Swati is the fifteenth, ruled by Rahu, its symbol a young shoot standing alone in the wind (also coral), its deity Vāyu, god of wind. The name carries 'independent, self-going'.
Mechanically Rahu goes outward into the unfamiliar; Vāyu moves without occupying. The image of grass in wind is exact: it bends very low and doesn't break — because it isn't rigid, and because its roots are its own single clump. So this nakshatra is about independence and resilience: held up not by structure but by an ability to bend; and about trade and circulation too (wind carries things about), which is why the tradition puts commerce and diplomacy here.
Where you'll recognise it: dislike of being tied, high adaptability, self-reliance, more sensitivity to freedom than to safety, ease at moving between people, and difficulty staying where staying is required. Running well, you're the freest and toughest: not crushable, able to move, able to grow something in any environment. Stuck, you drift — refusing to root, independence turned into keeping everyone at arm's length, or the wind dropping and no reason left to stay. Chitra before it is the jewel; Vishakha after it the triumphal arch: after a round of drifting comes a goal worth stopping for.
