Nakshatra 3 of 27
Krittika
कृत्तिकाSharp, purifying and direct — fire that cuts away what is false.
The essentials
- Presiding deity
- Agni
- Symbol
- A razor, or a flame
- Ruling planet
- Sun — a 6-year Vimshottari mahadasha
- Career associations
- Surgery, the military, cooking and metallurgy, criticism and editing, teaching.
- Naming syllables
- A, Ee, U, Ae — one per pada, in order
Born under Krittika
Personality
People born with the Moon in Krittika present a sharp, commanding presence shaped by their presiding deity, Agni, and their lord, the Sun. Symbolized by the razor and the flame, they cut through pretension and speak with direct, unvarnished honesty that can intimidate softer temperaments. Their Rakshasa gana gives them a fierce, uncompromising edge, while the transition from Mesh to Vrishabh blends fiery impulse with resolute, unyielding persistence.
Strengths
Their primary strength lies in their power of purification and discrimination, allowing them to burn away falsehoods and focus purely on essential truths. Under the Sun's governance, they possess high integrity, sharp intellect, and the courage to stand firmly by their principles regardless of opposition.
Challenges
The sharp razor symbol often manifests as a harsh tongue, severe criticalness, and a tendency to inflict emotional wounds during arguments. Their intense fiery energy can degenerate into destructive anger, impatience, and an inflexible stubbornness that pushes people away.
Work and career
Classically suited for roles requiring precision, cutting, or the transformative power of fire, Krittika natives excel as surgeons, chefs, military officers, and judges. The solar lordship and Vaishya varna also direct them toward positions of executive management, law enforcement, and industries involving metals or fire.
Love and relationships
In personal bonds, Krittika seeks a partner who offers absolute loyalty and can withstand their intense, direct emotional delivery. They protect those they love fiercely, but their companion must be resilient enough not to take their blunt criticisms or sudden outbursts personally.
Written from the classical attributes shown on this page — the ruling planet, the element, the nakshatra scheme — and checked against them before publishing. It describes the traditional reading of this nakshatra, not a prediction about you.
The four padas
Each nakshatra divides into four padas of 3°20′. A pada is exactly one navamsa (D9) division, so each one carries a second sign alongside the nakshatra’s own — and the traditional first syllable of a child born under it.
In matchmaking (Guna Milan)
Ashtakoota matchmaking scores 36 points across eight kootas, and six of them are read straight off the birth nakshatra. These are Krittika’s.
- Gana
- Rakshasa — temperament. Same gana scores all 6 points; Deva with Rakshasa scores 1.
- Yoni
- Sheep — physical affinity. The same yoni scores 4; a natural enemy scores 0.
- Nadi
- Antya — the 8-point koota. A partner with the same nadi scores zero (Nadi dosha), so this one field decides nearly a quarter of the total.
- Varna
- Vaishya — worth 1 point.
- Vashya
- Chatuspada — mutual influence, worth 2 points.
- Tara
- Counted by distance between the two nakshatras, so it depends on both charts.
Naming a Krittika baby
The namakarana tradition takes the child’s first syllable from the pada the Moon occupied at birth — so a Krittika child born in pada 1 is named from A, pada 4 from Ae. You need the exact birth time to know which pada.