by Prof. P S Sastri There are many yogas in our astrological texts. Pushkara Yoga has no place there. This yoga refers to the time of death. There are two such yogas which are inauspicious. One arises from the combination of the lunar tithi (day) and the weekday. There are two kinds of lunar days (tithis) in this connection. The 1st, 6th and 11th lunar tithis are called Nanda. The 2nd, 7th and 12th are Bhadras. If these lunar tithis fall on Sunday, Tuesday and Saturday at the time of death, it is dvi-Pushkara Yoga. There are two groups of Nakshatras (constellations) involved in the second variety. The biped Nakshatras are Mrigasira, Chitta and Dhanishta. The Nakshatras having three feet are Krittika, Punarvasu, Uttara, Visakha, Uttarashadha and Poorvabhadra. If in the above dvi-Pushkara Yoga, any of these constellations is present, then it becomes tri-Pushkara Yoga. Generally death is inauspicious for the living if it falls on any of these: (a) Lunar tithis 1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13 and 14; (b) Weekdays Sunday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday; (c) constellations Krittika, Rohini, Mrigasira, Punarvasu, Makha, Uttara, Chitta, Visakha, Uttarashadha, Dhanishta, Satbhisha, Poorvabhadra, Uttarabhadra and Revati. Death in these constellations forebodes malefic results. This malefic nature is doubled in dvi-Pushkara Yoga and trebled in the tri-Pushkara Yoga. An illustration will make this clear. If on the day of death there are the first lunar tithi, Tuesday and Mrigasira, then it is a case of dvi-Pushkara Yoga. If on the day of death we have the 11th lunar tithi Sunday, and Punrvasu, then there is tri-Pushkara Yoga. Of the bad constellations for death we have to find out which have two feet and which have three feet. If the bad constellation does not fall in these two categories, then it is only dvi-Pushkara Yoga. If the tithi is neither Nanda nor Bhadra, but the weekday and the two-feet or three-feet constellation is present, then it is a case of dvi-pushkara Yoga. What is the result? The text states "griha na sthatavyah": one should not stay in the house. It should be closed for how long? Counting from the constellations from Aswini and giving only their number we get the periods thus: 5 and 14 – two months; 3, 7, 12, 16 and 21 – three months; 4 and 10 – five months; 23 to 27 – six months. Some texts give the following: 23 – six, 24 – five, 25 – four, 26 – three and 27 – two months. Some state that if the dead one is a parent, then one need not close the house. In these days, it is not possible to close the house for its rental or any other significance. The basic question is – should the house be deserted? Our answer based on the Dharma Sastras and Vedic texts is an emphatic negative. The authorities are clear that the best shanti (propitiation) is "Udaka-Shanti" found in the Vedic texts. This is far more efficacious than leaving the house deserted. (Courtesy: The Astrological Magazine, April, 1990)