Pushya nakshatra

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The nature of Pushya

Pushya means “the nourisher”. Its symbol is a cow's udder, a source of milk for all. Brihaspati is the teacher of the gods and the embodiment of prayer. Saturn as ruler adds patience and steadiness. Together: a nakshatra of care, mentoring, tradition and honest work that feeds others.

Pushya lies wholly in Cancer, the Moon's sign and Jupiter's exaltation, which is one reason later muhurta traditions value it for many beginnings.

The Moon in Pushya

People with the Moon in Pushya are caring, responsible and dependable. They make good teachers, advisers and parents, and do well in social and spiritual organisations. Saturn makes them serious and sometimes too strict with themselves; they show their feelings sparingly. They need to make sure that caring for others does not crowd out caring for themselves.

The dasha sequence begins with Saturn (19 years), so childhood often comes with discipline and responsibility.

Emotionally, Pushya needs to be useful and to belong; it finds peace in caring for others. It may forget its own needs. What helps: routines of prayer or reflection, accepting help as well as giving it, and boundaries that keep care from becoming control. These are traditional tendencies, not a verdict; the full chart matters.

The four padas

Pada 1 (Leo navamsha, syllable Hu) is generous and dignified, often the head of a family or community. Pada 2 (Virgo, He) is careful and service-minded: medicine, accounting, practical help. Pada 3 (Libra, Ho) is diplomatic and social, good at mediating. Pada 4 (Scorpio, Da) is the deepest: research, spiritual practice, quiet strength.

All four padas lie in Cancer, the Moon's sign and Jupiter's exaltation; Jupiter's deepest exaltation point, 5°, falls in Pushya's first pada.

Pushya in the classical texts

The Taittiriya Brahmana gives Pushya (also called Tishya) to Brihaspati, the priest and teacher of the gods. Later authors read its gift (shakti) as the power of spiritual energy, brahmavarchasa. Brihat Samhita (chapter 98) counts Pushya among the light or swift (laghu, kshipra) nakshatras with Ashwini and Hasta, and muhurta tradition values it so highly that Pushya on a Thursday (Guru Pushya) or Sunday (Ravi Pushya) is treated as a special yoga for beginnings and purchases. In Vimshottari Pushya belongs to Saturn, so a Pushya Moon begins life in a nineteen-year Saturn period.

Some later muhurta traditions omit Pushya for weddings. This is a later custom, not a classification given in Brihat Samhita chapter 98.

Pushya in relationships

In relationships Pushya is caring, protective and dutiful; it shows love by providing and helping. Its risk is mothering a partner too much or taking responsibility that is not its own. A partner who appreciates care and gives warmth back keeps it happy.

For matching, Pushya is deva gana, sheep yoni and Madhya nadi. Its yoni twin is Krittika; the monkey (Purva Ashadha, Shravana) is the sheep's classical enemy. Two Madhya nadi charts lose the nadi points. The compatibility calculator gives any pair.

Work and strengths

Strengths: reliability, patience, care and respect for tradition. Good fields: teaching and mentoring, counselling, medicine and nursing, food and dairy, government and public service, banking, religious and charitable work.

Saturn gives discipline and stamina; Jupiter, the deity's planet, gives wisdom. Pushya builds slowly and lastingly; it does best in institutions that value loyalty.

What Pushya is good for

Pushya is a “swift” (kshipra) nakshatra, traditionally chosen for many beginnings, including study, trade and spiritual practice. Some later muhurta traditions omit it for weddings; this is a custom, not a rule stated in Brihat Samhita chapter 98.

The ascendant and planets in Pushya

An ascendant in Pushya gives a gentle, protective presence and a sense of duty. Jupiter in Pushya is in Cancer, its exaltation sign, and near its deepest point at 5°: wisdom, teaching and generosity at their fullest. The Moon here, in its own sign, nourishes others easily. Saturn in Pushya, in the nakshatra it rules, gives patient, serving strength. Mars in Pushya is debilitated in sign and works best through protection rather than conflict.

During Saturn's dasha Pushya's themes of service, tradition and steady responsibility come forward.

Remedies and practice

Pushya's practice is nourishing others. Tradition suggests honouring Brihaspati with a name mantra such as “Om Brihaspataye namah”, serving teachers and elders, and offering milk, rice or food to those in need. For the ruling graha, Saturn, and for Jupiter as the deity's planet, the classical mantras are on our mantras page. Many families start study, prayer or a savings habit on a Guru Pushya day. Pushya's own shadow is over-caring; leave others room to grow. A gemstone is a classical upaya too: the tradition chooses it from the whole chart (functional benefics, the running dasha), with mantra and charity as the foundation; practices are optional and do not guarantee outcomes. For context, see remedies (upayas).

Pushya: compatibility with every nakshatra

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See also

• Punarvasu
• Ashlesha
• Free Kundli (birth chart)
• Nakshatra calculator
• 36-guna compatibility
• Panchang

Positions and tables: sidereal zodiac, Lahiri ayanamsha — the same as professional Jyotish astrologers use, and the same calculation as the charts in JyotiSoft. Updated 2026-10-17.