Mars Transit in Punarvasu

Punarvasu is Jupiter's nakshatra. Aditi, mother of the gods, is its deity, and a bow and quiver its symbol. Three padas lie in Gemini and the fourth in Cancer, the sign of Mars's debilitation. Jupiter is Mars's friend, which softens the enemy sign and the fall that follows it.

A stay lasts a little over three weeks, and close to three months when a retrograde loop falls here. Punarvasu means the return of light. Recovery, restoration, second chances and renewed effort after failure are the themes, and Mars rebuilds: repairs to a house, the return of a brother, a project taken up again.

The bow and quiver stand for readiness. Mars gathers strength in the Gemini padas and finds it hard to use in the Cancer pada, where emotion clouds action. Anger at home is the fourth pada's particular problem.

From the Moon, Aries, Capricorn and Leo gain during the Gemini padas, with Mars in the third, sixth and eleventh. In the Cancer pada, Taurus, Aquarius and Virgo take those places. Phaladeepika counts these three houses as favourable for Mars, from the Moon and from the lagna alike. Gemini and Cancer Moons carry the graha over the self and feel the restlessness directly.

The matter here is how a person recovers. A retrograde makes the lesson long, since what was abandoned in haste has to be picked up again with care, and the habit of quitting, or of never stopping, is seen and can be corrected.

Aditi is honoured by kindness to one's mother and by feeding children. Hanuman on Tuesday, Om Angarakaya Namah and the dana of red lentils or copper are Parashara's remedies for Mars. Finish one old task before beginning a new one.