt, and fiercely protective. The path it points to: to use the fire of discrimination to purify rather than to wound.

The work it is associated with: Military, surgery, cooking, criticism, leadership, anything requiring precision.

These are the tendencies of one factor in a chart. The whole chart, the strength of the Moon and of the Sun, and the periods being run decide how much of them a life shows.

Tara bala from Krittika

The day's nakshatra counted from the birth star falls into one of nine taras, which come round three times in the twenty-seven. Five are counted good, three unfavourable, and the birth star's own, Janma, mixed. For someone born under Krittika:

The horoscope's personal reading and the muhurta finder use this count, and the panchang gives the day's nakshatra.

Use the tools