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Citrā चित्रा
“the brilliant one”
23°20′ Kanyā — 6°40′ Tulā
Vimśottarī lord: Maṅgala · 7 years of daśā Presiding devatā: Tvaṣṭṛ
At a glance
| Field | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Span | 23°20′ Kanyā — 6°40′ Tulā | arithmetic — 13°20′ from the start of Meṣa |
| Rāśi | Kanyā · Tulā Rāśi lord: Budha · Śukra | arithmetic — read off the span above |
| Vimśottarī lord | Maṅgala मंगल 7 years of daśā | the standard Vimśottarī sequence |
| Presiding devatā | Tvaṣṭṛ त्वष्टृ Tvaṣṭṛ, the celestial artificer | Bṛhat Saṁhitā 97.4 |
| Gaṇa | Rākṣasa | Kālaprakāśikā ch. XIII, through the milan tables |
| Yoni | Vyāghra tiger | Kālaprakāśikā ch. XIII, through the milan tables |
| Nāḍī | Madhya मध्य | from the milan tables — traditional, not traced to a classical verse |
| Varṇa | Sevā-jana the serving class | Bṛhat Saṁhitā 15.30 |
| Karma-guṇa | Mṛdu soft Fit for: love-rites, clothing and ornaments, auspicious ceremonies, and singing — beneficial for friendship’s sake. | Bṛhat Saṁhitā 97.10 |
| Kūrma-cakra direction | South | Bṛhat Saṁhitā 14.11 |
| Symbol | a bright jewel, or a pearl | traditional — not traced to a verse |
| Stars | Spica | traditional — not traced to a verse |
The character of the native
What the text says of a person born when the Moon stands in this asterism. This is the verse itself, not a paraphrase of it.
A wearer of colourful garments and garlands, with beautiful eyes and limbs.
The persons and things it rules
Which people, animals, places, trades and goods fall under this asterism — the list a mundane or praśna reading works from.
Ornaments, gems, dyes, writing, gandharvas, those skilled in perfumery; those adept in mathematics, weavers, oculists; and royal grains.
The four pādas
Each nakṣatra divides into four quarters of 3°20′. The quarter the Moon occupies fixes the navāṁśa sign — the divisional chart a reading leans on second only to the rāśi — and, by tradition, the syllable a child is named from. These are arithmetic: the 4 × 27 quarters run one navāṁśa each, in order, right around the zodiac.
| Pāda | Degrees | Navāṁśa | Navāṁśa lord | Nāmākṣara |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23°20′ Kanyā — 26°40′ Kanyā | Siṃha | Sūrya | Pe |
| 2 | 26°40′ Kanyā — 30° Kanyā | Kanyā | Budha | Po |
| 3 | 0° Tulā — 3°20′ Tulā | Tulā | Śukra | Rā |
| 4 | 3°20′ Tulā — 6°40′ Tulā | Vṛścika | Maṅgala | Rī |
arithmetic — pāda k of nakṣatra i takes navāṁśa (4i + k)
Devatā, the character of the native, the persons and things of each asterism, the varṇa grouping, the karma-guṇa classes and the kūrma-cakra direction are all read from Bṛhat Saṁhitā — chapters 14, 15, 97 and 100 — as carried verse by verse in this site’s own library, and every one of them links to its verse. Vimśottarī lords are the standard sequence; gaṇa, yoni and nāḍī come from the milan tables with their own citations. Spans, rāśis, pādas and navāṁśas are arithmetic, not doctrine. The symbol, the star identification and the nāmākṣara syllables are traditional pañcāṅga material that Horā has not traced to a classical verse — they say so on their own rows. Nothing here is invented to fill a gap.