The Panchanga

Besides the interpretation of the Grahas, Rashis and Bhavas, there is an almost entirely separate category of information that can be used for characterizing the person. These datas are traditionally referred to as Panchanga (“Five limbs”), and consists of the following:

 Each of these are measurements of time, and closely related to the ancient Indian calendar. Besides measuring time, each element also has a quality, which can be used for the chart interpretation. A complete overview is given in the Panchanga Details report.

Tithi

From new Moon to the next new Moon, the month is divided in 30 tithis. The first 15 form the waxing phase of the Moon, called Shukla Paksha. The 15 tithis from full Moon to new Moon are called Krishna Paksha. The tithi that ends in the exact moment of Full Moon, is called Purnima (“full”). The tithi that ends in the exact conjunction of Sun and Moon is called Amavasya. The 14 tithis after Amavasya are simply called by their number (in Sanskrit), and so are the 14 tithis following Purnima. The two sets are kept apart by adding Shukla or Krishna to their name.

The Hindu Tithis are devided into five types:
1.  Nanda Tithi    – bestows happiness and joy
2.  Bhadra Tithi   – good stating new work
3.  Jaya Tithi      –   good for winning over enemies
4.  Rikta Tithi     –  not good for any important work, so it is avoided
5.  Poorna Tithi   – very good  to complete all jobs

Shukla Paksha : 15 Tithis starting from New Moon to Full Moon ( Poornima) constitue the Shukla Paksha.
Krishna Paksha: The 15 Tithis starting from the Full Moon to New Moon ( Amavasya) form the Krishna paksha.
Tithis are known by the following  Hindu Names:

Day         Tith  Nmae       Type

1             Pratipada            Nanda
2             Dvitiya               Bhadra
3             Tritiya                Jaya
4             Chaturthi           Rikta
5             Panchami           Poorna
6             Shashthi             Nanda
7             Saptmi                 Bhadra
8             Ashtami              Jaya
9             Navami               Rikta
10           Dashmi               Poorna
11           Ekadashi             Nanda
12           Dwadashi           Bhadra
13           Tryodashi           Jaya
14           Chaturdashi       Rikta
15           Poornima /         Poorna
Amavasya
 Varana

Each weekday has a planetary ruler, which in itself is the characteristic element. In other words, people born on Sunday have qualities as indicated by the Sun, people born on Tuesdays have qualities of the Moon, etc. Note that the astrological notion of a day is from Sunrise to Sunrise.        The order of the weekdays itself is based on the rulers of the horas. There are 24 horas in a day, and their rulers follow from the slowest to the fastest Graha (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon). Every day starts with a particular hora at sunrise, and ends with the 24th hora from that. The next day will start with whatever is the next Graha in order. For example, a Sunday would always start with the Hora of the Sun at Sunrise, and end with the 24th hora ruled by Mercury (count yourself: 1.Su, 2.Ve, 3.Me, 4. Mo, 5.Sa,…24.Me).  The weekday following Sunday would therefore start with the 25th Hora, the one after Mercury’s, which is the Moon’s. The fact that the 25th Hora after the Sun’s is the Moon’s, is the reason that Mondays follows Sunday. The 25th Hora after the Moon’s is Mars’, so Tuesday is the next day.

     Day              –          Lord

Sunday          –          Sun
Monday         –         Moon
Tuesday         –         Mars
Wednesday    –         Mercury
Thursday       –          Jupiter
Friday            –         Venus
Saturday        –         Saturn
 Nakshatra 

The Nakshatra the Moon is in will give the results as described in the section on Nakshatras.There are 28 Nakshatras considered in Vedic Astrology But mostly used only 27 Nakshtras . Each one of them has thirteen degree and twenty minutes of the zodiac. Nakshatra can be known with help of degrees of Moon in a particular sign at the time of birth.The Nakshatras influence the quality of the Rashi in which they are positioned. The sequence of the 28 Nakshatras begins with Ashwini Nakshatra in Mesha Rashi. Each Nakshatra has a planetary lord that reside a particular period on that rashi  and its called dasha period, dasha period devided into two types like Vimsottary dasha and  Astottary dasha .
Nakshatras                                                                                            Lord        Years

1. Aswini          10. Magha                     19.       Moola              —–>     Ketu            7
2. Bharani         11. Poorvaphalguni      20.       Poorvashadha              Venus         20
3. Krittika         12. Uttaraphalguni       21.       Uttarashadha               Sun              6
4. Rohini           13. Hasta                      22.       Sravana                           Moon         10
5. Mrigasira      14. Chitra                     23.       Dhanista                          Mars            7
6. Ardra            15. Swati                      24    .   Satabhisha                       Rahu           18
7. Punarvasu    16. Visakha                  25.       Poorvabhadra                Jupiter        16
8. Pushyami     17. Anuradha                26.      Uttarabhadra                 Saturn         19
9. Aslesha        18. Jyeshta                    27.       Revati                              Mercury     17           28. Abhijit

Nakshtra also indicate Yoni, Gan and Nadi of an individual.

Yoni:

There are 14 Yonis (animal symbols) in Vedic astrology assigned to nakshtras :

Nakshatras                                                  Yoni

Aswini, Satabhisha                                     Horse
Swati, Hasta                                                Buffalo
Dhanista, Poorvabhadra                              Lion
Bharani, Revati                                            Elephant
Krittika, Pushyami                                       Sheep
Poorvashadha, Sravana                               Monkey
Uttarashadha (Abhijit)                                 Mongoose
Rohini, Mrigasira                                         Serpent
Anuradha, Jyeshta                                       Deer
Ardra, Moola                                               Dog
Punarvasu, Aslesha                                      Cat
Magha, Purvaphalguni                                 Rat
Chitra, Visakha                                            Tiger
Uttaraphalguni, Uttarabhadra                      Cow

Gana:

There are 3 Ganas

1. Deva: Divine
2. Manuj: Human
3. Rakshas: Demon

Nakshatras assigned to the Ganas:

Nakshatras                                                                                Gan

Aswini, Mrigasira, Punarvasu, Pushyami,
Hasta, Swati, Anuradha, Sravana, Revati           —-                Deva

Bharani, Rohini, Ardra, Poorvaphalguni,                                                                         Uttaraphalguni, Poorvashadha,                                                                                            Uttarashadha, Poorvabhadra, Uttarabhadra      —–                Manuj

Krittika, Aslesha, Magha, Chitra, Visakha,
Jyeshta, Moola, Dhanista, Satabhisha                —-                Rakshas

  Nadi:

There are 3 Nadis

1. Adi:        Vata
2. Madhya: Pitta
3. Antya:    Kapha (or Shleshma)

Nakshatras assigned to the Nadis:

Nakshatras                                                                                            Nadi

Aswini, Ardra, Punarvasu, Uttaraphalguni,
Hasta, Jyeshta, Moola, Satabhisha, Poorvabhadra       —                    Adi (Vata)

Bharani, Mrigasira, Pushyami, Poorvaphalguni,
Chitra, Anuradha, Poorvashadha, Dhanista,
Uttarabhadra                                                                —                   Madhya (Pitta)

Krittika, Rohini, Aslesha, Magha, Swati,
Visakha, Uttarashadha, Sravana, Revati                      —                   Antya (Kapha)
 Karana 

One lunar month has 30 Tithis. Each Tithi is divided in two equal halves, called Karanas. Therefore, one lunar month has 60 karanas in total.  There are only 11 different Karanas though, which repeat to span the full cycle of 60 karanas. There are 11 karnas in total. Four of them occur just once a month and are called the Fixed Karanas: Kintughna, Chatushpada, Sakuni and Naga.   The first karana on the day of new Moon is Kimstughna, followed by 8 cycles of Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitula, Garaje, Vanija, Visthi. The last 3 karanas are Shakuni, Chatushpat and Naga. The other seven are movable Karanas. They follow one another in a fixed rotation: Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitila, Gara, Vanija and Vishti.Each of the Karanas is said to have its own influence and interpretation. ‘Vishti’ is considered the most inauspicious karana. No important or new work is done during the period of this karana.

Movable Karan         Fixed Karan
Bava                            Sakuni
Balava                         Chatushpad
Kaulava                       Naag
Taitila                          Kintughna
Gara
Vanij
Vishti or Bhadra

 Yoga    

Whereas the Tithi and Karana were based on taking the distance from Sun to Moon, the Yoga in derived from adding up their positions.  The formula is:     Moon’s longitude+Sun’s longitude+80  From this sum, multiples of 360 should be substracted to get a degree in the 0-360 range. Then the nakshatra has to be determined. Each yoga corresponds to one of the nakshatras .A Yog is obtained from the sum of the Nirayna Longitude of the Moon and Sun and the sum is divided into 27 parts of 13°20′ each. The first yog ( Viskumbh) ends when the sum is 13°20′. Second Yog ( Priti) ends when it is 26°40′ and so on .

There are 27 yogas, given below :
1. Vishkumbha 2. Priti 3. Ayushman
4. Saubhagya  5. Shobhana 6. Atiganda
7. Sukarama 8. Dhriti 9. Shoola
10. Ganda 11. Vridhi 12. Dhruva
13. Vyaghata 14. Harshana 15. Vajra
16. Sidhi 17. Vyatipata 18. Vriyana
19. Paridhi 20. Shiva 21. Sidha
22. Sadhya 23. Shubha  24. Shukla
25. Brahma 26. Indra 27. Vaidhriti