Krittika nakshatra: the Pleiades

Krittika is the Pleiades, the third nakshatra in today's count and the first in the Vedic lists. Its deity is Agni, the fire, its emblem a razor or a flame, and Surya, the Sun, is its lord; it spans the end of Mesha and the start of Vrishabha.

Meaning

Krittika is the Pleiades, the small bright cluster in Taurus, and the name is usually glossed "the cutters".

It holds a special place in the history of the lists. The Vedic texts begin the nakshatras with Krittika, not with Ashwini: the Taittiriya Samhita's list opens with the Krittikas and Agni. The later count from Ashwini follows the equal division of the circle from the start of Mesha.

Modern readings take the fire as the key: heat that purifies, sharp honesty, protectiveness, the ability to cut through what is false, and a temper that needs tempering. These are the tradition's associations, in modern books, not findings about people. Surya, the Sun, is its lord, with six years, the shortest of the nine periods.

Deity and emblem

Agni, the fire of the sacrifice, is Krittika's deity in the Taittiriya Samhita and today alike.

The modern emblem is a razor or a flame. Burgess and Whitney give the medieval figure as a razor and add that some authorities give a flame, so the modern pairing keeps both.

In the chart

Krittika runs from 26°40′ Mesha to 10°00′ Vrishabha of the sidereal zodiac, the third of 27 equal parts of 13°20′. It lies across two rashis: its first pada in Mesha and the rest in Vrishabha. Its four padas of 3°20′ fall in the navamsas of Dhanu, Makara, Kumbha and Meena, so a graha in its first pada stands in Dhanu in the D9.

Its Vimshottari lord is Surya, whose period is six years. When the Moon stands here at birth, the reckoning opens in Surya's period and counts only the part still to run, in proportion to the part of Krittika the Moon has yet to cross. In 2026 the same stretch of sky is about 20°53′ Taurus to 4°13′ Gemini in the tropical zodiac, by the Lahiri measure; another ayanamsa moves the edges, and a Moon or lagna within a few minutes of arc of an edge can fall in the neighbouring nakshatra in another tool.

Correspondences

Each item with how it stands: “sourced” is in the work cited, “our construction” is EsoTerrier’s own, and “disputed” means the sources disagree.

Deity, as used today: Agni, the fire sourced
Deity in the Taittiriya Samhita (iv.4.10): Agni sourced
Symbol, the modern tradition's: razor or flame sourced
Figure in the medieval lists (Burgess, 1860): a razor; by some a flame sourced
Themes in modern readings, our summary: heat that purifies, sharp honesty, protectiveness, a temper to be tempered our construction

How the schools read it

The Vedic lists (Taittiriya Samhita iv.4.10, Keith 1914): Agni, as today; the list begins here, with Krittika.
The medieval lists (Burgess and Whitney, 1860): The figure of the asterism: a razor; by some a flame, after the Ratnamala and the Muhurta Chintamani.
Modern Jyotisha: Heat that purifies, sharp honesty, protectiveness, a temper to be tempered; its symbol: razor or flame.
The 28-nakshatra scheme: Abhijit, in the stars of Lyra, stands between Uttara Ashadha and Shravana in the older lists; the equal division into 27 leaves it out.
Western sidereal (Fagan-Bradley): The same 27 divisions, about 0°53′ further on than Lahiri's; Western siderealists rarely use them.
EsoTerrier: Our chart's text for a Moon here: "Krittika is ruled by Surya and carries the purifying heat of Agni, able to cut through confusion like a blade. Its energy is sharp, honest and protective, and tempering that edge with kindness helps its truths be received." Our words.

Claims about it

Krittika's deity and symbol are one fixed set handed down from the Vedas.
disputed

What the record shows: The deity, Agni, is the same in the Taittiriya Samhita (iv.4.10) and today, but five other nakshatras have different deities in different Vedic lists. The symbol, razor or flame, is the modern tradition's; here it matches the figure of the medieval lists, a razor; by some a flame.
The nakshatra is a constellation, 13°20′ wide.
false

What the record shows: The nakshatras began as star groups of unequal size, 28 in the Atharvaveda with Abhijit. The equal division into 27 parts of 13°20′ is a later convention; the name points at stars, the division is arithmetic.

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Krittika, the Pleiades and the fire

Facts