Nakshatra Devata III

7. Punarvasu

Punarvasu means rejuvenation. The word Punarvasu is a combination of two words Punah and Vasu. Puna means again and vasu means auspiciousness and enlightenment. In the context of nakshatra this means restoration of dharma and auspiciousness, rejuvenation, restarting the creative process and anything which follows after the destruction process. In the garland of nakshatra, this falls after the terrible Ardra and hence relates to the phase that comes after any destruction. To understand the meaning of this stage in the cycle of creation and destruction, imagine of a wild fire which burnt down an entire forest and that follows with rain and sprouting of new saplings in the blank ground. This is indicative of the feminine motherly forces which causes the creation to occur and prosper and that is why this nakshatra is ruled by Aditi, the mother of the eight vasus.

To understand the real purport of this nakshatra we need to have the understanding of the asta vasus or the eight factors of creation. It is not possible to describe the Vasus in a short article like this, hence I will try to provide the gist of what are they. They are Agni (fiery element), Apas (watery element), Dhruba (the pole-star), Soma (the nectar for rejuvination or creating), Dharma (the laws governing creation), Anila (air), Patyusha (dawn) and Prabhasa (day/ brilliance/ radiance). Among the vasus, the primordial elements fire and water ignites the process of creation. The creative forces can be represented in the form of igniting the fire of live in the water which nourishes it and air which supports its growth. From a different perspective fire is the soul, water is the body and air is the intelligence, the three components necessary for the creation to begin and sustain. Dharma on the other hand represents the law governing the creation and gives a purpose for the creation to happen. Pratyusha signify the mingling of fire with water without which the creation cannot happen due to the inimical nature of fire and water. Here fire signifies day which comes out of night signified by water. In other terms this can also be seen as new beginning (day) after destruction (night). Prabhasa signify the process of increase in brilliance of the creation, which means that creation is not a static thing but a process in which the new life materializes and grows bigger and stronger.

The first and foremost signification of this nakshatra is harmony without which creation would never happen and thus the natives born under this star have a harmonious outlook towards life. They love nature and has a strong drive to live harmoniously it and everyone else. They represent illumination in the world of darkness and are often visionaries and innovators. They think of ahead of their time and think of ways in which the world can be enriched. The creative potential of the nakshatra is imbibed in the natives of this nakshatra and prod them to think of ways in which the world including all manifested and un-manifested being can live in harmony and they often come out of ways in which things can be made better. Due to the influence of the vasus and the mother of the Adityas, Aditi, they are virtuous and represent gratitude, generosity and magnanimity, charity, purity and beauty. They are caring, loving and nurturing due their motherly nature.

Due to the abundance of creative forces they have great optimism and energy. Most often they look into the positive side of things and give encouragement to others in the times of crisis to look at the brighter side. Many times this also translates into their involvement in social and charitable work. They are very open minded and are receptive to diverse range of thoughts and ideas. This also make them free thinker, without any binding and hang-ups with any specific school of thought, culture and religion. They embrace diversity and are extremely tolerant towards other cultures, thoughts and ideas. Their open mindedness makes them multicultural and proficient in handling diverse subjects. It may seem to be contradicting; in spite of their open mindedness, they value their own roots, culture and tradition but are not completely orthodox. Due to this many times they have to struggle internally to reconcile between their own cultures and others, if they are not aligned. They like to study their own spiritual, religious, cultural and philosophical text as well as others. They not only like to understand these text but also like engage in lively debates related to them, not to undermine and criticize others, but to understand the relative merit of one above others and the common thread passing through various cultures and traditions. They love freedom in every sense, not only in thought but also in action. Thus if they encounter situation of social, cultural or any other form of restriction or oppression, they stand against it. They are undaunted by failure and their ability to fight against odds and adversities are amazing. This makes them to spring into action no matter how many times they fail and how many odds they have to face, the only condition being, they need a firm conviction on the cause for which they are putting the fight.

They are spiritual and philosophical being born under the nakshatra of Aditi, the mother of the Adityas (the spiritual principles as opposed to the Daityas, meaning material principles). Thus they are not attracted too much by the material prospects and endeavor to go deeper into purpose and objectives of a matter. They are open in terms of sharing their views and are quite straight forward. They shun diplomacy and have a strong need to have relationships which stand on the ground of trust and truthfulness. Since the matters of this world are not always straight, they are likely to get into troubles, where certain amount of diplomacy or political acumen is needed. Due to their lack of inclination towards materialistic pursuits, they are known to be contended with less and live a simple life. They have a strong need to get attention from people of their communities which on many instances translates into an urge towards pomp and glory. Many times they seem to sacrifice their other personal needs to get public attention and affiliation.

They are usually happy-go-lucky kind and like to mingle a lot with others, which makes them having big circle of friends. Due to their nature of giving comfort, hope and optimism to others, they attract others quite easily. People tend to flock around these natives, in the world full of misery and hopelessness. This makes these natives visible and popular in their community and often gives them fame and honor. People love and respect them and are happy to follow their path. Thus, this makes these natives natural charismatic leaders; leaders who do not crave for power but are driven by a genuine sense of well-being for their subjects.

They are quite fair in their outlook and abhor injustice and falsehood. This makes they stand against the oppressors and fight for the cause of others and social justice. Due to this nature, they can be a social or political activist fighting against social and political oppression and thus also have potential for getting victimized. It is thus possible to find people of this nakshatra in areas of human and animal rights, those who are working for freedom of a community, country or anything else such as freedom of press. They have ideals and principles which they value more than their life. Thus they can choose to become martyr if they find a proper cause to fight for it.

Due to their creative potentials they are drawn towards professions which promotes creativity such as acting, writing, advertising and design and various other media. They are also drawn towards medical sciences due to their inclination to help and heal others. They however like to be in the field of holistic and natural medicine which deals with overall harmony of someone with the nature. Their lack of political acumen and straightforwardness is not very conducive to rise beyond a position in career hierarchy, however, they are known for their truthfulness and other virtues. Due to their innocence, they can be bullied by others and they much learn to manage difficult situation in the workplace where things do not happen the way it should. His straight forwardness often leads to having friction with colleagues, friends and family members. This becomes the major source of mental agony for these natives.

Health wise, they have a strong sense of personal hygiene and hence they do not fall sick too often. Even if they fall sick they recover fast, but they get overly concerned about their health at times.

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8. Pushya

Pushya means something that can nourish. The position of this nakshatra in the nakshatra mandala after Punarvasu suggests something which can sustain the creation that happened in the previous nakshatra. While Punarvasu is known for the creative potencies, this nakshatra is known for sustenance and growth. This is ruled by Brihaspati, the preceptor of the adityas (the virtuous and spiritual ones) and is also known as Jiva or the life force (or pranic energies). The sum-total of all the energies for this nakshatra is to live a fulfilling life.

Unlike creation, which requires creation of new things, sustenance requires establishment of what is created. Sustenance also implies establishing standards and processes and requires that the beings of the creation follow them, without which the nature will be chaotic and lack sustainability. The potencies to follow established laws and governance make the natives of the nakshatra obedient to the law of the land.

Like Brihaspati, these natives are also driven by a sense of sharing their knowledge and teaching others. Needless to say this need to teach makes them learn and master varied disciplines. They are thus multifaceted and are eloquent speakers of multiple disciplines. They make good teachers as they have a strong sense of the need of his students and what needs to be taught to fulfill their needs. What makes them unique however is their capacity to draw knowledge from multiple disciplines to make their point and enriching what they teach. Although this is generally a positive trait of these natives, it can also negatively manifest as arrogance and snobbishness. They often have a sense of superiority of their knowledge over others and at time they become condescending. They often fall prey to a teacher student relationship in placed where it is not warranted such as marital relationship and friendship etc. Needless to say that they are inclined towards profession which involves teaching such as teachers, professors, preachers etc.

Nevertheless, they are respected for their knowledge and understanding and often take the role of advisors to influential people. Their understanding of vision and strategy can also make them seek professions such as strategy consulting or advisory services. It is good to have natives of this nakshatra in key planning and policy making positions of a state. Due to their allegiance to the state law, they are extremely intolerant towards any violations and if they become judge, they are utterly ruthless in giving punishments. They do not judge if certain laws are in favor of the people of the land and often go by what is established. While this is good in places where the laws are rightful, however, in places where it is not these natives become the ruthless executioners of the law without question.

The abundance of spiritual energy of Brihaspati makes them spiritual and philosophers like the natives of Punarvasu. However, unlike the natives of Punarvasu, who try to understand the philosophies related to creation, these natives try to understand how to enrich people's life. This makes them good in understanding the underlying philosophies of economics and politics. As a spiritual teacher they are known for their ability to understand complex doctrines and more than that their ability to explain that to lay man. Since they like to stick to the established practices, they are dogmatic and would praise their culture, tradition and religion over others. This also makes them lesser adaptive to newer thoughts and ideas and they are not inclined towards any breakthrough innovations. They can however, be interested in incremental innovation to make established things better. Their dogmatism and strong allegiance to their own culture and religion can also manifest in terms of fundamentalism and victimization of minorities.

Their hard work, patience and intellect can take them quite far in their career and they can easily rise to the top management. However, due to their affiliations to established rules and regulations, they are lesser adaptive to the fast changing socio-political, environmental and market conditions. They need to learn to be more receptive and adaptive to new thoughts and ideas. Although, that is quite unsettling to these natives, they can eventually adapt to that. Due to the influences of Jupiter such natives are charitable and get engaged in various humanitarian activities. They are deeply empathetic towards the underprivileged and try to uplift their life through various means. They are emotional and sensitive and hence are moved by the misery and sorrow in the world.

Although they are spiritual and philosophical they are still attracted by wealth and opulence. Thus they are engaged in various material pursuits and eventually succeed to attain that due to their hard work, intelligence and their ability to influence people. However due to their charitable attitude they share their wealth for various social causes. As the nakshatra suggests, they like to nourish and feed the society not only with thoughts by also with other material means such as food programs for orphanages etc.

They have strong need of social affiliation and they thrive in company of others. Due to this need, they are overly concerned about their public image and are ever engaged in the pursuit of developing a positive image. In a way, their self image and self confidence is directly linked to their public image. Thus if their image is hurt, they can be shattered. Their sensitivity towards their public image makes them vulnerable which can be exploited by people.

As the nakshatra name suggests they love to eat to the extent of becoming overweight and obese. They can suffer with diseased which happens due to abundance such as cholesterol and heart troubles, diabetes and at times hormonal deficiencies. They have a strong digestive system which makes them hungry quite often. They should however be mindful of what they are eating and should exercise caution while eating junk and high calorie foods.

Om Tat Sat