Krittika nakshatra: traits, padas, lord and compatibility

Krittika is the third of the 27 nakshatras, spanning 26°40′ of Mesha to 10° of Vrishabha, ruled by the Sun (Surya) in the Vimshottari sequence, with Agni, the god of fire, as its deity and a flame or a razor as its symbol. It follows Bharani and gives way at 10° Vrishabha to Rohini. It is the first nakshatra to cross a sign boundary: one pada in Mesha, three in Vrishabha.

This page covers Krittika's deity and symbol, its nature, the four padas and the difference the two signs make, what it means as a birth star, the dasha it starts, its place in matching and muhurta, and a worked example. The panel above lists its correspondences, and the nakshatra lesson explains the system as a whole.

Deity and symbol

Agni is the fire of the Vedic ritual, the god who carries offerings to the other gods, and also the fire of the hearth and of digestion: whatever turns the raw into the usable. The star group is the Pleiades. In the Mahabharata and the Puranas the Krittikas, the sisters of the cluster, nurse the infant Skanda, who is called Kartikeya after them, so the nakshatra also carries an image of fierce, protective care. Older Vedic lists of the nakshatras begin with Krittika rather than Ashwini, a sign of how central it once was.

The symbol is given as a flame or a razor, and both do the same work: they remove what is not needed. The flame burns off impurity, and the razor cuts cleanly. Krittika is therefore read as the nakshatra that cuts to the truth, which is the site's summary: sharp, purifying, determined.

Nature: gana, yoni and nadi

Three labels from the matching tables describe Krittika's temperament.

• Gana: Rakshasa. The matching tradition uses this name for an independent, strong-willed and self-protective temperament, one that does not need to be liked to act. It is a style, not a fault.
• Yoni: sheep. The ram meets an obstacle head-on and keeps going. Krittika shares the sheep yoni with Pushya.
• Nadi: Antya. The last of the three nadis, traditionally linked with the kapha quality of steadiness.

The strengths show as behaviour. Krittika natives are honest, hard to fool and quick to see what is wrong with a plan. They hold high standards, keep their word and defend the people and principles they value. They are often the one who says what everyone else was thinking.

The shadow side is the same blade used carelessly: bluntness that wounds, criticism given before warmth, a quick temper and difficulty forgiving a lapse. The site's reading names the growth edge precisely: warmth in the delivery.

The two signs. The first pada sits in Mesha, Mars's fire sign, where the Sun is exalted, and is the most forceful part of Krittika. The other three sit in Vrishabha, Venus's earth sign, where the fire is steadier, more practical and more concerned with comfort, beauty and keeping what has been built.

The four padas

Each pada of 3°20′ is also a navamsa.

Pada 1 (26°40′ to 30° Mesha), Dhanu navamsa. Jupiter's fire sign: fire in a fire sign and a fire navamsa. This quarter is read as principled, outspoken and drawn to teaching and to causes.

Pada 2 (0° to 3°20′ Vrishabha), Makara navamsa. Saturn's earth sign adds discipline, patience and ambition. The Moon's deepest exaltation, at 3° Vrishabha, falls in this pada.

Pada 3 (3°20′ to 6°40′ Vrishabha), Kumbha navamsa. Saturn's air sign turns the sharpness towards groups and systems: reform, fairness, the common good.

Pada 4 (6°40′ to 10° Vrishabha), Meena navamsa. Jupiter's water sign is the softest setting for Krittika, adding compassion, imagination and devotion to the flame.

By custom, a child born with the Moon in Krittika is given a name beginning with the pada's syllable: A, I, U or E. It is a tradition, not a rule.

Moon in Krittika: the janma nakshatra

When the Moon is in Krittika at birth, Krittika is the janma nakshatra. The mind is clear and decisive and does not settle for a vague answer. A Krittika Moon notices quickly when something is false, and it tends to care for people by protecting them and holding them to a standard, much as the Krittikas cared for the young Skanda.

The Sun as nakshatra lord adds self-respect and a need to be respected in turn. Krittika Moons tend to take criticism of their work personally and to work hard to put it beyond criticism.

The sign changes the Moon's condition. In the first pada, in Mesha, the Moon counts Mars as neutral, and the mind has Mesha's speed. In the other three padas, in Vrishabha, the Moon is in its sign of exaltation, deepest at 3°, and the site's dignity table counts 4° to 30° of Vrishabha as its moolatrikona, so most Krittika Moons are read as strong and steady. That strength shows as composure: the Krittika edge is still there, but held in a calmer mind. The moon sign lesson explains how sign and nakshatra combine.

When the lagna rather than the Moon falls in Krittika, the same qualities show in manner: an upright bearing, a clear voice and a direct way of speaking.

Dasha at birth

Because the Sun rules Krittika, a Moon here starts life in the Sun's mahadasha, the shortest of the nine at six years. The balance at birth is the fraction of Krittika still ahead of the Moon, multiplied by six. Remember that the distance runs across the sign boundary: 3°20′ in Mesha, then up to 10° in Vrishabha.

A Moon at 28° Mesha is 1°20′ into Krittika, with 720′ of 800′ to go, so 0.9 × 6 = 5.4 years of the Sun remain. A Moon at 9° Vrishabha is 12°20′ in, with 60′ left, so 0.075 × 6 = 0.45 years, about five and a half months, remain. The Moon's ten-year mahadasha follows. The Sun page describes the period, and the dasha lesson gives the method.

Work and money

Krittika does well where precision, standards and courage are needed. Common leanings, not prescriptions:

• Fire and heat: cooking and catering, metalwork, foundries, energy and engineering.
• Cutting and correcting: editing, auditing, quality control, criticism, surgery and other exacting crafts.
• Protection and authority: defence, policing, administration and government, where the Sun's sense of rank meets Agni's vigilance.
• Teaching: especially for the first pada, where the Dhanu navamsa adds a wish to pass on principles.

With money, Krittika is usually disciplined and dislikes debt; the Vrishabha padas add a liking for quality that is worth paying for.

Relationships

In relationships Krittika is loyal, protective and honest. It shows love by guarding a partner's interests and by telling the truth, including truths that are uncomfortable to hear. The friction comes from delivery: a remark meant as help can land as a cut. Partners who are secure and plain-spoken suit it, and Krittika's own work is to lead with appreciation before correction.

Compatibility

The table scores Krittika against each birth star on the four kootas that come from the nakshatras.

• Tara (3 points) counts from one star to the other and back; in the site's method a pair scores 3 or 1.5, never zero. Krittika scores the full 3 with the stars of its own lord, the Sun, and of Venus and the Moon either side: Bharani, Krittika, Rohini, Purva Phalguni, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Purva Ashadha, Uttara Ashadha and Shravana.
• Yoni (4 points). Sheep with sheep (Krittika, Pushya) scores 4. Sheep with elephant, cow, buffalo or mongoose scores 3. Sheep and monkey (Purva Ashadha, Shravana) are a traditional enemy pair and score 0.
• Gana (6 points). Rakshasa with Rakshasa scores 6, Rakshasa with Deva 1, and Rakshasa with Manushya 0. Tradition reads the low scores as a difference of temperament, not a fault.
• Nadi (8 points). Krittika is Antya, so a partner whose star is also Antya (Krittika, Rohini, Ashlesha, Magha, Swati, Vishakha, Uttara Ashadha, Shravana or Revati) gives Nadi dosha. One exception some schools apply concerns Krittika directly: two Moons in the same nakshatra but different signs, which Krittika allows because it spans Mesha and Vrishabha. Schools differ on such exceptions.

These four are half of the eight kootas; the other four come from the Moon signs. The score compares two Moon positions and is never a verdict on two people. The matching lesson explains all eight.

Krittika in muhurta

Muhurta groups the nakshatras by character. Krittika is a mixed (mishra) nakshatra, with Vishakha. Mixed stars are chosen for everyday and routine work that suits neither a very soft nor a very fierce star, and tradition associates them especially with work involving fire: kindling a ritual fire, cooking, metalwork and similar crafts. Like every muhurta rule, the nakshatra is weighed with the tithi, the weekday and the chart of the moment. The muhurta lesson explains the everyday tables.

A worked example

Take a Moon at 8°20′ Vrishabha. This is an illustrative position, not a real person.

1. Nakshatra. Krittika runs from 26°40′ Mesha to 10° Vrishabha, so 8°20′ Vrishabha is in Krittika. The distance into the nakshatra is the 3°20′ it covers in Mesha plus 8°20′ in Vrishabha: 11°40′.
2. Pada. Each pada is 3°20′: pada 1 to 3°20′, pada 2 to 6°40′, pada 3 to 10°00′, pada 4 to 13°20′. 11°40′ falls in pada 4, which runs from 6°40′ to 10° Vrishabha.
3. Navamsa. Krittika's padas map to Dhanu, Makara, Kumbha and Meena, so pada 4 gives Meena navamsa.
4. Syllable. The fourth syllable of Krittika is E.
5. Dasha balance. 11°40′ is 700′ of 800′, so 0.875 of Krittika has been travelled. The balance is (1 − 0.875) × 6 = 0.125 × 6 = 0.75 years, nine months of the Sun's mahadasha at birth, followed by the Moon for 10 years and Mars for 7.

The reading: Krittika's clarity and standards, settled by a Vrishabha Moon that is in its moolatrikona range and so read as strong, with the Sun adding self-respect and a Meena navamsa adding compassion to the flame. The growth edge is Krittika's own: warmth in the delivery.

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