An Article on Chitra Nakshatra by a Student

Chitra Nakshatra – Symbolic meaning and Esoteric interpretations


Out of the total 27 nakshatras, Chitra is 14th Nakshatra. So, there are 13 nakshatras before Chitra and 13 nakshatras after Chitra. So, it falls right in the middle of Nakshatra Scheme which gives it a quality of balance or equilibrium.


In Hasta, the previous Nakshatra, light craft like handicrafts is seen. In Chitra, however, crafts are taken to another level and perfection of form is achieved. Chitra is therefore associated with the final appearance and form of everything in nature. Its ruling deity as we shall learn, was even responsible for giving our Sun its final present-day form. It is up to Chitra to finally oversee how a thing should look, whether it be a galaxy or a small leaf.


Literal Meaning - Chitra literary means ‘portrait’. It is also known as the bright one, the dazzling one.

Chitra is also called the star of opportunity.


Extent - It extends from 23.20 degrees in Virgo to 06.40 degrees in Libra. It is equally divided between the two signs. The first 2 Padas are in the Virgo sign and the last 2 padas are in the Libra sign. The connection between Virgo and Libra creates a bridge between intellectualism and perfection on one side and compassion and harmony on the other.


Ruling Planet- Mars

With Mars ruling this nakshatra, they can be real fighters behind their shining charisma. Mars gives them the fortitude, will and courage to build something strong and lasting in their lives.

However, Mars does not share a very harmonious relationship with either Mercury or venus (ruler of Virgo part and Libra part of this Nakshatra), and this can lead to irritability inside, these people often have to go through many challenging and turbulent situations in their lives.


Deity- associated with this Nakshatra is the Tvastara who is also known as the Vishwakarma.

Vishwakarma is the celestial architect, a master craftsman who is said to have designed the weapons of the gods and built their cities and chariots. He is also said to be the master of Maya and Magic, the creative sculptor and the designer of the ornaments and protective armours of the Gods and the Goddesses.

i. Its magical association with work and craftsmanship of the highest order contributes to making it one of the most dynamic birth stars.

ii. It symbolizes immense creative potential in these individuals. Creating something beautiful out of one’s imagination and hard work combined. With Vishwakarma, the celestial architect being its deity, the ability to create beauty out of chaos or dullness as well as being chiselled to the point of perfection is the format of their life.

iii. Sometimes, too much desire for absolute beauty and perfectionism can cause them immense stress.

iv. Chitra dominant people have a love for arts and beautiful things. Vishwakarma was the ideal artist. They are known to have a huge love for everything beautiful, and all the pleasurable things in life. They like to create form, design and art. Their creativity needs to have a physical manifestation, it needs to be felt tangibly. They are also quite adept in various forms of arts such as painting, interior decoration, building, sculpting, fine arts, acting, theatrics.

v. Appearances matter a lot to Chita dominant people. Fashion, garments, designing, clothing, modelling are all Chitra areas of functioning. For these people, how things look, matter a lot. These people are very fond of bright colours, outside, in the world and in their closet too. They stand out from the crowd, wearing bright clothes or bright jewels.

vi. They can make anything look beautiful with the ornaments they make, arts and crafts that blend a knowledge of mathematics, good eye for design, and knowledge of aesthetics.

vii. Because one of the symbols is a gemstone, they love jewels, there is often some sparkle and shine about them.

viii. Because vision for them is their most dominant sense, they may have very beautiful eyes. They get inspired from what they see, they can be very visually oriented people. Chitra, if associated with the 5th house/9th house/its lord can make people do well in education when they understand things in a pictorial way, through diagrams and flowcharts.

ix. Tvastara is invoked when desiring offspring, hence, he is also called Garbha Pati or the lord of the womb. This can give Chitra dominant natives a love for Progeny and Children.

x. They may be blessed with prodigious progeny – children who are very creative and shine in their chosen fields. They also make for very dynamic parents due to the Martian influence. `

xi. They are makers of their own life. They do not depend on anyone to tell them what to do. They march at the beat of their own drum and create a life which they want to manifest in reality, and they often do it single-handedly. They are meant to live and design their lives with some degree of autonomy, using their own formulas. If their natural creative instincts are supressed, they may not be truly happy.

xii. You may never see a Chitra native sitting idle as they always want to do something, be creatively involved in something. They will either be doing their chores or their work without having the time to waste on useless things.

xiii. On the negative side, these natives may be self-indulgent and very desire driven.  They may even try to break rules to achieve their goals. The importance of living a beautiful life may be so overpowering that they might be less inclined to do what’s right.

xiv. Arrogance can be another major weakness. Others may perceive them as smug and shallow due to the extreme importance they give to appearances.


The Chitragupta Link

Some texts also mention that Chitra Nakshatra is linked to God Chitragupta, who is the record holder of all the deeds done by everyone, nothing is hidden from him. Therefore, Chitra dominant people love to know secrets, how much they can keep the secrets would depend on the dignity of the ruling planet, Mars.


Chitra Nakshatra- Chitta

Some texts also mention that Chitra is derived from the word Chitta. Chitta is the storehouse of our impressions and memories that the soul has been carrying with it through the numerous lifetimes.

Every thought, every word, every action of ours, keeps leaving a lasting impression and constantly moulds the Chitta. The seeds thus sown, keep lying dormant, waiting for the right fertile conditions, which may appear in the current lifetime or in the later lives. That is why at times, we are left wondering, why did this happen, we have never done anything to deserve so, the answer lies in the Chitta.

This association with Chitta gives Chitra prominent natives a deep desire to question things. They are the eternal truth seekers, searching for answers that lie within them only. And what lies within can only be sought in solitude and privacy, through deep introspection.

That is why Chitra is known as the solitary star.
Since it’s a considerable distance from and bright neighbouring stars, they call it “The Lonely One.”

However, this quest for truth and confrontation with truth is not an easy process. It comes with a lot of pain. This makes Chitra dominant natives opt for the righteous path in life, and taking the honest road, especially after the 30s, when Mars matures. Their truthful Honest, in your face and upfront nature often makes them disliked by many, especially those in positions of power and authority.


Mythological Story -

After Sandhya, the wife of God Sun ran away from him, not being able to bear his heat and fire, Vishwakarma, the Father in Law of the Sun, cut off pieces of the Sun so he did not shine as harshly to accommodate the wishes of his daughter. He used those pieces from Sun to work his creative magic.

Here, the heat and the fire of the sun represents the ego of an individual. Vishwakarma cutting the sun’s rays indicates that life may bring on situations where the individual’s ego may be hurt.

Sometimes if associated with Venus, the planet of relationships or with 7th lord or with the Dara karaka, this story manifests as is, where the girl leaves the boy due to ego tussles in the relationship.

Venus, the karaka of relationships in general and the significator of wife in a man’s chart is therefore debilitated in Chitra Nakshatra, in the Virgo part at 27 degrees.

The story of Vishwakarma cutting the rays of the Sun indicates that they may be good with editing or analytical work. This will be more valid if someone has planets in Chitra in Virgo section as Virgo itself is the sign of analysis. Also, as Vishwakarma counselled Sun with regards to his relationship with Sandhya, in the libra section these people can be good diplomats, peacemakers and relationship counsellors.


Spica

Chitra corresponds to Spica star in the western astrology. It is known as the brightest star, the most fortunate star of the heaven and the star of Harvest.

As the star of the grain harvest, it is the provider of our material needs. But we will only reap what we have sown.

Spica also brings spiritual and religious qualities, these native can do quite well in these fields. They typically have heightened psychic awareness, especially if the more personal planets like sun(soul) moon(mind) or ascendant(overall life) are with Spica.


Symbol - Pearl/Jewel/Gemstones

Chitra Nakshatra is referred to as the Nakshatra of prosperity and abundance.

Like the gemstones are formed after passing through the intense pressure and extreme heat, likewise, these natives need to face turbulent times in their lives, through which they come out in their truest shining glory.

Pearls are formed when oysters are irritated by the grains of sand, similarly, external irritations lead these people to explore their hidden potential to evolve into the more precious forms.

Like a pearl is formed in the discreet environment of a sea shell over the span of many years, these people are very happy in their own closed knit environment, until outside pressures come and then they have to modify themselves to tackle those situations and those pressure situations ultimately turning them into something beautiful.

For example, 7th lord being in Chitra- you shall see a lot of difficult situations in your relationship lives which will hurt your ego and will make you look within and will ultimately carve the beauty of your soul.

10th Lord being in Chitra, you may be sent to a difficult terrain to work, or may be given a new project that needs a lot of work from the scratch but those challenges eventually make you think of creative solutions and that is what leads to your growth.

But this, formation of a pearl is a slow process, needs a lot of patience and perseverance, and ultimately leads to the shining purity being developed from impure situations.


Animal Symbol

Female Tiger is the animal associated with this nakshatra. Royal and elegant in appearance, they can be very ruthless and fierce when they want something. They can have enormous determination and can be very focussed on their goal. They are also very competitive.

Chitra, the tigress and Vishakha, the male tiger is said to be the best compatible as far mental and sexual compatibility goes.

Shakti - Punya Chayani Shakti, The Power to Accumulate Good Karma or Merit in Life.

As we work on countering the Tamasic Forces within us, and we motivate ourselves to choose the more Sattvic path, we accumulate for ourselves, better Gunas for the times to come.


Gana – Rakshasa Gana

Rakshasa Gana constitutes of people with a heightened sense of intuition, they pick up on energies very quickly and understand if there is any negativity present around them. They may have aggressive tendencies and are ready to plunge into a fight whenever needed.


Guna – Tamasic

Chitra is said to be the most tamasic of all the 27 nakshatras.
There is a tendency towards overindulgences and being too consumed by beauty and luxuries. At times, they could also be unethical, arrogant and ego-centric.

Also, because it takes a pretty strong will to push against the accumulated natures of habit built over the lifetimes. Their certain habits, may not correspond with their otherwise persona in this lifetime, these may be store housed in their “chitta” and they need to work very hard to grow over and above them. The resistance is too strong, that is why this is a very Tamasic Nakshatra.


Padas

The first 2 padas, that lie in the Virgo part, combine the energy of Mercury and Mars and make them very intelligent and forceful orators. The last 2 padas, that lie in Libra Section, combine the energy of Venus and Mars and make them very beautiful and attractive. The Virgo part of Chitra will create the technological gadget and the Libra part will give it an outer form or aesthetic appeal. On a higher plane it is the Virgo part of Chitra that tries to understand the inner workings of the universe, whereas the Libra part can tend to keep one trapped in the Maya aspect rather than going beyond it.

1st pada- When the native is born in Chitra nakshatra, between 23 degrees 20 minutes to 26 degrees 40 minutes of Virgo, they are in the first pada of Chitra Nakshatra.  The first pada is ruled by Sun (Leo Navamsa).  Those born in the first pada will be natural leaders, will have great inner power and physically attractive. They may have good self-control and may be authoritative, straightforward and dictating.


2nd pada - When the native is born in Chitra nakshatra, between 26 degrees 40 minutes to 30 degrees of Virgo, they are in the second pada of Chitra nakshatra.  The second pada is ruled by Mercury (Virgo Navamsa). Those born in second pada of Chitra nakshatra will have good intellectual abilities with very fertile imagination.  They may be a linguist and a good orator. It is in this pada that Venus is in its deepest debilitation and thus relationship life may be difficult.


3rd pada - When the native is born in Chitra nakshatra, between 0 degrees to 3 degree 20 minutes of libra, they are in the third pada of Chitra nakshatra.  The third pada is ruled by Venus (Libra Navamsa). Those born in the third pada will be courageous and will do the right things. They are usually patient with great confidence and may like to live a lavish lifestyle and be surrounded by beautiful things.

4th pada - When the native is born in Chitra nakshatra between 3 degrees 20 minutes to 6 degrees 40 minutes, they are in fourth pada of Chitra nakshatra, ruled by Mars (Scorpio Navamsa). Those born in the fourth pada will be temperamental, easily agitated and unpredictable. They boldly do things even if they are illegal/immoral.  They may be secretive, sensual, emotional and sensitive. 


Careers

Skill and imagination come together in Chitra making them good at all kinds of design, dance, choreography, music, languages, magic, illusion. They are versatile geniuses, good with their hands, capable of using most tools, making beautiful arrangements that catch the eye. This might include industrial design, drafting, construction, stone carving, jewellery making, 


Conclusion –

Chitra teaches us to take the responsibility of everything we create, every thought, word and action done by a us is a building block of the reality we create for us. The architect energy of Chitra inspires us to create with awareness and Consciousness.

Positives - Creativity, artistic skills, willpower, confidence, honesty, charm and Charisma

Negatives - Uncontrolled desires, greed, egocentrism and arrogance, I am the doer

Lessons – Create beauty from the chaos and turn the irritating grains of sand into the precious pearls. Learn the lesson of humility. You may be the creator, but it is only due to the universal will. Be humble and surrender all your actions to the divine will.

-----------------------------------------------

Very well written. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.