As the readers would know that according to the Vedic calendar, it is still not the new year. The New year will arrive only during the Chaitra Shukla Pratipada around April 13^th (Ugadi, Gudi Padva, etc). It is not just my opinion that the Gregorian calendar is flawed, but that is a discussion for another day.  Due to paucity of time and some time off with family, I haven’t been able to do the January transits- which promise to be really intense. So before that I thought of writing about an important transit that is happening in the skies in the Abhijit Nakshatra.

The Abhijit Nakshatra, is the 28th nakshatra or asterism in the Indian astrology system. In astronomy this star is known as Vega, the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra, along with the stars Deneb and Altair, which forms an asterism known as The Summer Triangle. It is located just 25 light-years from Earth, visible in the summer sky of the Northern Hemisphere. In 1872, an amateur astronomer Henry Draper was the first to take a spectrographic image of the star. It corresponds to ‘Sa’d-Adh-Dhabih’ (felicity of the sacrificer) of the Arab Manzil; Vega of the Greeks; ‘Nieu’ of the Chinese Sieu. 

Abhijit means “Victorious” or “the One who cannot be defeated”. In my very first article on Vedic astrology, I had written “In Vedic astrology, the ancient sages further divided the zodiac into 27 Nakshatras (that which never decays) or lunar constellations. Each constellation covers 13 degrees, 20 minutes. The calculation of Nakshatras begin with Ashwini Nakshatra 0 degrees of Aries and ends on 30 degrees of Pisces covered by Revati Nakshatra. In mythology, these nakshatras were the wives of the moon. They were sisters born to Daksha Prajapathi and wife Panchajani. The 27 sisters had one brother called Abhijit.”

Its relevance to the present planetary transits is that Jupiter and Saturn are both in Capricorn. Remember the Great Conjunction that happened on December 21^st 2020? Capricorn or Makara is the tenth sign of the Zodiac. It is indicated by a Sea Goat. The symbol of Capricorn is indicated by goat with a twisted horn. In heavens it starts from 270 degrees and extends up to 299 degrees. The nakshatras in Capricorn are the Uttarashada, all of Shravana and Dhanishta.

In addition, Abhijit is 4°13’2o” long and is placed between 6°4o’ and io°53’2o” Capricorn and it is considered the most auspicious nakshatra since ancient times. It was such a powerful nakshatra that if an important activity began when the Moon was in Abhijit nakshatra, it guaranteed unparalleled success. So we see that Abhijit is not a regular nakshatra with 4 padas or quaters. The Lord of Abhijit Nakshatra is Brahma, the Creator and is hence a creative nakshatra.

The legend: There is a legend associated with the nakshatra which is as follows. In the Mahabharata it is mentioned that Shri Krishna got to know that Duryodhana was planning to commence the war with the Pandavas when the Moon was in Abhijit nakshatra (the Abhijit Muhurtha- the most auspicious hour). The Kauravas were planning to begin Mahabharata when it was Amavasya tithi (New Moon) and the Moon was in Abhijit nakshatra, a day that would be an extremely potent to bring about a successful outcome. This combination can only happen when the Sun is in Capricorn and is an unbeatable combination for victory over an enemy.

Lord Krishna knew that if the Kauravas started Mahabharata on this day, the Pandavas would definitely lose the battle. The Lord of the universe then removed Abhijit nakshatra from the nakshatra mandala as he wanted to avoid misuse of this auspicious nakshatra. This nakshatra was then placed beyond the nakshatra belt and so became an intercalary nakshatra. It remains 6°4o’ to 10° along the side last pada of Uttara Ashadha and 10° to 10° 53’2o” of the first pada of Shravana. This nakshatra has been used to date the period of Mahabharata too, a complex topic beyond the scope of this essay.

Abhijit Muhurth: Abhijit Muhurat is the 8th Muhurat out of 15 Muhurats which prevail between the sunrise and the sunset. The time interval between the sunrise and the sunset is divided into 15 equal parts and the middle portion of fifteen parts is known as Abhijit Muhurat. It is said to favour only dharmic/ righteous activities. In January 2021, it is roughly between 12:03 PM to 12:49 PM in India.

Present transits: Jupiter entered the Abhijit nakshatra on 23 Dec 2020 and Saturn has also entered the Abhijit nakshatra and will remain here for the whole of January 2021. We start 2021 with the dominance of the Abhijit nakshatra. An interesting transit is that as the moon leaves the Abhijit Nakshatra, the Sun enters Capricorn in the Abhijit Nakshatra during Makara Sankaranti.  Saturn or Shani is a judge – and is judging humanity. Jupiter or Guru is also there to give you knowledge. Hence, this 15 day when these two planets- the Dharmadhipati and Karmadhipati are aligned together creates vibrations that can take you close to divinity, depending on your actions. Saturn also represents the common man or the masses, the hard-working person all over the world. When Saturn is in Abhijeet, the attention is diverted to the masses. We will be forced to think whether we have focussed enough on the common man.

On January 14^th, when the Sun moves into Capricorn, it is the festival of ‘Makara Sankaranti’. At this moment, the Moon, Sun, Saturn and Jupiter are all there. Do check out the Abhijit Muhurtha in your location. If you start a good karma, a new initiative in this muhurtha, it could be a life-changer for your horoscope. Pray to Saturn and commit some part of your earnings to the underprivileged.  In this month, there could be beginning for revolutions, for equality, some truths will start coming out, and finances will be good. This month is extremely important – when the planets are aligned in this manner and we are still here on Mother Earth- it is with a purpose.

You could chant the Mantra this month : Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya

(My obeisance to Sage Parasara who gave us the treatise Brihat Parasara Hora Shastra; Sage VarahaMihira who wrote the Brihat Samhita Hora, and the current astrologers Joni Patry, Komilla Sutton, Puniett and a host of other experts who have made astrology comprehensible to the layman. I am attempting this essay only because of them. Any errors are only mine.)

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