Pushan is a Hindu Vedic solar deity and one of the Adityas. He is the god of meeting. Pushan is responsible for marriages, journeys, roads, and the feeding of cattle. He was a soul guide, conducting souls to the other world. He protected travellers from bandits and wild beasts and protected men from being exploited by other men. He was a supportive guide, a “good” god, leading his adherents towards rich pastures and wealth.
He is invoked to guard cattle, horses, and sheep, and is asked to find those cattle that have been lost.
His chariot is pulled by goats. Sometimes he is described as driving the Sun in its course across the sky. He seems to represent the sun as a guardian of flocks and herds. Pushan is also regarded as Kavi, who in turn became an epithet of several gods and further, a title signifying “king”. He has braided hair and a beard and carries a golden axe, an awl, and a goad. He eats gruel, and in the Shatapatha Brahmana is stated to be toothless.
He is married to Sūryā, the daughter of the Sun, whom the gods bestowed on him.
According to a narrative found in the Taittiriya Samhita, Rudra was excluded from the Daksha yajna, an important sacrifice in honour of various deities. He, in anger, pierced the sacrifice with an arrow and broke Pushan’s teeth as he attempted to eat a part of the oblation.
In the Mahabharata and Puranas, Pushan is described as one of the twelve Adityas (Aditi’s sons).
