Chitra चित्रा · pada 3 of 4
Chitra Pada 3 Baby Names — Ra (रा)
8 names with meanings for a child born with the Moon between Libra 0°00′ – 3°20′ — the third quarter of Chitra, whose syllable is Ra. Moon sign Libra, navamsa Libra.
- Pada
- third of four · Chitra is nakshatra 14 of 27
- Naming syllable
- Ra रा
- Span
- Libra 0°00′ – 3°20′ · 180°00′ – 183°20′ sidereal
- Moon sign
- Libra (Tula) — this nakshatra straddles a boundary, so the pada decides it
- Navamsa
- Libra (Tula) — the 1st navamsa from Libra · vargottama
- Names listed
- 4 boys' names, 4 girls' names
- Position in Libra
- the first of the sign’s nine pada syllables
- Nakshatra lord
- Mars · presiding deity Vishvakarma · symbol Bright jewel
Names beginning Ra for Chitra pada 3
Ra is what the third quarter of Chitra is assigned, and to no other pada of the 108. Any of the names below satisfies the rite for a birth between Libra 0°00′ – 3°20′, and the meaning matters as much as the sound: a name is used for a lifetime and the gloss is the part a child will be told.
Boys' names — 4
| Name | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Rahul | efficient, capable — also the Buddha's son |
| Rajat | silver |
| Raghav | of Raghu's line — Rama |
| Ranveer | a hero in battle |
Girls' names — 4
| Name | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Radha | prosperity — Krishna's beloved |
| Rashmi | a ray of light |
| Radhika | a name of Radha |
| Ragini | a melodic mode |
Where the Libra naming letters come from
A panchang prints nine syllables against Libra — Ra Ri Ru Re Ro Ta Ti Tu Te — usually with no explanation of why there are nine. They are the pada syllables that fall inside the sign. There are 108 padas and twelve signs, 108 divides by twelve exactly, and so every sign holds precisely nine padas with nothing left over. The rashi list and the pada syllable are not two competing traditions; the first is the second, collected by sign.
Chitra pada 3 is the first of the nine, contributing Ra at 180°00′ – 183°20′ sidereal. That is worth knowing if a family has been given the rashi list rather than the pada: any of the nine satisfies a Libra birth, so a family working from the list alone has nine usable syllables, while a pandit working from a birth time narrows it to the one this pada owns.
| # | Syllable | From | Names listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ra रा | Chitra pada 3 — this pada | 8 |
| 2 | Ri री | Chitra pada 4 | 6 |
| 3 | Ru रु | Swati pada 1 | 7 |
| 4 | Re रे | Swati pada 2 | 5 |
| 5 | Ro रो | Swati pada 3 | 5 |
| 6 | Ta टा / ता | Swati pada 4 | 8 |
| 7 | Ti टी / ती | Vishakha pada 1 | 4 |
| 8 | Tu टू / तू | Vishakha pada 2 | 5 |
| 9 | Te ते | Vishakha pada 3 | 3 |
Chitra crosses a sign boundary, so the pada decides the rashi
A nakshatra is 13°20′ and a sign is 30°, and neither divides the other, so nine of the 27 nakshatras have their padas split between two signs. Chitra is one of them: its four padas fall in Virgo for padas 1 to 2 and Libra for padas 3 to 4. Pada 3 is in Libra, which is why the nine-syllable list above is Libra’s and not the other sign’s.
The practical consequence is that two children born in Chitra a day or two apart can have different Moon signs — and therefore a different rashi letter list, a different monthly rashifal and a different set of substitutes if the syllable turns out to have no names. The nakshatra alone cannot tell you which; the pada can, and the pada needs the time and place of birth.
The other three padas of Chitra
A nakshatra is 13°20′ wide and a pada is a quarter of that, 3°20′ — so the third quarter of Chitra occupies Libra 0°00′ – 3°20′ and its other three sit either side of it. What the four share is Chitra itself: Mars as lord, Vishvakarma as presiding deity, the bright jewel as symbol, and a character read as beautiful, designing, magnetic. What separates them is the navamsa, the Moon sign — Chitra crosses a boundary — and, the naming syllable, which is Ra for pada 3 and Pe, Po and Ri for the others.
| Pada | Syllable | Moon sign | Navamsa | Names |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pada 1 | Pe पे | Virgo | Leo | none |
| Pada 2 | Po पो | Virgo | Virgo | none |
| Pada 3 — this page | Ra रा | Libra | Libra | 8 |
| Pada 4 | Ri री | Libra | Scorpio | 6 |
All four listed together, with the full name tables and the Chitra profile, are on the Chitra baby names page. The pada follows from the Moon’s exact longitude, so it needs the time and place of birth — the baby name finder resolves it from a birth date, and the Chitra pada 3 page covers what this quarter means beyond the name.
Chitra pada 3 — common questions
What letter should a Chitra pada 3 baby's name start with?
Ra, in Devanagari रा. That syllable belongs to the third pada of Chitra specifically, not to the whole nakshatra: each of the four padas carries a different one, and Chitra's other three are Pe for pada 1, Po for pada 2 and Ri for pada 4.
How many names begin with Ra?
8 names, 4 for boys and 4 for girls, each with its meaning — that is what Ra carries, and so what the third pada of Chitra offers. The count is uneven across the 108 padas by nature: the syllables come from dividing the zodiac, not from asking what Sanskrit allows at the start of a word, so Chitra pada 3 gets what Ra actually begins.
Which rashi is Chitra pada 3?
Libra — Tula, entered at 180°00′ – 183°20′ sidereal longitude. Only for this pada: Chitra is split across two signs, and pada 3 is the one that lands first in Libra. Ask for the rashi of Chitra without naming a pada and there is no single answer — Virgo for padas 1 to 2 and Libra for padas 3 to 4.
Are all nine Libra naming syllables different sounds?
Yes — Libra is one of the eleven signs whose nine padas give nine distinct spellings, so the syllable Ra is not duplicated anywhere else in Ra Ri Ru Re Ro Ta Ti Tu Te. That is not true of every sign: Sagittarius carries Dha twice, for the dental and retroflex forms, and yields eight spellings from its nine padas. Within Libra, Chitra pada 3 owns Ra outright.
Does the navamsa change the name for Chitra pada 3?
Not the syllable. The syllable comes from the pada, and for Chitra pada 3 it is Ra. The navamsa — Libra here, the 1st navamsa counted from Libra — is read for the child's temperament and for chart work rather than for the naming letter. This pada is vargottama: Libra in the rashi chart and Libra again in the navamsa, which is traditionally read as the sign's qualities doubling.
Naming a Chitra pada 3 child?
The syllable is fixed by the pada, but the namakaran itself is fixed by the chart and by the day — which is a reading rather than a table. Our pandits do both.