The quality of the year is defined by the transit of Jupiter through the Rāśi or signs. Each Rāśi occupied by Jupiter is said to symbolise one of the twelve rivers which gets blessed by the presence of Jupiter in it. Jupiter stationed in this Rāśi makes the river auspicious for visits and during the first twelve days of Jupiter’s entry into these Rāśi the auspicious event of Puṣkara Tirtha is held where the river is bathed in and worship performed to attain salvation.
Notably twelve days corresponds to the average motion of Jupiter through one degree of a Rāśi. Similarly one Navāṁśa or 3º20’ takes fourty days for Jupiter to cover, giving us deeper insight into the importance of spiritual rites performed for the length of forty days.
Table: Rāśi and Nāḍi/rivers
| Rāśi | Aries | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer | Leo | Virgo |
| Nāḍi | Gañgā | Narmadā | Sarasvatī | Yamunā | Godāvarī | Kṛṣṇā |
| Rāśi | Libra | Scorpio | Sagittarius | Capricorn | Aquarius | Pisces |
| Nāḍi | Kaverī | Bhimarathī | Puṣkaravahinī | Tuñgabhadrā | Sindhu | Parinītā |
Especially, the bathing in the rivers of Gañga, Yamunā and Sarasvatī are extolled in the Veda, however instead of referring to actual rivers they are referring to the rivers or Nāḍī in the body. More popularly the Gañga, Yamunā and Sarasvatī are known as Ida, Piñgala and Sushumna Nāḍī respectively. The process of bathing in these Nāḍī through an internal process is therefore required and can be learnt from the spiritual master.
As these rivers are actual rivers in India, or ancient India, the predictions given for these focus largely on its various regions and the effects arising in those places having the specific transit.
The most auspicious transit of Jupiter occurs during its voyage through the Rāśi Cancer (refer: Saura Māsa) which is the place of exaltation for Jupiter. Instead, Jupiter’s voyage through the Rāśi in the second and seventh Rāśi from Cancer, namely Leo and Capricorn, are said to be highly inauspicious in nature.
As Jupiter is said to be responsible for bringing people together for lifelong bonds, the first advice during such inauspicious transits is to avoid marriage during such an inauspicious transit. This point can then be extended to several other important events where the coming together of people for a certain purpose is important, such as new partnerships be it business or personal.
As the transit of Jupiter in a Rāśi lasts for about a year, the Jyotiṣa texts reveal slight exceptions to the inauspiciousness of Jupiter’s transit.
Jupiter in Leo
ü For Jupiter in Leo, the Sun in Aries removes all defects arising due to Jupiter’s position for that one month. The reason being that the trine position of Jupiter and the Sun will give the blessings of the last Rāśi placed in trines, and in this case it is the Rāśi of Sagittarius which being the natural ninth Rāśi gives the blessings of righteousness, high morals, spiritual learning, good ideals, etc. This same blessing cannot be said of the position of Sun in Sagittarius where the strength of Aries gets activated and can lead to fights, battles, etc. In this way the mutual position of Sun and Jupiter can be analysed to understand the quality of each month of the year.
ü For Jupiter in Leo, the first five Navāṁśa (0º-16º40’) are inauspicious whilst the remaining four are not. For Leo the first five Navāṁśa correspond to the Rāśi from Aries to Leo. The remaining four, namely Virgo, Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius are auspicious by nature.
The Rāśi as rivers and actual places do not hold lesser sway in determining the blessings of Jupiter in a chart. An example is given for Mahāpurūṣa Śrī Achyutanānda Dasa, who being instructed to perform a penance to attain knowledge of the past, present and future found himself unable and utterly depressed. In this anxious state he hurried towards the Kalpa bata (tree of time) to kill himself but was met with Śrī Viṣṇu and Śrī Lakṣmī who heard his grief. They comforted him and instructed him to go to Prācī dhāma where he was to enter the Japa Kṣetra (abode for mantra-recitation) and perform his penance on the Japa Prastara (an elevated spot, i.e. stone). This was also the place where Brahmā once performed his penance. He was told that he would attain mastery of this knowledge there.
Now, at this point Śrī Achyutānanda was in Puri Dhāma, Orissa, and therefore the obvious question would be, why he would have any need to go elsewhere to attain his spiritual purpose! Being one of the spiritual seats of India and seat of Śrī Jagannātha Kṛṣṇa why would there be any need for him to travel elsewhere?
Chart: Mahāpurūṣa Śrī Achyutanānda
Chart of Mahāpurūṣa Śrī Achyutānanda Daśā, born 20th January 1510, 9:51 PM, Cuttack, India.
The conjunction of Jupiter and Mercury on his Lagneśa indicates very deep and spiritual knowledge and which he seeks with deep dedication and sincerity due to them being Ātmakāraka and Bhratṛkāraka. Mercury being the tenth lord indicates complete mastery of one type of knowledge and this will also be the main karma yoga of this life. Finally the Mahānta Yoga of Jupiter in fourth aspected by the Moon from the tenth house gives him knowledge alike that of Shiva!
The blessing of his Guru came from ninth lord Venus in Pisces showing that his Dikṣa will occur in a place next to the sea. This is also placed in the fourth house from the Jñāna Yoga. This occurred in Puri Dhāma which is on the coast of Orissa. The connection between ninth lord Venus and Jupiter is vague through the lordship of Jupiter and Śrī Achyutānanda did not stay in the vicinity of his Guru. Instead he was in a different town where he practiced the penance given by his Guru.
The Rāśi Sagittarius, which holding the strong yogas for attaining complete knowledge of time, does not indicate a place next to the sea. Among rivers it is Puṣkaravahinī (lit. the vehicle/puller of Brahmā). He was directed to a place where Brahma had performed Tapasya or penance, which could hint at the link to Puṣkara or Brahma in his birth chart. Mercury indicates the northern direction as Jupiter indicates north-east, and so the spot is north of Puri Dhāma. This place is now the seat of the Śrī Kakatpur Mangala Devi Temple in Orissa, and is a most holy spot where the priests of the Jagannātha temple of Puri meet to attain a vision of how to re-create the idol of Śrī Jagannath once every twelve years. This re-creation or re-birth is again linked to the role Brahma plays in the creation.