Saturn Transit in Purva Bhadrapada

Purva Bhadrapada belongs to Jupiter, neutral toward Saturn. Its deity is Aja Ekapada, the one-footed, counted among the Rudras in some lists, and its symbols are the front legs of a funeral cot and a sword. Three padas lie in Aquarius, Saturn's own sign, and the fourth in Pisces, the sign of Jupiter.

Austerity, intensity, penance, the fire that burns impurity and the passage from the ordinary to the ascetic are the themes. Saturn agrees with austerity. A vow of tapas holds for the length of the stay, an expense is cut, and a difficulty draws the person toward practice. The feet, the ankles and the liver need care, and anger turned inward shows in the body.

A single visit runs about four months, and the retrograde usually brings Saturn back for a second or third stay, filling about a year in all. Muhurta Chintamani counts the nakshatra among the fierce ones. The Pisces pada at the end is the softer part, where the sword is put down.

• Aquarius padas: Sade Sati for Pisces, Aquarius and Capricorn Moons; Kantaka for Scorpio; Ashtama for Cancer.
• Pisces pada: Sade Sati for Aries, Pisces and Aquarius Moons; Kantaka for Sagittarius; Ashtama for Leo.
• Favourable by Phaladeepika: Sagittarius, Virgo and Aries Moons and lagnas in Aquarius, then Capricorn, Libra and Taurus in Pisces.

The matter here is heat, and where a person directs it. Intensity turned on one's own impurities is tapas, and then the stay passes as a gift.

The remedy is a chosen austerity, kept quietly: a fast on Saturday, a fixed hour of japa, or a month without a favourite comfort. Give sesame oil on Saturday, recite Om Sham Shanaishcharaya Namah, and honour the guru on Thursday for Jupiter. Water offered to Shiva at dawn suits the deity.