As the planets continuously circle the Sun, time and time again we have really good and really difficult astrological positions. But apart from these regular cycles once a year we have a day, when 3 planets out of 9, is usually placed in the best position possible.
That day is the day of Akshaya Tritiya. Akshaya means ‘indestructible’, Tritiya means ‘the third’. Because this day happens during spring time, when the Sun is in the sign of Aries, on the 3rd day after the New Moon. So on this day we also have the Moon in the best position possible, in the sign of Taurus.
And as a plus, most years the planet Venus is also in the best position, in the sign of Pisces. So three following signs have exalted planets in them, and as such we have a super powerful planet in all three kinds of signs. As the sign of Pisces is common in nature, the sign of Aries is a movable sign, whereas the sign of Taurus is a fixed sign.
And as this is a super powerful combination, some of the greatest events took place on this day in Vedic history:
- Parasuram, the 6th incarnation of Lord Visnu descended to this world on this day.
- So did Mother Ganga. The Vedic scriptures describe the Ganges river, as an eternally existing sacred body of water, that flows through the entire universe in the form of the celestial milky way. She descended into our world on an Akshaya Tritiya day.
- Annapurna Devi, the Goddess of food and nourishment was born on an auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya. She is the wife of Lord Shiva, and an incarnation of Parvati. One of the highest mountain ranges of the world is named after Her.
- In Puri, the chariots for the annual Ratha Yatra are made anew every single year. And the constructions of the chariots for Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra begins on this auspicious day.
- Vedic traditions divide the time in our earthly creation into 4 different eras. The golden, the silver, the copper and the iron age. We are presently in an Iron age, and the previous era, the copper age, also started on an Akshaya Tritiya day. Some texts also proclaim that the Golden age, the Satya Yuga also started on this day.
- In the great epic, Mahabharata Draupadi the wife of the 5 Pandava borthers received the Akshaya Patra, on the day of Akshaya Tritiya from Lord Krishna. Akshaya Patra was a cauldron that never went empty, no matter how much food was served out of it.
- On this day Ganesha started to write down the Mahabharata. This happened while Srila Vyasadev was dictating the Vedas to Ganesha.
- Sudama the brahmin went to see his childhood friend, Krishna on this day to ask for His help.
- In the ancient times Vedic Kings used to do Vaibhava Laksmi puja on this day, to secure peace and prosperity for their subjects.
- Because of the extreme cold, the temple of Badrinath closes for the winter. The temple is reopened on the day of Akshaya Tritiya.
- And the reason behind the Vedic tradition of gifting gold and jewelry on this day, is that on an Akshaya Tritiya day did Kuvera become the treasurer of the Gods, the Lord of wealth.
- Apart from all these wonderful events in the Vedic calendar, this day is also very important for the Jain community. The very first Tirthankara, Rishabhadeva started and ended His one year long fast on this very day, by accepting some sugarcane juice. And right after that He established Aharacharya, the method that sets the rules for preparing and serving food for Jain monks.
But this day is not all about gifting valuables to our loved ones. It has immense spiritual potency, so if we are planning to start important things, we should start on a day like this.
Om Tat Sat
Adam Baktai the founder of Oriental Method