Nakshatra 8 of 27
Pushyaపుష్యమి
The most auspicious of the twenty-seven — nourishment itself.
- Ruling planet
- Saturn
- Deity
- Brihaspati, preceptor of the gods
- Symbol
- A cow's udder, a lotus, an arrow
- Gana
- Deva (divine)
- Nature
- Kshipra — light and swift
- Sidereal span
- Karka 3° 20′ – 16° 40′
About Pushya
Pushya is held to be the most benefic nakshatra in the entire zodiac, so much so that classical texts say a good act begun under Pushya needs no further muhurta. The name means 'nourished'. Its symbol is the cow's udder — sustenance freely given — and its deity is Brihaspati, the guru of the gods. Under Saturn's lordship it adds discipline to that generosity: this is nourishment with structure, care that also teaches. Guru Pushya yoga, when Pushya falls on a Thursday, is considered especially fortunate.
What it traditionally favours
Almost everything: spiritual initiation, education, starting a business, buying gold, charitable work. The single exception in tradition is marriage.
The four padas
Every nakshatra is divided into four quarters called padas, each three degrees twenty minutes wide. The pada refines the reading: two people born under the same nakshatra but in different padas are held to differ meaningfully, because each pada falls in a different navamsa and so carries a different sub-influence.
The pada also decides the first syllable of a child's name. Where the moon stood at birth gives the nakshatra; which quarter of it gives the syllable. The four syllables below are in pada order — a child born in the first pada takes the first, and so on. This is the naming convention used at namakaranam across most of southern India.
- 1Hu3° 20′ →
- 2He6° 40′ →
- 3Ho10° 00′ →
- 4Da13° 20′ →