Today, we celebrate Akshay Trittiya, the most auspicious of festivals, as the Sun, having emerged from the solar eclipse, is basking in its favourite sign of Aries, and the Moon will be transiting the sign of its exaltation, Taurus. In fact, there is a bit of a cosmic traffic jam in these two signs, with Aries housing the Sun and an incoming Jupiter, in addition to Rahu, the shadow planet and Mercury. And Taurus is a picture of beauty and serenity, housing its ruler Venus, with the Moon who is visiting!
Akshay Trittiya is a day for auspicious beginnings, one of the few days in the year when you don’t have to look for a specific Muhurta, because anything that is started on this day, is Akshay, i.e. eternal, without an end. So if you’re been waiting to start something, be it a material pursuit, or a spiritual practice, today is the day ! It is also considered auspicious to purchase a token amount of gold on this special day. It is also a great day to perform charity, and share some of your blessings with those less fortunate.
Today is also Earth Day, which is celebrated each year on April 22 since its inception in 1970. This is a day dedicated to the protection of our planet and environmental conservation. The Earth has sustained life for billions of years with the patience of a mother, but today, more than ever, human greed and exploitation is threatening our ecosystem and our fellow inhabitants on this beautiful planet.
The theme that has been chosen this year is ‘Invest in our Planet’. We’re all stakeholders in the safety and well-being of this one shared resource, Mother Earth, for which there is no substitute. We must therefore take this message to heart and find a way to invest at least some of our time, effort or money into protecting our invaluable planet. And like our own mothers, she may seem inexhaustible, but we must recognise that her resources are limited, and once exhausted, they are almost impossible to replenish.
It can start small, something as simple as minimising use of plastics, and being mindful to not litter the beautiful outdoors when you’re travelling. And there couldn’t be a better day to start, it’s almost if the heavens are aligning and giving their blessings for us human beings to take a pledge of protection and take that first step in our journey of conserving this beautiful gift from God that sustains us, our Vasundhara, our Mother Earth.
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