Pushya Nakshatra (पुष्य)

Pushya belongs to Brihaspati, the teacher and priest of the gods, and its symbol is a cow’s udder. It is considered the most auspicious nakshatra of all for beginning things, and Pushya days are still chosen across India for buying gold and starting ventures.

Your janma (birth) nakshatra is the one the Moon occupied when you were born. It is read as the clearest picture of the mind and temperament. When the Moon is in Pushya:

Nurturing and dutiful, you are a pillar of your family and community: you protect, provide and teach. Its fruit is steady, dependable goodness.

Pushya natives are caring, dutiful and protective. They feed and support others, keep traditions, and are trusted for their reliability. They respect learning and order, and they work hard without needing to be noticed, though they can become rigid or overprotective.

The nakshatra is one layer of a chart. The sign the Moon is in, the planets aspecting it and the rest of the chart all change how these traits show.

Teaching, religion, counselling, food and dairy, childcare, government service, and charitable work.

Devoted and nurturing, with a strong sense of family duty. They show love by looking after people.

Each nakshatra is divided into four padas (quarters) of 3°20′. Each pada falls in a navamsa sign, which colours the nakshatra with that sign's temperament. This is why two people born in the same nakshatra can read quite differently.

In the naming tradition (namakarana) followed across India and Nepal, a child's name begins with the syllable of the pada the Moon occupied at birth. For Pushya the four syllables are:

You need the pada, not just the nakshatra, so the birth time matters. A few panchangs differ by a syllable, so families often follow the one their priest uses. Find the nakshatra and pada for a birth.

The average guna milan score between Pushya and each other nakshatra, taken over every Moon position in both and counted either way round. A real match depends on the exact padas and on who is the bride, so use these as a guide and check the exact pair.

The Vimshottari dasha, the most widely used timing system in Vedic astrology, starts from the Moon's nakshatra. If you were born with the Moon in Pushya, your first mahadasha is Saturn's, which lasts 19 years in full. Only the part the Moon had not yet travelled through Pushya remains at birth: a Moon early in the nakshatra leaves most of the period to run, and a Moon near its end leaves little.

Calculate your own dasha periods with exact dates, down to the prana dasha.

Deva gana, the "divine" temperament: gentle, idealistic and generous by nature.

Its yoni, the animal that stands for a nakshatra's instinctive nature, is the sheep. Both gana and yoni are among the eight factors (kootas) compared in traditional kundli matching. Pushya shares the sheep yoni with Krittika, the best yoni match. Its sworn enemy is the monkey, the yoni of Purva Ashadha and Shravana, which scores no yoni points in matching.

In muhurta, the choosing of auspicious times, Pushya is classed as swift (kshipra): favoured for quick undertakings, trade, learning, medicine and short journeys.