Puṣya lunar mansion

Puṣya lunar mansion is identified in the book’s annotation as the eighth lunar mansion, a detail used to clarify the order of the royal brothers’ births. Its significance here is chronological: the note uses the lunar-mansion sequence to reconcile the order in which the births are narrated with the brothers’ relative ages.

Identification

The annotation distinguishes Pushya as the eighth lunar mansion from Asleshá, the ninth. It also notes that Pushya can be the name of a month, but says that in this passage it refers to the lunar mansion. The distinction matters because the note reads the birth account as astrological chronology, not merely as a list of events.

Birth Order and Chronology

The note observes that Bharat’s birth is mentioned before the births of the twins, yet concludes that he was the youngest of the four brothers. It further places his birth eleven months after Ráma’s. Puṣya lunar mansion thus serves as a chronological clue in the annotation’s interpretation of the birth sequence, rather than as a separately narrated event.

Significance and Limits

The detail belongs to the book’s discussion of the princes’ birth astrology. The annotation uses it to clarify relative ages, but does not provide a modern calendar date for the birth or establish Puṣya as a recurring narrative setting. Its role is specific: it helps explain how the stated order of narration can differ from the inferred order of birth.