Punarvasu Nakshatra captured in Mithuna/Gemini Zodiac with mobile astrophotography
Punarvasu is a Nakshatra which refers to the two brightest stars in the constellation of Gemini ,namely, Castor and Pollux.
The word Punarvasu is derived from Puna+ Vasu, which means return, renewal, restoration or repetition. The goddess of Punarvasu is Aditi (Mother of all Devas)
As per Mahabharata, Budhan (Mercury God) came to Aditi’s home for food and not getting served when he was hungry, he cursed her to take re-birth again and again. She was mother for Vivasvān second time. Yima was son of Vivasvan.
In Sanskrit Yama is also interpreted as “the twin,” perhaps reflecting an Indo-Iranian belief in a primordial Yama and Yami pair. We can draw parallels between Avestan Yima and Sanskrit Yama, for instance, Yima was the son of Vivaŋhat, who in turn corresponds to the Vedic Vivasvat, “he who shines out”, a divinity of the Sun.
The Devas, the children of Aditi, are basically and essentially are different from children of Diti, who are demons. This nakshatra is all about getting things back to the normalcy.
This is the birth nakshatra of Lord Rama as captured in Valmiki Ramayana.
In Greek and Roman mythology, the stars Castor and Pollux (or in Greek, Polydeukes) were twin half-brothers , known together as the Dioscuri. In Latin, the twins are also known as the Gemini (literally “twins”)
Punarvasu Nakshatra is considered traditionally to be a mansion of four stars. The following table provides candidates which qualify as Punarvasu Nakshatra from brightness point of view, location with reference to moon traverse band and distance from previous Nakshatra.
Punarvasu, lunar mansion has following 4 stars:
- Pollux. 1.15 mag - α Gem
- Castor +1.59 mag -β Gem
- 77 Gem +3.56 mag
- 60 Gem +3.72 mag
Castor is a sextuple star system 52 light-years from Earth, which appears as a magnitude 1.6 blue-white star to the unaided eye.
Pollux is an orange-hued giant star of magnitude 1.14, 34 light-years from Earth. Pollux has an extrasolar planet revolving around it.
If a single star has to be identified as Punarvasu, then ’Pollux’ is the best candidate for Punarvasu. It is a very bright star of +1.15 brightness. It is about one to two-moon diameter outside of moon band.
In Raashi/Nakshatra translation 1/2 of Mrigashiras, full Aardhra and 3/4 of Punarvasu are considered to be part of Mithuna/Gemini.
We will see the pushya nakshatra next in Kataka raasi. Until then, have a great day! :-)
