Sun Transit in Punarvasu

Punarvasu is the bow and quiver, ruled by Jupiter, with Aditi as its deity. Three padas lie in Gemini and the fourth in Cancer, and the Sun's entry into Cancer is Karka Sankranti, the start of Dakshinayana. Jupiter is the Sun's friend. So is the Moon, lord of Cancer.

Aditi is the mother of the Adityas, and here the Sun returns to its mother.

The stay is about two weeks. Punarvasu restores what was lost, whether a post, a friendship with the father, health after a fever or a name after a scandal. Government matters delayed since the summer move again. The Sun's heat is gentle, and the eyes and the heart recover.

The half-year of the Sun's southern course opens in this nakshatra, and tradition treats Dakshinayana as the night of the devas and a time for inner work. Whatever the Sun begins in Punarvasu is meant to be carried inward across the coming months.

In the Gemini padas, Aries, Capricorn, Virgo and Leo Moons hold the third, sixth, tenth and eleventh. In the Cancer pada those houses pass to Taurus, Aquarius, Libra and Virgo Moons. Gemini and then Cancer Moons carry the Sun in the first house, Leo Moons meet it in the twelfth once it enters Cancer, and the lagna is read the same way.

Punarvasu shows how a person returns after loss. Aditi is boundless, and the fortnight favours forgiving what was taken.

On the Sankranti morning, read the Aditya Hridaya in full and offer water to the rising Sun. For Aditi, serve your mother or any mother in need. Give wheat, jaggery or copper on Sunday.