Shukra Astha / Shukra Modhyami 2021

Shukra — the planet Venus, regent of beauty, prosperity, love, and the arts — is among the most brilliant objects in our night sky. Yet several times each year, its orbit carries it so close to the Sun that it vanishes into the solar glare in a phenomenon the Vedic tradition calls Shukra Astha (combustion or occultation).

The Shāstras also call this period Shukra Modhyami or Śukra Lopa. Since Venus governs worldly prosperity, aesthetic creation, and marital harmony, its invisibility is considered to suspend those energies temporarily — making this period inauspicious for new auspicious undertakings.

Unlike Guru Astha (which typically lasts 30–40 days per year), Shukra Astha can be more frequent and variable in duration — sometimes occurring twice a year, and lasting anywhere from 20 to 60 days per period. This is because Venus oscillates between superior and inferior conjunctions with the Sun on its shorter orbital cycle.

Drishyaganit Panchang calculates these dates from NASA JPL ephemeris data — the same planetary positions used by professional astronomers. The heliacal setting and rising thresholds for Śukra follow the traditional arcus visionis value, ensuring the dates align with actual sky visibility rather than simplified approximations.